ITINERARY. 19 



WHITE HORSE TO BERGMAN. 



We left Skagway on February IS and arrived the following day at White Horse, 

 the terminus of the railway. We found the thermometer at 55° below zero, but it 

 rose 30° before we started on our march. On Februaiy 21 we left White Horse with 

 335 pounds, principally instruments and personal baggage, on each of two sleds. 

 The first marches were made very short to avoid the lameness which results from 

 the vigorous exercise of untrained muscles. 



Fifty-three road houses are distributed along the 369 miles of trail extending from 

 White Horse to Dawson. This stretch of trail was broad and hard packed by 

 pedestrian, dog, and horse. Considerable heavy freighting was being carried on by 

 horse sled. Below Dawson the trail was narrow, in deep snow, and no wider than a 

 dog sled. From Dawson to Eagle, a distance of 106 miles, there are but four stop- 

 ping places, while farther down the Yukon they are even less frequent and usually 

 not so well supplied, owing to their remoteness and to the scarcity of patrons. It is 

 240 miles by winter trail from Eagle to Fort Yukon, and along this stretch are scat- 

 tered 12 road houses. During the last portion of the journey, from Fort Yukon to 

 Bettles, a distance of 330 miles, there are no cabins, and we were dependent on our 

 own resources. The trail followed there had been made by some parties that preceded 

 us a few weeks, but owing to subsequent snowfalls it was frequently obliterated. 

 This trail followed Chandlar River to Granite Creek and extended up that stream 

 about 20 miles. It then led directly over the summit, crossed the South Fork of the 

 Koyukuk, again ascended a divide, and finally descended into Slate Creek, another 

 tributary of Koj T ukuk River. From Slate Creek to Bergman there had been much 

 travel by prospectors sledding their summer's supplies up from Bergman. 



The whole party stood the low temperature and arduous travel without bad 

 effects. Only woolen garments were worn, which were found to give ample pro- 

 tection while on the march. Wolf robes, one to each man, afforded a warm sleep. 

 Our principal discomfort was clue to wet feet. Probably the best footwear for wet 

 snow and overflowing streams are mukluks, or the native boots made on the coast. 



Spruce timber was found on all the river bottoms and extending up the tribu- 

 taries and gulches. Two short stretches, one on the divide between the Chandlar 

 and South Fork of the Koyukuk and the other on the divide between the South Fork 

 and the main Koyukuk, are above timber, but both of these were crossed in less 

 than one day, so that every night we had firewood and some sheltering spruce, though 

 it was small and scattered near the two divides. 



Moose tracks were plentiful in the Chandlar Flats, and ptarmigan were occa- 

 sionally found along the trail, but no other game was seen. 



