The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-02
THE ASHCROFT TRAIL.
HamIin Garland's Experience Il
WiIds OF the Far Northwest.
Chicago Tribun

Chicago Tribune.
Hamlin Garland, poet, novelist, and since
April last hlondike gold hunter, VINO
braved the horrors of both the bachelor
route" to Alaska and the ChilkOot pass, has
reached Chicago and is reaccustoming MINI
self to civilization at his house, Al Elm
street, while he is waiting for news OF
strikes on his Atlin lake claims and pre-
pairing to complete the American novel and
the book of verse interrupted by his journey
after gold and new literary material. his
faithful broncho, that carried his camp out
fit through a frightful journey of loo miles,
has been brought back to Craze in the
peaceful meadows at West Salem, Wis,
where oats are twenty cents bushel in
stead OF twenty cents pound. Mr.. Gar
land reached Chicago three days ago from
Seattle, but few of his friends know of his
arrival Last night he wildly described
into sketches and stories
i took the trip as vacation, wanted
and 1 found it. 1t was fully up to my ex-
pectations," Mr.. Garland said. left West
Salem where my parents live early last
April with a college cEum, Burton Bah
cock. Both of us had 'roughed it. in the
Rockies every summer and we thought we
knew what there was of bad country. We
went from West Salem to Ashcroft, 3. c.,
where QUILTED and prepared to start
overland 1000 miles to the Stikine river,
intending to go to Dake Teslin We took
five horses and all the outfit that our ex-
perience in the mountains had taught us
was necessary. We calculated on finding
an arid country, but instead we Travelled
ut didn't rain for the first few days of
! the 1000 miles, but when it began to come
down it poured steadily. There was no bot
tom to the trail There were streams where
the maps said there were none and no
streams where there should have been. The
country has never been surveyed except by
guess. The rivers were swollen, and 1t was
q constant risk of our lives to cross most
of them. All along those 1000 miles were
men bound, like US, for Lake Teslin Some
were without provisions. One of our five
bronchos died from eating poisonous grass.
The others were sick. We learned of one
man who started out with twenty-five
horses and lost them all.
Nobody knew where we were. II was
impossible to tell from the maps. 1t was
comparatively easy for an experienced
miner to keep the trail, but there were
scores of men who lost it. The trail wasn't
even blazed. The man who was sent out
to survey it got lost. We We're on short
rations for about six days before we reached
Fort Wrangel. We fed some Of the poor
fellows along the trail, but one had to look
out for himself, too, in that country. We
were seventy mine days on the trail, which
we had expected to cover in fifty. FIRE.
1t required from three to five hours to cross
the streams This was where we had ex-
pected to find an arid country We could
see where parties ahead of us had been able
to ford the streams, but they were swollen
by the time reached them, and we had
to chop down trees and get across in that
way.
1.-The Skaguay trail was nothing compared
with it. The whole Skaguay trail is an
that pouring rain and bottonless mud. If
It was bad for us, what must 1t have been
for men who knew nothing about such life?
The flies and other insects made life tor
ture. We had the best protection obtain
able in the way of nets, but there were hum
dredS of men who were without any protec-
ton at all. Those fellows had to live on
groundhogs and anything they could find.
1t was horrible. Over our heads were the
snow peaks, and the glaciers all along the
trail helped make a torrent of every small
stream. 1t isn't much wonder that when
reached the Stikine at Telegraph creek we
were both about tired out. Babcock left
me there. I QUILTED him and started him
into the country. Then / proceeded to Fort
Wrangel. / was just III time for the news
of the Atlin lake excitement and the coun-
try was full of miners. l believe that it is
good mining country, but / don't want
anyone to so there on what / say. / Sc
cured what / think are number of good
claims, and then started back.
Yes, | came over the Chikoot pass, and
in one day. 1t was one of the worst of the
season. 1t was like walking on the tops
of church steeples No one could see where
he was going, the clouds were so thick We
waded through water most of the way, and
finally got through alive. But it was fright
full"
Mr.. Garland has about recovered from the
effects of his journey, as he has had three
weeks in which to rest since landing at
Seattle. But he has had enough of the
Klondike for while