



Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Stephen Blundell and the Online
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[Illustration: MAY KELLOGG SULLIVAN IN ALASKA DRESS.]




        A WOMAN WHO
        WENT ----
        TO ALASKA


 By May Kellogg Sullivan


       ILLUSTRATED


         Boston:
 James H. Earle & Company
  178 Washington Street




     _Copyright, 1902_
 _By MAY KELLOGG SULLIVAN_

   _All Rights Reserved_




CONTENTS.


 CHAPTER                                         PAGE

     I Under Way                                    9
    II Midnight on a Yukon Steamer                 19
   III Dawson                                      28
    IV The Rush                                    36
     V At The Arctic Circle                        48
    VI Companions                                  58
   VII Going to Nome                               78
  VIII Fresh Danger                                81
    IX Nome                                        94
     X The Four Sisters                           109
    XI Life in a Mining Camp                      131
   XII Bar-Room Disturbances                      149
  XIII Off For Golovin Bay                        162
   XIV Life at Golovin                            184
    XV Winter in the Mission                      199
   XVI The Retired Sea Captain                    215
  XVII How the Long Days Passed                   231
 XVIII Swarming                                   247
   XIX New Quarters                               261
    XX Christmas in Alaska                        275
   XXI My First Gold Claims                       292
  XXII The Little Sick Child                      311
 XXIII Lights and Shadows of the Mining Camp      325
  XXIV An Unpleasant Adventure                    340
   XXV Stones and Dynamite                        354
  XXVI Good-bye to Golovin Bay                    374
 XXVII Going Outside                              379




Transcriber's Note

    Obvious printer errors have been corrected. All other
    inconsistencies remain as printed.

    A list of illustrations, though not present in the original, has
    been provided below:

      MAY KELLOGG SULLIVAN IN ALASKA DRESS.
      DAWSON, Y. T.
      CITY HALL AT SKAGWAY.
      PORCUPINE CANYON, WHITE PASS.
      MILES CANYON.
      UPPER YUKON STEAMER.
      FIVE FINGER RAPIDS.
      GOING TO DAWSON IN WINTER.
      A KLONDYKE CLAIM.
      EAGLE CITY, ON THE YUKON, IN 1899.
      YUKON STEAMER "HANNAH."
      FELLOW TRAVELERS.
      ESKIMOS.
      UNALASKA.
      STEAMSHIP ST. PAUL.
      NOME.
      LIFE AT NOME.
      CLAIM NUMBER NINE, ANVIL CREEK.
      CLAIM NUMBER FOUR, ANVIL CREEK, NOME.
      MAP OF ALASKA.
      ESKIMO DOGS.
      WINTER PROSPECTING.
      AT CHINIK. THE MISSION.
      CLAIM ON BONANZA CREEK.
      ON BONANZA CREEK.
      SKAGWAY RIVER, FROM THE TRAIN.




PREFACE


This unpretentious little book is the outcome of my own experiences and
adventures in Alaska. Two trips, covering a period of eighteen months
and a distance of over twelve thousand 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
avoirdupois, 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.

Enough 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.




A WOMAN WHO WENT--TO ALASKA.




CHAPTER I.

UNDER WAY.


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 Klondyke 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