 Preface of A Woman Who Went to Alaska. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This recording by Karen Cummins. A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mae Kellogg Sullivan. Preface. This unpretentious little book is the outcome of my own experiences and adventures in Alaska. Two trips covering a period of 18 months and a distance of over 12,000 miles were made practically alone. In answer to the oft-repeated question of why I went to Alaska, I can only give the same reply that so many others give. I wanted to go in search of my fortune, which had been successfully eluding my grasp for a good many years. Neither home nor children claimed my attention. No good reason, I thought, stood in the way of my going to Alaska. For my husband, traveling constantly at his work, had long ago allowed me carte blanche as to my inclinations and movements. To be sure, there was no money in the bank upon which to draw. And an account with certain friends, whose kindness and generosity cannot be forgotten, was opened up to pay passage money. But so far, neither they nor I have regretted making the venture. I had first-class health and made up in endurance what I lacked in avert a poise, along with a firm determination to take up the first honest work that presented itself, regardless of choice. And in the meantime, to secure a few gold claims, the fame of which had for two years reached my ears. In regard to the truthfulness of this record, I have tried faithfully to relate my experiences as they took place. Not all, of course, have been included, for numerous and varied trials came to me, of which I have not written. Else a far more thrilling story could have been told. Love has, however, been noted to give my readers a fair idea of a woman's life during a period of eighteen months in a few of the roughest mining camps in the world. And that many may be interested, and to some extent possibly instructed, by the perusal of my little book is the sincere wish of the author. May Kellogg Sullivan End of Preface Chapter 1 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by May Kellogg Sullivan This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. This recording by Karen Cummins. Chapter 1. Underway My first trip from California to Alaska was made in the summer of 1899. I went alone to Dawson to my father and brother, surprising them greatly when I quietly walked up to shake hands with them at their work. The amazement of my father knew no bounds. And yet I could see a lot of quiet amusement beneath all when he introduced me to his friends, which plainly said, here is my venturesome daughter who is really a chip off the old block, so you must not be surprised at her coming to Alaska. Father had gone to the Klondike a year before at the age of sixty-four, climbing Chilkoot Pass in the primitive way, and running Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids in a small boat which came near being swamped in the passage. My brother's entrance to the famous gold fields was made in the same dangerous manner a year before. But I had waited until trains over the White Pass and Yukon Railroad had been crossing the mountains daily for two weeks before myself attempting to get into Alaska's interior. At that time it was only a three-hours ride, including stops, over the Pass to Lake Bennett, the terminus of this new railroad, the first in Alaska. A couple of rude open-flat cars with springless seats along the sides were all the accommodation we had as passengers from the summit of White Pass to Lake Bennett. We having paid handsomely for the privilege of riding in this manner and thinking ourselves fortunate, considering the fact that our route was, during the entire distance of about forty-five miles, strewn with the bleaching bones of earlier Argonauts and their beast of burden. Naturally, my traveling companions interested me exceedingly. There were few women. Two ladies with their husbands were going to Dawson on business. About eight or ten other women belonging to the rapid class of individuals journeyed at the same time. We had all nationalities and classes. There were two women from Europe with luggage covered with foreign stickers, and a spoken jargon which was neither German nor French but sounded like a clever admixture of both. Then there was the woman who went by the name of Mrs. Somebody or Other, who wore a seal-skin coat, diamond earrings, and silver-mounted umbrella. She had been placed in the same state room with me on the steamer at Seattle, and upon making her preparations to retire for the night, had offered me a glass of brandy while imbibing one herself, which I energetically, though politely, refused. At midnight a second woman of the same caste had been ushered into my room to occupy the third and last berth, whereupon next morning I had waited upon the purser of the ship, and modestly but firmly requested a change of location. In a gentlemanly way he informed me that the only vacant state room was a small one next to the engine room below, but if I could endure the noise and wish to take it, I could do so. I preferred the proximity and whir of machinery, along with closer quarters, to the company of the two adventurists, so while both women slept late next morning, I quietly and thankfully moved all my belongings below. Here I enjoyed the luxury of a room by myself for forty-eight hours, or until we reached Skagway, completely oblivious to the fact that never for one instant did the pounding of the great engines eight feet distant cease either day or night. A United States judge, an English aristocrat and lady, a Seattle lawyer, sober, thoughtful and of middle age, who had been introduced to me by a friend upon sailing, and who kindly kept me in sight when we changed steamers or trains on the trip without specially appearing to do so, a nice old gentleman going to search for the body of his son lost in the Klondike River a few weeks before, and a good many rough miners, as well as nondescripts, made up our unique company to Dawson. Some had been over the route before when mules and horses had been the only means of transportation over the passes, and stories of the trials and dangers of former trips were heard upon deck each day with accompaniments of oaths and slang phrases and punctuated by splashes of tobacco juice. On the voyage to Skagway there was little seasickness among the passengers as we kept to the inland passage among the islands. At a short distance away we viewed the great Treadwell gold mines on Douglas Island and peered out through a veil of mist and rain at Juneau under the hills. Here we left a few of our best and most pleasant passengers and watched the old Indian women drive sharp bargains in curios, beaded moccasins, bags, etc., with tourists who were impervious to the great raindrops which are here always falling as easily from the clouds as leaves from a maple tree in October. Our landing at Skagway under the towering mountains upon beautiful Linn Canal was more uneventful than our experience in the customs house at that place, for we were about to cross the line into Canadian territory. Here we presented an interesting and animated scene. Probably 150 persons crowded the small station and baggage room, each one pushing his way as far as possible toward the officials, who with muttered curses hustled the tags upon each box and trunk as it was hastily unlocked and examined. Ropes and straps were flung about the floor, bags thrown with bunches of keys promiscuously, while transfermen perspiring from every pore tumbled great mountains of luggage hither and thither. Two ponderous Germans there were, who, in checked steamer caps enveloped in cigar smoke of the best brand, protested vigorously at the opening of their trunks by the officers, but their protest seemed only the more to wet the appetites of these dignitaries. The big Germans had their revenge, however. In the box of one of these men was found with other things, a lot of Limburger cheese, the pungent odor of which drove the women screaming to the doors, and men protesting indignantly after them. While those unable to reach the air, prayed earnestly for a good stiff breeze off Len Canal to revive them. The Germans laughed till tears ran down their cheeks and cheerfully paid the duty imposed. Skagway was interesting chiefly from its historical associations as a port where so many struggling men had landed, suffered, and passed on over that trail of hardship and blood two years before. Our little narrow-gauge coaches were crowded to their utmost, men standing in aisles and on platforms, and sitting upon wood boxes and hand luggage near the doors. It was July, and the sight of fresh fruit in the hands of those lunging in the next seat almost brought tears to my eyes, for we were now going far beyond the land of fruits and all other delicacies. Pick it up, old man, pick it up and eat it, said one rough fellow of evident experience in Alaska to one who had dropped a cherry upon the floor, for you won't get another while you stay in this country if it's four years. But, said another, he can eat Alaska strawberries to his heart's content summer and winter, and I'll be bound when he gets home to the States. He won't thank anyone for putting a plate of beans in front of him. He'll be that sick of him. I ate beans or Alaska strawberries for nine months one season, day in and day out, and I'm a peaceable man, but at the end of that time I'd have put a bullet through the man who offered me beans to eat. Now you can bet your life on that. Don't never insult an old timer by putting beans before him is my advice. If you do, try to sugarcoat him by calling him strawberries. And the man thumped his old cob pipe with force enough upon the wood box to empty the ashes from its bowl and to break it into fragments had it not been well seasoned. Upon the summit of White Pass we alighted from the train and boarded another. This time it was the open flat cars and the Germans came near being left. As the conductor shouted, all aboard, they both scrambled, with great puffing and blowing owing to their avid avoids, to the rear end of the last car and with faces purple from exertion plumped themselves down almost in the laps of some women who were laughing at them. We had now a dizzy descent to make to Lake Bennett. The conductor and breakmen were on the alert. With their hands upon the brakes, these men stood with nerves and muscles tense, all talking ceased. Some of us thought of home and loved ones, but none flinched. Slowly at first, then faster and faster the train rolled over the rails until lakes, hills, and mountains barely flew past us as we descended. At last the train speed was slackened and we moved more leisurely along the foot of the mountains. We were in the beautiful green meadows where pretty and fragrant wild flowers knotted in clusters among the tall grass. At Bennett our trunks were again opened and we left the train. We were to take a small steamer down the lakes and river for Dawson. We were no longer crowded as passengers scattered to different boats, some going east to Atlan. With little trouble I secured a lodging for one night with the stewardess of the small steamer which would carry us as far as Miles Canyon or the Camp Canyon City. From there we were obliged to walk five miles over the trail. It was mid-summer and the woods through which we passed were green. Wild flowers, grasses, and moss carpeted our path which lay along the eastern bank of the great gorge called Miles Canyon, only at times winding away too far for the roar of its rushing waters to reach our ears. No sound of civilization came to us and no life was to be seen unless a crow chanced to fly overhead in search of some morsel of food. Large forest trees there were none. Tall straight saplings of poplar, spruce, and pine pointed their slender fingers heavenward and seemed proudly to say, See what fortitude we have to plant ourselves in this lonely northland with our roots and sap ice-bound most of the year. Do you not admire us? And we did admire wonderingly. Then again nearing the banks of Miles Canyon we forged our way on uphill and down across wet spots over boulders and logs listening to the roar of the mighty torrent dashing between towering, many-colored walls of rock where the volume of water 100 feet in width with a current of 15 miles an hour and a distance of five-eighths of a mile rushes insistently onward as it has, no doubt, done for ages past. Then at last widening this torrent is no longer confined by precipitous cliffs but between sparsely wooded banks and now passes under the name of White Horse Rapids from so strangely resembling white horses as the waters are dashed over and about the huge boulders in midstream. Here many of the earlier Argonauts found watery graves as they journeyed in small boats or rafts down the streams to the Klondike in their mad haste to reach the newly discovered gold fields. After leaving White Horse Rapids we traveled for days down the river. My little stateroom next to the galley or kitchen of the steamer was frequently like an oven so great was the heat from the big cooking range. The room contained nothing but two berths made up with blankets and upon wire springs and the door did not boast of a lock of any description. Upon application to the purser for a chair I received a camp stool. Luckily I had brushes, combs, soap and towels in my bag for none of these things were furnished with the stateroom. In the stern of the boat there was a small room where ten wash basins and roller towels awaited the pleasure of the women passengers the water for their ablutions being kept in a barrel upon which hung an old dipper. To clean one's teeth over the deck rail might seem to some an unusual undertaking but I soon learned to do this with complacency it being something of gain not to lose sight of passing scenery while performing the operation. At Lake Labarge we enjoyed a magnificent panorama bathed in the rosy glow of a departing sunset this beautiful body of water sparkled like diamonds on all sides of us around us on every hand lay the green and quiet hills near the water's edge they appeared a deep green but grew lighter in the distance long bars of crimson grey and gold streak the western horizon while higher up tents of purple and pink blended harmoniously with the soft blue sky as the sun slowly settled the colors deepened darker and darker they grew the warm soft glow had departed and all was purple and black including the waters beneath us and as we passed through the northern end or outlet of the lake into 30 mile river we seemed to be entering a gate so narrow did the entrance to the river appear between the hills at night our steamer was frequently tied up to a wood pile along the banks of the river no signs of civilization met our eyes except perhaps a rude log hut or cabin among the trees where at night his solitary candle twinkling in his window and his dogs baying at the moon some lonely settler had established himself the Seminal Hills country is a lonely one range upon range of rolling partly wooded hills meet the eye of the traveler until it grows weary and seeks relief and sleep Five Finger Rapids was the next point of interest on our route and I am here reminded of a short story which is not altogether one of fiction and which is entitled Midnight on a Yukon Steamer End of Chapter 1 Chapter 2 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mae Kellogg Sullivan This LibriVox recording is in the public domain This recording by Karen Cummins Chapter 2 Midnight on a Yukon Steamer The bright and yellow full moon drifted slowly upward the sun had just set at nine in the evening casting a warm and beautiful glow over all the lonely landscape for it was the most dreary spot in all the dreary wilderness through which the mighty Yukon passes The steamer had tied up for wood and now the brawny stevedores with blackened hands and arms were pitching it to the deck To the passengers of whom there were a goodly number time hung heavily and the younger ones had proposed a dance Musical instruments were not numerous but such as there were were brought out and two non-professionals with an accordion and a banjo were doing their very best A small number of sober ones were to be seen on deck pacing restlessly back and forth for the ruthless mosquito was distinctly on evidence and threatened to out-general the quiet ones if not the orchestra and the hilarious dancers On the upper deck a lady clad in warm cloak and thick veil walked tirelessly to and fro A big stump-tailed dog of the Malamute tribe at times followed at her heels but when she had patted his head and spoken kindly to him he appeared satisfied and laid down again with his head between his paws Then sounds from the dancers below the shrill laughter of the women mingled with the strum of the banjo and the wheezy accordion seemed to disturb the dog slumber and he would again pace up and down at the lady's heels At times there would come a lull in the tumult and the click of the glasses or a crash of a fallen pitcher would make a variety of entertainment for the lady and her dog on the upper deck but the short and dusky midnight was well past before the dancing ceased and partial quiet in order were restored Two figures remained near the stern of the boat One, a young woman with a profusion of long, auburn hair The other, a man with flushed face and thick breath I cannot tell now which one it will be said the girl coquettishly but if you wait, you will see No more waiting in it, he growled I've waited long enough and too long and you must choose between us now You know we will soon be at five fingers and you must be good or they may get you With a wicked leer and clutch at her arm calculated to startle her as she carelessly sat on the deck rail I'm not afraid of five fingers or any other fingers and I'm not afraid of your two hands either making her muscles very tense and sitting rigidly upright and you can't scare me a bit I'll do as I like, so there By this time the moon shone high above the tops of the tall slender pines and spread its soft light over all the swift and swirling waters To the west, the hills faded first from green to blue then to purple and lastly to black silhouetted as they were against the quiet sky The swift flowing current pushed the waters up among the weeds and bushes along the river's edge and the loose rocks were washed quite smooth Now and then might be heard the bark of a woodchoppers dog stationed outside his master's cabin and the steady thud of the steamer never stopped At two o'clock it was growing light again and still the young man pleaded with the girl on the deck She was stubborn and silent Swiftly now the boat neared the five fingers Only a few miles remained before the huge boulders forming the narrow and torturous channels called the five fingers would be reached and the face of the pilot was stern It was a most dangerous piece of water and many boats had already been wrecked at this point Suddenly above the noise of the waters and the steamer's regular breathing there arose on the quiet air a shrill shriek at the stern of the boat The lady on the upper deck had retired The captain was sleeping off his two frequent potations and only the pilot on the lookout knew that the scream came from a woman but it was not repeated The pilot's assistant was off watch and his own duty lay at the wheel so it happened that a guilty man who had been standing by the deck rail crept silently, unnoticed and now thoroughly sobered to his stateroom His companion was nowhere to be seen A small steamer following next day in the wake of the first boat came to five finger rapids These are pretty red sea wood on the rocks, mama cried a little boy pointing to the low ledge on the bank of the east channel Those who looked in the direction indicated by the boy saw as the steamer crept carefully up to the whirlpool a woman's white face in the water above which streamed a mass of long, auburn hair caught firmly on the rocks Standing by the side of his pilot the captain's keen eye caught sight of the head and hair It's only Dolly Duncan, he said with a shrug of his shoulders No one else has such hair but it's no great loss anyway There are many more such as she, you know End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mae Kellogg Sullivan This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Karen Cummins Chapter 3 Dawson By this time we had passed the Hootalingua Big Salmon, Little Salmon, and Lewis Rivers and were nearing the mouth of Pelly River all flowing into one stream from the east and uniting to form the upper Yukon Many smaller rivers and creeks from the west as well as the east empty into this river which gathers momentum and volume constantly until it reaches a swiftness of five miles an hour between five finger rapids and Fort Selkirk This latter fort is an old Canadian post where mounted police and other officers and soldiers are stationed Never shall I forget my first experience at Fort Selkirk We arrived about one o'clock in the afternoon and were told that our steamer would remain there an hour giving us all a chance to run about on shore for a change Taking my sunshade and attracted by the wide green fields dotted with pretty wild flowers of various colors I rambled around alone for an hour all the time keeping our steamer in plain sight not many hundred yards away Curious to learn the meaning of a group of peculiar stakes driven into the ground some of which were surrounded by rude little fences I made my way in a narrow path through the deep grass to the place and soon discovered an Indian burial ground There were, perhaps, twenty little mounds or graves a few much sunken below the level as if made long years before but all were marked in some manner by rude headboards These were notched and had at one time been fancifully stained or colored by the iron Indians The stains and funny little inscriptions being for the most part obliterated by the elements Dainty wild roses here knotted gracefully to each other their pretty blooms being weighted down at times by some venture some big honeybee or insolent fly both insects with many others some of them unknown to me buzzing continently in the sunshine overhead daisies and buttercups grew wild flowering beans and peas trailed their sprays upon the ground Bluebells, paintbrush, and other posies fairly bewildered me so surprised was I to find them here in this far Northland Without this happiness and cheer given me by my sweet little floral friends I might not have been so well prepared to endure the rudeness that was awaiting me Upon my return to the steamer I found all in confusion I could see no signs of departure and no one of whom I cared to make inquiries Men and women were coming and going but none appeared sober while many with flushed faces were loudly laughing and joking A few Canadian police and redcoats scattered here and there were fully as rollicking as any and the steamer's captain and purser arm in arm with a big burly Canadian official were as drunk as bad liquor could well make them Going to my state room I sat down to read and if possible hide my anxiety as there was no window or other ventilator and it was a warm day I could not close the door while sitting thus the doorway was darkened and looking up I saw before me the drunken Canadian official leering at me with a horrible grin and just about to speak At that instant there stepped to his side the tall form of the only really sober man on board the Seattle lawyer who in his most dignified manner motion the officer on and he went the gentlemanly lawyer tossing his half consumed cigar overboard in an emphatic way as if giving vent to his inward perturbation marched moodily on catching a glimpse of his face as he passed I concluded that the situation was fully as bad or worse than I had at first feared already we had been several hours at Fort Selkirk and should have been miles on toward Dawson the captain and crew were too drunk to know what they were doing and they were hourly growing more so many were gambling and drinking in the salon or dining room and others came from the liquor store on shore a few rods away the voices of the women were keyed to the highest pitch as they shouted with laughter at the rough jokes or losing games of the men while red faced, perspiring waiters hurried back and forth with trays laden with bottles and glasses now and then the crash of a fallen pitcher or plate followed by the shrieks of the women would reach me and looking through the great cracks in the board partition which was the only thing separating me from the drunken crowd I could see most of the carousel for such it now was my anxiety increased I feared the danger of a night on board in a tiny state room without locker weapon and entirely alone Mr. H. said I quietly a little later to the man from Seattle as I stepped up to him while he smoked near the deck rail when do you think the steamer will leave this place tomorrow most likely in a tone of deep disgust do you not think that the captain will push on tonight I asked in great anxiety I doubt if there's a man on board with enough sense left to run the engine and the captain look there pointing to a modlin and disheveled Canadian wearing a captain's cap and just then trying to preserve his equilibrium on a wooden settle near the railing it would be a blessing if the brute tumbled overboard and we were well rid of him said the gentleman savagely in a low tone then seeing my consternation he added I'll see what can be done however and I returned to my room what should I do I knew of no place of safety on shore for me during the night if the steamer remained and I dared not stay in my state room I had no revolver no key to my door I might be murdered before morning and my friends would never know what had become of me there was no one on board to whom I could appeal but the lawyer and he might be powerless to protect me in such a drunken rabble with a prayer in my heart I made my nerves as tense as possible and shut my teeth tightly together it was best to appear unconcerned I did it suggesting away all fright from my face as I watched proceedings in the dining room through the cracks in the wall it was a sight such as I had never before seen it was six o'clock and dinner was being served by the flushed and flustered waiters probably a hundred persons sat at the tables in all stages of intoxication hilarity ran high most of them were wildly jolly and gushingly full of goodwill but all seemed hungry and the odors from the kitchen were appetizing I now hope that the dinner and especially the hot tea and coffee would restore some of these people to their senses in order that they might get up steam in the engines and pull out of this terrible place before they were too far gone dinner was well over in the dining room and I had not yet eaten a waiter passed my door he stopped have you eaten dinner? no I have not you want some? well yes I think I could eat something I'll bring you some and he was gone a few minutes later he entered my state room with a big tray and putting it upon the edge of the upper berth he left me I ate my dinner from the tray while standing and felt better an hour afterward the drunken officials had been coaxed into going ashore the furnace in the engine room was crammed with wood a partially sobered pilot resumed his place at the wheel the captain had pulled himself together as best he could under the threats of the lawyer from Seattle and the steamer moved away from the bank going with the current swiftly towards Dawson nothing of further importance occurred until next morning when our steamer pulled up alongside the dock at Dawson it was Monday morning the 30th of July 1899 and the weather was beautifully clear I had been 14 days coming from Seattle hundreds of people waited upon the dock to see us land and to get a glimpse of a new lot of chachacos as all newcomers are called soon after landing I met upon the street an old Seattle friend of my parents who knew me instantly and directed me to my father this man's kind offer to look up my baggage was accepted and I trudged down through the town towards the Klondike river where my father and brother lived I had no difficulty in finding father and after the first surprise and our luncheon were over we proceeded to find my brother at his work his astonishment was as great as my father's and I cannot truthfully state that either of them were overcome with joy at seeing me in Dawson at any other time or place they undoubtedly would have been delighted but they were too well acquainted with conditions to wish another member of their family there in what was probably then the largest and roughest mining camp in the world the situation that presented itself was this instead of finding my relatives comfortably settled in a large and commodious log cabin of their own on the banks of the Klondike river as they had written they were I found them in the act of moving all their belongings into a big covered scow or barge drawn close to the river bank and securely fastened cooking utensils, boxes, bags of provisions consisting of flour beans and meal as well as canned goods of every description along with firewood and numerous other things were dumped in one big heap upon the banks of the Klondike river near the barge the small sheet iron box with door and lid called a Yukon stove had been set up close in one corner of the living room which in size was about 8 by 10 feet two bunks, one above the other in the opposite corner had been lately constructed by Father who at the moment of my arrival was busy screwing a small drop leaf to the wall to be used as a dining table when supported by a couple of rather uncertain adjustable legs underneath the meaning of all this commotion was not long to find father and brother had along with many more as peaceable and law abiding citizens been ordered out of their log cabins built at a great outlay of time, money and strength so that their home should be pulled down in accordance with an order given by the governor this land as the city had grown had increased in value and was coveted by those high in authority no redress was made the settlers no money was paid them nothing for them but insulting commands and black looks from the Canadian police enforcing the order of the governor never again said my father repeatedly well I build or own a home in the Klondike this scowl will shelter me until I make what money I want and then goodbye to such a country in its oppressive officials other men cursed and swore and mutterings of a serious nature were heard but there was nothing to be done and the row of comfortable completed log cabins was torn down and we settled ourselves elsewhere by degrees a bunk with calico curtains hung around it was made for me and I was constituted cook of the camp then such a scouring of tins, kettles and pales as I had shelves were nailed in place for all such utensils and a spot was found for almost everything after which the struggle was begun to keep these things in their places then I baked and boiled and stewed and patched and mended between times writing in my notebook sending letters to friends or taking Kodak pictures I was now living in a new world nothing like the town of Dawson had I ever seen crooked rough and dirty streets rude narrow boardwalks or none at all dog teams hauling all manner of loads on small carts and donkeys or burrows bowing beneath great loads of supplies starting out on the trail for the gold mines don't do that shouted a man to me one day as I attempted to snapshot his pack train of twenty horses and mules as they passed us two of the animals had grown tired and attempted to lie down thus causing the flower sacks with which they were loaded to burst open and the flower to fly in clouds around them don't do that he entreated for we are having too much trouble some of the drivers were lashing the mules to make them rise and this spread a panic through most of the train so that one horse evidently new to the business and not of a serious turn of mind ran swiftly away kicking up his heels in the dust behind him there were also hams and sides of bacon dangling and greasy yellow covers over the backs of the pack animals along with grub boxes and bags of canned goods of every description pickaxes shovels gold pans and Yukon stoves with bundles of stove pipe tied together with ropes rolls of blankets bedding rubber boots canvas tents ad infinitum there was one method used by packers as the drivers of these pack trains were called which worked well in some instances if the animals of his train were all sober and given to honestly doing their work then the halter or rope around the neck of a mule could be tied to the tail of the one preceding him and so on again until they were all really hitched together tandem but woe unto the poor brute who was followed by a balky fellow or a shirk the consequences were at times under certain circumstances almost too serious to be recounted in the story at least this can be said of the emphatic language used by the packers in such predicament one warm bright day soon after my arrival in Dawson and when order had been brought out of chaos in the scow our home I went to call upon an old friend formerly of Seattle Carrie in was three or four years younger than myself had been a nurse for a time after the death of her husband but grew tired of that work and decided in the winter of 1897 and 1898 to go into the Klondike a party of 40 men and women going to Dawson was made up in Seattle and she joined them for weeks they were busily engaged in making their preparations living near me as she did at the time I was often with Carrie in and was much interested in her movements and accompanied her to the Alaska steamer the day she sailed it was the little ship Alki upon which she went away and it was crowded with passengers and loaded heavily with freight for the trip to DA the scagway and the dreaded white pass had been voted out of the plans of the Seattle party of 40 now in Dawson I called upon Carrie in 18 months later and heard her tell the story of her trip to the Klondike they had landed she said at DA from the Alki with their many tons of provisions and supplies all of which had to be dumped upon the beach where no dock or wharf had ever been constructed here with dog teams and sleds a few horses and men packers their supplies were hauled up the mountain as far as sheep camp some ten miles up the mountain side it was early springtime and the snow laid deep upon the mountains and in the gorges which in the vicinity of Chulkoot Pass at the summit of the mountain are frightfully high and precipitous the weather was not cold and the moving of this large party of 40 persons with their entire outfit was progressing as favorably as could be expected a camp had been made at DA as the base of operations another was made at sheep camp at each place the women of the party did the cooking intense while men gathered wood, built fires and brought water other men worked steadily at the hauling and most of their supplies had already been transported to the upper camp when there occurred a tragedy so frightful as to make itself a part of never to be forgotten Alaskan history it was on Sunday and a snowstorm was raging but the weather was warm hundreds of people thronged the trails both going up and coming down the mountain in their effort to quickly transport their outfits over to the other side and thus make the best possible time in reaching the gold fields here a difference of opinion arose among the people of our Seattle party for some more daring than the others wished to push on over the summit regardless of the storm while the more cautious ones demirred and held back thinking it the part of discretion to wait for better weather a few venturesome ones kept to their purpose and started on ahead promising to meet the laggards at Lake Bennett with boats of their own making switched to journey down the river and lakes to Dawson their promises were never fulfilled while they and company with hundreds of others as venturesome trudged heavily up the narrow trail auroras of an earthquake suddenly sounded their death knell swiftly down the mountainside above them tore the terrible avalanche a monster formation of ice snow and rock the latter loosened and ground off the face of old Chilkoot by the rushing force of the moving snow slide urged on by a mighty wind in an instant's time a hundred men and women were brushed like flies from a ceiling off the face of the mountain into their death below leaving a space cleared of all to the bare earth where only a few seconds before it stood the patient toilers on the trail only one thing remained for the living to do and that was to drop all else and rescue if possible the dying and engulfed ones this they did when the wind had died away the snow in the air cleared and hundreds of men threw themselves into the rescue work many were injured but lived some were buried in snow but found their way to light again one man was entirely covered except one arm which he used energetically to inform those above him of his whereabouts he was taken out unharmed and lived to welcome the rider of this to Dawson where he carted and delivered her trunk faithfully but Carrie N had remained at sheep camp and was safe then her experience in nursing stood her in good stead and while men brought the dead to camp with others for hours performed the services which made the bodies ready for burial it was a heart-rending undertaking and required a cool head and steady hand both of which Carrie N possessed two men of her party thus lost their lives and it was not until days afterward that the last of the poor unfortunates were found nearly 100 lives were lost in this terrible disaster but there were undoubtedly those whose bodies were never found and whose death still remains a mystery End of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by May Kellogg Sullivan This LibriVox recording is in the public domain This recording by Karen Cummins Chapter 4 The Rush Since the discovery of gold by George Carmack on Bonanza Creek in September 1896 the growth of this country has been phenomenal more especially so to the one who has visited and is familiar with Dawson and the Klondike mining section As to the entire yield of gold from the Klondike creeks none can say except approximately for the 10% royalty imposed by the Canadian government has always met a phase of human nature which prompts to concealment and dishonesty so that a truthful estimate cannot be made The Canadian Dominion government is very oppressive Mining laws are very arbitrary and strictly enforced A person wishing to prospect for gold must first procure a miner's license paying $10 for it If anything is discovered and he wishes to locate a claim he visits the recorder's office states his business and is told to call again In the meantime, men are sent to examine the locality and if anything of value is found the man wishing to record the claim is told that it is already located The officials seize it The man has no way of ascertaining if the land was properly located and so has no redress If the claim is thought to be poor he can locate it by the payment of a $15 fee One half of all mining land is reserved for the crown a quarter or more is gobbled by corrupt officials and a meager share left for the daring miners who, by braving hardship and death develop the mines and open up the country Anyone going into the country has no right to cut wood for any purpose or to kill any game or catch any fish without a license for which a fee of $10 must be paid With such a license it is unlawful to sell a stick of wood for any purpose or a pound of fish or game The law is strictly enforced to do anything one must have a special permit and for every such permit he must pay roundly The story is told of a miner in a hospital who was about to die He requested that the governor be sent for Being asked what he wanted with the governor he replied I haven't any permit and if I should undertake to die without a permit I should get myself arrested It is a well-known fact that many claims on El Dorado Hunker and Bonanza creeks have turned out hundreds of thousands of dollars One pan of gravel on El Dorado Creek yielded $2,100 Frank Dinsmore on Bonanza Creek took out 90 pounds of solid gold or $24,480 in a single day On Alec McDonald's claim on El Dorado one man shoveled in $20,000 in 12 hours McDonald in two years dug from the frozen ground $2,207,893 Charlie Anderson on El Dorado panned out $700 in three hours T.S. Libby has said to have paid the Canadian government $65,000 in royalties for the year 1898 and Clarence Berry about the same On Scucum Gulch $30,000 were taken from two boxes of dirt Frank Fiskator of Michigan after a few months of work brought home $100,000 in gold selling one-third of his claim interest for $1,333,000 or at the rate of $5 million for the whole When a man is compelled to pay $1,000 out of every $10,000 he digs from the ground he will boast little of large cleanups and for this reason it is hard to estimate the real amount of gold extracted from the Klondike mines Captain James Kennedy an old pioneer and conservative mining man estimates the output for the season of 1899 as $25,000,000 for 50 tons of dust and nuggets The most commendable thing about the Canadian government is their strict enforcement of order Stealing is an almost unheard of thing and petty thieving does not exist Mounted police in their brown uniforms and soldiers in their red coats are everywhere seen in and around Dawson and they practice methods which to the uninitiated make them very nearly omnipresent While walking down street in Dawson one morning about nine o'clock I passed a group of men all wearing sober faces They're done for now said a rough miner glancing in the direction of the barracks where a black flag was fluttering at the top of a staff How so? asked another just come up to the group Three men hung over there an hour ago They're gonna bury him now and the speaker twitched his thumbs first toward the barracks then farther east where a rough stretch of ground lay unused Here could be seen policemen and soldiers evidently in the midst of some performance not on their daily routine A number of prisoners wearing the regulation garb of convicts pantaloons of heavy Mackinaw one leg of yellow and the other of black were carrying long rough boxes while others were digging shallow graves Upon inquiry I found that what the miner had said was true Three prisoners, two of them Indian murderers with another man notoriously bad had indeed been hung about eight o'clock that morning in the barracks courtyard In less than two hours afterward they were interred and in as many days they were forgotten By the middle of July 1899 the steamers leaving Dawson on their way down the Yukon to St. Michael and the new gold fields at Gnome were well filled with those who were anxious to try their luck in Uncle Sam's territory where they can breathe, dig, fish, hunt or die without buying a license By August the steamers coming from St. Michael brought such glowing accounts of the Gnome gold fields that while few people came in they carried as many out as they could accommodate By September the rush down the Yukon was tremendous and of the 12,000 people in Dawson many hundreds left for Gnome When after six weeks spent in curiously studying conditions and things not to say people in the great mining camp it was decided that I should accompany my brother down the Yukon to Cape Gnome and so out home to San Francisco I felt a very distinct sense of disappointment The novelty of everything the excitement which came each day in some form or other was as agreeable as the beautiful summer weather with the long quiet evenings only settling into darkness at midnight In September came the frost men living in tents moved their little Yukon stoves inside and brought fresh sawdust and shavings from the mills for their beds Others packed their few possessions into small boats hauled down their tents, whistled to their dogs and rolling up their sleeves pulled laboriously up the swift little Klondike to their winter lays in the mines Hundreds were also leaving for the outside Steamers, both large and small going to Whitehorse and Bennett carried those who had joyfully packed their bags and smilingly said goodbye for they were going home to the states how we strained our eyes from our cabin window or from the higher bank above to see the people on the decks of the outgoing boats how the name of each tug and even freight carrier became a familiar household word and how many were the conjectures as to whether she would get through to Whitehorse Rapids in the low water before a freeze up One day our own steamer came she was a magnificently equipped riverboat called the Hanna belonging to the Alaska commercial company and it cost $100,000 this was to be her last trip for the season and with us it was home now or here all winter and we made ready to leave my Kodak had been emptied and filled again calls on acquaintances made and goodbye said my battered and broken trunk which at the hands of the English customs officials had suffered much had now to be repaired and put to a good long test this box was in a state of total collapse rollers all gone covering torn and bent screws and nails lost side split bottom entirely dropped out but it must go so my big brother was weedled into putting it into some kind of shape again and it had to amount stronger than before no lunches were needed the cuisine of the Hanna was said to be as perfect as could be in this far away corner of the globe and we trusted to that on September 16th the Hanna sounded her whistle all was hurry and bustle and such a sight if hundreds had stood on the docks to welcome us as we entered the city there were thousands now it was pleasant especially as the band struck up our own national airs giving us a medley of Yankee Doodle, America Tramp Tramp Tramp and when Johnny comes marching home they felt constrained however to wind up with sweet Marie and ragtime dances one old fellow in slouch had and with a few drinks too many stepping the jigs off in lively and comical fashion our pride was perceptibly lessened afterward when we learned that we had on board a dance hall outfit and the band belonged to the Monte Carlo Saloon we were now in the midst of a group cosmopolitan beyond our wildest dreams pushing their way through the crowd to the gang plate came men, women and dogs carrying grips, codecs, tin cash boxes musical instruments, army sacks, fur robes and rolls of blankets struggling under the weight of canvas tents, poles Yukon stoves and sleds as well as every conceivable thing they climbed the stairway to the deck here and in the main saloon all was deposited for the time being there was a woman with a fine gray cat for which she had been offered fifty dollars wrapped in a warm shawl much to pussies discussed a number of women had dogs and were weeping probably at leaving other canines behind several persons carried little grips so heavy that they tugged along evidently chichaco or paper money was more scarce with them than dust and nuggets as freight there was a piano many iron-bound boxes containing gold bullion securely sealed and labeled and tons of supplies for the consumption of the passengers of whom there were now five hundred then the whistle again sounded the gangplank was hauled in handkerchiefs fluttered the band struck up home sweet home we were headed down the Yukon River and toward the Arctic Circle we had now a journey of seventeen hundred miles before us we were to traverse a country almost unknown to man we were two of a party of five hundred persons the majority of whom, if not actually Desperados were reckless and given over to the pursuit of gold regardless of the manner of its getting there were loose characters of the town by hundreds there were gamblers running a variety of games both day and night there were dance house girls and musicians there were drunks and tufts and one prize fighter no firearms or knives were seen though many, no doubt, had them with the enormous amount of gold on board where the steamer's safe was overflowing and the purses room well packed with the precious stuff with the numbers of hard characters we carried and the now increasing remoteness from centers of government there were dangers, we were forced to confess but which we only admitted in whispers three hours after leaving Dawson we were taking on wood at forty mile this is the oldest camp on the Yukon River in the early home of Jack McQuestion the river banks were lined with canoes many natives stood looking at us from the shore and while stevedores handled the wood many passengers visited the town it was not long before they came back with hands full of turnips just pulled from the ground which had they been the most luscious fruit that have been eaten with more relish I then tried to buy one of a young man but he had evidently been long away from such luxuries for he refused to sell afterward his gallantry getting the better of him he politely offered me one half of the vegetable which I took with thanks as my brother peeled the precious turnip I asked him how long since he had eaten one two years he promptly replied knowing that he was especially fond of such things I ate a small slice and gave him the remainder it is needless to say he enjoyed it to the right of the landing at forty mile just across a small stream which runs into the Yukon is Fort Cutahy containing the stores and warehouses of one of the large companies as well as a post office but we were soon off again steaming along between hills yellow with fading poplar leaves and green streaked with pines many rocky spurs towered grandly heavenward with tops like silvered heads covered with newly fallen snow the Yukon is here very crooked and narrow and abrupt banks hedged our steamer in on all sides next morning early we arrived at Eagle City, Alaska we were now in Uncle Sam's land and breathed more freely we felt at home we cheered and waved our handkerchiefs to the blue uniformed soldiers on the riverbank who had come to see us we went ashore and called upon Lieutenant L lately from his home in Connecticut and campaigning in Cuba taking us into a log house nearby he pointed out 40,000 rounds of ammunition and 115 cragged Jorgensen rifles of the latest pattern here were stationed 115 men some of them at that time out moose hunting and fishing Captain Ray, an old white-haired gentleman stood outside his cabin door at Eagle we saw the new government barracks just being finished the logs and shingles having been sawed at the government sawmill nearby at the mouth of Mission Creek we were particularly struck with a very youthful appearance of our soldiers and their wistful faces as they watched our preparations for departure the Lieutenant had said that life in Cuba or in almost any old place was preferable to that at Eagle with the long winter staring them in the face and we could see that the poor fellow longed for home we were quite touched but tried to cheer him as best we could Circle City on a big bend of the river which it derives its name was reached the following evening here all hands crowded over the gangplank and into the stores in less time than it takes to write it these places were filled with miners each man pulling away at his strong old pipe the companion of many weary months perhaps while over the counters they handed their gold dust and payment for the best plug cut chewing gum, candy or whatever else they saw that looked tempting here we bought two pairs of beaded moccasins for seven dollars as a heavy fog settled down upon us our captain thought best to tie up the steamer overnight and did so next morning by daylight we saw the offices of the United States Marshal both log cabins with dirt roofs upon which bunches of tall weeds were going to seed we hoped this was not symbolical of the state of Uncle Sam's affairs in the interior but feared it might be as the places seemed deserted many of the 1,000 cabins at Circle were now vacant but it is the largest town next to Dawson on the Yukon River during the whole of the next day our pilot steered cautiously over the Yukon Flats this is a stretch of about 400 miles of low swampy country where the Yukon evidently loses its courage to run swiftly where it spreads out indolently in all directions between treacherous and shifting sandbars barely disheartening to all not familiar with its many peculiarities we now learned for the first time that we were practically in the hands of three pilots two of whom were Eskimos one of them on a salary of five hundred dollars per month this man was perfectly familiar with the entire river being an expert pilot as he proved during this trip to the satisfaction of all owing to the near approach of winter and the extremely low water at this point the captain, crew, and many others wore anxious faces until the flats were well passed should our steamer stick fast on a sandbar or take fire we might easily be landed but to be left in such a bleak and barren place with cold weather approaching snow beginning to fall, no shelter and only provisions for a few days with traveling companions of the very worst type and no passing steamers to pick us up we would indeed meet a hard fate and one even the prospect of which was well calculated to make strong men shudder End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mae Kellogg Sullivan this LibriVox recording is in the public domain this recording by Karen Cummins Chapter 5 at the Arctic Circle we were now at the Arctic Circle for three days we had no sunshine and flurries of snow were frequent the mountaintops as well as the banks and sandbars of the river were spread with a thin covering of snow enough at least to give a wintry aspect this added to the leaden sky above made the warmth of big coal fires acceptable in doors and fur coats comfortable on the decks at Fort Yukon the low water prevented our landing we were told however that the place contained 100 log houses as well as an old Episcopal mission in which Mrs. Bumpas had lived and taught the natives for 20 years many of the Eskimo girls are trained as children's nurses and make very satisfactory ones into the Yukon flats empty the Porcupine River Birch Creek and other streams Fort Yukon was established by the Hudson Bay Company many years ago all supplies coming in and shipments of furs going out by way of the McKinsey River and the Great Canadian Lakes toward evening one day while the stevedores were busy handling wood we went ashore and visited an Eskimo family in their hut it was built on the high river bank among the trees quite near the steamers landing on the roof of the hut there lay stretched on sticks to dry a large brown bear skin nearby we saw the head of a freshly killed moose with the hoofs of the animals still bloody as we stooped to enter the low door of the cabin we felt the warmth from the fire in the little Yukon stove which was placed in the corner of the room next to this was a rude table on which lay a quarter of moose meat looking more or less tempting to travelers living on canned goods a bed stood in one corner upon which two or three little children were playing and upon a pile of rags and skins on the floor sat an old Eskimo woman wrinkled and brown these were her children and grandchildren and she was spending her life on the floor of the cabin watching the little ones play around her where she was paralyzed there were no chairs in the cabin and but few rude utensils and play things a box or tin can which had contained provisions was now and then utilized after a few moments with the Eskimos we backed out into the open air again for the atmosphere of the hut was peculiar and not altogether agreeable to our southern olfactory it reminded us of Mrs. Peary's description of native smells in Greenland the short path back to our steamer lay through a poplar grove and under our feet was spread a carpet of brown and yellow leaves which in the cool night air smelled ripe and woodsy next came Fort Hamlin where we again saw some of Uncle Sam's boys and where we trudged out through the soft light snow and took some Kodak views Rampart City was reached in the early evening one long row of houses upon the south bank of the Yukon near the mouth of the big Manuk Creek constitutes the town here empty the little Manuk, Alder, Hunter and many other gold-bearing creeks and a bustling town sprung up only to be almost depopulated during the gnome excitement by this time several inches of snow had fallen and the ground was freezing we managed here to climb the slippery steps of the log store building in the dusk and by a pound of ordinary candy for which we paid one dollar again we ran deep water this time so very smooth that the hills, peaks, trees and islands were all mirrored on its surface and very beautiful the days were now quite short about five in the afternoon the electric lights were turned on through the steamer fresh coal again piled on the fires and we reminded ourselves how comfortably we were traveling then the dinner bell rang and we sat down to dinner some attempted decoration had been made for tall glasses stood in the center of the tables filled with ripe grasses and pretty autumn leaves but strange to relate we were more interested in the contents of our soup plates and what was to follow the cold embracing air during our short walks on deck had given us all famous appetites and we relished everything after hot soup with crackers we ate a fresh fish three kinds of canned meats baked or boiled potatoes with one other kind of vegetable canned tomatoes corn or beans side dishes consisted of pickles olives, cheese, sardines canned fruits, fancy crackers or biscuits and afterward came pudding and pie these last were made from various canned fruits and with the rice, sego or tapioca pudding formed most enjoyable desserts on Sunday, nuts and raisins or apples were added to the menu if we ate with keen appetites we were not too much occupied to take note of the passengers around us nearly opposites that a beautiful woman with a profusion of auburn hair piled high on her head she was fashionably dressed in black silk or satin and her white fingers were loaded with costly rings as she handed a dish to the man beside her her diamonds and other gems sparkled brightly her companion, much older had a hard and villainous face a heavy frown of displeasure habitually rested upon his brow and his glance was shifting and evasive he was a professional gambler kept his game running continually and was going to gnome at the end of the table sat a tall and pleasant mannered young Englishman with blue eyes and ruddy cheeks he represented mining interest in the Klondike amounting to millions and was on his way to London he was fond of wine and consorted chiefly with those who were fast bringing him down to their level there was the girl with pretty black eyes ladylike movements low voice and exquisite toilettes a blue-eyed pretty little blonde with infantile complexion small hands and feet and wearing a tailor-made suit attracted considerable attention she was fond of cigarettes and smoked many times a day though she only looked sweet sixteen they were both dance house girls there was a young and handsome Englishman in the triggest of dude-toggery but having a squaw wife and three children as well as older men at the head of similar broods the long tables were spread two or three times at each meal as several hundred people were to be fed a different class and a worst one if possible was met with at these late meals do you see that short fat woman over there with the bleared eyes and the neck of a prize fighter she is a Dawson saloon keeper and is now on her way to gnome but there were a number of people on the steamer not properly belonging to this set and after supper a few usually gathered in one corner to listen to each other's experiences in the far northwest some were tales of hardship sickness and death some of hair-breath escapes from the jaws of an arctic winner or from shipwreck one told of having two years before paid one hundred seventy five dollars for five sacks of flour in the Klondike selling the same a few days later for five hundred dollars stories of rich strikes were related how one man while drunk was persuaded by his associates to trade a valuable claim for one apparently worthless his indescribable feelings the next day until he had prospected the so-called worthless claim when it proved ten times richer than the first one a little middle-aged Norwegian woman told her story with great gusto she had sailed from Seattle two years before with Mayor Wood's expedition getting as far as a point on the Yukon River two hundred miles below Rampart City here the low water prevented their going farther she and company with others made her way to Rampart as best she could rested and outfitted for a trip to Dawson over the ice finally with sleds and provisions eight dogs and four men she started it was a journey of about eight hundred miles before leaving Rampart she experimented with fur sleeping bags and finally made one in which she could sleep comfortably on the ice and snow rice and tea were their staple articles of diet being more quickly prepared in hasty camps at night and being found most nourishing after a perilous trip of thirty five days in the dead of winter they reached Dawson in good shape two days ahead of a party of men with whom a wager had been made with these and similar stories we wild away the long evening hours by the fire many short stops were made along the river a few little settlements were passed during the night at Holy Cross and Russian Mission we saw flourishing Catholic schools for the natives the Yukon was now getting wider and wider the water was shallow and more shallow then suddenly we felt a heavy jar the big stern wheel refused to move we were stuck fast on a sandbar here we remained all day dreading a hard freeze which was liable to settle down upon us at any time fixing our boat and us in the ice indefinitely but we were now in the Afoon or eastern mouth of the Yukon and near enough to bearing sea to get the benefit of the tides so that in the early evening we again heard the thud of the big machines the steamer quivered the stern wheel again revolved we had entered the bearing sea by four o'clock next morning we were in St. Michael Bay having covered the 60 miles from the mouth of the river during the night snow was falling heavily through which we saw the lights of the harbor and a number of vessels at anchor by daylight we counted eleven ships and two revenue cutters lying under the lee of the island breakfast was served on board and an hour later we went ashore we now sought the steamer company's hotel and had no difficulty in getting good rooms and seats at table for we were still in their care having bought through tickets to San Francisco here we were to wait for the ocean steamer Bertha which was now nearly due from that place and we anxiously watched the weather signs hoping all would be favorable and that she would very soon put in her appearance our hotel was a new frame building of about 40 rooms lighted by electricity having large halls pleasant double parlors overlooking the bay with a good view of incoming ships from the north just across the street stood an old block house or fort containing the funny little cannon used by the Russians over a hundred years ago the antiquated lock on the door the hundreds of bullet holes in the outer walls were all quaintly interesting half a mile south were stores a hotel another large company's dock and in good weather we tramped over there or north the same distance to the headquarters of a third company these three were small settlements by themselves and constituted with their employees natives and dogs the whole population of St. Michael good sidewalks connected these three different stations and commanded fine and extensive views of the surrounding water St. Michael as an island is not large and is entirely without trees or timber however there is deep wet moss or tundra everywhere as one soon discovers to his sorrow if he attempts to leave the plank walks St. Michael Bay lying between the island and the mainland on the east is a fine body of water the coastline is well defined with ranges of mountains zigzagging their cold and snowy peaks blue tenet or purple during the day and pink in the setting sun St. Michael is the windiest place on earth after a few days spent in studying the native dress of the Eskimos and in trying to adapt my own dress to the freakish breezes I concluded that if I stayed at St. Michael I should dress as they did if I started for the eating room with my hat properly placed on hair arranged with ever so much care a heavy beaver cape and dress of walking length I was completely demoralized in appearance five minutes later on reaching the mess house with a twisting motion which was so sudden as to totally surprise me my dress was wound around my feet my cape was flung as if by spiteful hands entirely over my head causing me to step in my confusion from the plank walk while my hat was perched sidewise anywhere above or on my shoulder one unfortunate woman wearing an overskirt covering a striped cambrick sham was seen daily struggling with intense disgust on her face up the steps of the eating house with her unruly overskirt waving wildly in the wind but this wind did not keep the Eskimo women and children at home dressed in their fur parkies which are a sort of long blouse with hood attachment short skirts and mucklucks or skin boots they trotted down to the beach daily to fish standing on the wet and slippery rocks regardless of wind spray or snow here they flung their fish lines out into the water and hauled the little fish up dexterously when with a curious twitch they disengaged the Finney Fellows and tossed them into a big pan little Eskimo children ran on in front of their mothers and shaggy dogs followed close behind at the smell of the fish End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 of A Woman Who Went to Alaska by Mae Kellogg Sullivan this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Karen Cummins Chapter 6, Companions but there were passengers arriving at St. Michael each day from different points bound for Nome at last the side-wheeler Sadie was to leave for Nome and what a commotion men in fur coats, caps and mittens leading dogs of all colors and sizes, some barking but all hustled along with no thought of anything except to reach Cape Nome as quickly as possible at last they were off a rough and in some instances a drunken lot but all hopefully happy and sure that they would strike it rich in the new gold fields many no doubt were going to their death many to hardships and disappointments undreamed of while a few would find gold almost inexhaustible still we waited day after day for the ocean steamer Bertha one Sunday morning we looked from the hotel windows to see a clear cold sky with sun and high wind about ten o'clock we heard a steamer whistling for assistance she was small and used for errands by one of the steamship companies still none went to the rescue as the gale was terrific a steam tug started out but she passed by on the other side not caring to act the part of Good Samaritan to a rival in a few moments the fires of the little steamer were out she was sinking through a glass we saw three men on the roof of the craft then they clung to the smokestack a larger steamer though herself disabled finally reached the three drowning men it was not a moment too soon for the water was icy the gale fearful they were then hauled in almost exhausted and frozen it was a wild day soon after noon one of the two big covered barges in tow by the lack me already loaded for a start for gnome began to sink the wind came from the north and little by little the barge became unmanageable until it last she was cut loose and deserted for an hour we watched the barge until she too sank out of sight beneath the waters of the bay small steamers still came straggling in from Dawson crowded with passengers going to the new gold fields and our tired cooks and stewards in the kitchens were rushed both day and night here the price of a meal to all but those having through tickets to San Francisco was one dollar and fifteen hundred meals a day were frequently served in this hotel we waited two weeks patiently at times restlessly at other times what would we do if the Bertha failed to appear possibly she was lost and now drifting a worthless derelict at the mercy of the winds not another boat would or could carry us tickets on each one having long ago been sold if we should be frozen in on winter with no way of letting our friends at home know of our whereabouts for six months how terrible would be their anxiety how hard for us in this exposed spot near the Arctic sea many times a day and in the night did this emergency present itself to us and we shuttered each day we climb the hill a quarter of a mile away to look Robinson crew so like over the ocean to see if we could discover the Bertha in the meantime with notebook and pencil in hand I often sat in the parlor and while occupied to a certain extent I gathered sundry bits of information regarding the gold fields in this wonderful new Golconda two million dollars it was said had already been extracted from the beach at gnome and no estimate could be made on what was still there the pastry grand of the water's edge even farther but just how far no one knew back of this beach spread the tundra an expanse of marsh ice and water which extends some four miles inland the size of the claims allowed by law is one thousand three hundred and twenty feet in length and six hundred and sixty feet in width or about twenty acres of land the insignificant sum of two dollars and fifty cents is required to be paid the recorder in the York district the area allowed for claims is smaller being five hundred feet in width and the length depending on the geographical formation or creek upon which the claim is situated north of gnome there are ninety to one hundred miles of gold bearing beach to be worked and again to the south a vast stretch of light character extending to Norton Bay the tundra which is nothing but the old beach follows the present shore and is fully as rich as the surf washed sands more productive and larger than all is the inland region traversed by rivers and creeks that form a veritable network of streams all bordered by gold producing soil anvil creek sunset gulch snow gulch and dexter creek near gnome are all exceedingly rich one claim on snow gulch having been sold for a hundred and eighty five thousand dollars and another for thirteen thousand dollars Golovin Bay district is situated eighty five miles east of gnome city and is large and very rich fish river is the principal one in this section and has innumerable small tributaries running into it most of which are also rich in gold Casa de Paga is a tributary in the new clutch river and very rich on offer creek claim number four above discovery forty eight thousand dollars was taken out in nineteen days by the dusty diamond company working seventeen men on number twenty nine above discovery on offer creek seventeen dollars were taken out a day per man who dug out frozen gravel thawed it by the heat of a coal oil stove and afterward rocked it there was much discussion over the rights of those claiming mining lands located by the power of attorney though the majority of men here seem to believe they would hold good and many such papers were made out in due legal form at last on the morning of October ninth the bertha really appeared it was a clear cold day sunny and calm I ran in high spirits to the top of the hill overlooking the bay to get a good view sure enough there lay the bertha on the bright waters as though she had always been there how rejoiced everyone was how relieved were those who intended to remain here with the additions to the winter supplies and how rejoiced were those waiting to get away how we all bustled about packing up buying papers and magazines just from the steamer sealing and stamping letters making notes and diaries taking Kodak views saying goodbye to acquaintances ad infinitum all were willing to leave finally on the afternoon of the tenth we were stowed into the big covered barge which was to take us out to the bertha it was cold and drafty inside so we found a sheltered place in the sun on some piles of luggage and sat there as the bertha was reached a gangplank was thrown over to the barge which came as close alongside as possible and up the steep and narrow board we climbed clinging to a rope held by men on both decks our trouble had now begun we were overjoyed at making a start at last but under what conditions? the river steamer Hannah had been a model of neatness as compared with this one on deck there were coupes of chickens and pens of live sheep and pigs brought from San Francisco to be put off at Nome as well as a full passenger list for the same place on the way here a landing had been attempted at Nome but the surf had been so tremendous that it could not be accomplished and passengers still occupied the state rooms that we were to have however we were temporarily sandwiched in and about four p.m. said goodbye to St. Michael it was a lovely day and the waters of the bay were very calm along shore in the most sheltered places where numbers of river steamers and smaller craft being snugly tucked up for the winter from three tall flagstaffs on shore that are floated gracefully as many American flags as though to wish us well on our long journey out to civilization that night on board was simply pandemonium hundreds of people had no beds and were obliged to sit or walk about many sitting in corners on the floor or on piles of luggage or lying under or upon the tables every seat and berth were taken many of the state rooms below were filled from floor to ceiling with flower and sacks for Nome as well as every foot of space and passageways or pantries many men were so disorderly from drink that they kept constantly swearing and quarreling and one man in a brawl was almost toppled into the sea to make things worse the stench from the pens of the animals on deck became almost unbearable and the wind came up making the water rough there was no sleep for us that night we longed to reach Nome that we might be rid of some of these objectionable things and hoped for an improvement afterward from St. Michael to Nome the distance is about 125 miles and the latter place was reached about 8 a.m. a little before daylight we had been startled by a series of four sudden shocks or jars the first being accompanied by a very distinct creaking of timbers of the ship so that some of us rose and dressed but the ship had apparently sustained no injury and we proceeded on our way whether we had struck a rock or only a sandbar we never knew for the ship's men laughed and evaded our questions but the passengers believed that the boat had touched a reef or a rock hidden perhaps beneath the surface of the sea by daylight the animals had been removed to a barge and soon after breakfast the Nome passengers were taken ashore in like manner for the surf was so heavy on the beach and there being no docks or wharves it was impossible for a large steamer to get nearer away in the distance to the north lay the famous new gold camp of Nome stretched for miles along the beach could be seen the little white tents of the beach minors back of which lay the town proper and still back the rolling hills now partly covered with snow not a tree or shrub could be seen though we strained our eyes through a strong glass in an effort to find them a few wooden buildings larger than the rest were pointed out as the Alaska commercial company's warehouses and offices near where the loaded barges were tossed by the huge breakers toward the beach passengers now went ashore to visit the camps but to my great disappointment I was not allowed to do so on account of the tremendous surf when after watching others seeing their little boats tossed like cockle shells upon the sands and hearing how thoroughly drenched with saltwater many of the people were while landing I gave it up and remained on board for five days we lay anchored outside while stevedores loaded supplies from the Bertha on barges towed ashore by the side wheeler Sadie for hours the wind would blow and the breakers and surf run so high that nothing could be done then at sundown perhaps the wind would die away and men were put to work unloading again the calls of those lifting and tugging the rattle of pulleys and chains never were stilled night or day if the water was passably smooth and we learned to sleep soundly amid all the confusion next morning the steamer Cleveland cast anchor near the Bertha presently we saw a small boat lowered over the side and two women were handed down into it four men following and seating themselves at the oars the ship on which the women had first sailed had been wrecked on St. George's Island from there they were rescued by the revenue cutter there transferred to the Cleveland and we're now going a short gnome their destination as they passed us we noticed that they sat upright in the middle of the lifeboat the hoods of their cloaks drawn quite over their heads we were told that one of these women had come to meet her lover and be married and we felt like cheering such heroism next day the bodies of several men were picked up on the beach near town they had started for Cape Prince of Wales in a small boat and been overtaken by disaster many were dying of fever on shore and nurses doctors and drugs were in great demand many tales of interest now reached our ears but not many can hear be given one of the first American children to open his eyes to the light of day in this bleak and barren place in the home city was Little Willie S his parents lived in a poor board shack or house which his father had built just back of the Golden Beach Sands here the surf all foam tipped spread itself at the rising and falling of the tides and here the miners toiled day after day washing out the precious gold it was here that Willie's papa soon after the baby came was taken and died he had worked too long in the wind and rain and they laid him under the tundra at the foot of the hill for a time the baby grew the mother and child were now dependent upon the community for support but the burly and generous miners did not allow them to want Willie was a great pet in the mining camp the men being delighted with a peep of his tiny round face and pink fingers the little child could have easily had his weight in gold dust or anything else had he wanted it big shining nuggets had already been given him to cut his teeth upon when the time came but that time never came Willie died one day in his mother's arms while her hot tears fell like rain upon his face then they laid him to sleep beside his papa under the tundra where the shining wheat gold clung to the moss roots and sparkled as brightly as the frost and snow which soon covered everything when spring came Willie's mama found the baby's tiny grave and put wildflowers and grasses upon it and there they knotted their pretty heads above the spot where Willie and his papa quietly sleep passengers for San Francisco were now coming on board with their luggage several men were brought on board on spring beds being ill with no contagious disease a box containing the body of a man who had shot himself the day before was placed upon the hurricane deck, lashed down and covered with tarpolines strong boxes of gold bullion with long stout ropes and boards attached in case of accident were stowed away in as safe a place as could be found copies of the first issue of the Nome News were bought at fifty cents a copy size four pages about a foot square beach sand and pebbles were handed about in many funny receptacles pickle jars, tin cans, flower sacks any old thing would do if only we had the pleasure of seeing the golden sand one night about three o'clock the barge brought the last passengers in freight the water was smooth the moon shone brightly there was no wind and the captain and his mate gave their orders in quick stern tones they were in haste to leave they had lingered here too long already all were soon hustled on board the Sadie and her barges moved away we took a last long look at Nome as she stretched herself on the golden sands of the beach under her electric lights the bertha whistled stuck her nose into the rollers and steamed away a more majestic old body of water than Bering Sea would be hard to find and we remember it with thanksgiving for we had no storms or rough weather during the eight hundred and fifty miles to unalaska right glad was I that we were fortunate in having a pleasant little party of eight or ten persons and our evenings were spinning visiting spinning yarns and singing songs while some hours each day were passed on the hurricane deck here we became familiar with the sea phrases commonly used and watch the old salts bracing the mast arms hoisting the jibs or tacking and could tell when we had a cross sea a beam sea or a south wester as we neared on Alaska on the Aleutian Islands the sea became rough and we had more wind but we joyfully sided high hills or rocks to the east and bade goodbye to old Bering for three and a half days he had behaved well and never will we quietly hear him aligned on Alaska sweet isle of the sea how beautiful she looked to our eyes which had only seen water for days it's bold and rocky cliffs it's towering peak snow capped it's sequestered and winding valleys and bright sparkling waterfalls it's hillsides and all the artistic shades of red brown yellow green purple black and white it's water and all the tents of blue and azure reflecting sky that looked as though an angel in his upward flight had left his mantle floating in midair all all greeted the eye of the worn voyager most restfully clusters of quaint red buildings were soon seen nestling under the mountain that was dutch harbor and a mile farther on we arrived at the dock at an Alaska we would be here 24 hours taking on fresh water coal and food they told us and we all ran out like sheep from a pen or school children at intermission we drank fresh water from the spring under the green hillside we bought apples and oranges at the store and furs of the furrier we rode in a skiff and scampered over the hills to dutch harbor we watched jellyfish and pink starfish in the water we saw white reindeer apparently as tame as cows browsing on the slopes we visited an old greek church and were kept from the very holiest place where only men were allowed to go retaliating when we came to the cash box at the door we dropped nothing in we climbed the highest mountain nearby and staked imaginary gold claims after drinking in the beauties of the views which encompassed us we snapped our codex repeatedly and then having reached the limit of our time and strength winded our way back to the steamer now ready to sail leaving the harbor we all stayed on deck as long as possible we were trying to fix the grandeur of the scenery in our minds so it could not slip away and then priest rock was passed we had turned about eastward and were in Unimac pass here the wind blew a gale from the west on account of which we were obliged to go below to our state rooms after watching the sailors lash everything on the hurricane deck well down in case of storm after a few hours we left the pass with its precipitous cliffs its barren and rocky slopes its cones of extinct volcanoes its rough and deep water and headed doos southeast for Frisco many unpleasant people and things we found on board as we proceeded for not all of these had been left at gnome but with a philosopher's fortitude we studied to overlook everything disagreeable and partly succeeded that our efforts were not a complete success was due partly at least to our early education and large stock of ideality and we were really not so much to blame the remainder of our journey was somewhat monotonous broken only by drunken brawls at midnight on deck waking us from sound slumbers or the sight of a whale spouting during the day sometimes a breeze would spring up from the wrong direction rolling us for a few hours causing us to prefer a reclining posture instead of an upright one and giving our complexions a still deeper lemonish cast sometimes we were well inclined to feed the fishes in the sea and did not but at all times we were thankful that matters were no worse then after many days out from on Alaska we began to look for land seagulls and goonies had followed in the wake of our ship and rested themselves each day aloft in the rigging sales were now and then seen in the distance like the spreading white wings of enormous swans gliding quietly over the bosom of the deep and we realized that we were nearing land in the darkness one night there came to us a little white boat containing three men one was a pilot to guide us safely through the beautiful golden gate the light on point Benita was cited we were almost home we were now six weeks out from Dawson and 21 days from gnome we had no storms accidents or deaths on board and carried five hundred passengers as well as three million dollars in gold I had been away from home four months without a day's illness and during my trip through Alaska had traveled seventy five hundred miles nearly one half of this distance alone end of chapter six chapter seven of a woman who went to Alaska by May Kellogg Sullivan this LibriVox recording is in the public domain this recording by Karen Cummins chapter seven going to gnome one beautiful day in the spring of nineteen hundred I sailed again for Alaska this time for gnome from San Francisco an English family consisting of the mother one son and a daughter were to accompany me and we had spent weeks in making our preparations we were taking supplies of clothing food tents and bedding sufficient to last until some of our numerous plans of work after our arrival brought in returns my hope was to meet my father there for he had written that he thought he should go to the new gold fields where he could do beach mining I was not above doing any honest work and felt confident that I could make my way if I could gain an entrance into that country the English people were all workers and I had known them for ten years or more our steamer was the good ship St. Paul belonging to the Alaska commercial company and was advertised to sail on May twenty fifth when I laughingly called the attention of one of the owners of the ship to make that the date fell upon Friday and many persons objected to sailing upon that day he postponed the starting of the St. Paul to May twenty sixth and we left the dock on Saturday afternoon amid the cheers and hand waving of thousands of people who had come to see the big boat off for gnome the steamer was well fitted out spick and span and fresh carpets and paint and crowded to the utmost capacity for comfort every state room was full each seat at the tables occupied not a foot of space above or below decks was left unused but provision was made for all and the ship was well manned I was now much gratified to learn that there were many on board whom I had met before that the steward stewardess and several of the waiters had been on duty on the day of her birth during my trip out from Alaska the fall before while I was upon speaking terms with a dozen or more of the passengers with whom I had traveled from the same place of passengers we had all told four hundred and eighty seven of these thirty five were women there was only one child on board and that was the little black eyed girl with her Eskimo mother and white father from Galovan Bay whom I had seen at St. Michael some months before and who was now going back to her northern home she wore a sailor suit of navy blue surge trimmed with white braid and was as coy and cunning as ever not speaking off into strangers but laughing and running away to her mother when addressed from the day we sailed from San Francisco until we reached gnome I missed no meals in the dining salon a pace which my English friends and others could not follow for they were uncomfortably ill in the region of their digestive apparatus for several days I slept for hours each day and thoroughly enjoyed the trip during the nine days sail from San Francisco to an Alaska a distance of two thousand three hundred and sixty eight miles I studied well the passengers we had preachers on board as well as doctors lawyers merchants and minors and there were women going to gnome to start eating houses hotels and mercantile shops there were several Swedish missionaries one a zealous young woman from San Francisco going to the Swedish mission at Moven Bay this young person was pretty unpleasant and I was glad to make her acquaintance as well as that of three other women speaking the same tongue and occupying the next state room to mine the last named were going to start a restaurant in gnome as they were sociable jolly and good sailors for the most part I enjoyed their society they had all lived in San Francisco for years and though not related to each other were firm friends of long standing and were uniting their little fortunes in the hope of making greater ones the young missionary was a friend to the other three and I found no better or more congenial companions on board the ship than these four honest hardworking women so full of hope courage and good sense as well as Christianity little did I then think that these people placed by a seeming chance in an adjoining state room were to be my fellow workers and true friends not only for the coming months in that Arctic land to which we were going but as the sequel will show perhaps for years to come not many days had passed when we found that we had on board what few steamers can boast of and that was an orchestra of professional musicians among the waiters these were men going with all the others to seek their fortunes in the new gold fields working their passage as waiters on the ship to gnome where they intended to leave it three evenings in the week these musicians with the help of several singers on board gave concerts in the dining salon which though impromptu were very enjoyable a sweet and train singer was the English girl of our company and she sang many times accompanied by the stringed instruments of the musicians much to the delight of the assembled passengers when she sang one evening in her clear sympathetic voice the selection oh where is my wandering boy tonight there's not a dry eye in the room and the mind of many a man went back to his old home and praying mother in some far distant state making him resolve to write off in her to her that she might be comforted with a knowledge of his whereabouts and welfare these evenings were sometimes varied by recitations from an elocutionist on board and a practice clog dancer excited the risibles of the company to the extent that they usually shouted with laughter at his exhibition of flying heels day after day passed those who were continually seasick had diversion enough it was useless for us to tell them a pathetic tale of someone who at some time had been more ill than they because they would not believe a word of it and it was equally useless to recommend an antidote for maldemare such as theirs no one was ever so ill before they said they knew they should die and be buried at sea and hoped they would if that would put an end to their sufferings we tried at last to give them comfort by recommending out of former experiences ships biscuit dry toast and popcorn as remedies but only received black looks as our reward we then concluded that a diet of tea coffee and soup was exactly such a one as the fishes would recommend could they speak these favorite and much used liquids keeping up a continual swishing in one's interior regions and causing one to truthfully speak of the same as infernal instead of internal but they were all tree physical as well as free moral agents and decided these things for themselves at last we entered the Japan current and the weather was warmer and more enjoyable on Monday June 4th we saw from the deck a few drifting logs and a quantity of seaweed and these with the presence of gulls and Goonies flying overhead convinced us that we were nearing land we were not mistaken after eating an excellent six o'clock dinner we went above to find ourselves between high rocky cliffs which loomed up into mountains not far distant and we knew we were again at the Aleutian Islands and in the rough waters of Unimac Pass as we drew nearer and entered the harbor so well landlocked the sun dipped low into yellow red western waters thereby casting long shadows a slant our pathway so delicately shaded in greens the little hamlet of Dutch Harbor nestled cosily at the foot of the mountains which bordered the bay and here numbers of ships lay anchored at rest passing along easily beyond another high mountain we were soon at the dock of unalaska beside other great ships in port both groups of craft were evidently waiting for the ice to clear from Bering Sea before proceeding on their way northward and we counted sixteen ships of different kinds and sizes the majority of them large steamers all were loaded with passengers and freight for gnome scout boats had already been sent out to investigate and find if possible a passage through the ice fields and the return of these scouts with good news was anxiously watched and waited for as the most desired thing at that time was a speedy and safe landing on the supposedly golden beach sands of gnome at unalaska we spent four days taking on fresh water and coal during which time passengers visited back and forth from the waiting steamers many persons having friends on other boats and each having a curiosity to see if they were faring as well or ill as he comparing notes as to the expense of traveling with the different companies etc passengers on the saint paul agreed that they had no kick coming which was one of the commonest slang phrases intended to mean that they had no fault to find with the alaska commercial company and their steamer saint paul all were well cared for and satisfied as well they might be with the service of the ships men leaving on alaska the sun shone clear and cold upon the mountains where in places the sides looked black from the late fires started in the deep tundra by miscreants the tops of the mountains recovered with snow down deep gorges dashed mountain waters of melting snow and ice hurrying to leap off gullied and rocky cliffs into the sea their progress was never impeded no tree nor shrub obstructed the way with gnarled old trunks twisted roots or low hanging branches for none grow in an alaska and the bold dignity and grandeur of the mountains is never diminished by these lesser objects as our ship sailed out into bearing sea we were closely followed by the steamer george w elder whose sister an old friend of our captain had decided to follow in our wake he being less familiar than the latter with alaskan waters and having confidence in the ability of his friend to successfully pilot both ships to cape gnome end of chapter seven