362 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[May 7, 1898. 
Just About a Boy* — X. 
r 
Three days had passed since the boats had crawled 
up against the current of the Httle Western river until 
they grounded against the hot edge of a great sandbar. 
Just here the river swept around in a broad curve, 
washing and cutting away the bluff on one side and 
forming- the bar on the other as the aggressive current 
advanced. 
A fine open growth of timber back of the bar made 
a good camp ground, and a clear spring boiled up 
through the gravel to suppl}' the best of water. 
The white canvas, more or less stained by camp usage, 
had gleamed among the trees these three days, and fur- 
nished a home for the boy and me when we came in 
from our rambles thropgh the enchanted woods or 
floated back in the black canoe with the water that for- 
ever passed by, steadily, resistlessly moving on, on, on. 
where it came from, where it went, were two things 
to which we gave no thought. It was always there, 
and it was the home of the fish, the ducks and the many 
other things that made life a day of joy for us. 
Strange things came down on the ever moving current ; 
some went by, some stranded on our sandbar and fur- 
nished a moment of wonderment and vague conjecture 
as we saw them — and left them there. 
There were fragments of stone on the bar too, rocks 
that were strangers in -the prairie country, and a con- 
stant source of wonder to the boy, who continually 
brought them into the tent to ask heir history. Some- 
times I had to wonder with him, and could give no in- 
formation, because the rock was a stranger to me too — a 
stray pebble that had started — where? 
At times the youngster would toss a bit of water- 
smoothed stone down beside me, drop to the ground 
himself and stretch on his stomach, his chin resting on 
his crossed arms, and broad hat tilted back while he 
waited and listened to the probable history of the fire- 
born, ice-milled, water-moved bit of rock that had trav- 
eled hundreds of miles and stranded on "agate bar" 
for the hoy to find. 
This rock lore was full of mountain voices, tales of 
the great, lonely country that basked in the sun to the 
westward; stories of the ruins of that part of the world 
called "bad lands;" of crj^stal streams that hid flakes of 
gold in their sands and trout in their waters; of pine 
woods where wild animals roamed; and of other talk 
of the wilderness. 
It was just the beginning of Indian summer when we 
camped by the sandbar, that delightful time in the year 
when one may dream all day and every day; and it had 
its effect on the boy. 
He was preoccupied, thinking, dreaming, looking into 
the haze that dimmed the western horizon. 
"Say, less take a trip to the mountains, will yeh?" 
He had decided on a plan of action, and wanted my 
indorsement and company. 
I smiled, lighted my pipe and sat down for a talk. I 
had already seen the backbone of the continent and the 
withering, soul-killing country where the gray sage 
grows, where the loafer wolves howl like lost souls, 
where the ghoulish buzzard floats in the clear air, where 
death lurks in the water and the bhstered, alkali-strewn 
ground. 
All afternoon I sat there and told the boy of this lost 
country and of the great hills that pierced the sky to 
the west of it while he listened and dreamed. 
"Less go, will yeh?" he said when I had finished. 
"Less get the outfit together 'n' light out this fall. 
I'm tired of this old level country where they ain't any- 
thing only th' river 'n' the' woods, 'n' juss catfish. I 
want to git up amongst th' rocks 'n' snow 'n' pine 
woods — 'n' I'm goin' too." 
"Well, if you're set on going, we had better wait till 
spring, so the grass will furnish feed for the horses, any- 
how. You can't travel far out there in the fall when 
the grass is dead and the water holes all dried up. Then 
again, you would no more than get to the hills before 
you would have to hurry back to get home ahead of 
the snow." 
"Guess yer right," he answered, with a sigh. "Haf¥ to 
wait, I reckon. Will yeh go in the spring, shore?" 
"Unless something turns up this winter to prevent it, I 
will go in the spring and stay all summer if you like. 
We can take along a prospecting outfit and maybe locate 
some color worth working too; there is plenty of it in 
the hills, if you can find it, and it will give us an excuse 
for going anyhow.'"' 
So it was settled there by the little Western river, 
settled and all winter left for anticipation, which I have 
begun to think is more real pleasure than the trip, 
whether it be around the world or only an afternoon off 
for fishing. 
The boy could always find some new interest hovering 
over the country we were to visit, and the questions he 
asked were as many and varied as the cottonwood leaves 
that sang in the breeze over our heads. 
First it was to be a wagon and team, then this would 
be abandoned as the superior advantages of a pack horse 
outfit were discussed; then the limited capacity of such 
an outfit would throw his opinion back to the wagon 
idea again. 
So the discussion went, back and forth and back 
again, until I said: "Let's go fishing and let the trip 
rest while we are in camp. We've got all winter to 
think it over, and when the time comes we'll be ready all 
right, and with the right kind of an outfit too." 
"Yep, reckon we sure will," he answered, as he gath- 
ered up the rods and canoe paddles and got ready for 
a short hour of enjoyment before night should put out 
the light of the sun. 
"They must be some mighty nice places out there 'n 
th' mountains," said the boy, as we drifted and cast 
our minnows toward the rocks along the bank where 
we knew the big pike-perch balanced and waited. 
"I've always wanted to see the mountains ever since 
I first heard about 'em, an' I got a idee I could juss live 
round 'mongst them rocks 'n' trees 'n' things all th' 
ress o' my Jlfe 'thout botherin' a heap about anything 
"Gee! they muss be high. Less see — 12,000 feet — how 
much is a mile? Five thousand two hunnerd n' eight}^- — 
that's right — into 12,000 — that's twice and about a quar- 
ter over, ain't it? Gee! Juss think! Two mile 'n' a 
quarter straight Up 'n th' air! Whew! Say, that's as 
far's fr'ni town clean to th' stone quarries down th' 
liver. I bet them red clouds ain't that high right now. 
Must make a feller feel kinder queer like to git up that 
high 'n' look down, don't it?" 
"Well, it Avould perhaps if you could look straight 
down, but you must remember that the hills begin to 
rise a long way from the peaks, and the country up there 
isn't so much dift'erent from any other rough country 
■until you get to the pinnacles. Then it is mostly rocks 
piled up into needles and gashed and split into cailons 
that make it pretty hard to get through ; the rest of it is 
only one hill piled on top of another for miles." 
"Huh! Pictures o' mountains don't look that way. 
They look like they run right up from a fiat country like 
this — that is, generally they do." 
"Well," I replied, "when 3'-ou arc twenty or twenty- 
five miles away the hills look that way too; but they are 
different when you get there." 
"Kin you ride — gee! I got a wliale, I gues&." 
A big "spickerl" had coupled on to the boy's hook 
and cut further discussion about the mountains short 
for the evening, for the sun was gone and there was 
only a red glow in the western sky when the big fish 
came in over the side and quivered in his last gasp 011 
the bottom of the canoe. 
"Less have him for supper, will yeh?" asked the young- 
ster as he surveyed the catch. 
"All right, I'm fish hungry myself, and he will make 
a good .supper for both," I answered. 
"Yep, less go to camp an' git him a-sizzlin'." 
Rods were tucked away in the canoe, and the whis- 
pering paddles crooned a lullaby as the black canoe 
cut the surface of the river, wrinkling the red and gold 
reflections of the sunset into a thousand scintillating 
prisms of color that flickered from the brown sands of 
Agate Bar to the blue shadows reaching out from the 
foot of the bluff across the stream. 
As the glow faded from the sky and the blue-black 
shades of night came on, our little fire burned merrily 
and grew hot and red against the night, half illuminat- 
ing the_ white tent and penciling the overhanging cotton- 
wood limbs in lines of light. 
The big pike sputtered and grew brown, the coffee 
complained and bubbled against the hot sides of the 
pot, and other things gave odors to whet the outdoor 
man's appetite, until Ave sat down to a hungry, healthy 
man's fare there by the silent river, at the end of another 
day that we had lived — one day in a life that has passed 
to the shades of recollection now, for that was long ago, 
and in a country that has now become only a part of 
the traditions of what was once the great, limitless West. 
El Comancho. 
Yukon Notes,— V* 
An Outfit for the Yukon, 
An outfit for the Yukon should include everything 
necessary for a year's sojourn in the country. It should 
contain no unnecessary articles, and yet be adapted for 
a great variety of conditions, ranging in component 
parts from gauze netting and mosquito oil for summer 
use to face masks of fur or buckskin and the heaviest 
winter underwear. 
Of course individual requirements and preferences 
vary, and every man will make up his outfit in accord- 
ance with his own ideas. 
I shall only attempt to give a few general hints gained 
by personal experience in the hope that some of these 
may prove of interest and profit to campers out. First 
I shall say something about camp outfit as distinguished 
from personal outfit. 
Camp Outfit. 
The main essentials of the camp outfit are tent, stove, 
bedding and cooking utensils. The average party for 
the Yukon trip last year numbered about four men. This 
was a good number, for four men can handle such boats 
as were commonly used to good advantage, and make 
and break camp with expedition. Large parties are hard 
to manage, for there are apt to be as many minds about 
any question of importance as there are men, and pool- 
ing of interests and cliques are the result, while with 
smaller parties the camp work is greatly increased for 
individual members. 
A party of four should have two or three tfeftts. One 
10x12 Avail tent of heavy duck, and two small, light A 
tents, Avould be a good combination. It is vei-y import- 
ant that both light and heaA^y-Aveight tents be included 
in the outfit, the former for traveling and prospecting 
and the latter for use Avhen a stop of any duration is 
made. The heaA'y tent is practically a necessity for 
camping on the ocean side of the passes leading to the 
headAvaters of the Yukon, Avhere it requires something 
considerabty above the average to keep out the continual 
soaking rain, and it is also very desirable for occupancy 
at the time of going into winter quarters. Such tents 
retain the heat very much better than light-weight ones. 
And if the peak is Ioav and the base banked Avith earth 
or snoAV, one can be perfectly comfortable in them in 
the coldest Aveather, Avhile the cabin is building. 
During the latter part of November and first of De- 
cember we were very comfortable in a tent at a time 
when the thermometer for a good many consecutive days 
hung between the 50s and 60s below zero. The sides 
and back of the tent Avere banked Avith snow and the 
roof Avas covered Avith extra canvas. We had selected 
a spot in a dense growth of small spruce trees with Ioaa^- 
reaching boughs, where we were completely sheltered 
from the Avind. The first twenty-four hours the tent 
Avas somcAvhat chilly, for it took "that length of time to 
thaw out the intensest rigor of the poles and base logs 
and surface of the ground; but after that Ave could get the 
place as Avarm as the hot room of a Turkish bath by the 
scientific firing of our little Yukon stove. The greatest 
hardship Avas starting the fire in the morning. I often 
went to bed with my gloves on and extra drawers out- 
ride my jjants (for I like .to be comfortable. 
and I Avas comfortable< and never lost any 
sleep worth mentioning ; but starting that fire in- 
volved the exposure of the nicely warmed upper por- 
tion of my body and the baring of my hands. Shavings 
had been prepared the night before, and all that was 
necessary Avas to throAv dowri the blankets, roll over on 
my elboAV, light a candle (for it was dark, and we Avould 
never have gotten up if we had waited for broad day- 
light), open the stove door, push in the shavings and 
kindling, and apply the flame of the candle to the draft 
hole in the front. Then I would roll back again into 
bed and coA^er my head Avith the blankets and blow my 
numbed fingers to start the circulation for a Avhile, till I 
thought the fire Avas well under Avay, Avhen another sortie 
Avas in order for the purpose of adding more Avood. 
Soon the stove would be puffing away like a locomotive 
engine, and the draft cover on the front rattling at a 
lively gait, and we kncAV that our faithful little friend 
was a gloAving cherry red on the firebox end, and that 
we could get up and undress for breakfast with perfect 
comfort. . 
In cold weather Ave reversed the usual • f^rocess — • 
dressed to g-o to bed and undressed for breakfast. Our 
heaA'iest clothing was reserved to sleep in. Much less 
AA'as required Avhen exercising outdoors or sitting in the 
heated tent. 
On our sledge journey out to the coast w-e had to 
travel Avithout stove and tent, because we had made the 
mistake of not providing a light-weight tent that could 
be carried without OA^erburdening ourselves too much. 
The ehief discomforts of this journey, Avhich lasted a 
month, were not being able at any time to get thorough- 
1}^ warmed up by external heat — a luxury Avhich one 
must be deprived of to fully appreciate — and not being 
able to bake bread or cook other dishes very satisfac- 
torily. I had enough of flapjacks and grease cakes and 
frying-pan bread in that month to last my natural life- 
time, and never want to travel again Avithout some kind 
of a baker. 
The peaked A tents may be built A'ery light, and at 
the same time shed the 'rain fairly well, on account 
of the steep pitch of the roof. I saAv one 7ft. tent, made 
of some oiled material — linen, I think — that the owner 
told me only Aveighed 7lbs. Most oiled tents are heavy, 
but this one AA'as not, and seemed to be just about as 
near perfection as coidd be, for it was Avaterproof and 
Avindproof. 
In summer t;he roofs of Aval! tents are sometimes paint- 
ed black. This is to enable the occupants to sleep, for 
for several months it is daylight in the Klondike region 
practically the twenty-four hours. Wall tents and A 
tents should be constructed Avith a rope along the peak, 
so thgit they may be pitched without the use of a ridge 
pole if desirable. Sometimes standing trees may be 
utilized for pitching tents so arranged, and under any 
circumstances the problem is very much simplified. Near 
the summits of the passes ridge poles cannot be obtained^j 
and if used have to be packed several miles. 
The stove Avhich is all but universally used in this 
country is one originated in Juneau, but obtainable now 
at any of the outfitting points on the Pacific coast. It 
is knoAvn as the Yukon stove, and though built in a great 
variety of sizes and styles, conforms in the main to one 
general pattern. This is a sheet-iron stove about twice 
as long as it is broad or deep, Avithout legs, 
and having a firebox at the front and oven 
with over and under draft at the rear end. The 
best stoves are asbestos lined. Some are made 
to fold for convenience in carrying. The smaller 
sizes weigh about 25lbs., and the price is in the neigh- 
borhood of $5. Parties coming up the river on the ice 
during the winter often knocked out the partition sepa- 
rating 'the oven from the firebox, making the stoves 
lighter and permitting the use of longer AVOod. These 
stoves Avere only used for heating the tent, and all that 
was desired Avas a mere shell that would hold the fire 
and conduct the smoke outside. They were very light, 
and I saw one that only weighed Bibs., including the 
stovepipe. Stovepipes are often made to telescope and 
fit inside the oven or firebox. These pipes, however, 
are generally small, and sometimes in a day or two 
become clogged Avith soot and refuse to draAV. The 
larger sizes are more satisfactory. 
Another style stove (procured by our party in Vic- 
toria) had for the oA^en a drum-shaped affair interpo- 
lated betAveen the first two joints of the stovepipe. This 
gave more fire space and Avas an adA^antage in many re- 
spects, but the combination was a nasty thing to pack, 
and I would never choose such a stove for use when 
traveling. 
It is Avell to make sure Avhen buying your stove that 
you have enough pipe to go up through the roof of 
your tent. It sometimes happens that not enough is 
sitpplied, and lacking it stakes must be driven into the 
ground for supports, or some similar arrangement made. 
There Avas a vast variety of opinions on the trail as 
to the position the stove should occupy in the tent. In 
-the smaller tents the stove Avas frequently set up directly 
in the middle of the tent, just inside the door. One of 
the front corners of the tent, hoAvever, was m.ore fre- 
quently chosen. Stones are generally used to raise the 
stove up from the ground. Some support is required, 
for otherwise the firebox Avill set fire to the vegetable 
matter in the ground underneath. 
The mess kit and cooking utensils supplied with the 
Buzzacott outfit are of particular value to the 
Klondiker, for they are easily packed and are arranged 
to nest in the least: possible space. Lacking these, the 
cooking outfit is frequently carried in a Avooden mess 
box. Often there is a set of nesting pails arranged to 
fit the oven of the stove. At times when even the slight- 
est weight is a serious objection, as in sledging parties, 
the mess box is done away Avith and the utensils carried 
in a sack. The outfit should include three or four gran- 
ite ware covered buckets — four, six and eight-quart — and 
at least two frying pans. A good, big mixing pan for 
bread making is also desirable, though it is possible to 
get along by using a gold pan instead for this purpose. 
As for supplies, beans, bacon, flour and tea are the 
staples. Almost as essential are sugar, salt, baldng pow- 
der and dried fruits. Then come oatmeal, rice, corn- 
meal, evaoorated potatoes and onions, raisins' (a good 
thing — ^25lbs. are enough for a year). 
-Sou^p extracts, including dfissicated v(yEetable«, con- 
