Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-10-09
of its richness and it may have been
rich last year, but that day is certain
ly passed.

rich last year, but that day Is certain
ly passed.
A City Of Tents.
The city Of Nome extends from the
mouth of Nome river westward along
the coasts of the Behring sea, dis
lance of twenty miles, and was then
and is now composed largely of tents
there not being many more
substantial buildings in the
place than would be found
in the town of Hedrick, perhaps
not so many, and yet there were about
10000 people there when we arrived.
Main street, or what is known as the
Main street. was so crowded that it
was almost impossible to get thru, and
any one who desired to make any time
at all sought the waters edge. In fact
tLat is the only thorofare that can
be relied upon. The streets are SO
muddy that l have actually seen men
in mud to their hips and it seemed
almost impossible for them to get
out.
When we arrived there the beach
for at least four miles was strewn
with freight, lumber and machinery
for mining purposes. 1t extended
down to the waters edge and was
piled as high as house in many
places. One mining company organ
lied in Pittsburg, Pa. had invested
something like s150,000 in machinery
for the purpose of dredging. During
the heavy storm all their machinery
was buried under the sand and their
lumber carried out to sea. The party
was disbanded and many of them
came home on the same boat as my
self, the steamship Ohio. This is
only one of the many enterprises in
that country which was either buried
in the sand or left to rust on the
beach.
Found Small Quantities of Gold.
After we had prospected along the
beach until we were satisfied that
gold could not be found there in pay.
ing quantities, we turned our atten.
tion toward the creeks flowing into
the Snake river and into the Nome
river and just as we found
it on the beach so we found it on the
creeks. Gold is everywhere in small
quantities. A few colors could be
obtained in almost any pan that was
tried but not in sufficient quantities
to justify working it. It is true that
there are some claims that pay rea
sonably well. Those on Anvil creek
Dexter creek and Dorothy creek are
among these, but where claim is
found that will pay, at least 500 car
be found staked and recorded that
will not pay.
Organized a Party Of Four.
1--WE finally organized into a party
OF four, composed of gentleman by
the name of Preston, of Seattle, Mr.
Bergen, of Chicago, my son Harlan
and myself and started for the head
| OF the Nome river, some SO or &C
miles by. water. 1t took us s days
to reach our destination. Nome river
is swift flowing stream, consequent
ly 1T discharges water so, rapidly that
it leaves many rifles and falls. Oul
boat weighed something over a tor
with its provisions. cooking utensils
and tools and mad to be dragged ovel
these rifles by main strength. We
had only been at the head of Nome
| river two days when was taken sick
first with cramps in my feet ant
hands, then 1t extended over my en-
tire body. l suffered intensely fol
| three days without intermission ant
was unable to eat anything. We final
| ly concluded that the safest thing tt
| do was to return to Nome and take
| the first steamer out we could get
We had, however located some three
or four claims in that locality which
may or may not be good. am unable
to say for the reason that we did no
have time to prospect them properly
On returning down the river VIZ
expected to have rather smooth voy
age owing to the fact that the rive
was much higher that when we hat
gone up. When we had reached ;
point some eight miles from tn,
mouth we were met with a heav,
storm that counteracted all the cur
rent of the swiftly flowing river ant
all the energy we could put into tn,
oars, SO we decided to pull for tn,
shore, tie up the boat and wall
across the tundra.
| PeriIs of the Journey.
Tundra is where the beech sand
end along the sea coast, and wher,
vegetation begins and from the rive
across to the city of Nome is some
thing like ten miles. This tundr;
can be better described by compar
ing it to sponges thickly studded owe
the face of the earth ranging in siz
from tea cup to wash tub. Ever
in dry weather these hummocks o