Connecticut western news., 1898-10-06
IN THE GOLD REGION.

MT Emm ons Writes of the Beauties 0i the Country.-Fish and Bear Stories The "Copper River Rush' Fiuke -Undershirt Used to Calk Boat
 Shortcake, Pot-pie and Dump ling on the Menu.
 Lake Marguerite, Alaska, Aug 9, '98
 MT Editor:
 expected to have been able to send
 you letter by this time of golden treas
 ures pouring into our laps, but in place of that will say we have just located three claims on Tonsinis river about 25
 miles south of our present camp, which
 is our 18th camp since leaving the place
 of our landing. We cannot say what the results will be on these claims; Il
 they will bring us any wealth or not.
 Tonsinia valley is very fine one, full
 of timber mostly fir. the trees being
 about 12 to Is inches in diameter and
 running 60 to 80 feet high as straight as
 an arrow. Many of them are and
 inches in diameter, also just the things
 for masts or any other timber. Nice
 trout brooks are here and there are two
 ponds about or 6 miles long; are on
 the mountains between here and Ton
 sinia river (to the southeast of here)
 where fine large spsckled beauties bite
 the fly as fast as you can pull them out | A okr
 these ponds that is loaded with them.
 Fishing is fine. I never saw anything
 like it or heard of anything that can
 equal it. Three weeks ago, we, that is
 our party of six and two other men that
 travel with us, sailed down the lake to
 Salmon Creek and put up one of our
 tents and we spent week catching sal
 mon for winter use. fitted myself out
 with piece of wire, same as comes
 around baled hay, and put it on heavy
 pole 15 feet long, 2s inches on largo end and II inches on small end. and snared 50 large salmon weighing about 10 lbs each in one hour. Most of my partners used large hook made from inch iron in shape of fish hook at- tached to similar pole. Salmon Creek or river comes into Lake Marguerite from the northeast through tho divide from Tonsinia country about 15 miles down this lake to the left. Up this creek the salmon go in armies, and as the creek is not deep and not more than 6 to 12 feet wide it is quite easy to catch them. In small space of 12 feet square its common to take out 9 of these beauties. Three of us took out 225 in less than two hours, in fact one can pull them in at the rate of one minute until he tires out. The brook is red with them. Charley Abbott hooked big king salmon which was full 6 feet long and to 10 inches in diameter and after tussle in which Charley was yanked through the water for about 50 feet Mir Salmon was landed high and dry. His head was about the size of calfs head.
 These fish stories may look like fish yarns but have only talked mildly. put my wire over big one only to get myself yanked into deep hole and get ting wetting for my insolence. There, King Salmon don't brook any interfer- ence. Fish? We'll I should say so. We havo had baked salmon, fried sal mon, boiled salmon, until we can't bear the sight of them. We have half ton of dried salmon for winter which will come in very handy.
 Lake Marguerite is 35 miles long by 6 miles wide in the shape of 8 horse shoe. Salmon Creek is located ir the toe cork at which place is located our No. 14th camp. The outlet of this lake runs on smoothly for 6 miles where Army Rapids are located. From there on for 35 miles to Copper River the rolls in a boiling mass over large rocks, through rocky channels, around sharp curves and by huge cliffs, making 1t almost impassa ble. Many have gone down safely, but many have lost all their goods, a few their lives. We are not taking these chances. We would rather wait here till it freezes up and go on the ice as we never expected to mine any gold till we reached the head waters of the Copper River and Forty Mile Creek, so we have no req son to be discouraged only we did not expect to run up against these 35 miles of rapids. But it is fact that the majority of the men that came Tn here expected, so they say, to find gold all along these ravines and it is a fact that Copper River rush" is a dead failure.
 Out of four thousand that came in here about the time we landed here April 19, '9S) and one or two months earlier, fully 75 per cent have gone out, with moro to follow. In fact I do not think there will be over 10 per cent that will continue on to the land of gold. As a natural result provisions are cheap Bacon that cost us 13 cts. in San Fran cisco sells here from II to cts. flour from $2 to $5 per hundred, and many are leaving tents and all their stores and jumping the country. It's amusing to watch them. Men will toll and work and get part of the way to the gold fields and some one comes back with a long doleful story Alaska lie) and MT Man shoulders his blankets and hustles over the hills to Valdees to take the steamer home. "He has cold feet" as the saying goes. I did not come in here to run back before see the golden hills.
 Game is plentiful. Ducks, geese, bear, moose, etc. A man lost his hunt ing knife little below us few days ago and as he was looking along through 8 piece of woods for it MT Bear was be- hind tree, and before the man could get away the bear clswed him, taking off his scalp and bringing it down over his nose, dropping him to the ground. The bear then grabbed him, one paw on the