126 BIG GAME SHOOTING IN ALASKA chap. 



us for a consideration. I need not add that we soon came to 

 terms. His name I found to be Charles Schultze, and here 

 let me say at once that I was more than fortunate to secure 

 his assistance. He was the finest hand at packing I ever 

 saw, the most untiring, willing worker, an excellent cook, and 

 a very pleasant companion in camp. His experiences all 

 over America were many and varied, and his accounts of 

 them were a continual source of interest to me during our 

 trip in the Bering Sea. 



At one time, during the first great rush to Dawson and 

 the Yukon, in 1897 and 1898, he had been the champion 

 trail-runner, bearing the mails and other things, on foot and 

 with dog teams, from Skagway into Dawson. Some of his 

 performances were truly remarkable for an amateur, and 

 were quoted in most of the American papers at the time, and 

 although large sums of money were offered by newspapers 

 and others to find a man to beat him, Schultze remained 

 undefeated so long as he retained good health. 



One of the most remarkable of his performances which I 

 have seen mentioned, was done on January 6, 1899, when 

 he arrived at the largest hotel in Skagway shortly before 

 midnight, having just completed a magnificent run over the 

 trail from Dawson. As he entered the saloon a man came to 

 him and said that there had been a great discussion there that 

 evening as to the relative merits of some of the trail-runners, 

 and that one man wanted to back him, Schultze, for $500 to 

 run eighty miles inside twenty-four hours over any of the 

 snow- covered trails leading from Skagway. The speaker 

 added that he himself was prepared to bet against his doing 

 it. Schultze replied that if he would bet him another $500 he 

 would try it straight away. It ended in Schultze only getting 

 a. side bet of fioo himself, but, tired and hungry as he then 



