The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-03-29
RICHKLONDIKER HERE
Turns Some Gold Into Sedg-
wick County Realty.
WENT BROKE IN THE BOOM
w. M. Liggett Comes Back a
Very Rich Man.

There has been an interesting buyer in
the real estate market in the last few
days ". NJ Liggett, who was in south
ern Kansas during the boom, and who
lost every cent he had, has recently re-
turned from the Klondike country where
he found a great deal Of gold. He has
two brothers near Valley Center, F. G.
and Charles K. Liggett, and one brother,
j. s., who lives at Spivey. Mr.. Lggett
bought some land for his brothers, hav-
ing made a single purchase of 24O acres
of fine farm land near Valley Center.
Mr. Liggett's immense wealth comes
from great hardship and tribulations as
a pioneer in the Alaska gold fields. He
went there in 1889. before the excitement
began, and made a break for the inter
Tor, locating at Forty Mile, where he
remained six years. He then located at
Circle City which is within the Arctic
Circle, and remained there about two
years. When the excitement began at
Dawson City he started with 500 pounds
Of baggage and one dog and sledded go
miles to Dawson City. His severest trials
wa at Forty Mile before civilization had
made much progress there. Their nearest
postoffice was Juneau, d distance Of 500
miles. The only mail received was let
tiers carried by strangers who occasion
ally drifted into camp. For six years
Mr.. Liggett never saw a newspaper or
looked on white woman's face.
Mr.. Iiggttt has Travelled over nearly
the whole Of Alaska He has been at
Cape Nome and says there is fabulous
wealth in the beach there, but it is
terrible country TO live in. One cannot
get in at all in the winter, he said, with
out travelling 900 miles over miserable
country with dog teams.
The pioneer Klondiker had interesting
experiences TO relate to a reporter for
the Eagle who called on him at the Carey
last night He and his wife We're seated
at table in their room with a Klondike
map before them. Mrs. Iiggett carried
a watch, the case of which was of pure
gold taken from her husbands mine
known as "Bononza No. Is" from which
over 100000 were mined before he sold
it. Mr. Iiggett carried a large gold
watch the case of which was made Of
pure gold taken from his mine Gel Dora
do No. 3D." "They say the number 13
is an unlucky one" said Mr.. Diggett
but it wasn't in this case, for we took
three quarters Of a million of Of her be-
before we let her 60" Then he took two
nuggets from his pocket. One weighed
$3.50 and the other about SIS. There
were others in the trunks with other
relics from the Klondike country. One
relic is a piece of the tusk Of Il masto-
don. The piece weighs rs pounds and
was Dug out of one Of Mr.. Lggett's
mines at a depth Of thirty-fve feet.
'I went into the Alaska country in
1889, just because l had no place else to
go" said Mr. Liggett in answer to the
reporters question. I'm fact" said he,
Il didn't care much where I did so after
being stripped by the boom here. 1t left
me without a dollar and heavily in debt.
After I came to Kansas l freighted from
Kingman TO Cleveland, L T., to Camp
Supply and other places. After I went
broke l started west and reached Alaska
in the spring of SO. Boats did not ply
the Youkon then and we had to dig our
way through, making our own boats and
sleds. 1t isn't so bad up there now. The
river is fun of steam boats and is alive
with commerce. one can live very COM
fortably at Dawson City now, and things
are getting cheaper. When I operated
one mine l paid mo twenty laborers SIS
per day for the first year and SO the
second year. one man who saved his
money came home least year with nearly
$500 of his wages clear"
What do you think OF British treat
ment compared with that of the Beers"
The British treatment is about as bad
as it is possible to be. I can tell You.
was in British territory all the time and
they are u set Of bleeders. They charge
every miner $40 a year free miners IL
cense SIS a year filing on claims, 10 per
cent Of the gross earnings Of the mine,
IS a set for cabin logs. 50 per 1000 slump
age for lumber. - cents a cord for wood,
when you had 10 so and set these things
yourselves They now reserve every
other claim along the new diggings and
limit each claim to 600 feet. This is
practically making the prospector pros
pect the governments claims l tell YOU
no country in the world has as good laws
for everybody as Uncle Sam
Mr.. LIggett sold all his properties there
and a year and "A haf ago came back
to this country to marry the girl he left
In his youth. He was rich then and he
called at the old home in Beeks Mills,
Pa. and found his sweetheart stiu wait
ing for him. He had not seen her for
fifteen years They were married ana
she accompanied him back TO Alaska
They spent the summer in travelling. and
part Of the honeymoon was spent in the
placid waters of the northern Yukon,
where they could see the sun at dnid-
night.
Mr.. Ilggett viii return u Dawson City
next summer to collect the rest of his
money and get his Dawson City real
estate into cash. when he expects to 3
cate permanently in this country.
Mr.. and Mrs. I1Egett Will leave this
on a visit 10 their old home in