TIIE SOR ANTON TRmUNE-TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 14, 18!7.
JONAS LONG'S SONS.
JONAS LONG'S SONS.
JONAS LONG'S SONS.
JONAS LONGiS'SONS.
1 THE STORY OF GOLD DISCOVERY IN THE
"Aty-
aIaMa.aIa&i
1 YUKON DISTRICT.
Eleven Days
Told by One Who Has Spent Years in Work
'
as a Surveyor Along the Yukon Itfver and Its Tributaries.
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)MAt$AtA)ntA
In a recent lsue the Now York Sun
day Sun presented a page article on
this subject by William Ogllvlo. V. K.
O. P., who for years 1ms been employed
prinelpally In the explorutlon of the
vast north land of Canada, and In eon
ceded to be the greatest living author
ity upon nil matters concerning the far
northern portion of America. From
this article we have extracted the In
formation which follows.
Early In the seventies an attempt
was made to pot over to Teslln lake by
Cnsslar miners who had learned of the
existence of u large lake northward
from Cnsslur. Several men tried, but
unsuccessfully, and returned disgust
ed. In 1872, Sept. 2, two north of Ire
land men from county Antrim, named
Arthur Harper and Frederick V. Hart;
George W. Fitch, who came from the.
vicinity of Kingston, Ontario; Andrew
Knnselar, a fJermnn, and Sam Wilkin
son, an Englishman, leTt Munson Creek
to co on a prospecting trip down the
Mackenzie river.
Harper, because gold had been found
on the I, lard, which empties Into the
Mackenzie nnd Is one of Its principal
branches, was under the impression
that there was sold on the Mackenzie.
They made their way down Peace
river, by the. Finlay branch, to what is
known as Half Way river. There they
met a party of men surveying for the
Pnnnflinn PnHfln rnllw.iv. nnil unwit
tingly helped to drive a spike in otiifl
great national highway, because they
gave their boat to the survey men to
make their way up the Peace river.
Harper and the others packed their
provisions up the Half Way river and
over a twenty-live mile portage to the
v titers of the Nelson river, down which
they went until they found it safe for
the passage of canoes, when; they
made a cache nnd proceeded to make
two dug-outs, with which to ascend
the Nelson.
In 1S91 I was sent by the Dominion
government to examine the northeast
portion of this province, and coming
out by the trail followed by Harper I
saw the cache Which Harper had told
me about In 1SS". AVell, Harper's party
made their way down to the Llard
river, where they met two men named
McQuesten and Mayo. Wilkinson de
termined to trv his luck on the Llard,
and left the others. Harper, Hart,
Kanselar and Fitch went down the
Mackenzie, across to the Peel, and
thence over to Cell's river, an allluent
of the Porcupine, and down the Por
cupine to Fort Yukon, where Haiper
saw an Indian who had some native
copper which he said came from White
river.
Harper determined to try for It. With
Fitch and Hart he went 400 miles up
the Yukon to White river In Septem
ber, and thence up White river until
they were stopped by running Ice.when
they made preparations for -winter,
building a cabin of suitable dimen
sions. From this point they made prospect
ing excursions In various directions,
mainly In search of the copper, which
they did not find. Harper attributes
their non-success to the late closing of
the river and the thickness of tile Ice
drift, which precluded any attempt to
cross it. He believes he saw across the
river rock of such peculiar colors as to
justify him in at least assuming that
lie bad found a copper vein of consid
erable extent. He kent that matter a
subject of inquiry with the Indians
during his long sojourn in the coun
try, and now thinks that he is certain
of Its location, having from time to
time obtained from the Indians of the
locality pieces of native copper and
copper ore, all of which seem to him
to point to one locality. Where this is
lie did not toll me, but ho hopes. If he
lives long enough, to be able to dis
cover and prospect what he considers
a very extensive copper district.
THE FIRST PROSPECTS.
In the sprint;, being short of provis
ions, they made thplr way down the
river, prospecting as they went, and
found very good indications In the
vicinity of the mouth of the Stewart.
But the shortage of provisions pre
vented their taking advantage of these
discoveries. On their way up thev as
cended Forty Mile river two or three
miles, prospecting, nnd found very
good prospects, hut the Indians whom
they met on that river scared them
away by telling them that there was
n very dangerous and Impassable can
on some distance further on. Wo now
know this Is not the case. They found
no gold on the Mackenzie, and the re
sult of their prospecting Harper
summed up to me thus:
On the Nelson, nothing; on the Llard.
colors: on the Mackenzie, nothing: on
the Peel, fair prospects: on the Por
cupine, colors; on the Hell, nothing,
and on the Yukon, prospects.
To obtain provisions they had to
make their way to St. Michael, and on
their way back they encountered Mc
Questen and Mayo, who had gone Into
the service of the Alaska Commercial
company. Near the mouth of the Koy
ukuk Harper saw an Indian with some
gold which ho said came from a moun
tain in the vicinity. Harper spent the
winter of '74 and '73 prospecting at the
point Indicated, but found nothing.
McQuesten and Mayo, as the result of
a conversation with him. went up the
stream and established Fort Reliance
in August and September. 1S74. Hur
per Joined them the following sum
mer, and a partnership was formed
which existed until ISSi).
CLOSE TO THE KLONDIKE IN '74.
Fort Reliance is only six and u half
miles from the mouth of the renowned
Klondike. While trading it appears
that they made very few and short at-
Itchlcjr, Irritated, icalr, crnited Sculps, dry, thin,
tud falling Hair, eleamed, jiarlfled, and beauti
fied t warm itiatnpooi with Ccticuiu Boip,
and occasional drenln: of Cutjoubj, jjurtit of
emollients, the greatest skin enres.
(pleura
Treatment will product a clean, healthy scalp
wltb luxuriant, nitrous hair, whn all clso falls.
Hold throughout Iht world. Fori m Oaco mo Cum.
Coai,rlf Prop. Hfiit.n.
jr'-Uew la product l.uj-ri-nl Iltlr," mailed free.
SKINS ON FIRE wlVa&
with Eruma IniUntl? rthtvad
tpiss.
tempts nt prospecting. The valley of
the Klondike and Its nflluents Is u fa
vorite hunting ground, but they never
prospected there, nnd if they had done
so In the Klondike itself they would
have found nothing, for Its bed consists
of coarse gravel through which lino
gold would have soon gone out of sight,
nnd at that time no prospecting was
done, except surface work. In the sum
mer of 1SS7 the valley of the Klondike
was prospected for upward of forty
miles, with no result. Again, In 1S9:S,
It was prospected nnd nothing found.
Early in the 'SOs gold wns found on
the Stewart river by miners, promi
nent among whom were two brothers
named Roswell from Peterboro, On
tario. There Is little doubt that much
of the early mining done in the coun
try wns due to' the reports of Harper,
who hnd written to old comrades in
Hrltish Columbia, whore he had mined
for many yeais, trying to Induce them
to try their luck on the Yukon. In 1SSG
Mr. Harper erected a trading post at
the mouth of the Stewart for the bene
fit of the miners theie, some thirty or
more In iiumkci.
In the same year coarse gold was
found on Forty Mile. Now, as coarse
gold is what alt miners principally
search for, as soon as this dls.-overy
was made known Stewart River was
deserted. Harper left Stewatt River In
June, 1SS". and went down to the mouth
of lite Foity Mile, whete he began the
erection of n residence and trading
house, the nucleus of the famed town
of Forty Mile was prospected Its en
tire Kngth, and to enumerate the
creeks and gulches on its headwaters,
on which gold wns found would now be
a waste of time.
THE FIRST RICH STRIKE.
From the headwaters of Forty Mile
many went over to the hoadwuters of
Sixty Mile the two being separated
only by a low, narrow divide the Mil
ler and Glacier creel: were discovered.
Miller was consldeied the richest creek
In the entire country forsevwnl years,
but would not at all compare with
Bonanza, or EI Dorado. Miller and
Glacier creeks were believed to he In
Alaska until I produced the 141st m rl
dlan, which Is the International bound
ary line, and found them well in Can
adaso far that there can never be
nny question ns to which side of the
line they arc on.
1 may state fir the Information of
many, us a cao of what those con
templating entry to that country may
regard as the usual thing, that Miller
Creek was prospected three different
times, nnd on each occasion given up
as worthless. Yet. after till, it turned
out to be the richest creek known in
the country until 18.
Forty Mile, with Sixty Mile, was the
mining ground in that vicinity until
1891, when gold wns found on the head
waters of Ulrch Creek. This discovery
was led to by n Canadian missionary,
Archdeacon Mncdonald of Fort Mac
Pherson, on the Peel River. This gen
tleman, In connection with ids mission
ary lal.oi, had traveled n great deal
c.--r the ci,uitr. In coming froi".
Tannna river he found a nugget In a
gulch on one of the head streams of
Ulrch Creek. He leported the ilnd to
some miners, nnd they made search for
the place where he had found it. Rut
although they did not llnd the place
answering the description lie had giv
en, they found the gold.
CIRCLE CITY'S ORIGIN.
This was the origin of Circle Cltv,
which is on the banks of the Yukon,
about 200 miles below Forty Mile, and
eight miles from the head of Ulrch
cteek. This town was besun In 1891,
nnd absorbed the attention of a great
many at Forty Mile and the bulk of
the newcomers. There are a couple of
gulches at the head of Ulrch Creek
which were thought to be rich, nnd are
good but they cannot be compared
w llh El Dorado or Bonanza. 1 will use
the words of an old. experienced miner,
who said to me that the Ulrch Creel;
diggings "are only Chinese diggings
compared with Bonanza or i:i Dorado."
"Why," he went on. "I know one or
two claims on the HI Dorado that 1
would not give for the whole llh oh
Creek district."
A (food creek was discovered on the
head of Forty Mile In the fall of isy.'i
named Mosquito Creek. As the law
allows a clnlm of l,;!-0 feet measured
in the general direction of the creek
the few who were In the country at the
time of discovery took up the whole
creek by locating claims to that ox
tent, nnd although the rule up to that
time had been claims of 500 foot only.
FINDING THE KLONDIKE.
The discovery of the sold on the
Klondike, as it I. called, although the
proper name of the creek is In Indian
"Troan-dlk," wns made by three men.
Robert Henderson, a Canadian, a na
tive of Prince Edward Island; Frank
Swflnson, a Norwegian, and another
man, named Munson, whose nutlonnl
Itv do not know, who, In July, isoti,
were prospecting on Indian Creek.
They proceeded up the creek without
finding sulllclent to satisfj them until
they reached Dominion Creek, and af
ter prospecting there they crossed over
the divide and found Gold Bottom, an
allluent of tho Klondike, where they
got good prospects and went to work.
Provisions running short, Henderson
retraced his steps to the mouth of In
dian Civek, leaving tho other two at
work. From the mouth of Indian Creek
he went up to Sixty Mile, but falling to
obtain n supply there he had to make
for Forty Mile. On the way down hi'
passed an old mining comrade named
Georgo W. Curmuek, a natlvo of Cali
fornia, who had associated with h'lni,
two Inolans, Taglsli Jim and Taglsh
Charlie natives of the upper waters of
the Yukon, who proudly claimed to lie
"King George men,-' or British In
dians. Now one of the articles of the miner's
code is that ho shall proclaim all dis
coveries made by him as soon as pos
sible, and Henderson at once advised
Carmack of the discovery on Gold Hot
torn and advised him to try there.
Making Inquiries of the local Indians
as to the situation of Guld Rottom,
Carmack learned tho route to It, and,
along with the two Indians mentioned,
started, climbing over tho ridge which
divides the valley of the Yukon from
the valley of Ronanzo Creek, down Into
that creek and up it to El Dorado, He
went up it about three miles und then
followed the ridco dividing Its waters
from those of Uonanza until he struck
the watershed between Indian Creek
and Klondike, ulong which he traveled
until he reached the head of the creek,
that i assumed to be the Gold Bot
tom. Ho went down, found Sw Anson
and Munson at work, but was not sat
isfied with the prospects there, and de
termined to return and prospect the
creek now known ns Ronanza from its
head downwnrds, as It lay in the direc
tion of his way home. '
STRIKING IT RICH.
He found nothing of note until lio
cntiie down nbout midway, where from
a little nook In a bend of the creek he
panned out a good prospect. This en
couraged him to try ngaln. Ho did so,
and In n few moments panned out
$12.73, which he put in an old cart
ridge shell and corked with a piece of
stick. This was on Aug. 10, 1896. The
next day he staked discovery claim and
No. 1 below for himself. No. 2 for Ta
glsh Charlie, and No. 1 above for Ta
glsh Jim. He then made his way clown
the creek as fast as possible and went
down the river for a supply of pro
visions. On the way he met several miners
nnd Informed them of his discovery. At
first they would not believe him, ns his
reputation for truth was not above par.
These miners said they could not tell
when he wns telling the truth, If he
ever was, ns ho was the greatest liar
this side of a great many places.
Some of them came to me nnd asked
my opinion. 1 pointed out to them
that there was no question about the
man having the $12.7") In gold. The
only question, then, was where did ho
get it? He had not been up the Sixty
Mile, nor yet the Forty Mile, and he
must have got it somewhere near
where he wns engaged fishing, and
that was tight at the mouth of the
Klondike.
EXCITEMENT REGINS.
Then followed the excitement, llont
load after 'boatload of men went up
from Forty Mile. They went up any
how nnd any way, starting at -all times
of the day nnd night. Men who hnd
boon drunk for weeks and weeks, in
fact, were tumbled Into the boats nnd
taken up without any knowledge that
they were travellers. One man, indeed,
was so drunk that he did not realize
that h had left Forty Mile until he
was more than two-thirds of the way
to the Klondike. And yet he owns one
of the very best claims in the Klondike
district today.
The whole creek for u ditance of
about twenty miles, giving in the
neighborhood of 200 claims, was staked
in a few weeks. El Dorado Creek, seven
nnd a half or eight miles long, provid
ing eighty claims, was staked In about
the same length of time, boulder, Ad
ams, unl other gulches were prospect
ed, end gave good sutface showings,
gold being found in the gravid in the
creeks. Good surface prospects may be
tnken ns an Indication of the existence
of very fair bedrock.
It was not until December, however,
that the character of the diggings
was established. Twenty-one, above
Discovery, on Ronanza, was the one
which first proved the value of the
district The owner of this claim was
in the habit of cleaning up a. few tub
fuls of dirt every night, and paying his
workmen $1.50 an h'our.
WONDERFUL PANS.
Clnlm No. !i. El Dorado, next pro
duced a pan of $37. This wns succeed
ed by one of upward of $S0. Then came
one of $112. Soon after claim No. 1G
diowed up a pan of $212, and tills it
was that caused the intense excitement
in trat country. I believe the excite
ment outside was even greater than
It was there, but of that you will know
more than I, fer you saw it and I did
not.
The news went down to Circle City
eniiy in December, and it at once emp
tied itself and came up to Dawson.
The scenes of the Forty Mile rush were
repeated. Tb" miners came up any
way they could, at all hours of the day
and night, with provisions and empty
handed. On their arrival thev found
that nil tho creeks had been staked
weeks before. A good many Canadians
and others who at Circle City had oui
Americaned the natural, natlvf-hom
Americans In their protestations and
professions of Americanism, came up
to our territory in this rush with cer
tain expectations of realizing some
thing In the new finds by reason of
their nationality, and in Canada made
loud professions of loyalty, cursed their
luck, and declared it strangle indeed
that n Canudlan or a Rtiton could not
get a foot of ground In ids own coun
try. HOMESTAKERS NFMEROl'S.
Bonaza and El Dorado creeks afford
between them 278 claims; their several
niiluents will yield ns many more, und
r early all of these claims are good. I
have no hesitation in saying that about
a hundred of those on Bonanza will
yield upward of $30,000,000, and about
thirty on the El Dorado will yield $1.
000.000 each. These two creeks will. I
an quite confident, turn out from $G0,
000,000 to $75,000,000, and I can safely
say that there is no other region in
the world that has afforded so many
liomestnkes that Is. fortunes enabling
the owners to go home, and enjoy the
remainder of their days nt their case
considering that tho work has had to
be done with very limited facilities, the
scarcity of provisions and of labor,
and that only the crudest appliances
are as yet available. When I tell you
that to work properly each claim ten
m twelve men are required, and that
only fi00 were available that season, it
will give you nil Idea of the dllllcuhUcH
which had to be contended with.
On Hear Creek, which Joins tho Klon
dike nbout seven or eight miles above
that, good claims havo been found; and
also on Gold Rottom, Hunker, Last
Chance, and Cripple creeks. On Gold
Rottom an high as $15 to the pan has
been taken, and although we cannot
say that they are ns rich as El Dorado
or as Bonunza, they are richer than
any other creeks known In that coun
try. Then, thirty-five miles higher up
tho Klondike, Too-Much-Gold Creek
wns found. It obtained Its name from
the fact that the Indians who saw mica
glittering in Its sand mistook it for
gold and so named it.
WORLD'S RICHEST GOLD FIELD.
A fact that I am now going to state
to you, and one easily demonstrated,
Is thut from Telegraph Creek north
ward to the boundary line wo have in
tho Dominion and In this province an
area of from 650 to COO miles In length
and from 100 to 150 miles in width,
over the whole of which rich prospects
havo been found. Wo must have from
00,000 to 100,000 square miles, which,
with proper care, Judicious handling,
and Improved facilities for the trans
portation of food and utensils, will be
the largest, as It is probably tho rich
est gold field the world has ever known.
The British Columbia minister of mines
1 Don't Lose Them.
Under one roof is a collection of Merchandise of which there is
ho copy for many miles around. You get rich results for the time
spent here in looking; and buying.
I The Festive Spirit Is Pervasive 1
00 m
Thousands are enjoying the Holiday Attractions, and
echoes of appreciation are coming from every direction.
Through it all, remember our prices are always made in the
3 interest of customers. This must be so. We could not afford it
j otherwise. You wouldn't pay us more than a competitor would
jl chargeof course not. What then? Couple price fact with its
g twinthe most complete stocks. You'll know then where your
I Interests as a Buyer Are Best Protected.
may wish to extend that down to the
houndnry line, but that of course I
leave to him.
Tho Stewart and the Pelley livers are
In tills gold-bearing zone, and also give
promising indications. As I before
mentioned, the Stewart river had been
mined for several years before the dis
covery of coarse gold on Forty Mile.
After that discovery Forty Mile took
the attention of all the miners enter
ing the country until the discovery of
gold on Birch Creek. The Forty Mile
district, together with the Birch Creek
district, engaged all the transporta
tion facilities of the two companies
trading on the river, and there were no
provisions to spare for any other than
these two points.
This prohibited prospecting on the
Stewart or elsewhere, but many of the
old-timers declared, and do so yet, that
with a proper supply of provisions
placed convenient to the Stewart it
will be the camp or the country, ns,
with its nflluents, aggregating about
S00 miles of stream on tho bars of
Stewart river, year after year grub
stakes have been cleaned up, the up
ply being replaced annually. It Is nov
easy to make $8 a day off those bars,
and the discoverers for several years
made $20 a day and upward. It Is ob
vious from tho yearly renewal of this
gold that It must come from some
where. That somewhere lias not yet
been found. Give us facilities and a.
very short time will settle the question.
The Stewart itself, it is argued by
those who ought to know well, Is navi
gable for a distance of about 150 miles
from its mouth. This in Itself is a
valuable asset In the development of
that district.
Robert Henderson, to whom I re
ferred na leading up to the discovery
of gold on Bonanza, in June of the
present year started up the Stewart
alone In a small boat with a supply of
provisions and tools to prospect on the
river and Its branches, being convinced
that It offered the largest and prob
ably the richest field in that country
for prospecting. That is the Btuff the
true prospector is made of, nnd I am
proud to say that he Is a Canadian,
AS TO QUARTZ CLAIMS.
Seven quartz claims have been lo
cated nlreadv in the vicinity of Forty
Mile und Dawson. One of these, named
Cone Hill, about two and a half miles
up Fortv Mile River from the Yukon,
is u veritable mountain of gold-bearing
rock and would require generations to
work out. Assays show from $3 to $11
per ton. Tho only question Is, Will that
amount pay for reduction under tho
conditions there existent and tho enor
mous freight rates Incidental to trans
portation to that vicinity? About forty
miles further up the river two large
cluims have been located by an expert
miner hailing from the United States,
Plan to Spend Them Here 1
STORE OPEN EVENINGS UNTIL CHRISTMAS.
The Mammoth
who has hud considerable experience
in Montnna and other mineral States,
nnd he asMiied me that the extent of
the lode on which these two claims are
situated Is such that it is greater than
anything else In the wot id, his assnyd
showing the value to be about $S a ton.
On Rear Creek a quartz claim was
loiated last winter und I diew up the
papers for the owner. He had to swear
that ho had found gold, but he would
not tell me what It was. I pounded up
several speclments of the nick in a
linnd mortar, but had no sieve to com
plete the operation properly. Those
w ho underttaud this will infer at once
the dllllfiiltU's I hnd to contend with.
The ioorest specimen 1 tried yielded
$100 to the ton; the ilchest. $1,000.
Now, while 1 am positive of this, I
know nothing of the extent of the lode.
The discoverer described it to me ns
being about 80 feet high and 15 feet
wide, projecting Into the bed of the
creek, but whether It was the lode it
self or simply the result of a slide he
did not know. Even If it Is the latter,
It would not be a very ditllcult feat
to find the lode Irom which it was de
tached. About thirty miles up the
Klondike another quartz claim litis been
located by a Canadian, who swore
positively that lie found gold in It,
and that it was good, but he did not
say Just how good.
AFTER THE MOTHER LODE.
A point to which I now want to direct
attention is thai the gold on Bonanza
and El Dorado creeks nt certain stages
has tho same degree of fineness. As you
come down both creeks it decreases In
value until It reaches a minimum of
about $15.25 per ounce, Troy weight.
From thut point It again Increases as
we go further down. Now, if we draw a
line througli tho points of correspond
ing value on theso two creeks, we llnd
that, projecting them eastward, we
strike Gold Bottom and Hunker creeks.
Projecting them west, we strike Miller
and Glacier creeks and the heads of tho
various gulches in Forty Mile, from
fifty to sixty miles away. What do we
infer from this? That there is a con
tinuous system of gold-bearing rock
running across tho country In this di
rection. Again we find that the gold In nug
gets found on Bonanza and El Dorado
bears no evidence of having travelled
any distance in fact, the majority of
the nuggets are as angular and Irregu
lar In shape as thoush you hud Just
pounded them out of the mother lode.
This, I think, leads to tho Inference
that that mother lode is not very dis
tant from where this gold Is now found,
and tho only debatable question In my
mind Is, is It In lodes of sulllclent di
mensions to pay for working by stamp
mills, or Is It a series of widely rls
semlnated, thin seams that the miners
term "stringers," so scattered as to
To Christmas.
Department Store.
render working them unprofitable.
Time alone will reveal this secret.
I have been told that gold has been
found at Jhe head of Lake Lebarge
on a stream flowing Into tho lake from
the east. Prospects, loo, are found on
the Dalton troll, on the other side of
the Yukon liver. A man tiding across
the Alsek on this trial was thrown from
hl.s horse, and In clambering ashore,
caught it ti small tree, which pulled
out by the roots. Where he landed he
saw something shining on the rock.
He picked It up and found that It was
gold. He showed me this gold at Fort
Cudahy In July, lS'jG, the amount being
about J1.G0. Other prospects have ulso
been found along the same trail, about
midway between there nnd Selkirk.
From these circumstances and dis
coveries It may be nssumed that In all
this country there is gold, while In this
particular zone It is especially abund
ant. This zone lies outside of a range
of mountains which extends to the
westward of the Rockies and has the
same general trend. It consists of
cretaceous rock, rising Into very high
peaks in some pluces. and crosses the
Yukon River Just below the boundary.
COITER AND OTHER METALS.
Another product of the country that
demands attention Is copper. It is
doubtless to be found somewhere on
the White River in great abundance,
ulthough tho locution of tho main de
posit has yet to be made. Mr. Hurper
saw a large piece of pure copper In the
possession of the Indians; Indeed, 1
have seen it myself. It comes from the
vicinity of the White River somewhere
Just where has yet to be disclosed.
Silver has ulso been found, und lead,
und, in addition, to work these when
the proper time nnd facilities come, we
have coal in abundance. It is found
running along the base of the last de
scribed range of cretaceous mountains.
A deposit of coal In this range runs
right through our territory. At two
points near Forty-Mile It crops out
prominently, in one place only nbout
three-quarters of a mile from the bank
of the rived Yukon. A short distance
nbovo this it crops out again, only
about eight miles from the Yukon, and
whenever the Cone Hill mine, which
I havo spoken of before. Is worked, tho
coal to work It with is only some four
teen or fifteen miles dlstnnt from the
scene of operations.
ANY AMOUNT OF COAL.
About thirty miles further up, on one
of tho ir.nny small nflluents of the Yu
kon, it azatn crops out a few miles
from tho bank of the main river, and
at Fifteen Mile Creek and nt the head
of the Thronday there are also out
cropplngs of coal, On tho upper
branches of the Stewart coal Is said to
occur In the drift; and again about six
miles aboye the Five Fingers coal
crops out, on the banks of tho Yukon
srr
Si,
o &.
.
River. In fact, there is any amount o
coal in the country with which to work
our precious minerals when we obtain
the necessary facilities.
In one Instance eighty avoirdupois
pounds of gold were rtalisied from iu
single c!ean-up, representing about
$li;,000 In money. This seems extraor
dinary, but we must bear In mind that
the dump from which this came con
tained only $110,000 and took the united
efforts of five or Mx men at $1.50 per
hour for upwurd of thres months, not
Including the labor of sluicing, so ti.
althour.lt it Is tremendously rich, it In
not exactly all profit
I saw the other evening In one of the
papers that n man who owns a claim,,
on El Dorado and another on Bear
Creek has fold out for $1,000,000. H.
went Into tne country a poor man wltli
the Intention of raisingsufficlent money
to pay off the mortgage on his plnce.
Well, he has done so; he has not only
paid off his own mortgage, but tbn
mortgages of his neighbors.
Although thea creaks are rich, nnd
as I have told you more men hnvo
made homesteaks thjre than anywhere
else In tho world, I do not wish you ti
look only on the bright side of tho pic
ture. An American from Seattle camo
In June. 1S.G, to the Forty Milci .vltH
hls wife, with the intention of better
ing lib condition. Thev went out
again last July with' $3,000. I was well
acquainted with this man, a very de
cent, Intelligent chap. Ho told me one
clay that if h could remain In thut
country from thveo to dve years nnd
go out with $5,000 he would consider1
himself in L'l'eat luck. He has coma
out with $32,000, and after prospecting
his claim at both ends and a little in
the middle he concludes that there ij
$1,500,000 in It.
THE OTHER SIDE.
On the other hand, an old Scotchman
by the name of Murks has been in
there for eleven years. I have known
lilin well, and onoe when ho wns sh Ic
last fall I happened to nsk him how old
lie was. Sixty-three years, ha said.
Then I asked him how long ho had
been mining. His reply was, forty-two
yeais In all parts of tho world except
In Australia. In answer to a questl-m
ns to whether he had never made his
stake, he told me ha had never yet
made more than a living, and often
th.it was very scanty. This, of course,
Is the opposite experience, but 1 could
quote scores of similar cases, ro that C
would not have you look too much on
tho bright side.
There nro men In that country who
are poor and who will remain so. It has
not been their "luck," as they call It,
to strike it rich, but I may say time
that country offers to men of great
fortitude, steadiness, and some Intelli
gence an opportunity to make more
SONS
(Continued on Pago 9.).
;