River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1901-01-17
VOYAGE TO NOME.

ting TO his C00Lemp ldJeu "Trip "
Nome, Alaska, was published 10 the
( JOURNAL Nov. p, last. Readers Of
that letter are interested to learn the
conclusion OF the expedition, which
appears below.
CAPE NOME, ALASKA, Oct. 7, 1900.
D5qr Father and M0ther:-We arrived
at Nome all o X. after a pretty
/ rough voyage. Leave this afternoon
] for ST. Michaels where we shall stay
few days then come back here 10 take
on the hungry fellows. We are an
chored two miles from shore but the
town shows up pretty well for il is
mostly Of tents.
1t is showing pretty briskly on shf re
but out here the the rmometer shows
/ 30 above zero The miners are right
on the beach here and the whole town
/ is built along the water front and eX-
1 tends as far as we can see We Were
caught ia a fog for three days near
Dutch Har0or and had to lie TO, CON
4 sequently we arrived here three days
later than scheduled time. Had fine
cod fishing viii waiting for the fog
| TO raise Boat leaves 70 night for the
4 States, and must send this ashore
now, or miss the opportunity Of send
ing you a line by this mail.
TRANSPORT LAwToN, Nov 1900
| suppose you have noticed by the
/ papers that the Lawton reached Sc
attic with her load OF destitute pas
sengers on the 26th ulJimO, and our
voyage 50 far as those passengers are
concerned is over. We are now just
passing Port Ray, 30 miles from San
Francisco, and in couple of hours
we shall be steaming through Golden
! Gate, and half hour later drop an
chor in the Bay when we shall have
finished the work of the expedition for
which we were detailed. Take it all
! around we have had very pleasant
| trip We had tough lot OF plsSen
gers and we were on guard cOntinu-
ally from the time we left Cape Nome
TO our arrival at Seattle. We stood
guard each for four hours and then
were off for eight hours, con tinuing
this routine day and night. We
had 1850 sets Of irons" on hand for
emergency but had occasion TO use a
pair in but one instance, and that was
on a crazy man.
| was on shore at Nome the 18th OF
Oct. and on account of the heavy surf
was compelled to stay until late the
next day before / could get back to
the boat. / saw all of Alaska / cared
to and / would not stay there for all
the gold in the country. The night |
was on shore the first snOwstOrm Of
consequence occurred and the mer-
curry stood at zero, and 1t was so cold
| thought | should freeze. | hunted
all over town for Bob" Follausbee
but could get no trace of him. lam
sure he Is not sick or dead or the hos
pital records would show it. He is
probably out in the country some
where "holed" up for the winter
| Mr. Follausbee had returned to Sc
attic Editor
| There is plenty OF gold around
Nome but 1t is all a mans life is
worth to get IT, | received your let
At Nome aud was glad to hear from
you and aow that you were well. /
am perfectly we'll Ny trip has done
me a whole lot of good, but | don't
care TO take another one just like it.
for a while, at least.
We had a motley crowd OF passen-
gers and it was our business to keep
them quiet There were $50 OF these
INDECENT fortune hunters brought
back from Nome on the Lawton at
| Government expense, for passage and
support. These fellows came from all
parts Of the world and had staked
their all on their venture TO Nome
and lost.
The big transport brought to Sc
attic the strangest aggregation Of
passengers ever carried by vessel to
an American port. The most OF
them had little TO say Of their ex-
periences in Alaska They we're all
down In the mouth" for their trip
with visions Of wealth was a sore dis.
appointment They were In no mood
TO talk and consequently preserved
Sullen silence. This gloomy lot OF
destitute men, mostly young and
strong had lost everything and had
no plans for the future, but were ready
and willing TO work II they could find
employment after landing.
AS matter of course the most OF
them were nearly peuniless. They
had spent all that they had
before they applied to the govern.
ment for aid TO get back to the States
During the gloomy voyage Of these