The Kusko times., 1926-03-06
MACKENZIE INDIANS AND
 PROSPECTORS MAKE HARD
 TREK IN QUEST OF GOLD
(DawS0 NewS.)

Some fifteen years ago James, an Indian missionary from Fort Norman. with several other Mackenzie river Indians, accidentally ran across gold ,on mountain ridge in the Ogilvie ]range of the Rockies. At that time tthe discoyerers had no knowledge of tthe precious metal, but as time flew by and they learned of the value of ithe golden rock they decided to keep their secret to themselves, so that whenever any members of the tribe should be in want all they would have ito do would be to journey to this treasure mountain and dig all the lgold might require. James, however, jimparted his secret to Free Envold- :sen number of years ago, but the latter never considered the statement seriously, thinking the mountain to be ,of copper, such as is characteristic of that country; but in the spring, when word was sent down to Billy Silas, of tthe Moosehide tribe, from native of Mayo, requesting him to make a trip into the mountain region of wealth, Endvoldsen and several associates de- tcided to make prospecting trip into that country along with the Indians Therefore, with instructions to meet two of the Mackenzie Indians at Sel- kirk, Envoldsen and his party started tout over three months ago with Silas tas & guide.
 Trouble commenced at the first ,stop, for the Mackenzie Indians had been down with the flu and were un- able to proceed on the journey, while James, who had been in the habit of making the journey into the country every year, failed to appear at his usual time, probably also on account sof sickness. A map which was in the hands of one of the Mackenzie h. 'dians, however, was handed over to tthe prospectors and, with Silas lead ing the way, the party set out in tlueal OI lHe IeW llelu.
 Many were the hardships and mis- fortunes which accosted the fortune hunters. Altogether six men had set ,out, but after the sad drowning of Harry B. Iseman, one of the members of the expedition, on the Mackenzie river, two of the partners, Fred John- .ston and E. Jackson, returned to Daw- son with the news of the sad event and Iseman's launch. For the rest of the journey, therefore, Silas, Envold- and Gleason continued alone. After Leaving the river the prospectors had ito trust to the guidance of the map which had been handed over by the Indians, and which, although fairly accurate, was away out hen it came t odistanees. Over high mountains into low, marshy valleys, across lakes and small rivers, the fortune hunters continued on their way. For 300 miles from the Yukon river the coun- try consisted of silver-bearing for mation, while further ahead the signs tended toward gold belt. Going be- came harder as the men progressed ao hard, in fact, that it was necessary to cache even their tools, such as picks, shovels, pans and the like. Their only aim was to reach their destination as shown by the Indian map, which afterwards turned out to be very accurate.
 On the top of the Ogilvies the guide and the two prospectors decid- ed to part company and take different rnutes. This move came very near to proving fatal to the ilatoter, for after journeying some distance they came into country which was devoid of timher and game. For five days the psasasssaxs. were without food or