Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1898-01-28
THE ALASKA CRAZE.
Viewed Mt Close Range by u Wide
Awake North DakOtan.

Viewed Mt Close Range by u Wide
Awake North Dakotan.
The INTER- OCEAN is permitted to
make the following extracts from a
letter written by a resident Of this
state who is now at Seattle making
preparations for going to Alaska:
Seattle, Washington, Jan. 20, 1885,
Rain has been falling all day, but the
weather is nice and warm. The last
five days have been fine and clear and
the snow covered mountains show up
like a great mass of thunder head
clouds. Have made the acquaintance
of an old miner who has been all over
Alaska and who is now on the road
there again. He says that the country
on the coast from so or 100 miles east
of the mouth of the Copper river for
500 miles west is going to be a rich
stock raising country. 1t is out Of the
region of winter rains and the Their
mometer gets to so below but seldom.
No snow has fallen there yet. The
mountains are close and fair pay Can
be made in the streams panning fine
gold-vegetables and grain produce
enormously, timber is plentiful, fish by
the ton and lots of game in tho
mountains.
Men coming back from Dawson re-
port the Klondike as exceedingly yer
| estimated but still a rich mining camp,
Edmoptoa papora o"cck IN the
%1aunlonton route" as the very best.
There are hundreds of men camped
for the winter Oh the streams is miles
north of that place, ready to plunge
along in the spring. Spokane is adj
vertising rs the best route a trail cut
through from there to Telegraph
creek, fifty feet wide, through the
solid forest. Telegraph creek flows
into the Stickeen from the south about
100 miles up from Fort Wraugel. The
Western Union Telegraph company
cut the trail years ago, and were going
to put u line through to Asia and
Europe by way of Behring's Strait, but
never finished the job. 1t is a poor
way, however, to get in, rs it is overland
all the way and through some very
rough country.
The best route-the White Pass
starting from Skaguay.
y lot of men came in from Dyea and
Skaguay yesterday, OH the steamer.
They made the journey up river from
Dawson on the ice and report camps
of miners strung along the entire
length Of the river, some scattered, but
mostly punched up in regular villages.
There is going to he the most insane
rush that ever went to a mining
country. and not one out of 500 will
get back with a dollar.
In Seattle and Tacoma rents are being
advanced and big hotels that could
not pay taxes a year ago are now filed
up with dodgers paying $3.50 to IS a
week. Nearly every house on the
residence streets have signs, Sur
nished rooms to let" and they are
gobbled up very fast. Old wooden
traps that were stores, ETC., during the
boom are being cut up into Sx1O lodging
rooms and for which they are going tc
charge S1.M per week. All kinds Of
business is picking up and the tow1
people areplucking the would be Klon-
dixie miners to a finish.
The finest lake 1 ever saw is Lake
Washington, a few miles east of Seattle
Miller and I walk out there ever,
clear day. The banks of the lake ar,
surrounded with a dozen differen
kinds of trees that keep their foliag,
the year round. The madrona ant
manzinita are the finest. The bark o
the tree is smooth and almost blood
red. The leaves are long and thicl
and of a deep green color. The lax
is three or four miles wide by thirt,
long, deep and clear, full of fish ant
trout, and a thousand island, and tin
soil around not worth a cuss, 1t beat!
all how a country with such. IL mic,
climate and such beautiful scener,
can be so Internally useless. After
the big trees are cut off a SECOND
growth will spring up so thick a COW
could not get through it, and of course
there would be no grass.
Saw 81 man today who, with three
partners, carried $500 pounds of stuff
over the White pass last fall befor,
winter set in. They had two horse!
and worked themselves and it tool
them six weeks to get over. He say!
the pass is lined from bottom to toI
with dead horses. He saw horses fal
POO feet and smash to a jelly. Others
drowned and piles Of them died in thu
mud. The pass was about ten fee
wide and numerous little creeks
crossed it at right angles. After the
pass became trodden soft the dirt and
soil was washed out and the soft mud
lodged in the holes and the creeks
followed the trail down and made il
fearfully slippery. Horses would
~rA~~e-;~Ae Ah.i-~ rlaaes allad. witl
soft mud and never come out again
One horse he saw which had struggle,
nearly to the summit refused to g,
around a big boulder on a narro>
ledge, and when they tried to driv
him no made a jump right out tn
cliff and went down 500 feet with hi
load. The pass will be a villianous spo
when warm weather comes, as most O
the horses cannot he removed o