River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1898-09-22
Letter From Alaska

Ell. IftttT RUS J0nfpd{:--
Dear Sir.-When | wrote you last
we were on the point Of leaving St.
Michael's for the mouth Of the Yukon,
there to begin the long river trip for
ourselves. Thus far we had been
transported BY vessels belonging to
the Boston and Alaska Transports
tion Co. and our long delay at In
| alaska had been caused by their in
ability to fulfil their contract
ST. Michaeps Bay was alive with
shipping as the Coy. Pingree' swung
out in a long graceful curve past Egg
| Island and took her course directly
out to sea in order to reach the chan
mel between Stewart and ST. Michaeis
Islands. From here we headed di-
rect for Point ROmanof, distant y
miles in a south-easterly direction
Pastel Bay, Immediately beyond, is
the dread of all the steamboat men.
Here it is said that a person can wade
for fifty miles out at sea without get
ting beyond his depth The Pingree
| drew but three feet Of water, but half
a dozen times we were aground and
the prospects OF reaching the mouth
Of the river looked rather dubious,
especially as the breeze began to
| freshen and an Ominous ground swell
came in from the ocean For two
hours the captain swept the dist
ant shore with his glasses before he
| discovered the EsquimauX pilot we
| were expecting. lie came padding
out in his skin bidarki and readily
| agreed to guide us into the mouth for
the moderate sum Of six dollars. In
and out. back and forth he took us
each turn bringing US nearer the
shore until at last he announced
"Yukon mouth" and demanded his
money. 4 couple of low, swampy
| islands, their grass covered surface
| just above the water, was all there
was to indicate land, but pointing to
the narrow ribbon-like opening be
tween them which led away south
ward he assured US this was the
Aphoon mouth and our course lay in
that direction.
Our contracts called for delivery Of
our freight within the mouth Of the
river. | had remembered Kutlik, a
small Indian village up about five
miles, as desirable spot to disembark
but unfortunately when a mile below
that place the Pingree ran hard and
fast on a sand bar and it was decided
to unload the freight on a low grassy
bank close by. The place was low anC
swampy and bred myriads Of mos
quitos, but as these pests were every
where we knew that we had to sub
nit to the inevitable.
Two days were spent in unloading
: freight and four more in putting the
! finishing touches to the Potlatch and
getting ready to start up the river.
| believe | mentioned that The
, party, twelve ia mum Der, who owned
: the "Tanana Chief, were to accom-.
pany US, accordingly on the 18th Of
July we said goodbye to our friends
who were still busy with their boats
and started on our long pull for the
Tanana River, nine hundred miles
away.
The two steamboats, were dashed
alongside so that our side doors open
cd opposite each other and our barges
were likewise fastened together and
pushed ahead Of the double boat.
For fuel we had several days supply
Of coal which we hoped would carry
US far enough to reach good timbe
AS far as the eye could see, in all di-
recttons was the same dreary eXpanse
Of turbid water and low islands and
mud fats. Back and forth, now east,
now west, now north, then south for
three long nonotonous days before we
reached the hills at Andrewefski,
one hundred and twenty miles from
the mouth The islands which at
| first we're covered only with swamp
grass, soon were fringed with willows
and alders then Balm-of-Gilead, and
| cottonwood made their appearance,
but it was not until we reached
Andrewefski that we saw any birch or
| spruce, and these were not plentiful
until Anvik, two hundred miles
farther away was reached.
As soon as our supply of coal was
| exhausted the fuel question became a
most serious one. Nothing but drift
wood for a long time was available
and this made most unsatisfactory
fuel. 1t was wet and soggy, hard to
cut aud worse to split, and almost
impossible to burn it after it was Sc
cured. The EsQuimaux scattered
along the lower river derive their main
subsistence from the sale of this wood
| to steam boats. The standard price
| on the lower river is ten dollars per
cord or two sacks Of flour. Even at
this price wood is hard to get for the
| large number Of steamboats, consume
enormous quantities, some Of them
like the 'P B. Weare, = using twenty
four cords daily. The Esquimaux
rarely, if ever, cuts more than one
cord at a time and we fancied that
when we purchased pile that the
owner seemed disappointed, for had
we refused it, as we sometimes did, he
would not be under the necessity Of
working until the next boat had re-
lieved him Of his property.
This mighty river, larger than the
| Mississippi, muddier than the Miss
ouri and containing more Islands
than the ST. Lawrence formerly dis
charged its waters into the Arctic
Ocean, holding a nearly northerly
course from Fort Yukon; but since
some convulsion Of nature threw up
the sandstone and conglomerate range
which masks its northern bank, its
waters surge and fret against the
headiands, as If impatient at the
barrier which turns them in the new
direction. If some more prominent
crag turns the course Of the river in
to the low alluyial lands on its south
ern banks it only returns with in
creased violence to hurI itself against
the next protruding point Some Of
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