Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-10-12
CONDITIONS IN ALASKA.
Glimpse at the Nati,es Through Mis-
sionarY,s Eyes Gold at Anvil Creek.


dition of the natives. The following ex-
tract deals particularly with a trip on the
Yukon and the famous Anvil Creek:
Tho second morning / was awakened by
the running out of the anchor-chain. and,
Fastening on deck, found tho little ship
glistenng white in the morning sun,
brcasting the long swells that rolled in
from the open sea and Juggling at her an
Choir, a mile out from the shore. Along
the sandy beach stretched the mushroom
mining camp. group of hastily con-
struCted frame buildings like the gray
breast of a sea-gull. in the centre, and
then to the right and left two long lines
of tents, reaching out like white wings
along the coast as far as the eye could see.
The captains gig was alongside, and soon
we were off for an exciting dash through
the breakers; waiting just outside the
foam-lne for a big Comber, the sailors
piled their oars just at the right time,
and we arose upon the billow, went for
ward with a rush and landed high and dry
on the soft sand.
Among the few frame buildings we
found one bearing the inscription "A. e.
Co.." and here ! was made TO feel at nome
with genuine frontier hospitality The
great warehouse was piled full of goods
of almost every description. These are
bartcred to the Indians in exchange Tor
furs, walrus oil and ivory, dried fish, skin
canoes (baidarkas). and, more important
than all else, remarkable light we'll
made boot, called "mutlocks," made from
the skin of the hair-seal This thin,
waterproof and exceedingly comfortable
footwear the native women manufacture
in large quantities. They are commonly
worn by both whites and natives. We
found the store full of Indians and miners,
the latter exchanging their shining gold
dust for beans and bacon" quicksilver
and mining supplies.
There was little time to note these
| things, however, before Captain IL
came to ask If | wished to undertake n
long tramp out to the hills to see for my
self the exact truth concerning the re-
ported richness of the placcrs He warned
me that 1t would be an exceedingly hard
trip, hut | assured him ! was no novice at
that sort of thing and began drawing on
the mutlocks he had kindly provided. AT
10 o'clock We started and for four miles
walked over the tundra, a thick growth OF
soft sponey moss. with ordinary boots
this would have been almost impossible.
but with our light mutlocks we could
jump from tuft to tuft and so keep out OF
the bog-holes. There were five in our
party, two old miners acting as guides.
After reaching the foothills the walking
became better, though the tundra covers
everything. even the hills, except along
the edge of the streams. There are no
trees in this whole region-the landscape
| Is absolutely barren of vegetation other
than the water soaked tundra; building
material and fuel are in consequence very
difficult to obtain. Lumber sells for Slu
per thousand, and coal brings anywhere
/ from SEQ to 500 per ton. The absence oil
mountains is also a unique feature of this
mining district.
| Seven or eight miles back from the town
I Is hill of some prominence. perhaps a
thousand feet above sea level. on the
summit of this hill stands a lone rock
about 40 feet high. which has been worn
by glacial action into a remarkable like
ness to huge anvil: whether seen from
the sea or interior, the striking re-
scmblanCe Is apparent. Skirting this hill
we soon came upon the famous Anvil
Crock, where gold was first discovered last
October The strike" was made by three
Scandinavians who had been employed as
government reindeer herders Winter
closed down soon after these men start
ed their claims, so that no development
work was done until after the GROUND
thawed out, late this spring. When We
therefore reached claim NO below Dis
covery" the method of extracting The
gold from the gravel called "sluicinS,'
had been in operation less than two
months. In that time. despite all sorts o
hindrances and primitive machinery, tn
claim had yielded upwards of 100000
This camp consists of a cook tent
around which are grouped half-dozei
weather. beaten sleeping tents. From on'
of these, hearing our voices. the Eenia
owner of this rich 20-acre claim issued anf
gave us a genuine miners welcome.
have shared the delightful hospitality o.
the South and know something of the
ways of hig-heartcd California; but fo
open handed generosity, give me thu
miner in his mining camp. Invited into
the tent, our astonishcd eyes soon dis
covered a common milk pan heaped full o
shining yellow dust" Not dust" prop
ery. but gpanules Of gold aver
aging about the size of a wheat grain
This" said our host, represents a thre
and one-half days run in the sluiCe boxes
working seven men" There was not fa
from - pounds of gold dust in the pan
which would bring perhaps $1,000 at thu
mint. Eighteen thousand dollars in 4
hours was his best run. 1t was not ia
from the noon hour, and of course W.
were not allowed to continue our journe!
until the cook had done his best to FORTH.
us against the next stage of our tramp
But imagine our surprise when Mr.. l.
took us once more into his tent, poured
out $4,000 in big nuggets and said, Hell
yourselves each to a souvenir, gentlemen.
The five souvenirs" weighed Just s5. W
passed from claim to claim on Anvil
Creek and in good many tents saw won
derful clean ups" standing around in til
cans. bottles and buckskin ''pokes," will
an apparent carclessncss which woul'
have been sheer recklessness anywher
else.
From Anvil Creek we crossed a divid
TO Glacier Creek, and from Glacier =
Snow GulCh thence homeward by the wa,
OF Snake River and Bourbon Creek (sai,
to head in Kentucky Just at midnigh
we dragged our weary feet into the store
Twenty-Five miles Of the toughest kind o
walking had put me in a condition wher
] could appreciate a fairly good bed, bu
looked around the big warehouse in vail
for any such article of furniture. I wa
soon relieved by hearing the captain
CHEEKY voice calling from out the shadows
"Here's the prophets chamber; it's no
what we could wish but you will find TIL
bed not so bad" Nor did |, A great pile o
soft furs make a bed fit for king. Their
We're no symptoms of insomnia that night
IN assure you, and I was soon building
churches in my dreams. with showers o
sparks from n golden anvil with which T.
pay all the bills
In this visit to the Creek diggings W
had seen enough to make 1t evident tina
this is to be very rich district but on
visit the next day to the beach digging
revealed the peculiar feature of this mar
Velous camp-a feature which must 500
command wide attention. Three week
before my visit to Anvil City, 1t was dis
covered that the very sand of the beacl
contained gold in largo quantities As tn
United States government reserves co fee
above tide on all shores the local Unite
States commissioner held that the beac
could not he controlled by private parties
u, IL,