The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-07-28
Of tsi
by Captain
G. Elliott Nightingale
Copyright, WNU
REDCOATS GUARDED
TRAIL OF 90

VOLUMES have been written on
what happened here and there
during the Klondyke gold stampede,
but very little has been said about
the handful of Men of the Mounted
who brought law and order and de-
cency to many an outlaw camp. The
first steps along the historically ia
nous Trail of '98" were taken two
years before, in 1896, when Car
mack's discovery just about electri-
fed the whole world, and when
thousands of men, and few hun
dred women began converging upon
the Yukon from all corners of the
earth. Eighteen months after the
Carmack discovery the population
of Skagway had been increased by
more than 10000 newcomers, gold
seekers taking a breathing spell
there before heading north into the
Yukon goldfields.
The majority of the newcomers
were Americans, and whatever
they might have been before they
hit Skagway, they cast off all desire
for law and order. The decent law
abiding element, being in the mi
nority, laid low, QUILTED their two
or four man expeditions, and
mushed silently away toward the
Yukon, while the outlaw element
hung around Skagway, living on
their wits.
From Skagway, the rallying point,
the stampeders, tugging and carry
ing their outfits, headed for Lake
Bennett where they built their boats
and pushed off to the north and into
the Lewes river that flowed north
through the rugged but rich Yukon
goldfelds. That is, they pushed
north provided the two or three Men
of the Mounted stationed on the SIX
tieth line of latitude were satisfied
that the stampeders were properly
QUILTED, had sufficient food, and
were not criminals or outlaws or
bad characters. During the early
days of the rush, the American
stampeders kicked up quite a row
because they were asked to pay
customs and duties at Line 60
and they demanded to know what
the Mounted were doing there, on
American territory. Although the
one hundred and forty-first parallel
had not yet been decided upon as
the dividing line between American
Alaska, and British Canada, the Yu-
kon territory, nevertheless, had been
under the British or Canadian flag
and government for some time.
Most of the stampeders really
thought they were heading for their
own American Alaska, and it was
quite a startling discovery for them
to find the Northwest Mounted Po-
lice on guard on what the stamped
ers thought was American territory.
When the vanguard of the '98 hegira
were stopped by the Redcoats,
there was, of course, considerable
argument, bit of nose punching,
and few shots exchanged. AS the
crowd grew larger, indignation
meetings were inaugurated at which
it was voted that the only way out
was to tie the Northwest Mounted
Police into bundle and throw it
into the lake or some roaring river.
One group of foreign speaking
Americans 90 staged bloody riot,
then voted to gather the redcoats,
place them aboard barge or raft,
and anchor said barge or raft in
the middle of the lake. One Yank
climbed to the top of his outfit and
called for a thousand men to help
him wipe the Mounted off the face
of the earth forever But, he shout
ed in vain, for in that mob were
scalawags and cutthroats and GRIM
inals who, while they did as they
pleased in Skagway, were now will
ing to impress the Redcoats that
they were decent, law-abiding min
ers eminently qualified to take their
places beside law-abiding Canadi-
ans. Reason was again enthroned
as, these willy lawbreakers did ev-
erything possible to appear to the
best advantage to the half dozen
men of the Northwest Mounted Po-
lice who, during all the rumpus and
riot, had stuck to their post on the
sixtieth line just a few yards away,
watching and listening, and realiz-
ing, no doubt, that the several
thousand stampeders could soon
eliminate half dozen redcoats if
they ever set out to do it.
But, they never set out to do it.
Those who came to destroy re-
NAMED to childishly beg the Men
of the Mounted to pass them through
into the gold-flled Yukon territory.
The human jackals and rascals that
had terrorized Skagway, now turned
into soft-spoken, well hammered,
sensible and very obedient children
as they stood by to be examined by
the Mounted. Thus it happens that
thousands of bad characters who
claim that they were in the Klon-
dyke gold rush really never took
one step past the half dozen red
coats that held the Chilcoot and
White passes. Half dozen against
thousands. Truly the Redcoats were
the Daniels in the lions den in the
Klondyke gold rush of 1898.