xliv 



RECREA TION. 



THE KLONDYKE COUNTRY. 



L. L. BALES. 



The Klondyke region is a succession of 

 high, rolling hills that reach Eastward to 

 the snow covered Rockies, nearly ioo miles 

 away. There are more or less swamps and 

 meadows on the larger tributaries, back 

 from the rivers. The large rivers have dry 

 silk and gravel banks, with many islands, 

 large and small, and more or less timbered. 

 The timber consists of spruce, cottonwood, 

 birch, black alder and willow, and there is 

 some timber on all of the streams. We 

 often find birch 6 to 8 inches, and spruce 

 and cottonwood I to 2 feet in diameter. 



The wild pea vines have an edible root, 6 

 to 8 inches underground. It is dark in 

 color on the outside, white inside, is Yz 

 inch to 1 inch in diameter, and tastes like a 

 sweet potato vine. The wild pea vine is 

 usually about a foot high, with pods one 

 inch long, and has 5 or 6 beans inside, 

 which are green and gray speckled. There 

 is also a bunch grass, a red top, a blue joint 

 and plenty of slough grass, in the meadows. 



There is a cranberry in that country, sim- 

 ilar to the Norwegian cranberry, that grows 

 all over the hills at the heads of creeks and 

 ravines. The berry is dark red and about 

 the size of the small cranberry of the States. 

 They grow on a bush about a foot high, 

 in clusters, and, cooked with sugar, are all 

 right. There is also a moss cranberry, 

 which is fairly plentiful in certain localities. 

 There is a dwarf blue berry, above timber 

 line, that grows on a low bush, one to 2 

 inches high. These berries also grow in 

 clusters. The red currant grows on a vine, 

 is tart in taste and of excellent flavor. 

 There is also another berry, similar in ap- 

 pearance lo the red currant, that has one 

 flat seed. The berry has a sour, bitter taste. 

 The natives gather large quantities of them, 

 and let them ferment until they have a froth 

 or foam on them that looks like ice cream. 

 They put a finger in this, and draw it 

 through the mouth with a gusto that is 

 childlike. There is also a sort of a wild 

 raspberry, red in color, that grows on a 

 bush, 2 inches high, with 2 leaves. 



The king salmon ascends the Yukon river 

 and some of its tributaries, as does also the 

 red salmon. They run from July until Sep- 

 tember. There is also a large black or Arc- 

 tic trout in the lakes, that can be caught by 

 deep trolling. The grayling is found in all 

 the rivers and creeks. They take bait read- 

 ily and rise to the fly. The best bait is 

 either salmon eggs or large, black ants. 

 These fish run about one pound in weight, 

 and can be easily seen on the riffles. They 

 run up those streams, in the Rockies, that 

 have glaciers at the head, to spawn. 



Game is more or less scattered, and 

 migrates from one locality to another. On 

 the Klondyke, Indian, Stuart arid Pelly 

 rivers can be found the moose and caribou, 



with mountain sheep on the highlands. 

 Mountain goat are found more on the coast 

 ranges. Blue and ruffed grouse are found 

 on the many islands in the river, and in the 

 cover near the streams; also porcupines. 

 The marmot, commonly called the ground 

 hog is also found in the higher altitudes. 

 There is the spruce squirrel, similar to the 

 common pine squirrel; also a squirrel like 

 the " picket pin " ground squirrel of the 

 Flat Head valley, Montana. There are 

 plenty of mice, which are very destructive. 

 As you approach the coast range, from the 

 interior, ptarmigans, or white grouse, are 

 plentiful. Of small birds there are the 

 moose bird, blue jay, and the Indian robin. 

 Then come crows, ravens, eagles, and buz- 

 zards, with gulls on the main Yukon; 

 ducks, geese and cranes in endless variety. 

 There are a few woodland caribou, also of 

 the smaller variety, that look like the tame 

 reindeer at Orca station, on Prince William 

 sound. These latter have a white mark be- 

 hind and a short tail. Mountain sheep are 

 plentiful at the head of the Hootalinqua, 

 Pelly and Stuart rivers. The large black 

 wolves are found near the other game. 

 Foxes are scarce except on the high divides. 

 Lynx are plentiful, with a few wolverines, 

 martin, mink, beaver and land otter. Snow 

 shoe rabbits were scarqe in the interior, last 

 summer. At times they are very plentiful. 

 Bear are found near the streams. These 

 are the common black bear, and the dif- 

 ferent varieties of the cinnamon. 



The river valleys are all the way from a 

 few yards in width, to several miles. The 

 tributaries of the Klondyke are 15 to 40 

 miles in length, with many " pups," or 

 small creeks, coming in. It is generally 

 brushy along the streams, and where it is 

 open, the ground is covered with loose 

 rocks of all sizes, which, in turn, are covered 

 with moss. In summer time, the moss is 

 full of water and the walking is bad. 



The ground thaws from 1 to 2 feet in 

 summer. Bed rock is all the way from 10 

 to 40 feet deep, and gets deeper as you ap- 

 proach the main stream. There are 5 to 

 25 feet of black muck above the pay gravel. 



There are no regular glaciers in the coun- 

 try, except in the Coast range and far up in 

 the Rockies; yet there are places in the 

 valley where, directly under the moss, you 

 can find pure, solid ice. Small glaciers form 

 every winter at the head of the smaller 

 creeks, and disappear in summer. The 

 water in the small streams is not over plen- 

 tiful, and freezes dry in winter. There is 

 from 1 to 2 feet of snow, with no high winds 

 to speak of, except in the Yukon valley. 



White or grass -quartz is found every- 

 where. The country is rich in gold, and a 

 brother guide, Frank T. Damstrom, who 

 is one of the latest arrivals over the Dalton 

 trail, from the Klondyke. tells me he saw, 

 in one day's run, on McDonald's claim, 

 with half a head of water, 1,200 ounces of 

 gold taken out. 



