The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1898-02-04


miner runs drifts" out laterally under
the ''black muck" which covers the pay
gravel by the same process of firing,
carefully observing in his operations to
keep the two kinds of dirt separate as it
is sent to the surface in buckets. The
fact of the ground being so solidly frozen
is not altogether drawback, as it obvi-
ates the necessity of timbering the shafts
and drifts to prevent caving. The aver
age amount of dirt two men can get out
is from Is to 3vO buckets day. As to
the richness of the "dirt'' MIR. DeLorge
says one bucket he dug had about SoVo
worth of gold in it, but ofcourse all were
not like that.
The pay dirt is piled away in a heap
and in the spring when the snow melts,
water is run through sluice boxes and
the dirt shoveled in and washed away
leaving the gold in the sluice box.
The gold is found in nuggets from twice
the size of walnut down to kernels
smaller than wheat. 1t does not come
in the flake dust" like the placer dig
gings in other parts. The gold is quite
pure and runs about $16.5u to the ounce,
though it passes in Alaska as currency"
at $l7 per ounce.
Dawson City has about 15oO residents.
The houses are nearly all of logs, under
the floors they are filled in for foot or
more with sawdust, on account of cold
and dampness of the ground. Theroofs
are moss and dirt. There are two church,
es Catholic and Episcopal. There are
six or. more large gambling houses and
many saloons. The gambling tables are
crowded at all times, and immense sums
of money staked by the miners and most
ly lost. There are about g. or ~ mar
ried men who have their wives with them,
and the different trades and merchants
are we'll represented. Three sawmills
are running and cannot supply the de-
mand for lumber. There is good sup
ply of spruce. birch and other timber
which grows to fair size. The trip from
Juneau to Dawson in summer is largely
by water. The head waters of the Yu-
kon River are but "a miles in direct
line from the ocean near Juneau. The
first part of the trip is by boat from Ju-
neau to Skagway or Dyea, 70 miles on
the ocean; then up an incline to the
Summit" Here is a steep ridge of l %
feet, rough and impossible for horses in
summer but covered with snow in the
winter, over which horses can be taken
by making steps in the snow. After cross
ing these and getting to Lake Bennett,
30 miles in a straight line from the ocean,
boats or RATS float to Fort Yukon with
but little difficulty to the experienced
voyager. Prices in Dawson are practi-
cally from one dollar to dollar and a
half a pound for almost everything; that
is, the cost of the goods in Seattle, plus
the cost of getting it to Dawson, and that
is about a dollar pound. In fact the
prices Of almost everything can be got
ten at by figuring mems wages at SIS a
day. A team is 500 day, lumber $15
thousand, wood $40 to $50 cord, hay
$50 ton. Mr.. DeLorge thinks Dawson
City better supplied with food this sea-
son according to population, than last
season and fears no shortage.
The Yukon river breaks up about May
22nd, but like our own Red river breaks
up at the head waters FIRST with about 80
days difference. This will give those
who go via the Dyea route some advan-
tage over those who go by boat around
by the river. Coming out with his dog
train, Mr.. DeLorge left Dawson Dec. 7th
and came through to "salt water" in
twenty days. He thinks he can go back
the same route in sixteen days. Mr.. De-
Lorge left Thursday for Seattle where
he has an outfit waiting for him. He
will be accompanied by his wife, and son
Willie who is now seventeen years old.
The climate is cold; the Thermometer
goes pretty low in the winter, but the
fact that men can and do work all winter,
and undertake long journeys and sleep
out doors with only tents or furs for
shelter, shows that it is possible to bear
it. The days in winter are very short,
only few hours of sunlight, but in mid
summer there is scarcely any night and
hundred miles north of Dawson the sun
for several days does not go below the
horizon. Even in summer however, it is
still cool. Rain on the coast is very fire.
quent; over the mountains in the interior
it is most unknown.
In SO large country, ofcourse. the soil
varies considerably. In the Klondike
region the soil of the valleys is black
alluvial deposit with gravel and rock be-
low. This soil is generally covered with
a heavy growth of moss and nothing else
will grow on it. However, there is in
places considerable grass growing, Of
which ''red top" two or three feet high is
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