Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-11-06

|
societies. especially In that work Of COM
memorating suitably the deeds or our
forefathers In the Revolutionary war.
At his home, 1896 north Stricken street,
MT. George ii. Griffith told an interesting
story yesterday afternoon. He left here
| last spring for the gold-fields Of Alaska,
DIR. X. Il. Franklin. OF Richmond. his
chum,. going with him. They did not go
Into British territory. and, therefore, not
into the Klondike. They didn't like the
British laws, Mr.. Griffith said, so they
stayed upon the American side of the
| divide.
When the two gentlemen mentioned ar
rived at Seattle they increased their
party to fifteen, and chartered a schoon-
| er, the Moonlight, TO take them further
northward. Dutch Harbor was their
! destination, and through Boring Sea they
sailed, the schooner proving most sea-
worthy. Many sailing vessels went down
In the storms which surrounded them,
but the Moonlight weathered them all.
WORKED THEIR WAY UP THE
RIVER.
Arriving at Kotzebue sound" con-
tlnued Mr.. Griffith, I'VE went from there
up the Noutak river. There were eight
Of us who made this trip and l think we
|
! miles.
1T took ms twenty-seven days 20 make
this trip, and the Indians. whom we met,
| made 1t known TO us that we were the
! first white men who had ever forced their
way up that rapid river. More than half
the time we had 10 get out on the bank
and drag the boat along by a long rope,
| leaving one man in It to steer it. l never
! have seen such current in river. You
| viii understand IL better when L tell you
that while it took us twenty days
| to 90 up IT, IL took us but twenty-four
| hours TO be rushed down.
Fifteen Of us reached the stopping
| place, and we sent parties up the Selawik
and Kowak rivers. Prospecting for gold?
OF course we were. We spent four or five
days there, and found little stuff and
then we started back.
1--WE had left the schooner at Cape
Blossom, and when we got there origI-
nally some friendly Indian pilots came
aboard and volunteered to take us in. We
were about fifteen miles from land, but
our skipper thought he could do the trick.
He couldn't. We hadn't gone far before
We struck. There IS only one channel,
and it is not defined clearly in the gov
eminent maps. ] believe a man can wade
out for ten miles right there We got
off all right in the small boats though,
but when they grounded upon the flats,
we had to take our loads upon our shout
| ders and wade ashore The schooner was
| twelve miles off when she grounded, and
| we waded two miles
"The river at its mouth, however, was
deep There was twenty feet of water
in the channel. There Were no govern
ment soundings, though, within ten miles
of the place, and we had to trust to our
own dumb luck"
EXPLORING FOR GOLD.
Mr.. Griffith left Baltimore April 9th
and It was May 18th when he and his
party left Seattle I'm the schooner. On
| August 10th they decided TO explore the
| auckland river. They had been told
| that there were promising deposits OF
gold there. an old miner, a fellow named
! John b. Mason, helping them with his
advice. When they got up the river as
far as they could go they found another
| schooner there, which had just dropped
anchor. She was the willard Ainsley
and she also had a party Of prospectors
| aboard.
I'd to the headwaters Of the river Mr..
Griffith and his men went. When they
could go no further by the river they
walked on foot, but no trace OF sold could
| they find There was nothing I'm the for
nation Of the country, either TO indicate
| that it was gold land. on the oath Of Au-
gust. discouraged and disguised, they
started back
GOVERNMENT MAPS DEFICIENT
In Bering Sea- continued Mr.. Crit
fifth. 1--WE met a terrible storm Our two
jib-sails and our foresail were blown
away, and we thought that the end had
come, but the schooner was game and
beat tho elements. This storm was just
off Cape Prince Of Wales. We put into
Port Clarence to get ballast and to make
repairs.
Il would like 10 say that the maps
which the government have issued OF that
country are entirely deficient. There are
lots OF rivers which are not down upon
them, and there are also some mountain
ranges When we got to Goloyln bay we
heard that there were rich gold-helds
there. We arrived upon the spot August
3lst. We had a hard time getting in, but
we did so at last and we did find gold
Eight OF us went up Neuchluck river
sixty miles looking for IL, and we found
Council City, a miners town. The gold
there which we found paid from Z 20 ~
cents "A pan. Eight men can form a dis
trict and work it for themselves, and we
took up two districts. Some Of the ma
terial I'm our districts will net $3.50 a pan
and we have had it assayed I'm San Fran
cisco. IL produced 1899 per cent gold and
per cent. silver"
IL was getting cold when the party left
GOlovin bay. 1t was September 22d and
the water was full of ice, which would be
broken up by the tide and would freeze
and break up again. From there the
schooner went 10 st. MichaeFs. and Or
Franklin and Mr. Griffith took a steamer
Tor Seattle, leaving the others Of the
party 10 look out for the claims which
had been established. They did not stop
their work until December 1st Mr.. Grit
fifth thinks.
INDIANS WON'T QUARREL
Il got to Seattle October sth." Mr.. Grif-
fifth said. land stayed there two weeks.
Then started across the Continent and
got 20 Baltimore last Sunday. Or. Frank !
lin and ] got out Of the claims which we
established $500 10 500 worth OF dust I'm
eight days The Indians We met were all |
good. They don't want TO quarrel, and |
will do anything to keep friendly with the |
invading whites / have fought the |
Apaches on the plains in past years, and |
the Alaska Indians are not like those |
upon our frontier, l can say from expert !
cnce These Alaskan Indians viii quarrel |
with their squaws, but they VIII not quar- |
rel with a man. They seem 10 have con- |
tempt for a man who Will quarrel with an
other one. Around Dawson City, though, |
these good Indians are becoming contain |
mated They have seen too much or the |
white man. and they are getting mean |
Mr.. Griffith brought back with him from |