RECREATION RANGE, NEAR STICKEEN RIVER, ALASKA. 

 So named in honor of this magazine, by Mr. A. J. Stone. 



much dreaded canyon, a gorge 3 of a mile 

 long, where the Stickeen river — often a mile 

 in width — narrows in between high, per- 

 pendicular walls of granite to a width of ioo 

 feet. The current here is terrific, the waters 

 swirling and boiling in the wildest confu- 

 sion. 



Nothing but the most heroic effort on the 

 part of every man in the canoe, finally 

 landed us in an eddy above, completely ex- 

 hausted. Our big canoe tossed about from 

 side to side, danced back and forth and 

 more than once turned almost around, 

 seemingly as helpless as a feather, tossed 

 by the wind. 



Farther up we passed through the 

 Kloocheman's, or Woman's canyon, so- 

 called by the noble Stick, who, exhausted 

 from paddling through the little canyon, 

 here leaves the work of navigation entirely 

 to his squaw. 



Still farther on we worked our way over 

 the big riffle and our last difficulty, in reach- 

 ing the head of navigation, was passed. 



We now reached the summer camps of 

 the natives who fish in that great salmon 

 stream, the Clearwater. 



Here a much drier and wholly different 

 climate sets in, and the country opens out, 

 in many places, into high rolling uplands, 

 the timber growth much smaller and the 

 under brush less dense, entirely disappear- 

 ing in places. Here you get a farewell view 

 of Recreation range, on your way up 

 stream, after having been in sight of it most 

 of the time during 40 miles of travel. 



We stopped at Shakesville, a place where 

 our chief, " the master of the boat," dries 

 his salmon catch. From there it is but a 



few hours to Glenora, a queer little town, 

 composed of a single row of low one story 

 log houses, strung along the banks of the 

 river for some distance, and now entirely 

 deserted, by all its former inhabitants with 

 the exception of the venerable Mr. 

 Pritchett, the Canadian customs officer, 

 from whom we obtained much valuable in- 

 formation. 



Ten days from Wrangle we landed at 

 Telegraph Creek, 12 miles above Glenora. 

 This is 200 miles from Wrangle. Telegraph 

 Creek is the head of navigation on the river 

 and is the only trading post in the Stickeen 

 river country. It has 2 general stores, 4 or 

 5 white and a few native residents. 



It is a romantic little place, situated on 

 the banks of the river; shut in from either 

 side by deep canyon walls and facing the 

 hills on the opposite side of the river which 

 rise to such a height as to completely shut 

 out the sun for 3 months, during the winter. 



Here the Great canyon begins. Its for- 

 midable walls are cut from a solid bed of 

 lava forming a gorge 60 miles long, through 

 which no craft can travel. It is grand and 

 beautiful in the extreme. In winter it forms 

 an excellent highway for snow shoes and 

 sledgemen, into the well stocked hunting 

 grounds farther back, where moose and 

 caribou abound. 



The surveyors on this section of the Co- 

 lumbia overland telegraph route, which was 

 to extend from Puget Sound through Brit- 

 ish N. W. Territory and Alaska, and to 

 connect with a line on the Siberian coast by 

 a cable through Bering straits, were here 

 recalled, in 1866, after the announcement of 

 the successful laying of the Atlantic cable. 



