The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1939-06-29
ssss
III Menstad Of ta5
BY Captain
G. Elliott Nightingale
Copyright. wNU
REDCO4TS GUARDED
TRAIL OF '98


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 '9S'' were taken two
years before, in 1896, when Car
mack's discovery just about electrl-
fed the whole world, and when
thousands of men, and a few hum
dred women began converglng 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 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
| outfitted, had sufficient food, and
we're 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 so
and they demanded to know what
the Mounted were doing there, on
American territory. Although the
one hundred and forty-irst parallel
had not yet been decided upon as
| the dividing Line between American
! Alaska, ard 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 startling discovery for them
to find the Northwest Mounted Po-
lice on guard on what the stamped
ers thought was American territory
When the van1ard 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 ~ staged a bloody riot,
then voted to gather the redcoats,
place them aboard a 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
slxtieth 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 i.
they ever set out to do it.
But, they never set out to do it.
Those who came to destroy re-
mained to childishly beg the Mer
OF the Mounted to pass them through
into the gold-flled Yukon territory
The human jackals and rascals thai
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 thai
thousands of bad characters who
claim that they were in the Klon
dyke gold rush really never tool
one step past the half dozen red
coats that held the Chilcoot ane
White passes. Half dozen agains
thousands. Truly the Redcoats were
the Daniels in the lions den in the
kiondyke gold rush of 1898.