DOWN THE PORCUPINE RIVER 225 



telling of fabulous riches in the Klondike section of the 

 Canadian part of the Yukon valley. The idea presently 

 crystallized that there were four routes by which this 

 El Dorado could be reached. One lay by Seattle and 

 Skagway and the mountain passes that lead to the upper 

 Yukon near White Horse and then down the Yukon to 

 the gold country. Another trail was from Edmonton 

 through the Peace River Valley. A third went from 

 Edmonton down the Athabasca and Slave Rivers and 

 through Great Slave Lake to the mouth of the Liard and 

 then up the Liard and thus across the mountains. With 

 none of these are we concerned here but only with the 

 fourth route which came on down the Mackenzie past 

 the Liard to Macpherson and then over the mountains 

 either by the route I had just traversed or else by the 

 Rat River portage which we had considered taking. I 

 had not taken the Rat River route because I had not 

 had a boat, and exactly so had it been with the miners 

 in 1898. Those who had boats went up the Rat and 

 then down the Bell. Those who had no boats carried 

 pack loads over the mountains as I had done, and then 

 built rafts or boats on the Bell to continue the journey. 

 Some took a third way, going up the Peel River and then 

 crossing from the upper Peel to the Klondike. 



The men who came down the Mackenzie in hundreds 

 were of all sorts. Only a few were fitted for their ad- 

 venture through previous experience such as might be 

 gained in the winter woods of Michigan or Ontario. 

 Others, although miners of long experience, came from 

 Australia or South Africa and were as little trained for 

 the northern journey as if they had come from farms 

 in Illinois. Some did come from farms in Illinois or 

 from shops in England or New England. A few of these 



