OVERLAND ROUTES TO THE KLONDIKE 

 By Hamlin Garland 



By all accounts the Yukon valley is a grim country — a coun- 

 try of extremes. In winter the sun hardly makes itself felt, 

 rising pale and white only for a few hours above the horizon, 

 while in summer it shines all clay and, as an Irishman might 

 say, " part of the night." Moss covers the high ground like a 

 thick wet sponge throughout vast areas, and the soil is in effect 

 perpetually frozen. There is little vegetable mould and plant 

 life is sparse. Steam arises under the hot sun from the cold 

 rain-soaked moss, and the nights are foggy and damp even in 

 June and July. Gnats and mosquitoes move to and fro in dense 

 clouds during midsummer, and add to the many discomforts 

 and discouragements of the region. Life is a warfare. Fuel is 

 scarce. There is little game, and not many fish. There never 

 were many Indians in the district — the valley is too inhospita- 

 ble for life of any kind to greatly abound. Agriculture is prac- 

 tically impossible. It is likely to freeze any night of the year. 

 The climate, in short, is subarctic in character, and in and about 

 Dawson City nearly all the features of the Arctic zone are real- 

 ized. The ice does not go out of the river, even at Dawson, till 

 late in May or June, and the river closes early in September. 



Having decided that he wishes to take the risk involved in 

 entering this grim country, the miner must decide on his route. 

 The routes may be divided into two groups — the overland and 

 the seaport. Of the overland, there are at present three — the 

 Edmonton and Peace River route, the " Old Telegraph Trail," 

 and the Kamloops inland route. The Edmonton route begins 

 at Edmonton, a small town at the end of a northern spur of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway, and proceeds by way of Little Slave 

 lake to Peace river, thence across the divide into the valley of 

 the Stikine river to Telegraph creek and Teslin lake, which is 

 the headwaters of the Yukon. This route is a very long one, and 

 little information is obtainable concerning it. It is undoubtedly 

 practicable, and will be largely traveled by those not in breath- 

 less haste to get to Dawson City. It offers abundant fields for 

 prospecting and is a pleasant summer route. It will take about 



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