Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-11

made their way through the ice and
snow. and many died before they
reached the top of the pass. One part
of the trail is known as the Dead Horse
canyon. 1t was so named for the dead
horses that gave up their equine ghosts
at that point. They started out loaded.
but were unable to bear the toll of the
journey. The year before the road was
counted on the trail. Some had lost
their footing and been dashed to death
on the rocks below. Others had sunk
under their burdens in utter exhaustion
and had to be thrown over the rocks,
while still others lost heart and actu-
ally committed suicide by throwing
themselves over the cliffs. One miner
driving mule team got the animals at
last to the top, when the leader jumped
over the precipice, dragging the other
animals with him. All were killed as
they fell on the rocks in the valley be-
low. The leader had been twice over
the trail.
Not far from Dead Horse canyon, and
along it, are the remains of the old road
built by George A. Bracket, before the
steam road was constructed. Brackett
came from Minneapolis to Skagway
and built tollroad up the mountains
He had tollgates here and there, and
the charges ranged from so cents each
for foot passengers to 81 for four
horse team. The White Pass railway
put him out of business, and il is said
that he then sold out his route for
$4,000 in cash.
During the winter of 1897 $4,000 men
and women came UP the mountains
over the trails on their way to Dawson.
Most of them carried packs on their
backs, some making numerous trips.
during which they took from fifty to
one hundred pounds at time. Some
had sleds, which they pulled up the
mountains, a single sled carrying per-
haps two hundred pounds. The aver
age outfit of the klondiker was about
one ton. or two thousand pounds, and
the cost of getting this over the trail
was enormous Mules and horses were
used, Indians were hired to aid in pack
ing the outfits. and the charge by them
was cents and upward per pound. On
the Dyea trail the Indians got 10 or Is
cents pound for taking an outfit fifty
miles. The Indians went in families.
A man would pack from one hundred to
one hundred and forty pounds. squaw
from eighty to one hundred pounds and
girls and boys from twenty-five to fifty
pounds apiece. Some of the white men
went into packing and teaming as
business. One man is said to have
made 100000 by transporting the bag
gage, and supplies of the goldseekers.
Another threw a log across a stream
and charged so cents toll for the use
of his bridge.
During my trip over the White Pass
road I had as seatmate Elmer J.
White. who was long our American
consul at White Horse, and who has
been in this country since the gold
rush. His stories of the queer sights
on the trail are interesting. Said he:
The men carried goods of every de-
scription. I remember one prospector
who packed a grindstone up the hills
on his back. Every one wondered what
he was going to do with it. He brought
it to White Horse and finally to Daw-
son. There he had carpenter make
him a frame for the stone. When this
was completed he let the miners sharp
en- their axes and picks at IS cents
apiece. They did the work while he
sat back and took in a dollar or more
an hour for the rent of the grind
stone.
Another man was loaded with win
dow panes. He had sheets of glass
seven by nine inches in size. When
he got to Dawson he sold them for
50 a pane. Glass was SO scarce at
that time that beer bottles brought a