Read Ebook: All about the Klondyke gold mines by Knox J Armoy John Armoy Pratt J G

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 350 lines and 27841 words, and 7 pages

IN THE LAND OF

CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS.

NORTHWESTERN CHIHUAHUA--PREPARING FOR THE EXPEDITION--FROM DEMING, N. M., TO CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA.

The first chapter describing an expedition is liable to be prosaic to the point of dullness. It is full of promises that are expected to be realized, while as yet nothing has been done. Not one-tenth of these may formulate, and yet the expedition may be a success in unexpected results; for in no undertaking is there so much uncertainty as in travel through little known countries. Then, again, the writer is likely to consider himself called upon to give a lengthy description of the party in the preliminary letter, and, as I have often seen, even descend to an enumeration of the qualities of the cook or the color of the mules. The next night the cook may desert and the mules may run away, so that others must be procured, and therefore they are of no more interest to the reader than any other of the millions of cooks or mules that would make any writer wealthy if he could find a publisher who would print his description of them. I intend to break away from that stereotyped formula in this first chapter and briefly state that I was in the field of Northern Mexico, hoping to obtain new and interesting matter beyond the everlasting descriptions that are now pumped up for the public by versatile writers along the beaten lines of tourist travel, as determined by the railroads, and, occasionally, the diligence lines. I had a good outfit of wagons, horses, mules, and last, but not least, men for that purpose. Each and every member of the expedition will be heard from when anything has been done by them, and not before. When the mule Dulce kicks a hectare of daylight through the cook for spilling hot grease on his heels I will give a description of Dulce and an obituary notice of the cook; but until then they will remain out of the account.

We crossed the boundary south of Deming early in March, 1889, and entered Mexican territory, where our travels can be said to have begun. If one will take the pains to look at a map of this portion of Mexico he will see that it projects into the United States some distance beyond the average northern boundary, the Rio Grande being to our east, and an "offset," as we would say in surveying, being to our west, this "offset" running north and south. This flat peninsula projecting into our own country can be better understood by visiting it and comparing it with the surrounding land of the United States, coupled with a history of the country. Roughly speaking, the Mexican-United States boundary, as settled by the Mexican War, followed the line of the Southern Pacific Railway as now constructed, and the so-called Gadsden purchase from Mexico of a few years later fixed the boundary as we now see it, giving us a narrow, sabulous strip of Mexican territory, but a definite boundary, easily established by surveys.

The Mexicans were on the ground and knew just what they were doing when they arranged for selling us this narrow strip; while, as usual, we did everything from Washington, and knew just about as little concerning it as we possibly could and be sure we were purchasing a part of Mexico. The Mexicans ran this flat-topped peninsula far to the north, inclosing lakes, rivers, and springs, and waters innumerable; while, as a generous compensation, they gave us more land to the west, but a land where a coyote carries three days' rations of jerked jack rabbit whenever he makes up his mind to cross it. There is no more comparison between the offset of Mexico that projects here into the United States, and the offset from the United States that projects into Mexico west of here, than there is in comparing the fertile plains of Iowa or Illinois with Greenland or the Great Sahara Desert.

Everyone familiar with the exceedingly rich lands of the Southwest, when so much of it is worthless for want of water, knows how valuable that liquid is in this region, especially if it occurs in quantities sufficiently large for the purposes of irrigation. I have stood on land that I could purchase for five cents an acre or less, and that stretched out behind me for limitless leagues, and could jump on other land whose owner had refused a number of hundreds of dollars an acre, although, as far as the eye could see, there was no more difference between them than between any two adjoining acres on an Illinois farm. The real difference was one to be determined by the surveyor's level, which showed that water could be put on the valuable tract and not on the other. This also is the difference between the Mexican "offset" in the North, lying between the Rio Grande and the meridianal boundary to the west, and the American tract that juts into Mexico just west of this again. They both share the same soil as you gaze at them from the deck of your "burro," and you can even see no difference in them on closer inspection, after your mule has assisted you to alight; but there is a real and tangible value difference of from one hundred to two hundred dollars a year per acre between the grapes and other fruits and vegetables you can raise on one, with water trickling round their roots, and the sagebrush and grease wood of the other, not rating at ten cents a township.

The diplomats of our country at Washington may be all Talleyrands in astuteness, but in the Gadsden purchase they got left so far behind that they have never yet been able to see how badly they were handled in the bargain.

As our people travel along the line of the Southern Pacific Railway, through its arid wastes of sand and sunshine, they can little realize the beautiful country of Northern Chihuahua and Sonora that lies so close to them to the southward. And yet some of this seemingly arid land in Southern New Mexico and Arizona is destined to become of far more value than its present appearance would indicate. Anglo-Saxon energy is converting little patches here and there into fertile spots, and these are constantly increasing. A great portion of the land is fine for cattle grazing, and these little oases make centers of crystallizing civilization, which render the country for miles around valuable for this important industry.

The persons who believe that New Mexico will not eventually become one of the finest States in our Union belong to the class of those who put Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas in the great American desert a decade or two ago.

The backbone ridge of mountains in Mexico is the Sierra Madre, or Mother Mountains, for from them all other ridges and spurs seem to emanate. From their crests, as with all other mountains in the world, spring innumerable rivulets and creeks, which, uniting, form rivers. But nearly everywhere else these streams increase in size by the addition of the waters of other tributaries until they reach the sea.

Not so with the Mexican rivers of this locality. Shortly after leaving the mountains and reaching the foothills, they receive no additions from other sources, and after flowing from fifty to one hundred miles they sink into the ground. These "sinks" are usually large lakes, and a map of the country would make one believe that the rivers were emptying into them, but in reality they only disappear as just stated, to reappear in the hot lands as the heads of rivers. Now all the country between the Sierra Madre and the "sinks," or at least all the valley country, can be readily irrigated by this perennial flow of water. The rivers are fringed with trees, and the grass is in excellent condition, while beyond, the plains are treeless, the soil arid, and the prospect cheerless in comparison. To particularize: if the reader looks at the map of Chihuahua he will see a series of lakes : Laguna de Guzman, Laguna de Santa Maria, Laguna de Patos, etc., extending nearly north and south, and parallel with the crest of the Sierra Madres. Between the lakes and the crest is a beautiful country, capable of sustaining a dense population; while outside of it, to the eastward, so much cannot be said in its favor, although probably the latter is a good grazing district. Now the railway runs outside or eastward of the line of the "sinks," where the country is flat and the engineering difficulties are at a minimum; and as nearly all the descriptions we have of Mexico are based upon observations made from car windows, it is easy to see how erroneous an opinion can be formed of this northern portion of Mexico, which is so constantly, though conscientiously, misrepresented by scores of writers.

The first lake we came to in Mexico was Laguna Las Palomas , only a few miles beyond the boundary, and to secure which Mexico was smart enough to get in the offset to which I have referred. It is, I think, the "sink" of the Mimbres River, which, as a river, lies wholly in the southwestern portion of New Mexico. It disappears, however, before it crosses the boundary, to reappear as sixty or seventy huge springs in Mexico , which drain into a beautiful lake, backed by a high sierra, the Las Palomas Mountains, altogether forming a very picturesque scene. All the country around is quite level, and thousands of acres can here be irrigated with this enormous water supp ones who discovered the gold. What the prospectors have found points to more. The unexplored region is immense. The mountains to the south are young, having been elevated very much since the climax of the glacial period. With these discoveries and the success in introducing reindeer Alaska bids fair to support a population eventually of several millions. The United States must hold on to her treaty rights with Great Britain for the protection of our interests there. If England accomplishes her unreasonable designs she would shut us off from all communication with the Klondyke region except by way of the Yukon."

THE GREAT GOLD DISCOVERY.

HOW THE FIRST AUTHENTIC NEWS REACHED US.

Placer mining had been going on at Circle City and the settlement of Forty Mile for some time, and news of the wonderful productiveness of the mines there had reached the United States, but the gold fever did not become pronounced until the arrival in San Francisco, on the 14th of July of this year, of the steamer Excelsior with forty miners and gold dust valued at over 0,000.

These forty miners were the first to bring the story of the almost fabulous richness of the new Klondyke mines near the Upper Yukon. One of these miners, J. C. Hestwood, who brought home ,000 worth of gold as the result of two months' work, had this story to tell:

"Circle City and Forty Mile have suffered the usual fate of mining camps which have petered out, only these camps have not petered out. When gold was found in such astonishing quantities on the tributaries of the Klondyke the whole population of those camps moved bodily to the junction of the Klondyke and Yukon rivers, where Dawson City is established. This district, the richest placer country in the world, was discovered by an old hunter named McCormick, who has a squaw for a wife and several half-breed children. McCormick went up in the spring of 1896 to the mouth of the Klondyke to fish, as salmon weighing ninety pounds are caught where this stream meets the Yukon. The salmon didn't run as usual and McCormick, hearing from the Indians of rich placers nearby where gold could be washed out in a frying pan, started in to prospect.

"Near what is now Dawson City he struck very rich pay dirt in a side hill. As soon as news of his discovery spread men from Circle City and Forty Mile rushed in. The richest claims are in Bonanza Creek, which empties into the Klondyke three miles above Dawson City. There are three claims in that district, each 500 feet long, extending clear across the creek on which it is located. No one can file an additional claim until he has recorded his abandonment of his old claim.

"In the adjoining Bunker district there are 200 claims. The two districts have been well prospected, but further up the Klondike is much territory which has never been travelled over.

"Old miners declared that the north side of the Yukon was worthless, so no prospecting was done until McCormick started in. There is no claim-jumping, as the Canadian laws are rigid and well enforced. The rich pay dirt is only struck near bed rock and this generally lies from eighteen to twenty-five feet below the surface.

"The method of mining is to remove the surface mass, which is eighteen inches thick, and then build a fire which burns all night. In the morning the gravel is shaved down about two feet. This is shovelled out, and another fire is built, and in this slow and laborious way the ground is removed to bedrock. This work can be carried on all winter, except when the mercury falls below 60 degrees.

"Dawson City is a booming town of about 3,000 inhabitants and is growing every week. Provisions were scarce and dear last winter, and all supplies are costly. An ordinary 75-cent pocket knife sells for , and shoes bring from to . A dog-sledgeload of eggs was brought in last winter from Juneau. About half were spoiled, but the whole lot sold readily at per dozen. Flour sold as high as a pound."

Mr. Hestwood showed many small nuggets from the new Bonanza Creek district, where his mine is situated. The gold is the color of brass, and is worth to an ounce. It isn't as pure gold as found elsewhere on the Yukon.

THE GOLD FEVER SPREADING.

THE STORIES OF SOME MINERS.

The stories of the returned miners, telegraphed from San Francisco all over the country and to the ends of the earth on the evening of the 14th of July, were what started the gold fever, and the craze to go in search of the precious metal that is now raging from one end of the country to the other. Soon after the arrival of the Excelsior, the half million dollars worth of yellow dust, which ranged in size from a hazelnut to fine bird-shot and kernels of sand, was poured out on the counter at Selby's smelting works on Montgomery street and then shovelled with copper scoops into the great melting pot. Those who saw the gold in one heap said no such spectacle had been seen since the days of '49, when miners used to come down from the placer districts and change their gold for pieces.

The luckiest of these miners are Mr. and Mrs. T. S. Lippey, who left here in April, 1896. They brought back ,000. They went in by way of Juneau over the divide, and Mrs. Lippey was the first woman to go over this trail. She is a small, wiry woman, with skin tanned to the color of sole leather. She seemed none the worse for the hardships of Yukon life. She is a good rifle shot, and brought with her the antlers of a moose which she had shot.

Hollinshead and Stewart, two miners, who had been at work for a year, had 1,500 ounces, worth about ,000. Other tenderfeet had done better, for in a few weeks some of them had cleaned up from ,000 to ,000. Several of the men had bought claims on time, paying a small sum down and agreeing to pay all the way from ,000 to ,000 in three to six months. Most of them cleaned up enough gold in a month to pay for their claims and still have a good sum left over.

When the men arrived in San Francisco they found the United States mint closed for the day, and so they carried their sacks of gold to the office of Selby's smelting works. They were weather-beaten and roughly dressed, but the spectators forgot their appearance when they began to produce sacks of gold dust ranging from ,000 to ,000 in value. Some of the sacks were regular buckskin bags, well made; others were of canvas, black and grimy from long handling with dirty fingers. As fast as the bags were weighed they were ripped open with a sharp knife and the contents were poured out on the broad counter. Then some of the miners produced from bundles and coat pockets glass fruit jars and jelly tumblers filled with gold dust and covered with writing paper, carefully secured with twine. It seems that the supply of gold bags ran out and this was the only way to bring the treasure down.

When all the gold dust was poured out it made a nice heap, on which the spectators gazed as though fascinated; but the smelting men calmly scraped it up and cast the yellow dust into a big pot, which was wheeled into the smelting room.

A letter from one of the officials of the Alaska Commercial Company, at Circle City, gives this account of the great rush to the new diggings:

"The excitement on the river is indescribable, and the output of the new Klondyke district is almost beyond belief. Men who had nothing last fall are now worth a fortune. One man has worked forty square feet of his claim and is going out with ,000 in dust. One-quarter of the claims are now selling at from ,000 to ,000. The estimate of the district is given as thirteen square miles, with an average of 0,000 to the claim, while some are valued as high as ,000,000 each. A number of claims have been purchased for large sums on a few months' credit, and the amount has been paid out of the ground before it became due.

"At Dawson sacks of gold dust are thrown under the counters in the stores for safekeeping. The peculiar part of it is that most of the locations were made by men who came in last year, old-timers not having had faith in the indications until the value of the region was assured, whereupon prices jumped so high that they could not get in. Some of the stories are so fabulous I am afraid to repeat them for fear of being suspected of the infection.

"There are other discoveries reported a little beyond and on the Stewart River, but these have not yet been verified."

MILLIONS OF GOLD PANNED OUT.

POOR YESTERDAY--ROLLING IN WEALTH TO-DAY.

The San Francisco correspondent of the New York Sun, who saw the arrival of the Excelsior, sent to his paper by wire a graphic description of the sensation created. He said:

"San Francisco has not been stirred by any mining discovery since the opening up of the great bonanzas on the Comstock Lode in Nevada, nearly thirty years ago, as it has been by the stories of two score sun-tanned and hard-featured miners who have returned from the new Klondyke camp on the Yukon River in far Alaska.

These stories would have excited derision were it not that all these men were able to furnish ocular proof of their tales with pounds of yellow gold. Not one of the party went into this camp last Fall with anything more than his outfit and a few hundred dollars. Not one came out with less than ,000, a dozen cleaned up from ,000 to ,000, while half a dozen averaged from ,000 to ,000. Scores of them left claims that they valued at ,000 to ,000,000, which are now being worked by their partners or by hired laborers. They are not boasters nor boomers. In fact, they are careful to warn any one about venturing into the Yukon country unless he is young, vigorous and brave, able to bear hardships, and has from 0 to ,000 for outfit and current expenses after reaching the new gold fields. Perhaps it is these very conservative views which have made their talk take such powerful hold on the popular imagination.

All returned miners agree that the best way to reach the new gold fields is by way of Juneau. The journey is mainly by land over a snow-covered trail, down numerous streams and across lakes. The only very dangerous place is Chilicoot Pass, which is dreaded because of the sudden snowstorms that come up without warning and that have proved fatal to many adventurous miners. The distance is 650 miles, and it takes an average of twenty-five days to cover it.

Dawson City has now a population of nearly 3,000. It is beautifully situated on the banks of the Yukon near the mouth of the Klondyke River, and seems destined to become the mining centre of the Northwest territory. The people now live in shanties, each built of a few strips of weather boarding and canvas. There is a sawmill in operation day and night, but it cannot supply the demand for its products. Lumber sells at the mill for 0 per thousand, but when delivered at mines the price jumps to 0.

One of the peculiar features of the new camp is the lack of shooting, due to the fact that the Canadian Government does not permit men to carry firearms. Police disarm miners when they enter the district, so that there is not any of the lawlessness and crime which marked early placer mining in California. There is much gambling, and play is high. An old miner, Alexander Orr, who spent eight Winters in Alaska, but will not return, said:

"Dawson is not like most of the large mining camps. It is not a tough town; murders are almost unknown. The miners are a quiet, peaceable kind of men, who have gone there to work and are willing that everybody else shall have an equal chance with themselves. A great deal of gambling is done in town, but serious quarrels are the exception. As a gambling town I think it is equal to any I have ever seen, and this, by the way, is always the test of a mining camp's prosperity. Stud poker is the usual game. They play ante, and often bet 0 or 0 on the third card."

Orr sold out his claim for ,000, and the men who bought it made the purchase money in four months. Perhaps the best idea of what has been done in the new camp can be gained from the following short interviews with returned miners:

William Kulju said: "I brought down just 1,000 ounces of dust and sold it to smelting works. I worked at Eldorado Creek, near Dawson, and was in that country about a year, and had a couple of dollars and a pack last Summer when I went in. I sold my claim for ,000, part cash and the balance to be paid as it is taken out. Now, I am taking a trip to the old country--Finland--and am coming back next year."

Fred Lendeseen: "I went to Alaska two years ago, and when I left there six weeks ago I brought ,000 in gold dust with me. I have had considerable experience in mining, and say without hesitation that Alaska is the richest country I have ever seen. I have interest in a claim near Dawson and am going back in the Spring."

Greg Stewart: "I had a partner and I sold out my interest for ,000 and put my money back again at interest in mines. My partner had 1,500 ounces of dust, but it fell short four ounces on the way down. The dust will go over an ounce, but we are all waiting for returns from the smelting works. I brought a few hundred ounces with me, but I get interest of 2 per cent. on short loans. I expect to return next Spring."

John Marks: "I brought ,500 in gold dust with me, but I had to work for every bit of it. There is plenty of gold in Alaska--more, I believe, than the most sanguine imagine--but it cannot be obtained without great effort and endurance. The first thing for a poor man to do when he reaches the country is to begin prospecting. As snow is from two to five feet deep prospecting is not easy. Snow must first be shoveled away, and then a fire built on the ground to melt the ice. As the ground thaws the shaft must be sunk until bed rock is reached. The average prospector has to sink a great many shafts before he reaches anything worth his while. If gold is found in sufficient quantities to pay for working, he may begin drifting from the shaft, and continue to do so as long as he finds enough gold to pay."

Albert Fox: "I and partner went into the district in 1895 and secured two claims. We sold one for ,000. I brought 300 ounces, which netted ,000. Everybody is at Dawson for the present. The district is apt to be overrun. I wouldn't advise anyone to go there this Fall, for people are liable to go hungry before spring. About 800 went over the summit from Juneau, 600 miles, so there may not be food enough for all."

Robert Kooks: "I've been four years in Alaska. I had a half interest in a claim on Eldorado Creek, and sold out to my partner for ,000. I bought a half interest in a claim on the Bonanza, below the Discovery claim, and my share is worth easily ,000. I brought ,000 in gold dust, and shall return in the Spring, after rest and recreation."

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet