Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-07-27
IA
BAND
OF
FOOLS"

cept Akers, who stayed behind TO keep
burnett straight. We made Discovery
liam fifteen miles M the creek by 6
P. m. on the goth. They told us that
ny weight the best pans We're only X.
10 = cents and we ourselves could only
ger nine colors per pan and that from
scraplngs off the. exposed bedrock on
the bank of the creek. The next morn-
ing we put blankets and grub on our
backs and prospected some ten or
Twelve miles further up the creek and
climbed mountain peak in the forks
on the second day. The view showed
nothing but mountain peaks and the
valley of Clear Creek. The blueberries
and cranberries above the timber line
81 this mountain We're the finest /
have ever seen. Evidences of recent
occupation by bears and clks were ev-
,efvwhere to be seen. Hiatt shot Il
large bear about week or ten DAYS
later near this peak. Wegmet the XII
scr camp as we were returning from
This this peak, and slept that night on a
sand bar. The next morning, Sept Il,
sWe arrived at Discovery Claim at / /
a. M. and filed our claims and the next
moinihg we started for our own camp.
The mosquitoes were not SO bad at this
tIirc because it fro2e ice on still water
EVERY night and rained half the day
time. The ride down the creek was
Very exciting. 1t is very winding. and
consists of a succession of pools and
rapids and the rapids are generally on
curves. just imagine man standing
in each end ofs'a polling boat. pole in
hand. trying to keep it in the stream,
and avoid overhanging trees, rocks,
drift and perpendicular banks. Our
boat was twenty-five feet on top by
twenty-five feet on bottom. Beam was
four feet on top by fourteen inches
on bottom. 1t was clinker built and
sixteen perpendicular height at cen,
Ter. Miles Canyon and White Horse
Rapids weren't in it. The water was
clear as a crystal. The pools full of
greyling and speclsled trout. You could
see them dart around the boat by doz-
ems. When we came up the creek the
stencil from dead salmon lying on the
gravel bars was nearly unbearable. We
actually counted twenty-five on one
little bar not over sixty feet in length.
It was not so bad and they We're nearly
all gone when we came down. 1t rain
ed steady all the time and we stopped
at noon near the mouth and camped
in Boyer Bros tent. They We're on a
trip down to the Koyuliuk and we had
no tent with us and one does not rel
ish sleeping in wet clothes when he
can have dry ones. Here we met Parks
and Iwogood, who had come down the
river -and We're engaged in bringing
their goods up into the creek. Two
good and ! caught five greetings with
flies. While fishing ,Twogood surpris-
ed a flock of cartridges and shot a
duck coming down the creek SO we had
a pretty good supper. The next morn
ing we started up river for our first
cache and arrived at p. IN. We had
fine view of Clear Creek mountains
from point on the river, and what
was so green and brilliant the dav we
were up there was now covered with
the beautiful snow. We asked each
other what we had done with our sum
mer's wages. but the only answer was
the gurgling ofthe river as it went by.
Stop on Clear Creek.
1t froze hard that night. We started
early the next morning with heavy
load and made our upper cache al
$780, The leaves had turned quite vel.
low by this time and some were fall.
ing. Nature whispered ''The melan
choly days are come" Buck and j
went back the next morning for the
last load of goods, and Akers and Me
Gregor took a load up stream. In the
meanwhile. the San Francisco GROVE
We're building cabins about fifteer
| miles above our present quarters ant
| we began to think that cabin nigh
be a pleasant thing to possess. 4
rainy spell set in and the river rose
steadily until it had risen five feet il
all. Nearly all the bars were covered
LIT came within foot of our tent ant
within an inch of our cache. 1t wa.
impossible to pole against the current
| 1t rushed by carrying whole trees TORI
lnp by the roots and emitted n sount
at places as though it was boiling
guess it was. It froze hard nights
On the night of the 10Th the watel
commenced to fall rapidly. and on til,
morning of the 18th we broke cam
| aud took everything and slept tina
night in one Of the San Francisco cab
ms. The next forenoon we pitche,
our tent. selected our cabin site ant
cut our first log for same. In the af
rernoon we attended the funeral o
Fred Alton. of Alameda, Cal. who ha,
4 died the day before from cold con
tracted iIs coming up the Yukon. Oh
(; the 14th we got all of Or belonging
10 the cabin site and the next da.
commenced our cabin which we finish
4 ed aud moved into on the 25th. 1t wa
the largest in camp. 14N1s feet inside
had the bark peeled off the inside TO
light, and board floor and was chink
ed with moss. 1t has proved TIL
warmest mansion" ever spent win
i Ter in. On the 10th the three Sa,
Francisco scouts came down the rive
and reported that if they had foun
\ any gold it was in certain basin OF
I the right fork. On the 10Th Buck an
five others took two loads of provision
with the intention of caching them a
\ the mouth of the creek that ran on
of this basin. Then parties could g
4 up as soon as the river froze up with
out haulin" so much on sled an
prospect. 1t was freezing nights an
] the poles and ropes We're covered wit
j ice and were hard and rough and stii
to handle. In the morning they ha
4 to. break thin ice with their poles b.
4 fore they conld proceed They &c
!, afraid of being frozen in and cache
about ten miles this side of The creel
l ! Al, n