Klondyke Nuggets | Page 6

actually belongs, and in order that the jurisdiction of the courts and officers of the United States and Canada, for both civil and criminal purposes, may be established, that the determination of the 141st meridian west of Greenwich from the point of its intersection with the Yukon, as marked by Mr. Ogilvie in 1887-88, for a considerable distance south of the river, and possibly also for some distance to the north, should be proceeded with at once. Mr. Ogilvie's instructions require him to go on with the survey with all convenient speed, but in order that this work may be effective for the accomplishment of the object in view the co-operation of the Government of the United States is necessary. Correspondence is in progress through the proper authorities with a view to obtaining this co-operation. It may be mentioned that a United States surveyor has also determined the points at which the Yukon River and Forty Mile Creek are intersected by the 141st meridian."
ROUTES, DISTANCES, AND TRANSPORTATION.
After considerable experience I have decided that the best route for a man to take to the gold regions is from Seattle, Washington, to Juneau, Alaska, and then to Dawson City, by the pass and waterways, and I will therefore describe this route more in detail than any of the others.
I am devoting a special chapter to the outfit for travellers, and will therefore deal in this chapter with the route only.
The traveller having paid his fare to Seattle should on arrival there have not less than $500. This is the minimum sum necessary to pay his fare from Seattle to Juneau, purchase his outfit and supplies for one year and pay his necessary expenses in the gold region for that length of time.
I think it deplorable that so many are starting at this time for the gold-fields. I do not recommend starting before March 15. I will return at that time to my claims on the Klondyke, if it were wise to go sooner, I should certainly go.
The reason March 15 is best is that the season is better then. If a man has only, say, $500 and wants to do his own packing over the Taiya Pass, it gives him time to do it by starting March 15, as he will then be in Juneau April 1st. I fear a great deal of hardship for those who started out so as to reach Juneau for winter travel.
Of course while I say $500 is sufficient to go to Dawson City, a man should take $1,000 or even more if possible as he will have many opportunities to invest the surplus.
While prices will undoubtedly advance at Dawson City owing to the large influx of people, I do not think the advance will be excessive. It has never been the policy of the two trading companies to take advantage of the miners.
The traveller having arrived in Juneau from Seattle, a journey of 725 miles by water, immediately purchases his complete outfit as described in another chapter. He then loses no time in leaving Juneau for Dyea, taking a small steamboat which runs regularly to this port via the Lynn Canal. Dyea has recently been made a customs port of entry and the head of navigation this side of the Taiya Pass. The distance between Juneau and Dyea is about one hundred miles.
From Dyea, which is the timber-line, he packs his outfit to the foot of the Taiya Pass--the length of which to the summit is about 15 miles. He must now carry his outfit up the Pass, which he generally does in two or more trips according to the weight of his outfit, unless he is able to hire Indians or mules; but so far there are very few Indians to be hired and still fewer mules.
He now starts for Lake Lindeman from the head of the Pass, a distance of eight miles--the distance from Dyea to Lake Lindeman being 31 miles.
At Lake Lindeman he commences to make his boat, for which he has brought the proper supplies in his outfit, with the exception of the timber, which he finds at Lake Lindeman. He spends one week at Lake Lindeman making his boat and getting ready for the long trip down the waterways to Dawson City, the heart of the Klondyke region. The trip through Lake Lindeman is short, the lake being only five miles long. At the foot of the lake he must portage to Lake Bennet, the portage however being very short, less than a mile.
Lake Bennet is 28 miles long, while going through this lake the traveller crosses the boundary between British Columbia and the Northwest Territory.
After going down Lake Bennet the traveller comes to Caribou Crossing--about four miles long, which takes him to Lake Tagish, twenty miles in length. After leaving