FROM THE GAME FIELDS. 



37 



simply for the picking up. These men were 

 confident they would become rich in 2 or 3 

 years if they would but make the start. 

 Many got what money they could to- 

 gether, some not leaving enough for their 

 families to live on, and started for an un- 

 known country and an entirely new life. 

 Of course they met with the most bitter dis- 

 appointment at the start; for both this and 

 the Dyea trails were practically impassable, 

 and only men who could afford to pay 30 to 

 50 cents a pound to have their outfits 

 packed over, ever reached Lake Bennett. 

 Then $500 was the price of a boat. 



At least 90 per cent, of the men who 

 started, after making a heroic and desper- 

 ate struggle gave up the ghost and turned 

 homeward, leaving their outfits cached, or 

 sold them for whatever they could get. All 

 said they would be back, but all have 

 failed to show up as yet. 



The men who are coming now are more 

 conservative. Many have been miners, for 

 years, and know what a proposition of this 

 kind means. They have sized it up thor- 

 oughly, before starting, and have made 

 proper preparations for their families. 

 Many have brought them to Skaguay, 

 where they have quartered them comfort- 

 ably and intend making this their head- 

 quarters and base of supplies. Merchandise 

 can be bought here at about coast prices. 

 Here they can get all the news of the latest 

 strikes, almost as soon as they get them in 

 Dawson city. 



For instance, men came out about 5 

 weeks ago with a report that they had got- 

 ten down to bed rock, on the Big Salmon 

 and had taken out $3 a pan. This news 

 was not credited, until several others came 

 out and told the same story. Then men 

 would quietly slip out of town, in parties 

 of 3 to 6. The busy merchant would leave 

 his business and go light (6 weeks grub) or 

 send some one on a grub stake. It is a 

 regular stampede. I understand, now, re- 

 ports have reached Dawson City and they 

 are starting out from there. The Big Sal- 

 mon river is about 220 miles from here and 

 about 380 miles from Dawson City; so we 

 have had the advantage, this time. 



Last night there was a heavy fall of snow. 

 This morning the wind changed to the 

 South and it rained hard, all day, taking all 

 the snow out of the valley. 



My partner, Dr. Chase, has just come in 

 and asked me to go with him to Sheep 

 Camp, on the Dyea trail, where a terrible 

 catastrophe has occurred. Tons of snow 

 arid ice have come down the mountain, 

 where hundreds of packers were camped for 

 the night. The last report, by telephone, 

 says 20 bodies have been found, but there 

 is no way of telling how many were killed. 



I can't leave here until the snow and ice 

 melt, around my quartz mine which is 

 above timber and which is rto'w covered 

 with about 7 feet of snow. Last week Mr. 



Street and I fought our way up to it. This 

 was the hardest day's work I ever did. All 

 the way there, after climbing the first steep 

 bluff, was a snow shoe proposition. I had 

 large rubber overshoes on, that made it im- 

 possible for me to keep my toe in the strap. 

 The grade was all very steep, and we went 

 through fallen timber and soft snow most 

 of the time, with the snow shoes, on our 

 hands and knees. H. L. Suydam. 



HUNTING IN TEXAS. 



J. C. BURKETT. 



Early Monday morning, November 22, 9 

 men in different parts of the State were 

 hurrying to trains to reach a certain camp 

 by 7 p.m. Dr. B. H. Carroll, his son, Rev. 

 Charley Carroll, Rev. J. M. Carroll, Rev. 

 Amos Barber, Homer Wells, Standifer and 

 others made the number. The Carrolls 

 had gone on and joined Barber, and with 

 wagons, drivers, and tents, were waiting 

 for us. We found them in a temporary 

 camp near the station, with a fine fire, 

 plenty of quails, already cooked, tents up, 

 beds made, and everything ready for the 

 night. The morning found us up early, 

 hovering over the fire in the face of a regu- 

 lar " Texas Norther," and soon we were 

 off for the hunting ground, 10 miles away. 

 We reached our camping place by noon, 

 and after a hurried dinner, some of us went 

 to spy out turkey roosts and deer haunts, 

 while others prepared the camp. We had 

 scarcely put things in order before we were 

 ordered away from the place, although we 

 had the owner's permission to camp there. 



The man who ordered us out was from 

 a " sinful town," and we were compelled to 

 go or fight. On account of having to move 

 camp we lost 2 days, and so had only 3 in 

 which to hunt. We reached our last camp 

 in time for Charley to put out his set lines; 

 having killed plenty of quails, ducks, and 

 geese on the way. Next morning 3 good 

 fish were taken off the lines for dinner. In 

 the stream near by were plenty of fish. To 

 the West, only 2 miles away, deer were nu- 

 merous, and 2 miles to the North were lots 

 of ducks and geese; so we were glad the 

 men of Sintown caused us to move. The 

 first day Amos Barber, one of the best deer 

 hunters in Texas, brought in a fat doe. This 

 was Thanksgiving Day. We had quail, 

 fish, duck, goose, venison, black coffee, and 

 good appetites. What more could we wish 

 for? 



That night plans were made for a deer 

 hunt, the next morning. In the mean- 

 time the hooks were rebaited and plenty of 

 fish caught. When we left camp, we knew 

 we should not starve even if we killed no 

 deer. About 9 o'clock J. M. Carroll saw 8 

 deer in a small open place in the brush. 

 When within 125 yards of them he fired and 

 killed one. The others were, for a moment, 

 too surprised to run, and before they got 



