The Dickinson press., 1898-04-16
Our Alaska Letter.

SolNiAOItdOly e4taDilSneO IN our tents as
though camping had been our natural
state all u lives. We waited four days
at Dyea for stuff and were lucky to
get of that soon. All the outfits that are
brought on the steamers are unloaded at
Skaguay, as Dyea has no wharfage facil-
tiles, and then towed over to Dyea by the
small boats and f1oated upon the beach
at high tide. When the tide goes out
the stuff is hauled up by teams to the
warehouses. There ensues a scene that
beggars description. AS each wagon
comes up it is surrounded by a mob of
anxious men, clamoring for their proper
ty, and the man in charge mounts the
wagon and calls off the names on the
sacks as they are unloaded. The MORN
ing l was down at the warehouses
mounted a convenient pile of goods at
one corner and watched the performance
which was something like this: Elliott"
shouts the man in charge, and Elliott
struggles madly through the crowd to
claim his sack. "Hoyt!" "Here! yclls
Hoyt as he starts from the corner where
he has just deposited a sack; but alas, he
misses his footing-it is very muddy and
slippery down there and down he goes,
fiat OF his back, while the crowd of men
surge over and around him. "Roberts!"
no response and the sack is hustled into
the warehouse by a stalwart stevedore to
await its claimant. When he comes,
everything in the warehouse has to be
overhauled to find his property; and a
man often sweats and swears around
Dyea for two weeks before he finally has
his outfit all together and ready to start
up the trail. Our boys avoided all this
trouble by going down to the lighters
and sorting out their stuff and then fol-
lowing up the teamsters and showing
them where to unload it. After all is
unloaded, it is checked off by men in
charge and they will find for you any
missing sack or box. Our party were
very lucky, owing to their own efforts,
probably, and not a single parcel was
missing. We paid two and one-half
cents per pound to have our stuff hauled
up here. After seeing everything loaded
into wagons, WI started up here the
morning of the 18TH and made the trip
in five hours. l walked the entire dis
lance, sixteen miles. The trail from
Dyea to the canyon is very muddy and
sloppy. At Canyon City the stuff is
transferred to sleds and brought the rest
of the way. All along the trail are peo-
pie encamped and Shedding up their out
fits by hand or dog team. Thousands of
people everywhere, all busy and hopeful.
1t is the most wonderful sight l ever saw
in my life. Men of every nationality
and description, old men and young men
large men and small men, though the
majority OF them are stalwart, robust.
looking men. About half way up from
Dyea we found a pleasant and enterpris.
ing lady with a coffee and sandwich ten,
beside the trail, where we stopped and
refreshed ourselves. l noticed tina,
nearly everyone who came along did the
same, SO that lady has a Klondike of he,
own outside. The shell game is also
along the trail, in full force. We passed
six stands on our way up. was glad tc
see that OF n seemed to be taker
in at least while we we're in hearing dis
lance; though the "cappers" started uE
and worked hard every time a new
group of people came by. Canyon Cit,
is a cluster of log houses and tents at tn.
mouth of the canyon. Lodging ane
meals can be procured here. When w
entered the canyon our wonder and ad
miration knew no bounds. AS we flee
up the steep, narrow and rocky way
thronged with men, horses, dogs, sled.
and outfits, we marvelled at the courage
and heroism of mankind. The canyon
is so narrow that two double teams can
not pass; therefore the heavy loads are
brought up early in the morning and thu
empty sleds returnin the afternoon. AL
the baggage is tied upon narrow Yuko,
sleds and brought up with one horse
This gives them an opportunity to pass
When we reached here our baggage hae
not arrived; SO we slept that night in
loft over a store where there were twelv,
other hunks, The lady in charge did al
she could to make us comfortable ant
hung up blankets along the front of gu
hunks to give us some privacy. She ais
had a real mirror, a small one, hun,
against the chimney in the middle of tn
room, and a real tin wash basin an,
clean enthusiastically! At Dyea l wen
down stairs and washed in the sinks witt
. the men. We pitched our tents yester
day. Owing to an unfortunate mistak;
of the teamster who unloaded u stuff
Willis and l are about a mile from tn
rest of the party. Our tents are upol
about six feet of snow and we have tn
inside thickly carpeted with evergreen
boughs. Our stuff is all piled under
t canvas in front of the tent. This is in
deed a city of tents, hundreds of Their
/. about us everywhere. Sheep Camp ha
two saw mills, a number of log huts an
tar paper shacks which represent al
|. kinds of business houses. The hotel
have such %pretentious names as 9TH
Seattle Hotel" "Hotel Woodland" "He
tel Arctic" etc. Mail is delivered her
from Dyea, for ten cents a letter; q
j.. Lakes Linderman and Bennett for twer
!. ty-fve cents each; and in the interior,
= everybody knows, for one dollar per le'
!, ter. There are hundreds Of packer
= here. We have been besieged by ther
ever since we located our tent. Yeste,
day the rates from here to the Scale
were two cents per pound. This NOR
ing. owing to the snowfall yesterda.
rates came down to one and three-qua,
tiers; and a man just stuck his head i
the tent and offered to pack me up"
he expressed it, for one and one-ha
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