Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1898-12-09
THEY STRUCK 1T RICH
THE FIVE LUCKIEST FELLOWS
IN THE KLONDIKE.
Stories of How They Found Their Big
Fortune-From Poverty to AH1uence-
Back to Seattle Rolling In Money
.sxn saunders and Charlie Anderson.

II he reaches Dawson and lucky II he
Is able to get away alive; luckier II he
reaches the outside world with as much
money as he started with, and a mar
vel Of luck if he reaches the outside
world with more. The five luckiest
men in the Klendike are Charley"
Anderson, Dan" Saunders, Anton
Stander, NSiawash' George Cormack
and Pop" Stanley. Anderson and
Saunders bought their claims for a
song without knowing what was in
them. Cormack got his because an In
dian stopped to pull up his muckluck
(native waterproof boot, and Pop
Stanley and Anton Stander staked
theirs out of 'cussedness" because
they happened to be on the spot, says
an exchange. The discoverer of
French Gulch bench was Billy Deder-
ing, but his claim was worth only $780,
900, while Saunders was worth $780,
600, which only goes to show in an
other way the ruling Importance of
luck in the Klondike. Dedering was
pushing some logs down the hillside
found that he had knocked a nugget
out Of the ground. He dug hole just
where the nugget came out and found
about 10 cents to the pan. So he con-
cluded that the nugget must have had
a tumble before he knocked it out of
the earth. He squinted his prospect
or's eye and looked up the hill, OBJ
served a little dip and said that he
guessed that was good place for gold
to lodge. He washed $187 out of the
first pan on bed rock. When the fact
was known that some kind of discov-
cry on the bench had been made men
went up this hill on the dead run and
it was soon bristling with stakes. One
fellow who had staked a claim about
200 feet from Dedering said the next
day down at the hotel at the Forks that
he would sell out for $50. This was
not surprising, as Dedering would not
let any one pan out of his prospect
hole, and it was bruited, as it always
is, that likely enough the whole thing
was fake to enable Dedering to sell
out his own claim for a few hundred
dollars. In fact, that was the general
opinion about French Gulch bench at
first.
Dan Saunders had overheard the re-
mark of the man who wanted to sell |
out for $50 and took him up. The man
thought that Dan was drunk and had
shown bad judgment, but he pocketed |
the money. Dan" strobe out of the |
hotel and said that he thought he |
would go up and see his new purchase.
During the first day on bed rock he
took out a thousand dollars with a
rocker. The next day he came down
to the Forks to spend that thousand |
and he was not able to do this, though |
whisky was SO cents a drink In fact,
Dan" was in much the same predica-
ment as old "Joe" Juneau, who sold |
out his quartz interests on the south
eastern coast of Alaska for 100000.
I'm blamed If know how I'll ever
get rid of It," said old Joe" He was
worried in this way for at least a week
before he reached Frisco. He is now
in the Klondike as poor as Dan"
Saunders was when Dan" made his
strike.
Dan" had no reason except rumor
to believe that there was anything in
the claim he had bought and he bought
It simply because he was in the humor
to buy anything. His good fortune was
due to pure luck.
Charley" Anderson, who, with his
new interest, is probably worth be-
tween 100000 and $1,000,00 three
years ago was turning MINDLESS at
Circle City. After the big strike on
the -Klondike he came up to Dawson.
Eldorado creek, which is probably the
richest placer creek that the world has
over known, was then unprospected. 1t
had been staked by those who had
,hoice when no claims were left on
Bonanza. BY the miners it was called
| "pup'-which is their word for a
small creek which is supposed to be
II no consequence. Eldorado, with its
.olling hills and narrow valley, was
he most unpromising Of places to find
,old, according to all tradition. Those
Who had staked claims there offered
hem at one time as $50 and 500 and
What made them millionaires was the
act that nobody took them up.
Now, as the story goes, Charley"
Anderson was 'perty full' one night
md the owner of No. 29 on Eldorade,
which was regarded as positively 100
ar up the creek to be Of any value
ven If the other claims were, found
nut that Charley" had some money
nd made up his mind to get it. So he