Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-07-13
PUSHING ON TO GOLD FIELDS.
Louis kier Tells OF Experiences in Max.
ing Boats and Climbing SUBMITS En-
route to the kiondyke-Says They
Are Happy and Hopeful.

We have been here five weeks; sawed |
our lumber, built two boats-23 feet
long on the bottom and 26 feet on too, |
~ feet wide on the bottom, u on top;
also skiff IS feet long. We are all
ready TO start down the lakes in the
morning. We are now about 30 milea |
from the head of Lake Bennett, that IS |
below the head. We hauled our goods |
here on sleds. We brought Ernest's |
camera from home aud good amount |
OF supplies for it. The last two weeks
we have made enough with it to pay for |
all the supplies and finished about fifty |
or sixty pictures for the boys that are
with Us at just what they cost, besides |
having some fine views for ourselves. |
Ii we get them back to the states with
US, would not take a small farm for
them. We named this place ourselves, ,,
so you must not think this is city, as
it is only a settlement for the time being,
while people are making lumber AT
building boats. We have plenty 4
nelghbors and have been in ne larry
about leaving here as the ice is not all
out of ngish Lake, SO we could not
go more than ten or twelve miles il we
had left here before. This is pretty
piace-more like Wisconsin than any
place We have seen sincs we left home
We have had five weeks of nicer weather
than | ever saw in Wisconsin at this
time of year. 1t has not rained any to
speak of. The sun shines every lay
and most of the night. 1t never gets
very dark. A person can see TO read
between ten and eleven O'Clock at night
and between two and three in the morn
ing. 1t is never dark when we go to
bed or get up. We have on our sum-
mer clothes the same as we would at
home. The woods are full of flowers.
Looking across the lake we can see
snow covered mountains. Altogether
IL makes very pretty scene. [ enjoy
1t immensely, although there is some
hard work attached to it, such as cut.
ting logs in the woods and hauling them
to the saw-pit, then whip-sawing the
lumber. That is about the hardest
work | ever struck. / don't suppose
you ever saw that done
The first day we arrived at the Sum
NIT it was very nice in the early part of
the day. BY the time we got our
goods all up there and in shape it was
hight and snowing and blowing terribly.
There being no bunk houses there we
had to spread our tent over one side of
our goods, let the other edge on the
ground, or snow rather, as we were
about twenty feet from the ground, and
crawl under there with our blankets ard
go to bed there. Wood, on the Summit,
is worth five cents per pound, so we
did not indul ge in the luxury of fire
The next morning when we got up it
was still stormipg and We could hardly
see at all After breakfast We went to
work to load our goods. After we got
all loaded We had to pay our duty,
hen go down from the summit, and by
that time the weather was getting better
and there Vas lots of people baullug
The summit hill is terror. Only one
can 60 down at time through some
places, so person has to wait till their
turn. In some places the snow banks
are higher than mans head on each
side of the sled, with just room enough
to get through, and so steep it is almost
impossible to hold the sled back with a
double rough lock, and the track is so
crooked it is hard to keep on your feet.
They nearly all have what they call
''gea pole" 1t is a pole about or s
fest long, Tied on to the sled to serve as
tongue; i. is tied so it is stiff Some
sleds would get away from their owners
and go down the hill with those poles
sticking straight out in front. Ii they
ever struck a person when they were
going so fast it would be all day with
them. The last load we brought down
weighed 800 pounds. That was all we
wanted to handle. Many man did not
take more than 200 down at time. By
the tine we got down the hill it was al
most 3 o'clock and ten miles to go to
Lindemanp, haul load, pitch tents and
| get supper, which we had about ten
or eleven o'clock, get up next morning
and go after another load. 1t stormed
all that day, the worst snow ever saw
Wisconsin could not begin to equal it
When we were coming back with our
loads it was hard to keep the track some
places. We got home about ten o'clock,
tired, wet, no fire, TO supper. The last
day we were on the summit is the only
| one it did not storm. Between the sum-
NIT and Lindemann, in one place, is a
canyon to go through that is nearly as
bad as the summit. We had to wait
there about two hours one day, there
icing such crowd ahead of us. When
we moved from LindemAnn to Bennett
it was different. Our road was all on
the lakes, with the exception of short
canyon of about three fourths of mile,
that not being bad until the last day,
when it was beginning to get bare.
Then We moved down Lake Bennett
about five miles. That WAS the incest
trip we made. Coming down with the
first load, with good sail ON the slede,
brought down about 1000 pounds and
did not have to pull much. Cue of the
boys broke his sail pole and we hitched
his load behind mine, and one sail pulled
them both, which was all of 2, 900 pounds
Going back that night was harder than
coming down, as we had strong wind
| 10 lace anu 10 Hlle5 10 Whlh, mHklDR
about 30 miles that day. Ernest stayed
at home that day as L could handle all
we dared put on our sled. One day
when we were moving from Bennett,
about five miles below where our tents
were pitched, the lake was getting pretty
soft and the water deep in places the
wind was so strong | could hardly hold
the sled in place and L would have to
skate through the water four or five
inches deep. Perhaps you think the
water didn't fly. 1t went up my pants
legs in two streams. l had on shoes,
and when 1 pulled them OFF at night
there was considerable water in them
That work al seems hard to think of,
but enjoy it, feel well, have terrible
appetite aud a good time in general
There are many women on the trail COM
ing in here. If they can stand it, why
can't we?
| wish I could describe this trip as it
has actually been. can't begin to do
it. We have been lucky all through
So far have not lost thing. There are
thousands of dollars worth of goods
buried on the summit under from 10 to
80 feet of Snow Also i'll the big snow
slide between Scales and Sheep camp
My trip has cost me just SAT- 40 up to
4