The Wrangell sentinel., 1939-08-04
( Fairbanks News-Miner)

gers, But there's little of it thai
the old timers haven't been over
afoot. Only they didn't make much
fuss over it.
Now this young Brad Washburn
of Boston. Mass, who said last Au-
gust that he had discovered a river
of ice, more'n a hundred miles long
in the heart of the St. Elias range.
Maybe he discovered it last sum
mer, but I was in a party that trav-
eled on that some bunch of glaciers
over forty years ago.
Weggers, now SO years old and
a resident of Fairbanks since 1907
goes back in his mental memory
book to a summer trip of hardship;
fifty-eight days on that huge ice
field, sleeping on the ice to awaken
to find his blanket frozen to it.
shortage of fuel; tired feet and eyes
and bone-weariness. And a lot of the
kids nowadays think it is tough, he
smiles.
The magnetic lure of the Klondike
in '98 drew men and women from
all walks of life, from all corners
of earth, over four main routes. Of
these the White Pass out of Skag-
way with Soapy Smith and the shell
games was the most famous, and the
Chilkoot Pass near Dyea.
There were those who took the
Edmonton trail. Weggers recalls
julius Hoffman was three years on
that trail before reaching the Klon-
dixie.
The easiest way was the water
route to st. Michaels and up the Yu-
kon riyer-and the cheapest-only
$500 from San Francisco to Dawson.
Then there were trail making par
ties like Prof. Hills and Doctor
Henry's, of which Weggers was a
member.
The DR.. Henry party was made up
in Sioux City, Iowa, with 36 men,
each putting up $500 cash for the
trip. Weggers had $40 left after he
put up his stake.
Following the lead of Prof. Hill,
Henry believed that to go by way
of Yakutat, up the Alsek river, md
across country, the gold fields
could be reached quickly. Hill died
on the glacier.
Upon landing at a small bay to-
unload, several members of the par
ty looked at the formidable glacier,
and quickly made up their minds toI
return to the States.
Hold the boat they shouted in
response to the half hour whistle,
and the mountains echoed their cryI
as they scuttled down a canyon toI
the boat. Even today Hold the Boat
Bay" remains known as that.
I'VE had SO tons of outfit, built
three cabins, and made II caches
in the glacier Caches were made
from three to four miles apart. We
had to travel nights because it
wasn't safe to travel over the rot
ting snow and ice bridges in day
time" Weggers explained.
This party discovered that one
half of the glacial field emptied in
to Yakutat bay over the range on
the north side, and the other half
emptied into the Alsek river, which
river in turn empties into Dry Bay
They also found on the north side of
the glacier approximately 1900 acres
of gravel bar. After panning, i'll
was discovered that this was low
grade.
with modern machinery and theI
price of gold today . it'd be ricnl
dredging ground, all right and all
thawed ground" Moose John insists
that a plane could easily land there
and looks forward to the time when
that area will be actively mined.
Il talked with a big mining man
one time about that country and heI
said he'd send an engineer in toi
look at it. The young fellow came to-
me and said, But there aren't any
maps of that region" Weggersl
laughed.
And scenery" exclaims the old
timer, "There's the greatest scenery
there in Alaska Before long tourist
parties will be going there like they
do now to Mckinley Park"
Low grade gravels and scenery
were little lure to men seeking the
rich Klondike beyond those formid
able glaciers and mountains.
There was no place in such an
expedition for the timid soul. Nov
ing SO tons of outfit by sled, cart,
and back packing; a wood shortage
on the ice pack making it necessary
to eat bacon and raw foods; slowly
edging across crevasses; swift
streams; sleeping on the ice; dan
ger lurking in every step for So days;
that was the glacier trip. 1t proved
too much and they retraced their
steps to Yakutat, where the old
Dora took them to Juneau in Sep
TENDER.
81 was pretty much discouraged,
said Moose John, but didn't feel so
had when | found out that taking