Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1898-07-21
Thomas PeIkey.

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Among the many remarkable men of
a remarkable country, is Thos Pelkey
Yet on the sunny side of fifty, Mr.
| Pelkey's well thatched and well shaped
! head shows a few threads of silver,
caused, as he says, by getting up early
! i'll the morning to go to church. He is
a never-tiring traveller and many man
! of half his age has been glad to see the
! sun go down when on the trail with
| him. His last trip over the ice from
Dawson to Dyea was accomplished in
! nineteen days, which is only one day
| behind the record. He was born in st.
| Alma, Canada, where he spent his early
life. During the succeeding ten years
he resided in the United States and dur
| ing which time he visited every state in
the Union. His home for many years
has been at Williamsport, Pa, where he
was engaged in the hotel business. He
is a splendid caterer, a connoisseur in
wines and an epicure at the table. Dur
he has owned and managed some of the
| leading hostelries in the State of Penn
sylvania, among which may be men.
toned the Arcade in Williamsport, the
Cottage Hotel, at Emporium, and the
Club House Hotel at Penn Van, N. Y.
Some four years ago, having sold out
in the hotel business, Mr.. Pelkey heard
of the tales of gold in far away Alaska,
and being man who follows his first
| impulses, started at once for the far
north. In the month of May, when
the mosquitoes are just commencing to
crawl from the moss, a boat containing
Mr.. Pelkey foated down the Yukon
River and was finally tied to the bank
at Forty Mile Post. Here he located
on No. IS Glacier creek, put force Of
men to work and took out several
| thousand dollars. In the fall, 1895, re-
turned to Pennsylvania for the winter,
, and in March, 1896, returned to Forty
Mile. Here he met George Carmack
| early in the month of August and
| learned of the discoveries Of gold on
Bonanza. With characteristic prompt
ness he set out for the new gold fields
and succeeded in distancing the rush
! ing crowd and staked No. al above
Discovery. 1t was no trouble to find
the pay on No. Al, and from the first
| hole sunk in the auriferous gravel, he
took as high as $6S.0 from single
pan. Seven weeks of drifting and
sinking yielded $23, ,648.OO, the result
of two mems work. He next bought a
fraction of 131 feet on Eldorado, which
is known as No. GA" On this piece
of ground, from hole SxS feet square,
to bed rock, he took out $4,000, some
pans going as high as $500, on this
unusually rich fraction, the pay streak
has been located for over 100 feet from
to feet deep, and extending from
bank to bank a distance of 300 feet.
Mr.. Pelkey also owns claims Nos. 2
and on Lucky Fork of All Gold creek.
All Gold is one of the coming creeks
by the way. 1t drains large territory
and heads in the Dome mountains
much the same as Hunker creek.
Claims on All Gold are ranked as gilt
edge in the Dawson mining market.
Mr.. Pelley's first location on No. Al
Bonanza will bring him more wealth
than all the others. The pay streak
has been cross cut and found to be 120
feet wide and from to feet deep. At
the present writing a force of twenty
men are kept busy drifting on a strip
forty feet wide and the entire length
of the claim. This will be just one
third Of the claim and will be worked
out this year. This strip will yield in
good Bonanza gold $500, 900 Samples
of it left at the Mint show it to be
worth over SIT per ounce. 1t will take
two more years to work the claim over
once and it will enrich it's owner to the
tune of one million dollars Pans yield
ing $50 are not uncommon, and from
one bucket OF dirt there has been
washed over 5000.
Mr.. Pelkey is now in the United
States for rest and recreation, and will
return in August. Mr.. Alfred Pelkey,
his son, is in charge Of the property
during his fathers absence. Young
Pelkey has been in the Klondike
country two years and owns several
promising claims. The Pelkeys -
father and son-will spend one more
. Wi, in 70 wit
return to Pennsylvania to take up
their permanent residence.
The "shoo-fiy" took a jolly crowd to
5izerville, Tuesday afternoon, where a
picnic was held in honor of Mrs. j. S.
-. 4. J