Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-17
BURIED BENEATH A MASS OF
SNOW.

A dispatch to the Cincinnati Enquirer
from CHATTANOOGA, Tenn, under date of
January 20. at the time of its publication
fell under the eye of August b. Gorbach
of 1406 Elm street, who was familiar with
the details of the murder in the Klondike
narrated in it, and he is now endeavoring
through friends in the gold region, to
secure further information that will be
of value to the relatives and friends of
the victims from the southern city.
Shortly before his return from the Klon-
dixie, some months ago, he learned of an
attack made on and probable murder of
the entire crew of the Jessie in Alaskan
waters by a band of Indians, Robert p.
trierson of Chattanooga being among
those on the vessel who are believed to
have been murdered Gorbach, while
endeavoring to learn the fate of the crew,
received considerable information regard
ing the Indians suspected of the crime,
and was present when four of them were
arrested on another murder charge and
brought to Dawson City. While they
We're awaiting trial he had several
talks with them, and a number of their
statements, which he did not attach much
value to at the time, he thinks now would
be of interest to Frierson'S relatives in
Chattanooga. These statements We're in
the nature OF denials of having murdered
gold hunters and rather flimSy eXplana-
tons of how they came into possession of
y ~ NNAss 4 olu IA lhol WHY
found on their persons and in their huts.
The owners of many of these articles
never appeared to claim them, and Cor
bach believes that they were murdered,
and that it is more than a possibility that
they were members of the crew of the
Jessie.
The jewels that have not been claimed
are still in the hands of the Dawson City
police, and may lead to a knowledge of
the fate of Frierson and his companions.
TT lint VIZ rnpiCfnrpJ pln tina
names of Frank, Allor. Yapur and Lur-
cul, after a second trial and interference
IN their behalf by the Canadian parlia-
ment at ottawa, have been sentenced to
be hanged on March next.
The story of the aptur of these four
bad" Indians, as told by Gorbach to an
Enquirer reporter yesterday, is quite in
teresting. One morning in May. 1898, the
mounted police, under command of Cap
tains McAlpin and Richardson, stationed
at Taguish post, were notified that two
gold seekers had been attacked by Indians
at the mouth of the McClintock river
and one of them killed and the other
wounded. The officers Immediately picked
out Is men from their and set
out for the scene of the murder. They
had to travel a mountainous country and
divided into small parties. Finally one
of these parties, which had gone off in a
direction opposite to that taken by most
of the others, noticed while beating about
IL u uelSe uIIutIS TOWlH lHdl CoNcIcu III
side of a hill, a thin column of smoke as
%cending from a gulch that lay almost
at their feet. The men then came to
a standstill, and one Of their number
crept on his hands and knees to the edge
of the abyss and, after a few minutes alb
sence, reported that eight or nine Indians
We're gathered about a camp fire built
in the bed of a stream that had dried up,
and that several of them were buslly en-
, gagged in cooking the midday meal. He
said hat it was about ~ feet from the
; top to the bottom of the gulch, and that
;, on the edge nearest to them rested a huge
snow bank that sloped sharply upward
:, from the brink of the chasm and looked
as if it might be launched into the abyss
by the slightest touch. The Indians, he
said, We're evidently suspicious of their
surrounds, as they had their rifles
stacked within an arms length of the fire.
I AS the party only numbered four or five
men there was some hesitation about at
i, lacking thu indians. Then again it was
| more than probable that such an attack
would be unjustifiable, as there was no
evidence pointing to these Indians beng
; implicated in the murder of the gold
= hunter. However, they determined to eff
= feet their capture. 1t was resolved to
j, loosen the mass of snow and push 1t over
= the edge of the chasm onto the heads of
the Indians below. They tethered their
= horses and cautiously advanced toward
the Su!Cn. AS lIey went loIWdIu ne
man who had suggested the plan gave it
as his opinion that the Indians would not
be injured by the miniature avalanche to
be precipitated on them, and would be
so completely taken by surprise by the
unlooked-for downfall of snow that their
|, capture could be easily effected. Arrived
:. near the edge of the gulCh the officers set
to work with the stocks of their rifles.
. Repeated thawings and freezlngs had
made it tolerably solid, SO that only a few
; minutes elapsed before the men had their
weapons thrust so far under it as to give
them sufficient leverage to start the I'M
wieldy mass on it's swift journey below.
= A last look at the Indians disclosed them
sauatted about the campfire greedily de-
vouring Chunks of meat taken from the
srits and apparently oblivious of every
r thing else but the feast before them. A
: dog, gaunt and hungry looking, with
(. sharp pointed ears erect. stood near the
: group snuffing the air suspiciously. A
4. breath of air sweeping over the officers
r toward the animal and the game would
be up, for its sharp bark of warning
would alarm the feasting aborOgines. 1t
was a critical moment. The men ex-
changed glances, bent over and grasped
the gun-barrels, suddenly rose to an erect
position and the huge mass of snow NOV
ed swiftly over the edge of the gulch and
floated out over the chasm like a great
white bird. 1t descended with lightning
rapidity and buried the Indians several
feet deep beneath it's voluminous folds
y The officers leaped into the gulch and as
Y, each Indian was dragged out of the snow
% his ankles and hands were bound witt
leather thongs. The gang was taken tC
Taguish Fort, where Jas. Woods, who
had been shot in the right arm at Nc
Clintock river, and with great difficulty
n managed to escape with his life, had ar
l. rived some hours before. He picked on