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

Two Watches or nine hours each In
my party Brown and Torrance did the
firing. Conrad and myself attended
to the machinery and Mr.. Bliss look
ed after the culinary department in
great shape. Occasionally he secured |
mess Of currants or cranberries at |
some stopping place and surprised Us
with composition with a long |
French name, but which ueYerthe- |
less made an agreeable change from
our steady diet Of bacon and beans |
and fish
To one who has been accustomed to |
the Mississippi river with its thriving
cities and villages, rich farms and
beautiful wooded slopes, this river
would be a great Disappointment. |
For fifty miles at stretch we would
not see a sign Of house or village
Then a scattered Indian fishing camp
or two would announce the approach
to some mission Here as at Holy
Cross, Mimi, or at AnYik are perhaps
two-score log houses comprising the
mission buildings and winter home OF
the Esquimaux or Indians, but not
more than half dozen such missions
are located on the river. Occasionally
we passed temporary summer camps
Of the Indians on some jutting bar or
headland where their experience had
taught them was good salmon fishing.
Here were erected their drying frames
and sheds and these were loaded down
with the rich red fish for it was the
height of the salmon season Be
tween these scattered camps was a
wild unbrokeu expanse Of mountain
forest and islands with scarce a trace
Of human life. The restless river is
cutting and undermining the islands,
tearing them down in one place only
to build anew at another lower down.
The ice gorges in the spring aid in
the work of destruction as the Scared
and broken trunks along the banks
could testify ] marked one island
where for over a mile every tree had
| been moved down slick and clean,
only the split and twisted stumps,
| fifteen TO twenty inches in diameter
| being left to mark what must have
been heavy growth Of spruces. 1t
was this destroying agency Of the ice
| that aided US so much in getting our
| fuel These broken and splintered
trunks, denuded Of their bark and
stripped of their limbs were piled in
enormous quantities in favorable To-
| calities and wherever we could find
one Of these log jams it lessened our
work very considerably.
After passing Nulato we reached
the mouth Of the Koyukuk river, one
Of the Yukon's largest tributaries
Its length is nearly one thousand
miles, over seven hundred Of which is
nayigable for steamboats,. Here at
| the mouth we found number Of
men waiting to secure transportation
up the river to the gold fields near
| TramWay Bar. At this point we also
got such discouraging reports about
the water at the mouth Of the Tanana
| river that we decided to leave the
| Potlatch and both barges and about
! hal the crew at Koyukuk, the re-
maindcr Of us taking the Tanana
Chief and going on to Weare for our
mail and investigate for ourselves the
stage Of water at the rivers mouth.
| The distance was two hundred and
forty miles. A long ways to 60 to the
postotfice for mail you may think. 1t
took us three and onc-half days to
reach Weare where we secured CON
idcrabic mail but no lettors later
than May IS: three months old. From
the river boat Alice" just returning
from Dawson we obtained the war
news as late as the first Of july but
did not secure a paper giving any par
ticulars
At Wears | met Mr.. Provost, the
Episcopal missionary at st. James.
We were old acquaintance and | en-
ioyed several hours visit with him
talking over old times and men we
both knew He had made two trips
up the Tanana in the winter and
thought our project was quite feasible
if we could get over the bar at the
mouth Of the river. We secured
native Indian and on the following
day had no difficulty under his direc-
ton Of getting up fifteen miles into
good water.
We turned around at this point and
retraced our course making the run
back to the Koyukuk in twenty
hours
The second time we have again
reached Weare with our whole outfit
and tomorrow, the 22nd Of August,
we start up the Tanana river where
we will winter and prospect. AS we
will be off from the regular mail route
our only show Of getting or receiving
mail will be by a private carrier. If
opport unity offers and anything oc-
ours that ] think may prove interest
ing to your readers | will try to COM
municate with you.
We have but five weeks at least I'M
til the rivers will be unsafe to navi- |
gate with our boats. Before that |
time we hope to be three hundred |
miles up the Tanana river and to |
have secured a safe anchorage for our I
boats. Log camps must be built
against the approach Of the cold sea-
son, and plentiful supply of fresh |
meat and fish secured for our winters
use. So during our next month or
two we will likely be busy and have
but little time for letter writing.
FL, CURRIER.
ROOMS For RENT Third door
west of railroad bridge on Cascade
Avenue.
Rev. T. ]. Snodgrass the new Pas
tor Of the Methodist church, has so
yatF