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Paris,
Missouri, Friday, October 15, 1897
A. S. Holmes on the Yukon.
Hannibal Journal.
St.
Michael, Alaska, Sep. 16 -- Dear Folks: I wrote you
when I first reached here, but as I only had a few
minutes, did not have time to write much. We have been
here sixteen days and just launched our boat this
morning. We leave here about Friday. I wrote you about
our boat, how it was built in San Francisco, and put
aboard the ship and brought here. It was put together
by twenty ship carpenters with the assistance of all
the passengers. All of us had to work.
In
regard to our prospects, will say they are very
bright. We will not reach Dawson City this winter, in
fact, we do not wish to.
Now
in regard to this country: It is the most barren place
on earth, even worse than the Klondike district. There
isn't a sign of a tree. The ground is wet on top; you
strike ice 18 inches from the surface. We have been
sleeping on the ground and are all well, in fact, I
never felt better. Am getting used to it and gaining
in weight every day. We are camped 50 yards from
the sea where we can catch all the fish we want, in
fact, we are sick of them.
There
are two companies which have stores here with a world
of supplies, but they ask enormous prices. $15 a
hundred for flour, 85c a pound for bacon and other
things equally high. Fortunately for us we have plenty
of everything.
Provisions
up the river are very scarce. People are starving at
Dawson City, with no prospect of the situation
improving this winter. It would not be wise to go
there if we desired. Since we have been here it
snowed two days, but we did not notice the cold.
"'Tis nice and pleasant now.
There
are a number of Masons here in our party. The other
night we held a meeting in Mr. Shepard's office, the
manager of the North American Trading Co., who is a
Mason. There were 17 States, Canada, England and the
Sandwich Islands, represented. You can see it was a
great gathering. I never spent a more enjoyable
evening in my life. There were about forty Masons
present. We organized, and I think we will enjoy the
lodge.
We
entertained the correspondent of one of the San
Francisco Papers yesterday in our tent for dinner. We
had a large goose, and he enjoyed it very much. He
took our pictures and wrote it up for his paper.
Remember
me to all my friends. With my present good health, I
think I shall return well paid for my trip. I am
writing this letter on a rough boot jack ready made by
myself.
I
cannot advise anybody to make this trip. It is a
matter about which they should decide for themselves.
The opportunities for making money are great, but the
hardships are also great. I am glad I came, and would
not sell out my chances for a good deal. You can tell
the boys who are thinking of making the trip that the
hardships are great, but they are no worse than we
expected. I must close now as I want to get the letter
off. Will write again before leaving. Hoping all are
well, I am, yours,
Albert Holmes.
P.S. -- We leave here on the 24th. Will go up the
Yukon 1000 miles to Minook. Address all letters to
Mysook, Alaska, until you hear from me.
A.S.H.
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Another Letter.
Tim
Connolly, a nephew of Joe McAlister, of Louisiana,
Mo., writes to his parents as follows from Dawson
City:
Dawson
City, April 4,--My dear mother and father: At last I
write a few lines to let you know where I am in the
land of the midnight son. I left Juneau last winter
and was one hundred days coming to this place with
five dogs and 1000 pounds of grub. This is the best
country in the world. Wages are $15 a day. I have a
few thousand and would send them to you but there is
no way of doing so. The man that takes this letter
will take it 1000 miles to Juneau, Alaska, in his
pocket. He starts tonight for the outer world.
Mother,
gold in this place is no good. Grub is the thing.
Bacon sells at $3 per pound and flour $60 per sack. I
will come home in two years with enough money to keep
us the rest of our lives, if I have health. There
w????? In our party ???? but one of them died. We
brought him 700 miles on a sled.
We
work dogs here as you do horses. This is a wonderful
country. Winter is cold, from 60 to 80 below zero and
the short three months to work is, from June to last
part of September. There is no night. Those three
months winter, daylight is three hours, about
Christmas. I have bought a claim for $9,000. I paid
$2,000 down and $7,000 on bed rock. There are winter
diggings; the ground is frozen 40 feet deep. We drift
as we did in coal mines. We put a fire in at the face
and let it thaw out. and in the summer time was it out
with sluice boxes. This creek is the richest in the
world. Two men shoveled in $18,000 in two hours. The
place was struck last August by an Indian. The worst
of this place is there is nothing to eat only bacon
and flour. We use pine boughs for the scurvy. One
third of the men are afflicted with it. To live here a
year it would cost $1,000. There is a steamboat that
comes up the river once every year but it hasn't come
up for the last two years, and if it don't come up
this will go out on the ice. There are about 700 men
in this place, the Yukon country, and they will lots
of them go out with a stake if the boat comes up.
I gave the $200 for taking this to Juneau and he will
post it there. It will be this time next year before I
know what I will have to come home on. Three years is
enough for a man to stay in this place. It will make a
young man old to live on the grub that gold can't buy.
I would like to hear from all the folks at home and
when I come out you will think Count of Monte Cristo
has struck town. There are no nights at this time of
the year. The sun shines eight days straight. It is
well named the Land of the Midnight Sun. You would
laugh to see me now. My hair is as long as Wild
Bill's.
This
is the only place in the world where a man can make
money, but it takes a strong man to stand it. I think
I could eat a bushel of fruit. A man came here with
eggs and sold them for $76 for one egg. So if mother
was here she could make money by the bushel with her
hens. |
