Chapter II: Klondyke Facts (3)

"The distance to the first, and only lake which they saw, they put at 175 miles, and the lake itself they call at least 150 miles long, as it took them four days to row in a light boat from end to end. The portage to the sea they did not appear to know anything about, but describe a large bay on the east side of the lake, into which a river of considerable size entered. This river occupies a wide valley, surrounded by high mountains. They thought this river must head near Liard River. This account differs materially from that given by the Indian, and to put them on their guard, I told them what he had told me, but they still persisted in their story, which I find differs a good deal from the account they gave Dr. Dawson, as incorporated in his report.

"Many years ago, sixteen I think, a man named Monroe prospected up the Taku and learned from the Indians something of a large lake not far from that river. He crossed over and found it, and spent some time in prospecting, and then recrossed to the sea. This man had been at Forty Mile River, and I heard from the miners there his account of the appearance of the lake, which amounted generally to this: The Boswells did not know anything about it." It was unfortunate the Boswells did not remain at Forty Mile all winter, as by a comparison of recollections they might have arrived at some correct conclusion.

"Conflicting as these descriptions are, one thing is certain: this branch, if it has not the greater discharge, is the longer and more important of the two, and offers easy and uninterrupted navigation for more than double the distance which the Lewes does, the cañon being only ninety miles above the mouth of the Teslintoo. The Boswells reported it as containing much more useful timber than the Lewes, which indeed one would infer from its lower altitude.

"Assuming this as the main river, and adding its length to the Lewes-Yukon below the junction, gives upward of 2,200 miles of river, fully two-thirds of which runs through a very mountainous country, without an impediment to navigation.

"Some indefinite information, was obtained as to the position of this river in the neighborhood of Marsh Lake tending to show that the distance between them was only about thirty or forty miles.

"Between the Teslintoo and the Big Salmon, so called by the miners, or D'Abbadie by Schwatka, the distance is thirty-three and a-half miles, in which the Lewes preserves a generally uniform width and current. For a few miles below the Teslintoo it is a little over the ordinary width, but then contracts to about two hundred yards which it maintains with little variation. The current is generally from four to five miles per hour.

"The Big Salmon I found to be about one hundred yards wide near the mouth, the depth not more than four or five feet, and the current, so far as could be seen, sluggish. None of the miners I met could give me any information concerning this stream; but Dr. Dawson was more fortunate, and met a man who had spent most of the summer of 1887 prospecting on it. His opinion was that it might be navigable for small stern-wheel steamers for many miles. The valley, as seen from the mouth, is wide, and gives one the impression of being occupied by a much more important stream. Looking up it, in the distance could be seen many high peaks covered with snow. As the date was August it is likely they are always so covered, which would make their probable altitude above the river 5,000 feet or more.

"Dr. Dawson, in his report, incorporates fully the notes obtained from the miners. I will trespass so far on these as to say that they called the distance to a small lake near the head of the river, 190 miles from the mouth. This lake was estimated to be four miles in length; another lake about 12 miles above this was estimated to be twenty-four miles long, and its upper end distant only about eight miles from the Teslintoo. These distances, if correct, make this river much more important than a casual glance at it would indicate; this, however, will be more fully spoken of under its proper head.

"Just below the Big Salmon the Lewes takes a bend of nearly a right angle. Its course from the junction with the Tahkeena to this point is generally a little east of north; at this point it turns to nearly west for some distance. Its course between here and its confluence with the Pelly is north-west, and, I may add, it preserves this general direction down to the confluence with the Porcupine. The river also changes in another respect; it is generally wider, and often expands into what might be called lakes, in which are islands. Some of the lakes are of considerable length, and well timbered.

"To determine which channel is the main one, that is, which carries the greatest volume of water, or is best available for the purposes of navigation, among these islands, would require more time than I could devote to it on my way down; consequently I cannot say more than that I have no reason to doubt that a channel giving six feet or more of water could easily be found. Whenever, in the main channel, I had reason to think the water shallow, I tried it with my paddle, but always failed to find bottom, which gives upward of six feet. Of course I often found less than this, but not in what I considered the main channel.

"Thirty-six and a quarter miles below the Big Salmon, the Little Salmon--the Daly of Schwatka--enters the Lewes. This river is about 60 yards wide at the mouth, and not more than two or three feet in depth. The water is clear and of a brownish hue; there is not much current at the mouth, nor as far as can be seen up the stream. The valley which, from the mouth, does not appear extensive, bears north-east for some distance, when it appears to turn more to the east. Six or seven miles up, and apparently on the north side, some high cliffs of red rock, apparently granite, can be seen. It is said that some miners have prospected this stream, but I could learn nothing definite about it.

"Lewes River makes a turn here to the south-west, and runs in that direction six miles, when it again turns to the north-west for seven miles, and then makes a short, sharp turn to the south and west around a low sandy point, which will, at some day in the near future, be cut through by the current, which will shorten the river three or four miles.

"Eight miles below Little Salmon River, a large rock called the Eagle's Nest, stands up in a gravel slope on the easterly bank of the river. It rises about five hundred feet above the river, and is composed of a light gray stone. What the character of this rock is I could not observe, as I saw it only from the river, which is about a quarter of a mile distant. On the westerly side of the river there are two or three other isolated masses of apparently the same kind of rock. One of them might be appropriately called a mountain; it is south-west from the Eagle's Nest and distant from it about three miles.

"Thirty-two miles below Eagle's Nest Rock, Nordenskiold River enters from the west. It is an unimportant stream, being not more than one hundred and twenty feet wide at the mouth, and only a few inches deep. The valley, as far as can be seen, is not extensive, and, being very crooked, it is hard to tell what its general direction is.

"The Lewes, between the Little Salmon and the Nordenskiold, maintains a width of from two to three hundred yards, with an occasional expansion where there are islands. It is serpentine in its course most of the way, and where the Nordenskiold joins it is very crooked, running several times under a hill, named by Schwatka Tantalus Butte, and in other places leaving it, for a distance of eight miles. The distance across from point to point is only half a mile.

"Below this to Five Finger Rapids, so-called from the fact that five large masses of rock stand in mid-channel, the river assumes its ordinary straightness and width, with a current from four to five miles per hour. I have already described Five Finger Rapids; I do not think they will prove anything more than a slight obstruction in the navigation of the river. A boat of ordinary power would probably have to help herself up with windlass and line in high water.

"Below the rapids, for about two miles, the current is strong--probably six miles per hour--but the water seems to be deep enough for any boat that is likely to navigate it.

"Six miles below this, as already noticed, Rink Rapids are situated. They are of no great importance, the westerly half of the stream only being obstructed. The easterly half is not in any way affected, the current being smooth and the water deep.

"Below Five Finger Rapids about two miles a small stream enters from the east. It is called by Dr. Dawson Tatshun River. It is not more than 30 or 40 feet wide at the mouth, and contains only a little clear, brownish water. Here I met the only Indians seen on the river between Teslintoo and Stewart Rivers. They were engaged in catching salmon at the mouth of the Tatshun, and were the poorest and most unintelligent Indians it has ever been my lot to meet. It is needless to say that none of our party understood anything they said, as they could not speak a word of any language but their own. I tried by signs to get some information from them about the stream they were fishing in, but failed. I tried in the same way to learn if there were any more Indians in the vicinity, but again utterly failed. I then tried by signs to find out how many days it took to go down to Pelly River, but although I have never known these signs to fail in eliciting information in any other part of the territory, they did not understand. They appeared to be alarmed by our presence; and, as we had not yet been assured as to the rumor concerning the trouble between the miners and Indians, we felt a little apprehensive, but being able to learn nothing from them we had to put our fears aside and proceed blindly.

"Between Five Finger Rapids and Pelly River, fifty-eight and a half-miles, no streams of any importance enter the Lewes; in fact, with the exception of the Tatshun, it may be said that none at all enter.

"About a mile below Rink Rapids the river spreads out into a lake-like expanse, with many islands; this continues for about three miles, when it contracts to something like the usual width; but bars and small islands are very numerous all the way to Pelly River. About five miles above Pelly River there is another lake-like expanse filled with islands. The river here for three or four miles is nearly a mile wide, and so numerous and close are the islands that it is impossible to tell when floating among them where the shores of the river are. The current, too, is swift, leading one to suppose the water shallow; but I think even here a channel deep enough for such boats as will navigate this part of the river can be found. Schwatka named this group of islands "Ingersoll Islands."

"At the mouth of the Pelly the Lewes is about half a mile wide, and here too there are many islands, but not in groups as at Ingersoll Islands.

"About a mile below the Pelly, just at the ruins of Fort Selkirk, the Yukon was found to be 565 yards wide; about two-thirds being ten feet deep, with a current of about four and three-quarter miles per hour; the remaining third was more than half taken up by a bar, and the current between it and the south shore was very slack.

"Pelly River at its mouth is about two hundred yards wide, and continues this width as far up as could be seen. Dr. Dawson made a survey and examination of this river, which will be found in his report already cited, "Yukon District and Northern British Columbia."

"Just here for a short distance the course of the Yukon is nearly west, and on the south side, about a mile below the mouth of the Lewes, stands all that remains of the only trading post ever built by white men in the district. This post was established by Robert Campbell, for the Hudson's Bay Company in the summer of 1848. It was first built on the point of land between the two rivers, but this location proving untenable on account of flooding by ice jams in the spring, it was, in the season of 1852, moved across the river to where the ruins now stand. It appears that the houses composing the post were not finished when the Indians from the coast on Chilkat and Chilkoot Inlets came down the river to put a stop to the competitive trade which Mr. Campbell had inaugurated, and which they found to seriously interfere with their profits. Their method of trade appears to have been then pretty much as it is now--very onesided. What they found it convenient to take by force they took, and what it was convenient to pay for at their own price they paid for.

"Rumors had reached the post that the coast Indians contemplated such a raid, and in consequence the native Indians in the vicinity remained about nearly all summer. Unfortunately, they went away for a short time, and during their absence the coast Indians arrived in the early morning, and surprised Mr. Campbell in bed. They were not at all rough with him, but gave him the privilege of leaving the place within twenty-four hours, after which he was informed that he was liable to be shot if seen by them in the locality. They then pillaged the place and set fire to it, leaving nothing but the remains of the two chimneys which are still standing. This raid and capture took place on the 1st August, 1852.

"Mr. Campbell dropped down the river, and met some of the local Indians who returned with him, but the robbers had made their escape. I have heard that the local Indians wished to pursue and overtake them, but to this Mr. Campbell would not consent. Had they done so it is probable not many of the raiders would have escaped, as the superior local knowledge of the natives would have given them an advantage difficult to estimate, and the confidence and spirit derived from the aid and presence of a white man or two would be worth much in such a conflict.

"Mr. Campbell went on down the river until he met the outfit for his post on its way up from Fort Yukon, which he turned back. He then ascended the Pelly, crossed to the Liard, and reached Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie, late in October.

"Mr. Campbell's first visit to the site of Fort Selkirk was made in 1840, under instructions from Sir George Simpson, then Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. He crossed from the head waters of the Liard to the waters of the Pelly. It appears the Pelly, where he struck it, was a stream of considerable size, for he speaks of its appearance when he first saw it from 'Pelly Banks,' the name given the bank from which he first beheld it, as a 'splendid river in the distance.' In June, 1843, he descended the Pelly to its confluence with the larger stream, which he named the 'Lewes.' Here he found many families of the native Indians--'Wood Indians,' he called them. These people conveyed to him, as best they could by word and sign, the dangers that would attend a further descent of the river, representing that the country below theirs was inhabited by a tribe of fierce cannibals, who would assuredly kill and eat them. This so terrified his men that he had to return by the way he came, pursued, as he afterwards learned, by the Indians, who would have murdered himself and party had they got a favorable opportunity. Thus it was not until 1850 that he could establish, what he says he all along believed, 'that the Pelly and Yukon were identical.' This he did by descending the river to where the Porcupine joins it, and where in 1847 Fort Yukon was established by Mr. A.H. Murray for the Hudson's Bay Company.

"With reference to the tales told him by the Indians of bad people outside of their country, I may say that Mackenzie tells pretty much the same story of the Indians on the Mackenzie when he discovered and explored that river in 1789. He had the advantage of having Indians along with him whose language was radically the same as that of the people he was coming among, and his statements are more explicit and detailed. Everywhere he came in contact with them they manifested, first, dread of himself and party, and when friendship and confidence were established they nearly always tried to detain him by representing the people in the direction he was going as unnaturally bloodthirsty and cruel, sometimes asserting the existence of monsters with supernatural powers, as at Manitou Island, a few miles below the present Fort Good Hope, and the people on a very large river far to the west of the Mackenzie, probably the Yukon, they described to him as monsters in size, power and cruelty.

"In our own time, after the intercourse that there has been between them and the whites, more than a suspicion of such unknown, cruel people lurks in the minds of many of the Indians. It would be futile for me to try to ascribe an origin for these fears, my knowledge of their language and idiosyncrasies being so limited.

"Nothing more was ever done in the vicinity of Fort Selkirk[7] by the Hudson's Bay Company after these events, and in 1869 the Company was ordered by Capt. Charles W. Raymond, who represented the United States Government, to evacuate the post at Fort Yukon, he having found that it was west of the 141st meridian. The post was occupied by the Company, however, for some time after the receipt of this order, and until Rampart House was built, which was intended to be on British territory, and to take the trade previously done at Fort Yukon.

[Footnote 7: This is now a winter port for steamboats of the North American Transportation and Trading Company, plying the Yukon and its tributaries. There is also a trading post here owned by Harper & Ladue.]

"Under present conditions the Company cannot very well compete with the Alaska Commercial Company, whose agents do the only trade in the district,[8] and they appear to have abandoned--for the present at least--all attempt to do any trade nearer to it than Rampart House to which point, notwithstanding the distance and difficulties in the way, many of the Indians on the Yukon make a trip every two or three years to procure goods in exchange for their furs. The clothing and blankets brought in by the Hudson's Bay Company they claim are much better than those traded on their own river by the Americans. Those of them that I saw who had any English blankets exhibited them with pride, and exclaimed 'good,' They point to an American blanket in contempt, with the remark 'no good,' and speak of their clothing in the same way.

[Footnote 8: Since the date of this report the North American Transportation and Trading Company, better known in the Yukon valley as "Captain Healy's Company," has established a number of posts on the river.]

"On many maps of Alaska a place named 'Reed's House' is shown on or near the upper waters of Stewart River. I made enquiries of all whom I thought likely to know anything concerning this post, but failed to elicit any information showing that there ever had been such a place. I enquired of Mr. Reid, who was in the Company's service with Mr. Campbell at Fort Selkirk, and after whom I thought, possibly, the place had been called, but he told me he knew of no such post, but that there was a small lake at some distance in a northerly direction from Fort Selkirk, where fish were procured. A sort of shelter had been made at that point for the fishermen, and a few furs might have been obtained there, but it was never regarded as a trading post.

"Below Fort Selkirk, the Yukon River is from five to six hundred yards broad, and maintains this width down to White River, a distance of ninety-six miles. Islands are numerous, so much so that there are very few parts of the river where there are not one or more in sight. Many of them are of considerable size, and nearly all are well timbered. Bars are also numerous, but almost all are composed of gravel, so that navigators will not have to complain of shifting sand bars. The current as a general thing, is not so rapid as in the upper part of the river, averaging about four miles per hour. The depth in the main channel was always found to be more than six feet.

"From Pelly River to within twelve miles of White River the general course of the river is a little north of west; it then turns to the north, and the general course as far as the site of Fort Reliance is due north.

"White River enters the main river from the west. At the mouth it is about two hundred yards wide, but a great part of it is filled with ever-shifting sand-bars, the main volume of water being confined to a channel not more than one hundred yards in width. The current is very strong, certainly not less than eight miles per hour. The color of the water bears witness to this, as it is much the muddiest that I have ever seen.[9]

[Footnote 9: The White River very probably flows over volcanic deposits as its sediments would indicate; no doubt this would account for the discoloration of its waters. The volcanic ash appears to cover a great extent of the Upper Yukon basin drained by the Lewes and Pelly Rivers. Very full treatment of the subject is given by Dr. Dawson, in his report entitled "Yukon District and Northern portion of British Columbia."]

"I had intended to make a survey of part of this river as far as the International Boundary, and attempted to do so; but after trying for over half a day, I found it would be a task of much labor and time, altogether out of proportion to the importance of the end sought, and therefore abandoned it. The valley as far as can be seen from the mouth, runs about due west for a distance of eight miles; it then appears to bear to the south-west; it is about two miles wide where it joins the Pelly valley and apparently keeps the same width as far as it can be seen.

"Mr. Harper, of the firm of Harper & Ladue, went up this river with sleds in the fall of 1872 a distance of fifty or sixty miles. He describes it as possessing the same general features all the way up, with much clay soil along its banks. Its general course, as sketched by him on a map of mine, is for a distance of about thirty miles a little north-west, thence south-west thirty or thirty-five miles, when it deflects to the north-west running along the base of a high mountain ridge. If the courses given are correct it must rise somewhere near the head of Forty Mile River; and if so, its length is not at all in keeping with the volume of its discharge, when compared with the known length and discharge of other rivers in the territory. Mr. Harper mentioned an extensive flat south of the mountain range spoken of, across which many high mountain peaks could be seen. One of these he thought must be Mount St. Elias, as it overtopped all the others; but, as Mount St. Elias is about one hundred and eighty miles distant, his conclusion is not tenable. From his description of this mountain it must be more than twice the height of the highest peaks seen anywhere on the lower river, and consequently must be ten or twelve thousand feet above the sea. He stated that the current in the river was very swift, as far as he ascended, and the water muddy. The water from this river, though probably not a fourth of the volume of the Yukon, discolors the water of the latter completely; and a couple of miles, below the junction the whole river appears almost as dirty as White River.

"Between White and Stewart Rivers, ten miles, the river spreads out to a mile and upwards in width, and is a maze of islands and bars. The survey was carried down the easterly shore, and many of the channels passed through barely afforded water enough to float the canoes. The main channel is along the westerly shore, down which the large boat went, and the crew reported plenty of water.

"Stewart River enters from the east in the middle of a wide valley, with low hills on both sides, rising on the north sides in steps or terraces to distant hills of considerable height. The river half a mile or so above the mouth, is two hundred yards in width. The current is slack and the water shallow and clear, but dark colored.

"While at the mouth I was fortunate enough to meet a miner who had spent the whole of the summer of 1887 on the river and its branches prospecting and exploring. He gave me a good deal of information of which I give a summary. He is a native of New Brunswick, Alexander McDonald by name, and has spent some years mining in other places, but was very reticent about what he had made or found. Sixty or seventy miles up the Stewart a large creek enters from the south which he called Rose Bud Creek or River, and thirty or forty miles further up a considerable stream flows from the north-east, which appears to be Beaver River, as marked on the maps of that part of the country. From the head of this stream he floated down on a raft taking five days to do so. He estimated his progress at forty or fifty miles each day, which gives a length of from two hundred to two hundred and fifty miles. This is probably an over-estimate, unless the stream is very crooked, which, he stated, was not the case. As much of his time would be taken up in prospecting, I should call thirty miles or less a closer estimate of his progress. This river is from fifty to eighty yards wide and was never more than four or five feet deep, often being not more than two or three; the current, he said, was not at all swift. Above the mouth of this stream the main river is from one hundred to one hundred and thirty yards wide with an even current and clear water. Sixty or seventy miles above the last-mentioned branch another large branch joins, which is possibly the main river. At the head of it he found a lake nearly thirty miles long, and averaging a mile and a half in width, which he called Mayhew Lake, after one of the partners in the firm of Harper, McQuestion & Co.

"Thirty miles or so above the forks on the other branch there are falls, which McDonald estimated to be from one to two hundred feet in height. I met several parties who had seen these falls, and they corroborate this estimate of their height. McDonald went on past the falls to the head of this branch and found terraced gravel hills to the west and north; he crossed them to the north and found a river flowing northward. On this he embarked on a raft and floated down it for a day or two, thinking it would turn to the west and join the Stewart, but finding it still continuing north, and acquiring too much volume to be any of the branches he had seen while passing up the Stewart, he returned to the point of his departure, and after prospecting among the hills around the head of the river, he started westward, crossing a high range of mountains composed principally of shales with many thin seams of what he called quartz, ranging from one to six inches in thickness.

"On the west side of this range he found a river flowing out of what he called Mayhew Lake, and crossing this got to the head of Beaver River, which he descended as before mentioned.

"It is probable the river flowing northwards, on which he made a journey and returned, was a branch of Peel River. He described the timber on the gravel terraces of the watershed as small and open. He was alone in this unknown wilderness all summer, not seeing even any of the natives. There are few men so constituted as to be capable of isolating themselves in such a manner. Judging from all I could learn it is probable a light-draught steamboat could navigate nearly all of Stewart Iver and its tributaries.

"From Stewart River to the site of Fort Reliance,[10] seventy-three and a quarter miles, the Yukon is broad and full of islands. The average width is between a half and three quarters of a mile, but there are many expansions where it is over a mile in breadth; however, in these places it cannot be said that the waterway is wider than at other parts of the river, the islands being so large and numerous. In this reach no streams of any importance enter.

[Footnote 10: This was at one time a trading post occupied by Messrs. Harper & McQuestion.]

"About thirteen miles below Stewart River a large valley joins that of the river, but the stream occupying it is only a large creek. This agrees in position with what has been called Sixty Mile Creek, which was supposed to be about that distance above Fort Reliance, but it does not agree with descriptions which I received of it; moreover as Sixty Mile Creek is known to be a stream of considerable length, this creek would not answer its description.

"Twenty-two and a half miles from Stewart River another and larger creek enters from the same side; it agrees with the descriptions of Sixty Mile Creek, and I have so marked it on my map. This stream is of no importance, except for what mineral wealth may be found on it.[11]

[Footnote 11: Sixty Mile Creek is about one hundred miles long, very crooked, with a swift current and many rapids, and is therefore not easy to ascend.

Miller, Glacier, Gold, Little Gold and Bedrock Creeks are all tributaries of Sixty Mile. Some of the richest discoveries in gold so far made in the interior since 1894 have been upon these creeks, especially has this been the case upon the two first mentioned. There is a claim upon Miller Creek owned by Joseph Boudreau from which over $100,000 worth of gold is said to have been taken out.

Freight for the mines is taken up Forty Mile Creek in summer for a distance of 30 miles, then portaged across to the heads of Miller and Glacier Creeks. In the winter it is hauled in by dogs.

The trip from Cudahy to the post at the mouth of Sixty Mile River is made by ascending Forty Mile River a small distance, making a short portage to Sixty Mile River and running down with its swift current. Coming back on the Yukon, nearly the whole of the round trip is made down stream.

Indian Creek enters the Yukon from the east about 30 miles below Sixty Mile. It is reported to be rich in gold, but owing to the scarcity of supplies its development has been retarded.

At the mouth of Sixty Mile Creek a townsite of that name is located, it is the headquarters for upwards of 100 miners and where they more or less assemble in the winter months.

Messrs. Harper & Co. have a trading post and a saw-mill on an island at the mouth of the creek; both, of which are in charge of Mr. J. Ladue, one of the partners of the firm, and who was at one time in the employ of the Alaska Commercial Company.]

"Six and a half miles above Port Reliance the Thron-Diuck[12] River of the Indians (Deer River of Schwatka) enters from the east. It is a small river about forty yards wide at the mouth, and shallow; the water is clear and transparent, and of beautiful blue color. The Indians catch great numbers of salmon here. They had been fishing shortly before my arrival, and the river, for some distance up, was full of salmon traps.

[Footnote 12: Dawson City is situated at the mouth of the Thron-Diuck now known as Klondyke, and although it was located only a few months ago it is the scene of great activity. Very rich deposits of gold have been lately found on Bonanza Creek and other affluents of the Thron-Diuck.]

"A miner had prospected up this river for an estimated distance of forty miles, in the season of 1887. I did not see him, but got some of his information at second hand. The water being so beautifully clear I thought it must come through a large lake not far up; but as far as he had gone no lakes were seen. He said the current was comparatively slack, with an occasional 'ripple' or small rapid. Where he turned back the river is surrounded by high mountains, which were then covered with snow, which accounts for the purity and clearness of the water.

"It appears that the Indians go up this stream a long distance to hunt, but I could learn nothing definite as to their statements concerning it.

"Twelve and a half miles below Fort Reliance, the Chandindu River, as named by Schwatka, enters from the east. It is thirty to forty yards wide at the mouth, very shallow, and for half a mile up is one continuous rapid. Its valley is wide and can be seen for a long distance looking north-eastward from the mouth.

"Between Fort Reliance and Forty Mile River (called Cone Hill River by Schwatka) the Yukon assumes its normal appearance, having fewer islands and being narrower, averaging four to six hundred yards wide, and the current being more regular. This stretch is forty-six miles long, but was estimated by the traders at forty, from which the Forty Mile River took its name.

"Forty Mile River[13] joins the main river from the west. Its general course as far up as the International Boundary, a distance of twenty-three miles, is south-west; after this it is reported by the miners to run nearer south. Many of them claim to have ascended this stream for more than one hundred miles, and speak of it there as quite a large river. They say that at that distance it has reached the level of the plateau, and the country adjoining it they describe as flat and swampy, rising very little above the river. It is only a short distance across to the Tanana River--a large tributary of the Yukon--which is here described as an important stream. However, only about twenty-three miles of Forty Mile River are in Canada; and the upper part of it and its relation to other rivers in the district have no direct interest for us.

[Footnote 13: Forty Mile townsite is situated on the south side of the Forty Mile River at its junction with the Yukon. The Alaska Commercial Company has a station here which was for some years in charge of L.N. McQuestion; there are also several blacksmith shops, restaurants, billiard halls, bakeries, an opera house and so on. Rather more than half a mile below Forty Mile townsite the town of Cudahy was founded on the north side of Forty Mile River in the summer of 1892. It is named after a well known member of the North American Transportation and Trading Company. In population and extent of business the town bears comparison with its neighbor across the river. The opposition in trade has been the means of very materially reducing the cost of supplies and living. The North American Transportation and Trading Company has erected a saw-mill and some large warehouses. Fort Constantine was established here immediately upon the arrival of the Mounted Police detachment in the latter part of July, 1895. It is described further on in an extract from Inspector Constantine's supplementary report for the year 1895.]

"Forty Mile River is one hundred to one hundred and fifty yards wide at the mouth, and the current is generally strong, with many small rapids. Eight miles up is the so-called cañon; it is hardly entitled to that distinctive name, being simply a crooked contraction of the river, with steep rocky banks, and on the north side there is plenty of room to walk along the beach. At the lower end of the cañon there is a short turn and swift water in which are some large rocks; these cannot generally be seen, and there is much danger of striking them running down in a boat. At this point several miners have been drowned by their boats being upset in collision with these rocks. It is no great distance to either shore, and one would think an ordinary swimmer would have no difficulty in reaching land; but the coldness of the water soon benumbs a man completely and renders him powerless. In the summer of 1887, an Indian, from Tanana, with his family, was coming down to trade at the post at the mouth of Forty Mile River; his canoe struck on these rocks and upset, and he was thrown clear of the canoe, but the woman and children clung to it. In the rough water he lost sight of them, and concluded that they were lost: it is said he deliberately drew his knife and cut his throat, thus perishing, while his family were hauled ashore by some miners. The chief of the band to which this Indian belonged came to the post and demanded pay for his loss, which he contended was occasioned by the traders having moved from Belle Isle to Forty Mile, thus causing them to descend this dangerous rapid, and there is little doubt that had there not been so many white men in the vicinity he would have tried to enforce his demand.

"The length of the so-called cañon is about a mile. Above it the river up to the boundary is generally smooth, with swift current and an occasional ripple. The amount of water discharged by this stream is considerable; but there is no prospect of navigation, it being so swift and broken by small rapids.

"From Forty Mile River to the boundary the Yukon preserves the same general character as between Fort Reliance and Forty Mile, the greatest width being about half a mile and the least about a quarter.

"Fifteen miles below Forty Mile River a large mass of rock stands on the east bank. This was named by Schwatka 'Roquette Rock,' but is known to the traders as Old Woman Rock; a similar mass, on the west side of the river, being known as Old Man Rock.

"The origin of these names is an Indian legend, of which the following is the version given to me by the traders;--

"In remote ages there lived a powerful shaman, pronounced Tshaumen by the Indians, this being the local name for what is known as medicine man among the Indians farther south and east. The Tshaumen holds a position and exercises an influence among the people he lives with, something akin to the wise men or magi of olden times in the East. In this powerful being's locality there lived a poor man who had the great misfortune to have an inveterate scold for a wife. He bore the infliction for a long time without murmuring, in hopes that she would relent, but time seemed only to increase the affliction; at length, growing weary of the unceasing torment, he complained to the Tshaumen who comforted him, and sent him home with the assurance that all would soon be well.

"Shortly after this he went out to hunt, and remained away for many days endeavoring to get some provisions for home use, but without avail; he returned weary and hungry, only to be met by his wife with a more than usually violent outburst of scolding. This so provoked him that he gathered all his strength and energy for one grand effort and gave her a kick that sent her clean across the river. On landing she was converted into the mass of rock which remains to this day a memorial of her viciousness and a warning to all future scolds. The metamorphosis was effected by the Tshaumen, but how the necessary force was acquired to send her across the river (here about half a mile wide), or whether the kick was administered by the Tshaumen or the husband, my narrator could not say. He was altogether at a loss to account for conversion of the husband into the mass of rock on the west side of the river; nor can I offer any theory unless it is that he was _petrified_ by astonishment at the result.

"Such legends as this would be of interest to ethnologists if they could be procured direct from the Indians, but repeated by men who have little or no knowledge of the utility of legendary lore, and less sympathy with it, they lose much of their value.

"Between Forty Mile River and the boundary line no stream of any size joins the Yukon; in fact, there is only one stream, which some of the miners have named Sheep Creek, but as there is another stream further down the river, called by the same name, I have named it Coal Creek. It is five miles below Forty Mile, and comes in from the east, and is a large creek, but not at all navigable. On it some extensive coal seams were seen, which will be more fully referred to further on.

* * * * *

"At the boundary the river is somewhat contracted, and measures only 1,280 feet across in the winter; but in summer, at ordinary water level, it would be about one hundred feet wider. Immediately below the boundary it expands to its usual width, which is about 2,000 feet. The area of the cross section measured is 22,268 feet, the sectional area of the Teslintoo, as determined by Dr. Dawson and already referred to, is 3,809 feet; that of the Lewes at the Teslintoo, from the same authority, is 3,015 feet. Had the above cross-section been reduced to the level at which the water ordinarily stands during the summer months, instead of to the height at which it stood in the middle of September when it was almost at its lowest, the sectional area would have been at least 50 per cent more, and at spring flood level about double the above area.

"It is a difficult matter to determine the actual discharge at the place of the cross-section, owing to the irregularity in the depth and current, the latter being in the deep channel at the east side, when I tried it in September, approximately 4.8 miles per hour; while on the bar in midstream it was not more than 2.5 miles per hour; and between the bar and the westerly shore there was very little current.

"The river above this for some miles was no better for the purpose of cross-section measurement. At the boundary it is narrow and clear of bars and islands for some miles, but here I did not have an opportunity to determine the rate of the current before the river froze up, and after it froze the drift ice was jammed and piled so high that it would have been an almost endless task to cut holes through it.

"The current from the boundary down to the confluence with the Porcupine is said to be strong and much the same as that above; from the Porcupine down, for a distance of five or six hundred miles it is called medium and the remainder easy.

"From Stewart River to the mouth of the Yukon is about 1,650 miles, and the only difficult place in all this distance is the part near the confluence with the Porcupine, which has evidently been a lake in past ages but is now filled with islands; it is said that the current here is swift, and the channels generally narrow, rendering navigation difficult."