All about the Klondyke gold minesKnox, J. Armoy (John Armoy)
History
All about the Klondyke gold mines
Knox, J. Armoy (John Armoy)
Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries
"But the summit of Chilcoot Pass--that's the place that puts the yellow
fear into many a man's heart. Some took one look at it, sold their
outfits for what they would bring and turned back. This pass is over the
ridge which skirts the coast. It is only about 1,200 feet from base to
top, but it is almost straight up and down--a sheer steep of snow and
ice. There is a blizzard blowing there most of the time, and when it is
at its height, no man may cross. For days at a time the summit is
impassable. An enterprising man named Burns has rigged a windlass and
cable there, and with this he hoists up some freight at a cent a pound.
The rest is carried over on the backs of Indians. We were detained ten
days waiting our turn to have our outfits carried over and for favoring
weather.
"After going about three miles up a dark canon a whirling snow storm
struck us. But having risen at such an unconscionable hour we would not
turn back. Our pride was near the end of us. I hope I may never
experience such another day. The air was so filled with snow that at
times it was impossible to see ten feet. It was all we could do to keep
our feet against the wind which howled down the mountain. My beard
became a mass of ice.
"The trail was soon obliterated and we were lost. But we stumbled on and
by a rare chance we came upon the handle of a shovel which marked our
cache. There was nothing to do but fight our way back to camp. The storm
did not abate in the slightest. In fact, it raged for four long days. It
was nearly dark when with knocking knees we got back to camp, more dead
than alive.
"The next day ten men made up a party to go on the same trip back for
their outfits. The day after that they were found huddled in a hole dug
in a drift eating raw bacon. After another day of rest we put masts on
our sleds, rigged sails and came across Lake Linderman and over
Linderman Portage. We are now camped on the head of Lake Bennet."
Another letter written by Mr. Mizner from Forty Mile City, as late as
June 12th, is quite as interesting. He says:
"The trip was an interesting one, but very dangerous. Many men lost
their boats and everything they had, and there are rumors of men having
been drowned. Shortly after leaving Lake Laborge we came upon a party
who had just rescued two young fellows from rocks in the middle of the
rapids. They could not save their outfit or their demolished boat, and
all they had went down the river with the rushing flood. One of the
young men had everything but his shirt stripped from him by the swirl.
We took him in charge and landed him at Klondyke.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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