The record-union., 1898-07-16
BACK FROM ALASKAN WILDS.
JOHN MATTICH AND B. CREIGH-
TON HOME AGAIN.
Two Disguised Members OF the
Party That Left Here Last
February.

The fact that John Mattich and Burt
Creighton yesterday morning returned
to this city after an absence of five
months might not be of special interest
had not those five months been spent in
reaching prospecting and returning
from the Copper and Suchitna River
country in the southern part or Alaska.
On the 22d of February last Mattich
and Creighton, together with j. G. Bry-
ant. Harry Mandy, James C'Pony'O
Walker, John Schammel, Joseph Prince,
w. Grapsch, ]. Vaudeville, L. Fisher
F. Justin, AL Boehmie, j. Cannon and
a man named Clark, all Of this city;
J. H. Goldson of San Francisco and X
Barnes and two other men from Au-
burn, started north from San Francisco
to dig from the earth in the vicinity
of Prince Williams Sound and Cook s
Inlet some of the gold in which that
section was said to be fabulously rich
Before starting for the north the men
were led to believe, from circulars scat
.ered broadcast by number OF trans
)ortation companies whose vessels ply
dong the Alaska coast, that gold was
thick in the Copper River section
hat to stumble over chunks OF 1t was
so uncommon event. They naturally
metal there. but a more disgusted or
worse disappointed lot Of fortune seek
ers never went to Alaska or anywhere
else.
John Mattich, one of the men who
reached home yesterday morning, was
seen by a Record Union" reporter
He was rather stoical, and proved him.
self to be a genuine philosopher He
was inclined to talk more of the beau
ties and wonders of the country he
had visited than of the hardships he
had endured, and suggested that II
man had plenty Of wealth and no desire
to find gold he might do worse than
take a trip up the Alaskan coast.
Turning to the other side Of the ques-
ton, Mr.. Mattich said that if man
desires to accumulate wealth he can
do no better than to keep away from
that section of the country. The party,
he said, left San Francisco on the Tx
celsior, which touched at Seattle and
Juneau, and finally landed them at
Portage Bay in the midst of driving
snowstorm. Portage Bay, according to
Mr. Mattichs idea, is not an ideal
place to camp for any considerable
time. which was what the party was
obliged TO do.
Before the gold seekers mad a chance
to get to the Suchitna River, Mr.. Mat
itch said, they learned from Indians
and others that gold in paying quanti-
ties was a chimera; but, regardless OF
such knowledge. they pushed on across
the great glacier which juts out into
Glacier Bay. The glacier at the point
crossed by the party is about six
miles wide, and besides standing up TO
a great hight is exceedingly rough.
The party, however, made the passage
in safety, and from there went to Sun
rise City, where they began prospect
ing. though, owing to adverse reports,
they hardly expected to strike it rich
Mr.. Mattich mined on Quartz Creek
and other streams in the surrounding
country, which is mountainous and
exceedingly rough, and is emphatic IN
his statement that there IS no gold
there.
He found the water at Sunrise City
exceedingly brackish, owing to the
tide, which flows back to that point,
and he found, too, that mosquitoes were
much more plentiful than gold. Many
of the buzZing pests We're FIVE or six
times as big as the California variety,