The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1902-01-31

The following letter, under date Of
Dawson, Dec.l9, 1901, was written to Mr..
and Mrs. A. B. Billings OF Mt Hood by
James Muir, one of the ex-soldiers .of
the gallant Second Oregon in the Philip
pine war:
Dear friends: What | have seen OF
this country impresses me fayorably, but
could speak more favorably if it was
under the Stars and Stripes. / have
been idle very little since my arrival the
25th OF last May. Wages were IS, org $5
and board during the summer. This fall
there was cut to 3.50 and board. Four
of US are working claim here on the
Upper Hunker creek, 80 miles from
Dawson. From what prospecting has
has been done we think we will make
very good wages. We have commenced
drifting lately, but it is rather slow work
when one considers that all the pay
dirt taken out has to be thawed by a
wood fire. Some have boilers and use
steam, though many say this is more ex-
pensive than wood fires. Then all this
ground is to be sluiced in the summer,
causing the work of handling it twice (;
this is what the miners call dead work.
All OF this country about Dawson appar-
emily is of glacial formation and from
what can learn of it has been disturb
ed since the run of gold. This is what
plays havoc with old miners theories
and causes the newcomer to blunder on
to the pay streak many times. 1t costs
one ten dollars for license granting
him the privilege of working at mining
each year 1915 to have your claim record
ed yearly and for what you take out of
your claim after the first 5000, 5 per
cent is collected for royalty. To the
average miner this is compulsory do
nation Of little more than he thinks
necessary. A law has been passed
since came here compelling all those
who take gold dust out of the Yukon
territory to obtain certificate from
the gold commissioners, otherwise their
dust will be taken from them at the
line. This certificate is to show that
royalty has been paid. An article was
recently published in one of the Dawson
papers regarding three Swedes who have
been mining three years in the interior,
250 miles from Dawson, on creek they
neither staked nor recorded, They ac-
cumulated $50 900, which was confscat-
ed at the line when they were on their
way out. Clothing isnot very expen-
tsive for this country. Underwear can
be obtained from 81 to SIS per suit; over
shirts, $3.50 to $4 moccasins, 80 to$2.
80 per pair. Moccasins are extensively
used during cold weather. Rubber
boots are from $40 to $l5 per pair; at
present they are So One has no use
for them now. Last summer they were
SIS. Rubber goods are expensive, due to
the heavy duty. Meals are from so cts.
to $3.50 per meal in Dawson. On the
creeks the price is $3.50 per meal or
board at SO per day. So far the winter
has been mild, which has caused many
to be idle. 1t is necessary that the
weather should become cold in order to
successfully work in winter. Thawing
by fires and steam causes the surface
water to be source of annoyance un-
less the weather is cold. The thermom-
eter registered 80 degrees below zero
once, but it lasted only for day or two,
Mail is very irregular this time OF the
year. A private carrier visits the creeks
weekly with Dawson papers and letters
from the outside, when there is any.
This leaves me in excellent health. hope
it will find all of you enjoying the same
blessing With best wishes I'll con-
clude. Yours truly,
JAMES MUIR.