Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-10-01
Lies in an UNEMPLOYED Country and
Has Good Climate.
YUKON TRAVEL MAY SOON BE RAPID
Railroad viii Do Away With the
Horrors of ChiIkoot Pass.
AN IDEAL MINING LAND
Special Correspondence of The Evening star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening star
sKAGWAY. September Is. 1898.
The course Of Yukon travel appears to
be shifting. The source of this great river,
and hot its mouth. seems likely soon TO be
the principal port of entry. Bennett lake
Tagtsh nd Atlin are all connected and
form one irregular body of water much
II ore extensive than any printed map
shows These lakes spread among the
n ouutaiTs like giant hands. They lay hold
OF ores # creeks and touch the most
promising gold fields. Once on this series
Of lakes. the prospector has in command
tn whole upper valley of the Yukon.
Far->eeiug this. the Pacific and Arctic
II iIway is chiseling and blasting its de-
ielnined way over the grim, blood-stained
White Pass and On down to the head of
the Windy Arm of Tagish lake y few
months more ana travel to the Yukon will
be easy and rapid and a new town Will rise
at rh- railways end. The land boomer
viii have another chance This the Ben
L=tt City people clearly perceive, and all
building there is inDarTranent because Of
this f"siing. 1t Is still a town of shanties,
L MS and boats.
1t is. uotwitnstan ling. a busy place.
Down OVER The cruel rocks trains of heaV-
lily laden pack animals crawl 20 discharge
their freight. Boats of all sorts are con-
st&uty building on the beach. Steam
boats If the size of mud turtles toot to and
fro, ana prOspectors of all ages and condi-
lions hustle about Even while the steam
boats are in motion carpenters on board
60 On cleaning and hammering uninter-
rupt-,lly. Soon 1t will be easy and cheap
u Tide 10 any part of the new diggings.
How the Hush Began.
The spring rush to Bennett had fallen off
to a quiet and sleepy trade when. one Au-
gust morning, the news of a strike near by
filed the town again with floods of gold
seekers from Juneau, Skagway and Dyea
The cause was simple Placer gold had
been discovered on the shore of Atlin lake
less than fifty miles away.
As early as 1892 a man by the name of
Miller had discovered good coiors on an
unknown stream running into Atlin lake
from the southeast He returned to Juneau
after making q visit to the lower Yukon.
but did nothing further with the Atlin
prospect except to talk about it to his
friends. In u number OF Instances he drew
rough diagrams Of the country as he re-
meTnbere4 it. ana allowed them to remain
IN the hands Of mis- friends
Early in the present year a party Of
young men came into possession Of one of
these maps and set forth in the determina-
ZION To lind the creek and the placer. They
crossed Atlin lake and began to prospect
the stream. which Is now called Pine creek
As they made their way up the valley they
cam" UI". Miller at work After some
: years % FlNSr ventures ne mad returned to
his carly discovery ana was busiiy siuicing
He believed himself to be in the Northwest
territory. and 10 avoid ROYALTY and for
oCher reasons had kept his mining quiet.
Inc newcomers readily agreed to be silent
dIs". and they too set to work. After some
weeks. however. ii was considered safer
70 record, and man was sent 10 Tagish
House for that purpose.
The Motley Crowd of Prospectors.
Major Strickland. the commissioner of the
upper Yukon. also believed the mines to be
in the Northwest Territory and made rec
ORD Of the claims. He afterward visited
Pine creek. and the claimants staked in
accordance with Northwest Territory laws
reserying ten claims for the queen and
Claiming - feet each. When this visit of
Major Strickland became known runors of
Miller : rich mine began to sift about. Soon
the facts of his location became known and
the rush began from Bennett STAIRWAY ana
ether towns down the coast. The news
moved out Serially like circles on the wa
ter. The crowds of men which this wave
touched melted away from the street cor
ners like heaps of sand On the beach In
parties Of threes and tours they hit the
trail and in couple of days these near
by towns Were weii-nigh empty of men.
Baroers. merchants. mechanics. profession
al men-every man who could get away
pulled out for the gold fields or sent some
one TO represent him. The hands on the
steamboats, leaped ashore The railway
every trail these two-legged beasts of bur
Gen poured as If some vast plague of
strange beetles had set in from the coast.
Some went in with ten days provisions
some with more. but the larger part of
these 'tender-foot miners went with
cigarettes and n sandwich" They covered
the hiHsides of Bennett lake with tents;
they set rude masts in frail boats and at
the risk of life crowded into clumsy barges.
while others sought short cuts across the
glaciers and over unexpiored sNamps.
Every conceivable folly was manifested.
Scarcely one man in ten of all this host
could properly pan a shovelfu1 of dirt and
not few Of them were the ne'r-do-wells
Of the country.
The experienced man was in less haste.
He took three months grub. together with
proper tools and clothing, and went in for
careful study of the country. Bennett
lake was the shipping point for most Of
these msn who had Drecaution and means
enough to properly provide for themselves.
Many Of the hasty-nudding prospectors,
however. tried other ways and met with
disaster More than two hundred who tried
the overland trail failed to cross the stern
barriers II ice and granite which lie be
tween the coast and the head Of Attn
water and were forced to return ragged
snOwhiind. iank and detected
Location Of the New Fields.
The strike was il region little known
70 the boat men of the lakes Pine creek
lies far east Of the Yukon travel No one
knew how extensive Tagish water was. and
Attn lay In a still more completely uncx-
plUred region to the east. Toward this land
the mob cheerily voyaged. mainly by small
boats from Bennett After packing over
the fOrty-four miles of trail four or FIVE of
these weary and footsore adventures
would spread sail in a boat and go swoop.
ing down the long. sparkling. pea-green
drift OF the lake. their caps exu1tantly In
the air
But when Tagish water was reached the
songs lost sc me thing OF their resonant ma
lor The wind forever roars down Tagish
lake and its Windy Arm. as 1t does through
the granite groove in which lies Bennett
iake. There was no more sailing: then
work began 1t was an inch-by Inch strug-