Mohave County miner., 1899-07-22

Is the dlHerent tranSf1guratlOnS or the
aurora borealis while undergoing the
different changes; there is great
blending of the various hues of the
rainbow which is simply grand.
The natives are peaceable and quite
intelligent, the most of them living in
log houses the same as whites and they
dress in white mems clothing, and are
pretty clean. Many of the young bucks
act As pilots of river steamers; most
of them can talk English pretty well
and are crazy on dancing. John Mi
nook is chief of those in this vicinity
and thinks he is something like George
Washington. They are easy going and
will do most anything to get whisky
or 'hootch,' which is homemade sour
mash, made out of corn and molasses,
and few rubber boots, etc. | have
never had an opportunity to sample
any of it, but imagine it is pretty
strong stuff from the effects it pro-
duces.
The Indians at the mouth of the
Yukon are the most dirty and degrad-
ed l have ever seen. They are all well
adapted to hunting and fishing. In
summer they catch large quantities Of
silver and dog salmon which they
hang up ON racks out of reach of dogs
to dry and in the winter they will hook
up three or four dog teams and start
up on the ice of some large creek or
river into the interior ON moose or
cariboo hunt. When they strike a
trail, which sometimes consists of 20
to 100 head, they take along dry fish
or two and guns and put on their snow
shoes and chase them down. The
moose and cariboo generally feed and
browse along slowly, and when the In
dians find them, they surround and
all of them; then they break trail to
the field of slaughter and load up their
teams and start for town. What is left
they hang up in trees, out of reach of
wolves, and make return trip. They
sell their meat at from Scots to ls per
pound. This looks like good busi-
ness, but generally it is worth nearly
all that to get the meat in. A moose
hide is worth about 20s; they are very
useful for moccasins, which are worn
universally by the natives, as we'll "a
whites, in this country, in winter, as
any other footwear would freeze your
feet, and buckskin moccasins wear out
too quick. Rubber boots are footwear
for summer.
There was a com pany of soldiers
sent to this place last fall on about the
last boat up the Yukon, and martial
law prevails over miners law, and they
have been very good acquisition to
the community in general, in several
ways. Some who came to this country
without enough provisions have been
aided by them and they have hospital
which is free. Difficulties arising over
mining claims are sometimes appealed
from various districts to the com
mandant, Lieut.. Bell.
1t appears that, heretofore, anyone
that took up claim for placer mining,
whether all American or foreigner,
was sustained in holding it, but now
they have chance to study the United
States laws a little in that respect.
Taking up free board with Uncle Sam
and quarters in the guard house with
little manual labor in cutting wood
daily for the quarters making some OF
these pioneer squaw men and hootch
makers little more considerate In
their actions.
At present the weather is very calm
and the snow Is melting fast, and al
most all the inhabitants of Rampant
who have been out in different direc'
tions are returning with solemn look
of disappointment on their counter
ances. After working continuously al
winter with great hopes and expecta
tions of realizing something out Of
their efforts,--if not small fortune
sufficient to buy them grub pile fol
another surnmer-find they have beer
deluded, and would like to be able t.
go back home and call it a futile un
dertaking. But large numbers of then
are unable to pay their transportation
back and have no chance to earn tn,
required amount Some who cam,
across the country from the Koyukul
river at Circle City, report nothin,