The Tupelo journal., 1915-07-23
MINING ROMANCES
Seekers After Gold Who Had
Riches Thrust Upon Them.
"sWEDE LUCK" IN ALASKA.

f &E @-t-F HLrH%h
Stories That Are Told Of the Way Some
Prospsctors Stumbled Into Claims
y That Put Them on Easy Street.
Good Fortune Plus Hard Work.
1t is literally true that some men
who went to the north had fortunes
thrust upon them. There Is Charley
Anderson, who was prospecting on
the Yukon. Shortly after the Klon-
dixie strike was made by George Mar
mack and Shookum Jim, Anderson,
trail weary, ambled into the frontier
Camp Of Dawson-then known as
Lousetown-from Circle City. He had
developed a taste for a primitive bev-
erage of local manufacture known as
'hooch,' and promptly proceeded to
crafty it. When he came TO he dis
covered that his alcoholic companions
had gone through his clothes, extract
ed $500 and left in lieu thereof a deed
to a claim on Colorado creek, which
was thought to have no other value
except which pertains to "a grazing for
0 o.
Anderson almost wept. 1t was true
he was the owner Of q location. but a
claim isn't necessarily a mine, and
also there is a lot Of difference be-
tween a deed to a piece of frozen
ground and $500 in real money, which
was all he had possessed. But he
~,a -c% hopnft ne rra1ft 0Na EinO tho
deed to a trader. he pledged it for a
grubstake. which he hauled to the
creek ON a hand sled He burned wood
to thaw the frozen muck and discover
ed that the gravel underneath was
thickly permeated with gold. The
moose pasture proved to be worth
more than 100000. There are some
wonderful real estate records in
Alaska!
Depressed and discouraged because
he had been unable to find values in
a quartz mine which he had been sent
to examine. John Treadwell sat in a
log cabin hotel in Harrisburg, now
Juneau, waiting for u steamship to
lake him back to San Francisco.
French Pete Erussard drifted in and
told Treadwell a hard luck story.
Treadwell was sympathetic. The tale
was well told; SO Well that he was
induced TO put up $500, taking there
for a deed TO a half interest in a
| claim. Ireadwell returned he foi-
lowing year and examined the prop
erty. Then be bought the other half
aud 1t became known as the Tread
well mine. 1t has produced more than
S5o.0Oo.O00 and there is sufficient ore
.olocked out 10 keep the big stamp
mills working for many years.
Erik Lindblom went TO Alaska on
d whaling vessel-shanghaied from
| San Francisco. some people say. With
Jafet Lindeburg and John Brynteson
he discovered the Nome goidtields and
laid the foundation for a big fortune.
Two of the richest placer claims in
Western Alaska were traded for COM
parative trifies-one for Il gasoline en-
| CINE that wouldn't chug. and another
for $50 and a bottle of brandy distilled
from prune juice. There are thou
| sands of similar Instances. commO in
the history of every mining camp,
But there is another side to the
story. Thousands OF men in Alaska.
with privation and hardship for their
teammates, have oiled bravely II
assiduously for many years and have
failed to find the golden fleece. Per
haps they lacked what the north terms
.Swede luck"
"Swede luck" Is so called because
many Of the rich strikes have been
made by Sc%andinavians, In Alaska
every Scandinavian is IL Swede. Per
sonai observation. however, has shown
me that "Swede tuck" means hard
work and enduring fortitude under adj
verse circumstances.
| Several years z at the mouth OF a
creek where a strike had pee re-
| ported and an incipient stampede was
in progress | met a ~prospector.
Who made the striker" | asked.
WHO do you think made the striker"
he countered disgustedly. as though
bad ~propounded foolish question NO.
1862. Did you ever hear of anybody
having luck in this darned country IN
less be was a SwedeF
walked fourteen miles up that creek
and found six holes to bedrock. Pay
had been encountered in the sixth
Every shaft had been dug by the
Swede who made the strike, and who,
by the way. happened to be a Norwe-
gian.-Sunset Magazine.