The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-31
HORRORS OF ALASKAN WINTERS.
Facts Which should BE Pondcrcd
Deeply by Gold Hunters
From the washington Post

From the Washington Post
The almost fabulous stories of extra
ordinary gold flnds in the Yukon coun-
try of Alaska" said MIR. John II. Keatley.
have set many young men, and even
boys of II or IA years of age, crazy with
the desire 10 emulate some of the re-
ported fortunes that have recently been
made in that country They hear the
story that it is only thirty miles across
the range from Chilcott Indian village.
and then not more than elk or eight hun
dred miles down the Yukon TO the gold
fields.
They are so accustomed to traversing
distances of a thousand miles or more In
the States by rail that they form their
conceptions of the task OF reaching the
Alaska gold fields from that standard Two
Years of residence in Alaska, and an in
innate acquaintance with Juneau and the
country between that and the region called
the Chllcott pass gave me a pretty good
opportunity to judge of the difficulties OF
the trip across the range at the most fav-
orable season of the year. The pass, as 4
i9 called, Is really nothing more than is
usually termed mountain pass or gap The
mountains In that quarter are of the steep
est and most rugged character. Snow lies
at what Is called the Chilcott pass the
year round and the gulches and canyons
are flied with perpetual glacial ice There
is only slight depression where the In.
dian trail. crosses the mountains, and a
bare trail, indicating where the path H.
1t Is up one steep, rugged decevity and
Gown another frightful precipices skirt
the feeble trail ana it is only the most
hardy and resolute men who can endure
the fatigue and toll required to cross into
the interior. There is as much resemblance
between mole hill and one of our Penn.
sylvania or Virginia mountains as there
Is between the latter and the coast range
that must be crossed to reach the head
waters and the upper tributaries of the
Yukon river.
After the perils and fatigues OF the
Chilcott pass have once been undergone
the stll more arduous journey of reach
ing the gold fields must be endured
There is no more rude wild and forbid
ding country elsewhere within the limits
of the United States than the seven or
eight hundred miles that must be ira
versed after crossing the mountains. 1t
is enough to deter the stoutest hearts. even
in what is called the summer season In
that country There are no roads The
country Is broken by mountain ranges
RAPID and swollen streams are everywhere
to be encountered and young men who
have undergone the perils OF the tourney
nave ended their careers in the insane hos
pital. only few years ago a young Ger
man who in 1887, went with a party of
prospectors from Juneau to Stewart river,
in the interior, became insane through the
hardships he suffered, was finally sent by
the Alaska authorities to the National In
sane hospital in this city. and died raw
ing maniac.
There Is a wonderful attraction in the
marvellous stories of the gold fields in the
Yukon but when the horrors of winter
under the arctic circle with the mercury
60 or 70 degrees below zero are to be taken
into consideration, and the toll and prlva-
ton that attend the getting of 1t, there is
enough in the background to cause all
but the bravest-hearted TO ponder Sc
riously before plunging into such a wilder
ness as that Is in search of the shining
metal"