Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1904-11-18
cspynsht, 1897. By RosEEr Bosxzz's soxs.
Al rights reserved

Strange Information.


mia to the barren region of the Klon
dyke, from 1S49 to 1897, is a wide
reach, but the gulf of time Is bridged
over and the hopes and fears Of
thousands of hearts follow the ar
gonauts who go to search for the
golden fleece In the confines Of the
Arctic Circle, as they did forty-eight
years ago the California prospectors.
The real story of the discovery OF
gold on the Klondyke Is not generally
known, ard to unravel that mystery
is the purpose Of this story.
On certain night, about three years
ago last May, five men we're seated
about a camp fire, built under the
south side of cliff, among some pine
trees, near the banks of the Yukon
river, fifteen miles above Dawson City.
AS some of this party have become
well known by the development of
the Klondyke gold fields, it will be
as well to introduce them to the read
er before we proceed with our story.
That large man dressed in moose-skin
coat and trousers, with bear skin
thrown over his shoulders, was once
well known In the great northwest as
the most daring hunter, miner and
adyenturer in all Alaska. He was
as honorable as he was brave, and as
kind hearted as he was sullen. His
name was Jack Ralston, but along the
Yukon he was commonly known as
'tGlum Ralston."
Ralston was once an American
He was getting along in years, for
his hair was growing frosty, yet his
frame was still strong and his heart
had not abandoned its hope
George w. Cormack, or Lucky
George" as the miners nicknamed
him, sat on the log just opposite
Glum Ralston. George was an Eng
lishman, a brave, adventurous fellow,
who was also an expert miner. Per-
haps it was his knowledge of geology
and mining that tended to his sue
cess. Nevertheless, the miners at
tributed it to luck.
Gid Myers was a man of thirty,
with pale blue eyes and sandy COM
plexion. Gid had had considerable
experience as hunter and prospect
or, but in the miners parlance had
never struck it rich.
Porter Allen, or big Port" was a
giant in size, being over six feet in
height, with broad shoulders and sim
ews of steel. He was forty, his hair
nd
time and exposure.
The fifth was a young man of |
twenty-five or twenty-three years of /
age, with the freshness of youth and |
innocence still on his face. While his
older companions we're smoking their
pipes. the younger man of the party
gazed abstractedly into the glowing
fire. His mind went back over the
rivers and seas to his
quiet little home in Fresno, where
he had left his widowed mother, dear
to his heart, and one still dearer.
Her name was Laura Kean. They
we're lovers and betrothed.
While he sat gazing into the fire
Ind seeing only the well-beloved face
If his betrothed, his companions toast
ID and ate their suppers and talked
If their present situation.
'Clum, how long We been In Alas
Ia?" asked Lucky George.
Its now twenty-one years."
AN never been back to the
,tates?"
NO"
Are you ever goin'?"
Don't know he answered, with a
Ugh. IT'D be like goin' back to q
raveyard now. Most everybody /
news dead. II but he did not
nish the sentence. His weather-beat-
n eye seemed to CLEAN with softer
ght as he gazed into the fire, and &
Id Myers thought he saw = shade
moisture gathering there. q
"Glum, you often promised us you
ould tell your own story sometime 8
how you came here, and why you a
ave spent all these years in Alaska.
Thy not tell now? asked Lucky
Gorge. |,
Glum moved uneasily on the log on
hich he was sitting and, clearing p
s throat, said: d
Boys, faint much of a yarn when
8 spun. came to Alaska in '73 In n
Q sealin' schooner Eleanor We L
ID good officers and crew, an the q
n never shone on a better man than II
II captain. We all loved him. and Il
,uld have died for him. O,
well, we had no luck sealing, and
g captain and sailors went with a til
rty OF Indians who said they knew te
lere gold could be found. l didn't 81
lieve them. and wouldn't CO. But R
asked me not to leave Alaska pa
he came back, and l promised. al