RAFTING ON THE YUKON. 



395 



On the evening of June 6th we set our 

 big, square canvas on a barge 12x40 feet, 

 with 11 men and 20 tons of freight and a 

 raft in tow carrying 2 horses and 2 dogs. 

 We were in the mad race down the river. 

 We sailed all night, but the following day we 

 were compelled to make a landing, owing 

 to head winds on Tagish lake. 



A mounted policeman hustled everyone 

 on shore up the hill to put out a fire that 

 had started. These forest fires are bad for 

 this country. They burn off the timber 

 which is scarce anyway. They start from 

 camp fires which are left burning. The 

 heavy growth of moss and grass roots 

 smothers a fire for hours. Sometimes one 

 will break out hundreds of feet up the moun- 

 tains, caused by a spark carried by the 

 wind. 



That night the wind died out and we 

 rowed all night. The following morning 

 we reached Tagish House, where every boat 

 is inspected by the police. 



We took several pictures of Indians there, 

 among them 4 who had killed a white man 

 and wounded his partner, for their outfit. 

 The Indians were chained together and were 

 guarded by a policeman. -I have since 

 learned 2 of the Indians were sentenced to 

 be hanged and the other 2 to be made pris- 

 oners for life. 



We poled and rowed all that night. The 

 next day, the wind being strong against us, 

 we anchored on Lake Marsh, where instead 

 of getting our rest we fought mosquitoes. 

 A strong, fair wind sprang up in the night 

 and we sailed until morning, when we ran 

 into 60 Mile river. This river flows from 

 4 to 5 miles an hour. The scenery is beau- 

 tiful. Both banks were brilliant with flow- 

 ers of different colors, and melodious with 

 song birds in large variety, many of which 

 were entirely new to me. Ducks and geese 

 were also plentiful, but we did not shoot 

 them, as we had no means of picking them 

 up. The stream would soon carry them 

 out of our reach. White fish and greylings 

 frequently jumped out of the water. They 

 were also out of reach, for trolling was 

 impossible, as the boat was going nearly as 

 fast as the current. 



At noon we reached the canyon of the 

 White Horse rapids. All boats stop there 

 to investigate before entering. Tramway 

 companies take part or all of an outfit on 

 cars the other side of the rapids at 2 cents 

 a pound a distance of 4^4 miles. There 

 are also recorded pilots who pilot small 

 boats through for $20. , They charged $75 

 for our scow, it being large and drawing 

 so much water, even after we had* taken 

 out all our clothes and provisions. We 

 were fortunate enough to go through both 

 canyon and rapids without touching a rock 

 or even turning around. We couldn't make 

 a landing, however, until we were 2 miles 

 past our cache. Three of the boys secured 

 an abandoned boat that was half full of wa- 



ter, and after dipping it out, we put about 

 3 tons of machinery and tools in it. Two 

 of the boys backed water while the other 

 bailed. An undertow soon carried them far 

 from shore and a wave struck them so as to 

 almost fill the boat with water. It looked 

 bad for both men and boat for a minute. 

 Swimming against that swift current was 

 next to impossible and none of the freight 

 would float. One of the boys threw a line 

 to a man on shore, but he wouldn't take 

 hold of it for he knew he would be jerked 

 into the water. Fortunately a group of men 

 were standing about 100 yards farther down 

 the river. Seeing them, the man in the boat 

 quickly coiled up the rope and threw it to 

 them. It was a splendid throw, for it landed 

 close to them, and with their combined 

 strength, after a struggle, they succeeded in 

 holding the boat, which sank as it neared 

 shore. 



All that night and the next day we packed 

 the cache to the scow on our backs. This 

 was terribly hard work, but we considered 

 ourselves lucky, for we had saved every- 

 thing, while the shore of the river was strewn 

 for more than 5 miles with parts of other 

 outfits that had been pulled out of the water. 

 That was a picture I shall always remember, 

 for I realize what it costs to get things as 

 far as this. One false sweep of the oar 

 may lose all and no money can replace 

 them. 



From 2 to 8 lives have been lost here in a 

 day since the rush began. We pulled out the 

 body of a man that had been in the water 

 for perhaps 2 weeks. After leaving it for 

 identification for 2 hours, we buried it on the 

 adjoining hillside where several hasty graves 

 had been made. 



That night we were all together again and 

 cut the scow loose from the shore. We' 

 reached Lake La Barge in the morning. 

 There was no wind and the water was too 

 deep to pole, so we lay to and fought mos- 

 quitoes all day. 



The next day we had some wind and with 

 it came a thunder shower. We sailed and 

 rowed until the following day, when we en- 

 tered the 30 Mile river. This has a swift 

 current and high water. Most of the rocks 

 were covered, and we had to work hard to 

 keep away from the ripples which marked 

 the location of the rocks. 



We ran this river without striking a rock. 

 More than 200 boats have been wrecked 

 here. Most of them were cut right through 

 the middle, as if with an ax. Nothing would 

 have saved us if we had run on a rock. Be- 

 ing so heavy, we would have gone to the bot- 

 tom like a stone. 



That night we went ashore at Police Post, 

 on the mouth of the Hootalinqua river. At 

 2 a.m. we started down the Lewis river, 

 passed Big Salmon, and stopped at Little 

 Salmon in the evening. Over 2,000 boats 

 lined the shores, there being excitement on 

 the Pelly river. Indians were taking Chee- 



