Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-10-13
Madison. Oct. 10

Capt and Mrs. James Bennett are
in receipt of a number of letters from
their daughter, Mrs Mae Bennett Ed
gren, and her husband, Jesse l.. Ed
gren, from Dawson City, at the june
ton of the Yukon and Klondyke
rivers in Alaska. The letters are of
more than ordinary interest and parts
of them are subjoined Mrs. Edgren
writes under date of Aug. 20 as fol-
lows:
Ugh! its cold in Dawson this morn
ing. | can no longer look from my
window across the swift flowing lu-
kon at the green hills beyond. They
are red and yellow with the scar
leaves of autumn, There's frost in the
air, and few weeks, about the time
you receive this will see the snow
flakes falling. Then will we be a COM
munity apart from the rest of the
world
We've had bad news We hear the
United States has the exclusive mail
to the Yukon This VIII mean, prob
ably, no mail for us this winter. But
let us hope for the best Don't stop
writing, for 1t may be, that mail will
be brought over the ice, as in the
Canadian system.
II am going to tell YOU a true bear
story Cinnamon, Silver-Tips and
Rocky Mt bears are plentiful here.
Sometimes they appear on the hills
overlooking Dawson. Upon bunker
Creek, about forty miles from here,
live five miners in tent, on their
claim Three OF them went hunting,
leaving two at camp, and taking all
the firearms. The men in camp were
aroused one morning by something
lifting the Zap of their tent. Think
ing il was dog, one man yelled out,
Mushon,' and went to the door to
throw a stick There stood a great
big Silver-Tip, one of the most savage
kind OF bear, They had no weapons
if they climbed a tree the bear would
come too. Something had to be done
quickly and one man hit on scheme
He grabbed up the sugar sack and
threw handful at the bear. Mr. Sill
yer-Tip licked 1t up greedily. The
other man sliced an axe and crept up
behind him. His partner kept feeding
the sugar out until he got near enough,
and then he chopped his head off Not
way of, but broke his neck
Another man over on DoI nion
Creek was not SO fortunate 1e was
walking through the woods, his rifle
on his shoulder, and suddenly came
upon big Silyer-Tip He shot at him
four times. but didn't kill him, and the
bear Rugged him to death, then fell
dead beside the man, all in sight Of the
mans partner, who couldn't get there
in time.
THE left fork of the Klondyke has
never been prospected, for every miner
that has gone up there has never re-
turned savage tribe of Indians live
there. They used TO make war on the
Indians who live here. untfl they ex-
terminated these Indians, and none
lived within twenty miles OF Dawson,
until Dawson was built up. Now,
however, under protection OF the
whites, a thriving Indian city has
sprung up a mile down the Yukon,
about three-quarters OF a mile from
our house over the hill. The trail
leads by our cabin and or pleasant
days We see many Indian girls and
women bringing moccasins and beaded
pockets and furs over to trade"
In letter dated Sept. II. Mr. Ed
gren writes. among other things, as
follows:
Up on the mountain, Glacier Hin,
the wind is bowling and screeching.
Black, rolling clouds are tossing
above. Stll, in our little cabin we
are warm and happy az If we were
sitting on a sofa in the parlor at
home, except that all Of those that we.
love are not with us, In front OF me
on the top Of the cupboard shelves
can see the following canned goods:
Tomatoes, cabbage, corn, oysters
the beefsteak and onions are an gone,
bur there is plenty down town.
We have some buchwheat now from
which we make "skookum' pancakes
We are also the proud possc5sors Of
broom ana a red table-cloth After
living in tent for 50 long. q cabin
seems like a palace We arc getting
along very nicely. Our rich claim IS
still somewhere in the future, but is
sure 10 come. A gold mine IL not
the only way Of making money here,
however.
Winter VIII soon be here. Instead
OF dreading It's approach, every one is /
looking forward 10 It with longing. /
II means work for hundreds Of idle 4
men the dog-teams, will be 'mushing .
on. You see the mines are 80 far 1
from Dawson that It Is such a hard 4
matter 70 get provisions to them in
the summer time, so allrtbe grub is
taken out with dog-teams In winter.
Then all the mines are running in full
blast and most everyone has money.
/ he labOrers In the mines receive
from $40 70 SIS a day II IS very hard
work, however, and they well earn
their money. By far the most profit
able work outside Of the fellow who
tas a rich mine Is the income OF a dog