poorhunter78
Bronze Member
The following story Is my wife's Great,Great Uncle. I will type it as it is written in this letter. I may have to break it up into several post, Enjoy it as much as I do every time I read it!
Forty Mile, Yukon, Brittish Columbia, October 20, 1894. I will write to you all in one letter for every letter that goes out of this country in the winter costs the sender from one to three dollars. Uncle Sam does not deliver mail here yet. Letters that are sent here sometimes do not cost anything if some one is coming, but generally cost fifty cents. It will take $1,000 to hire a man to make a trip from here to Juno this winter and what it will cost a letter I do not know till the minders hold a meeting. But I will send two or three any way.
There were two men started from here with mail two years ago and one froze to death and the other died soon after reaching Dia Inlet. They had to go with dog teams. We are well and safe in Forty Mile in a good log house with double doors and windows and the cracks stopped with moss. It is warmer than any brick, plastered house I ever saw. We came from Juno to Dia Inlet in five days and nights. We came on a sailing sloop; we stayed at Wilson's trading post two days and nights. It was raining and he could not get the Indians to cross the mountains. We paid them 14 cents. a pound for carrying. They carried us across the rivers for 25 cents apiece and waded in water waist deep cold as ice. We were five days crossing the divide. Some of the Indians carried 150 lbs; most of them carried 100 lbs. I carried 75 lbs. and that was all I wanted. Alma carried her valise which weighed 20 lbs. It was snowing and freezing and we had to catch hold of peaks of rocks and little crevices--anything to get a hold to climb up. There were miles of solid ice and snow that never melt. There were five in our party and one man brought a canary bird and a bull dog. The canary bird froze to death on top of the divide but the bull dog made the trip.
You may be sure we were glad when we reached Lake Linderman. There was a party there building boats to come to Forty Mile. There were two men with
their wives but we did not have to stay there to build our boat, we brought one and started over the lakes the next morning. We had been here just two days when the ice commenced running in the river and in four more days the river was frozen solid. There was one man and a wife got within five miles of here and it froze there boat up, but the walked in all right. We dont know where the other party are. If they did not stop at Sixty Mile Post they will probably see pretty hard times before spring. After we crossed the divide we had fine weather, no rain but cold. We had a fine time, plenty to eat and a good appetite. We broke camp at 8 o'clock in the morning and pull in at 5 o'clock in the evening. We were blessed with plenty of dry wood and plenty of water. Alma got her eyes pretty badly smoked cooking over the camp fire.
We cut hemlock boughs and throwed them on the ground for beds and we slept well except two nights we had to sleep on the sand. I waded in the ice cold water, had wet feet all day and never caught the least bit of cold. We all enjoyed the trip very much and we made the best time that has ever been made. We made the whole trip in 29 days. We had some hard wind on the lakes and the river is very swift and we pulled hard on the oars; that was all that kept us from getting froze in. The river always commenced freezing from the bottom and freezes not knowing how deep. Well I will tell you a little about Forty Mile and Fort Cudaly. One is on one side of the river and the other is on the other side. They are both in Brittish Columbia. The saloons, gambling houses and dance halls are all on Forty Mile. There are 5 white women who live next to us and there are about 5 more in the country. We stopped at Harper's Trading Post as we came in; Alma bought a pair of woolen hose which she gave $2.00 for. The Storekeeper gave her a pair of moccasins and about 10 lbs. of moose meat, and several other things. He said she was the first white woman who ever traded in his store.
There have been two or three men gone from here this summer with from thirty to fifty thousand dollars and there are lots of men come in from their claims with ten thousand dollars and blow in every cent of it in the summer. They pay ten or twelve dollars per day in the winter and six to eight in the summer, not much work done in winter. Some men only make from $500 to $1,000 in the season--just enough to grub stake them. There was one nugget taken out here which had five hundred and ten dollars in it; we saw two nuggets, one two hundred and fifty and one fifty dollars.
I have more to come, Gotta wait til storm passes. stay tuned for part 2.
Forty Mile, Yukon, Brittish Columbia, October 20, 1894. I will write to you all in one letter for every letter that goes out of this country in the winter costs the sender from one to three dollars. Uncle Sam does not deliver mail here yet. Letters that are sent here sometimes do not cost anything if some one is coming, but generally cost fifty cents. It will take $1,000 to hire a man to make a trip from here to Juno this winter and what it will cost a letter I do not know till the minders hold a meeting. But I will send two or three any way.
There were two men started from here with mail two years ago and one froze to death and the other died soon after reaching Dia Inlet. They had to go with dog teams. We are well and safe in Forty Mile in a good log house with double doors and windows and the cracks stopped with moss. It is warmer than any brick, plastered house I ever saw. We came from Juno to Dia Inlet in five days and nights. We came on a sailing sloop; we stayed at Wilson's trading post two days and nights. It was raining and he could not get the Indians to cross the mountains. We paid them 14 cents. a pound for carrying. They carried us across the rivers for 25 cents apiece and waded in water waist deep cold as ice. We were five days crossing the divide. Some of the Indians carried 150 lbs; most of them carried 100 lbs. I carried 75 lbs. and that was all I wanted. Alma carried her valise which weighed 20 lbs. It was snowing and freezing and we had to catch hold of peaks of rocks and little crevices--anything to get a hold to climb up. There were miles of solid ice and snow that never melt. There were five in our party and one man brought a canary bird and a bull dog. The canary bird froze to death on top of the divide but the bull dog made the trip.
You may be sure we were glad when we reached Lake Linderman. There was a party there building boats to come to Forty Mile. There were two men with
their wives but we did not have to stay there to build our boat, we brought one and started over the lakes the next morning. We had been here just two days when the ice commenced running in the river and in four more days the river was frozen solid. There was one man and a wife got within five miles of here and it froze there boat up, but the walked in all right. We dont know where the other party are. If they did not stop at Sixty Mile Post they will probably see pretty hard times before spring. After we crossed the divide we had fine weather, no rain but cold. We had a fine time, plenty to eat and a good appetite. We broke camp at 8 o'clock in the morning and pull in at 5 o'clock in the evening. We were blessed with plenty of dry wood and plenty of water. Alma got her eyes pretty badly smoked cooking over the camp fire.
We cut hemlock boughs and throwed them on the ground for beds and we slept well except two nights we had to sleep on the sand. I waded in the ice cold water, had wet feet all day and never caught the least bit of cold. We all enjoyed the trip very much and we made the best time that has ever been made. We made the whole trip in 29 days. We had some hard wind on the lakes and the river is very swift and we pulled hard on the oars; that was all that kept us from getting froze in. The river always commenced freezing from the bottom and freezes not knowing how deep. Well I will tell you a little about Forty Mile and Fort Cudaly. One is on one side of the river and the other is on the other side. They are both in Brittish Columbia. The saloons, gambling houses and dance halls are all on Forty Mile. There are 5 white women who live next to us and there are about 5 more in the country. We stopped at Harper's Trading Post as we came in; Alma bought a pair of woolen hose which she gave $2.00 for. The Storekeeper gave her a pair of moccasins and about 10 lbs. of moose meat, and several other things. He said she was the first white woman who ever traded in his store.
There have been two or three men gone from here this summer with from thirty to fifty thousand dollars and there are lots of men come in from their claims with ten thousand dollars and blow in every cent of it in the summer. They pay ten or twelve dollars per day in the winter and six to eight in the summer, not much work done in winter. Some men only make from $500 to $1,000 in the season--just enough to grub stake them. There was one nugget taken out here which had five hundred and ten dollars in it; we saw two nuggets, one two hundred and fifty and one fifty dollars.
I have more to come, Gotta wait til storm passes. stay tuned for part 2.
Shall I insert that pin guys? 
