Klondyke Nuggets: A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the NorthwestLadue, Joseph
History
Klondyke Nuggets: A Brief Description of the Great Gold Regions in the Northwest
Ladue, Joseph
Alaska -- Gold discoveries; Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries
"About a mile below the Pelly, just at the ruins of Fort Selkirk, the
Yukon was found to be 565 yards wide; about two-thirds being ten feet
deep, with a current of about four and three-quarter miles per hour; the
remaining third was more than half taken up by a bar, and the current
between it and the south shore was very slack.
"Pelly River at its mouth is about two hundred yards wide, and continues
this width as far up as could be seen. Dr. Dawson made a survey and
examination of this river, which will be found in his report already
cited, "Yukon District and Northern British Columbia."
"Just here for a short distance the course of the Yukon is nearly west,
and on the south side, about a mile below the mouth of the Lewes, stands
all that remains of the only trading post ever built by white men in the
district. This post was established by Robert Campbell, for the Hudson's
Bay Company in the summer of 1848. It was first built on the point of
land between the two rivers, but this location proving untenable on
account of flooding by ice jams in the spring, it was, in the season of
1852, moved across the river to where the ruins now stand. It appears
that the houses composing the post were not finished when the Indians
from the coast on Chilkat and Chilkoot Inlets came down the river to put
a stop to the competitive trade which Mr. Campbell had inaugurated, and
which they found to seriously interfere with their profits. Their method
of trade appears to have been then pretty much as it is now--very
onesided. What they found it convenient to take by force they took, and
what it was convenient to pay for at their own price they paid for.
"Rumors had reached the post that the coast Indians contemplated such a
raid, and in consequence the native Indians in the vicinity remained
about nearly all summer. Unfortunately, they went away for a short time,
and during their absence the coast Indians arrived in the early morning,
and surprised Mr. Campbell in bed. They were not at all rough with him,
but gave him the privilege of leaving the place within twenty-four
hours, after which he was informed that he was liable to be shot if seen
by them in the locality. They then pillaged the place and set fire to
it, leaving nothing but the remains of the two chimneys which are still
standing. This raid and capture took place on the 1st August, 1852.
"Mr. Campbell dropped down the river, and met some of the local Indians
who returned with him, but the robbers had made their escape. I have
heard that the local Indians wished to pursue and overtake them, but to
this Mr. Campbell would not consent. Had they done so it is probable not
many of the raiders would have escaped, as the superior local knowledge
of the natives would have given them an advantage difficult to estimate,
and the confidence and spirit derived from the aid and presence of a
white man or two would be worth much in such a conflict.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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