FAR NORTH OF CANADA
. . >
Where Natives Exchange Wives* and Wliites
Catcli Wlialess and Conduct Trading
Establishments.
The Mackenzie river patrol of the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police
returned to Dawson this morning,
completing the first round trip ex
pedition ever made between Dawson
and Port McPherson, on the Mac
kenzie river, says lie Dawson News
of March 8.
The members of the expedition
estimate that they covered a round
thousand miles on the journey going
rand coming. From Dawson to Fort
McPherson the time was 38 days,
and returning it was reduced to 25
days. Ten days were spent at Fort
McPherson.
The route followed was as fol
lows: From Dawson down tire
Yukon to the mouth of Twelve
mile river; up Twtlvemile f 1
length; through Seely ] ass ol the
Rocky Mountains to the eastern
slope, and down the divide to
Blackstone river; thence to right
branch of the Hart river, ar.d pi rt
age over to main Hart liver; up
left branch of Halt, and over divide
to Little Wind liver; thence along
Little Wind to Wind liver; down
Wind liver to the Peel; down Peel
ten miles, to a portage; thei.ce 70
miles across ajportage cutting 1 ff a
long bend in the Peel; thence along
the Peel again to Fort McPherson.
The 1 ortage was a high wind swept
plateau on which there was much
danger of being caught in a wind
storm, but none was encountered.
Returning a better course was fol
lowed in avoiding the ] lateau. The
snow on the plateau was three feet
deep and very hard to traverse.
The trail had never been liaveled
by whites between the two points
before, and it has now been tested
and proven satisfactory. 1 his may
lead to the blazing ot a summer
route over the trail. It is through
all-Canadian territory, and therefore
ot greater value to the mounted po
lice anil Canadian authorities than
it otherwise would 1 e
few cariDOU a tit* seen aiou^ wic
route. One party of Indian hunters
was met or. the I’eel.
The News contains the lollow in^.
received through the mail brought
by the police from Fort McPherson
Furt Mi PbeTson, F'eh. 10 —Fort Me
Fherson at present con»iat»of a Hudsons
Hay Company store. tlialop Jk NeagU-n
store, church tnissionan society Luildtng
amt the police ilrtachtnetit \ few Ind
ian*. employes of these stores, also lice at
the fort.
There >» also a trailing post at Hut
Kiser. «>«t> Holes from here, the Mud
,0u s Has C'»m|Miit ami llistop H Nragle
are both represented there. There isalsc
a Mr. Cadzou trading at the old Hudson’s
Bay fort at Rampart house on the Porcu
pine. This is the first year Hislop &
Neagle have had a branch store here.
All traders are getting a share of the
fur. The Indians come here to trade in
the spring and fall. They drift down
from their spring camping place at the
headwaters of the Peel river.
A few Esquimaux also come here tc
trade. This tribe has diminished greatly
both from frequent murders among them
selves and from an epidemic of measles
which swept a great number off in 1903.
There have been no murders since the
arrival of the Royal Northwest Mounted
Police in the country.
All the Esquimaux have whaleboats
which the whalers trade them for skins
after their season's whaling is done. The
Esquimaux dress, both in winter and
summer, entirely in tur. They wear un
derclothing of deerskin with the fur in
side and an outer garment of the same
material with the fur outside. I11 wet
and snowy weather they wear a light suit
of cotton over the deerskin to keep it
dry. They still wear long labritsin their
faces, aiul exchange w ives amongst them
selves: when a man tires of his wife he
exchanges her with an accommodating
neighbor, the same as it is reported is
done in the Klondike
1 Heir camps are indescribably dirty
and the odors are long to he remembered
by any one encountering them.
Some of the Esquimaux are fairly well
to do. One of them purchased a small
schooner from a whaler for 1,200 fox
skins, but up to the present has not taken
any whales in her. Last summer while
hunting whales he was caught in a gale
and he and the crew became rattled and
abandoned her to her fate. She rail on
the shore and was badly damaged, bul
they succeeded in getting her off again.
Last summer four Esquimaux while
sailing to Fort McPherson upset theii
boat in the Mackenzie river about eighty
miles from here ami were drowned. Al oul
the s« me time while two Esquimaux were
shooting ptarmigan one of them shot tlu
other When he returned to camp and
told the dead man’s father, the fathei
seized a rifle and tried to shoot the mur
derer. After the father had fired several
shots the murderer shot him in sell
defense. Afte.ward he took the eldei
man's wife for himself.
About twenty ships came to the Arctic
to whale. The season of 11*03 was a ver\
poor one, only eight whales being takei
bv the whole fleet. In the winter o
21*03-04 the steamships Bowheud am
Narval an l the schooner Bonanza win
tered at lit rscbetl Island. This seasoi
the ships were much more successful
About twenty whales were captured.
The schooner Bonanza, Cap! VVill 1 an
M*gg was caught between an ice tbs
ami the land thin season and carrier
along bv the itirrcitt. The captain wa
forced to choose let wren running int<
the ice or the all* re lie chosr the latte
ami ran the ship agrouml. crushing ii
her st« ui anti sustaining other injure-'
lie remained with the ship all »uinm« r ti
the hope uf repairing and getting her ol
RECEPTION SAEQON
11 H !•:TI: R W. W. C ROCK KTT
! " • ■
I
WINES,
LIQUORS
AND GOOD
I
CIGARS
!
i
r-<
St. Louis '
!BEERS
The Highest Priced but
the Best Quality.
BILLIARD
AND
POOL
ROOMS
12-year-ohl Crow Whiskey—The Only Stock.
(Something New — Try Our Apricot Cocktail
this winter. The steamships Bowtaead
i and the Karluk. are wintering at Her
! schell Island this winter and the steaui
! sltips Hetman and Iiolnga at Bailey
j Isiand.
From this post the police make four
j patrols a year to Herschell Island, twice
j in winter and the same in summer. The
i trail in winter is 2B0 miles long; 150 of
that is on the l’eel and Mackenzie rivers
and the rest is on the Arctic coast. The
coast is at times very dangerous and no
wood is to he had for over ninety miles.
When a storm springs up, which is very
often, they are obliged to dig a hole in
the snow and camp there with the dogs,
sometimes for several days. In nearly
every storm some Esquimaux are frozen
to death.
The storms come up with remarkable
suddenness. A few years ago, while a
party of sailors were playing ball about
a hundred yards from the ships, a storm
came up so suddenly and fiercely that all
but one were frozen to death. Several
were found next morning frozen stiff a
few yards from the ships.
Charles F. Moore.
3 BIG DREDGES
FOR THE YUKON
From the Dawson News, March io.
Joe Segbers, who arrived today
jfioni tlie outside, gives details of
tl e big enterprise instituted by him
self and Robert MoncriefF for the
; installation of a large dredge on
lower Bonanza this season. He
; says:
j Our dredge is brand new. It is being
prepared at the Risdon Iron Works in
San Francisco, and will be here early this
season. It will be operated on one of the
Moncrieff claims in the c,o's below, in
which I now have an interest. Moncreiff
and I are the sole backers of the tlredge
concern. The dredge will cost about
f 60,000.
The hull for the dredge will he built
ou Bonanza front native lumber. The
dredge will have a capacity of 1,000 cubic
yards in 24 hours, and will be about the
! size of the I.ewis River company 's dredge
on discovery claim on Bonanza.
' Moncrie ff w ill lie here in a short time.
He is en route north from Seattle.
I understand that the dredge which the
Detroit-Yukon people are to install on
the Bearcreek projierty w ill he the largest
. ever brought north, and will cost about
fu 5.000.
1 also understand that Col. Williams is
talking of putting in a dredge this year
on the low< r end of the Klondike river,
between the Klondike City bridge and
the Ogilvie bridge.
1 The Klondike is the best part of the
north
I Icy «■ i it I Uctmuii.
r There be two individuals who
i can not be teas*.tied with a (jirl in
love and a man who is determined
i to run lot an other New Orleans
r Picayune.
PROSPECTORS
LOSE BY FIRE
Max Neville and Cap Williams,
who recently established themselves
on the North fork of the Tonlavana
for a season’s prospecting, suffeied
quite a loss by lire on April 3.
Their tent was burned, together
with their bedding, all their wear
ing apparel except what they had
on, and numerous articles going to
make up their camping outfit. Pro
visions sufficient for several weeks
were also destroyed. The main
part of their tood supply was 111 a
cache and was not burned. The
men left the tent with a brisk fire
burning in the stove, and when
they returned they found it in
ashes.
Mr. Neville came to town to
replenish the outfit. He and his
partner recently killed a big moose,
estimated to weigh rioo pounds, and
also ring out and dispatched a mon
strous brown bear. They intend
to pro'pect indefinitely, or until
they lor ate pay.
Pfiinliillv Injured
I !y Pulling UocU
I>u\c Rushing, No. y Little Mi
nook, was laid up some days ago
hy a rock dropping onto hi* head
and producing a serious scalp
wound. Last Friday he returned
to work, when he accidentally hut
ted his head against the tool and
rendered the hurt as had as ever.
Me turn to lie off again.