' nearly 300 miles, my train of 

 56 horses averaged about 16 

 miles a day for 17 days, but 

 the trail was frozen and hard 

 and frequent caches of grain 

 were on the line of travel. 

 Another time, late in the au- 

 tumn, coming from 30 miles 

 north of the Arctic Circle to 

 the Yukon River, we were 2;^ 

 days on the trail, a distance of 

 not more than 200 miles. Of 

 the 75 horses with which we 

 started, only 44 reached the 

 river. 



Eight days out from the 

 Yukon we abandoned every- 

 thing possible in the way of 

 camp equipment; six days out 

 and every man in the detach- 

 ment of 30 men was forced to 

 carry his 20 pounds ; four days 

 out, in a blinding snow-storm, 

 one of the topographers set 

 out to get a train of 12 horses 

 which had preceded the main 

 train. He started at 10 one 

 morning, reaching the Yukon 

 camp in time for breakfast 

 the next morning. He had 

 forded two raging torrents in 

 the night and crossed a high 

 summit deep in snow. The 

 relief train met us two days 

 out, bringing the precious 

 grain. 



In summer one can light 

 mosquitoes and keep fairly 

 comfortable, but in the long 

 retreat after the dark nights 

 have come, when snow covers 

 the trail, when ice is thick 

 enough to just break through 

 with the weight of man, when 

 the wolves howl around the 

 camp, when in the morning 

 huge fires must be built to 

 thaw out tents and pack-rig- 

 ging, while packers freeze 

 their fingers tying packs on de- 

 jected and shivering ponies — 

 then the true spirit of the man 

 is manifested and the "chee- 

 chako," as the tenderfoot is 

 called, shows whether he is 

 worthv of the life of a sur- 





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