The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-10-11


= when gold-mad men came down III
s river In a continuous string. ridinI
! fraii boats, RATS anything tina
d would float. And they carried wit
= them their all. the grub stake and tn
c few necessary tools and bedding. Few
! Of them knew anything about tn
Z dangerous rapids, few even knew the,
: were there until they were onto them
q and then In a minute they must decid,
c on which channel - and take tn,
chance. However, the most of then
Z instinctively saw that the thumb, thu
! big channel, was the safest pass, anc
B If they got their boats full in III,
current they were safe. II they die
} not, they were dashed against tn,
rocks, and they tell me few ever came
out alive who were overturned.
Then came HelPs Pass--a place
where the Yukon runs down hill for q
short distance. II was searey rapids
10 look at even from a steamers deck
There were no dreaded rocks, but
marveled that any small boat could go
through this whirling, foaming race
and not capsize. But they did. thous-
ands of them.
And after | had seen these two rap
ids tand by the way, the only ones
between White Horse and Nome, 22O0
miles) quit finding fault with the
mosquitoes and the slow eight mile
speed Of the boat.
About every "a hours the boat tied
up at wood camp for wood, and it
takes long time for the deck hands
to carry enough Of the fourfoot sticks
on board to last to the next camp.
At Woodchoppers' creek, about so
miles over the line in Alaska, we
stopped early in the morning to wood
up" and wait for the fog to lift.
was about the only passenger up. The
captain told me the boat would be
there for two hours at least and if |
wanted TO stretch my legs would find
good trail back of the wood pile that
led to a deserted cabin, half mile
down. liked.
1t was miners cabin, logs, with
floor of whipsawed lumber The old
stove was there, the rough benches,
table, bunk and other odds and ends.
1t was at the end of a draw, where a
little stream ran down the valley and
emptied into the Yukon. The deserted
mine was back from the shore and |
did not have time to go to it.
And now for the story-the captain
told it to me. Two prospectors struck
prospect in the summer that looked
good, so they built the cabin, caught
fish and prepared for winter. 1t was
late in summer before they had winter
preparations made, and could go on
with the prospect hole. The struck
bed rock at II feet and found won
derfully rich pocket. They worked it
out, thawed down other holes, but new
er another sign Of color, then one Of
them being taken sick, they Abandoned
the place and went down the river on
the ice, and the sick man died before
they reached Fort Dawson.
Now for the rest of the story-or
rather the other version.
As the boat passed the deserted
cabin, lady pointed to a peculiar
looking cache on top of platform
just below the cabin and asked a
miner what it was. In the fog | had
not noticed this when | was at the
cabin. 1t looked from the boat as if
a kyack (skin canoe) had been put up
there and wound with an old tent. But
the miner said it was dead body, now
only a skeleton and had been there
four or FIVE years. He SAID the sick
man died in camp, his partner put him
on the meat cache and beat it down
the ice.
| afterwards asked the pilot if the
story was true. "That's the tale; |
don't know. But il is the truth that
you can't get an Indian woodchopper
10 get anywhere near t he cabin" he
| have no doubt but that it was !
rue, and that under that old canvas l
S the skeleton Of a man, and that t
iome father or mother outside is S
waiting and hoping for news Of a |
boy--news that will new @
n come. Alaska is full Of such trag- j
dies. S
Anywhere there is a white man the ]
,oat will stop-that is if he has sent t
ut for box of freight-grub. Often b
lis cabin will be where the river is t
hallow, then he has TO row out with e
boat and get it. c
At once place we stopped and tied \
p to put ashore a little bunch of pro- p
isions. There was one lonesome cab u
\, new, half dozen 'husky" dogs