On To The Klondike

By the kind permission of Mrs. Perry we are permitted to print tlie following letter froui lier son Paul, who is on the Dalton trail to the Klondike country: Dalton 's Trading Post, Nov. 12, 1897. By tl i is time you should have received three letters from me : the first written on the steamer Rosalie, telling of a pleasant trip and our emharking at Haiues Mission to take the Dalton trail, with Frank Killen and his VI horses. My second, from the bank of the lieenariver,told someof ourexperiences, mostly, mixed vvitli water. My tliird letter was sent back by cattle men who were turned back by snow and lack of feed for stock. VVhen I wrote this, we had seven horses and intended to go on with 12 cattle and some more horses. Next morning, however, a round up of the cattle shovved their entire inability to go on iuto a country where there was no feed for fifty miles. So we went ahead with our seven horses. Of these we lost two next day and one the day followiug. As each dropped we put the stuff on our backs; i. e., made longer camps, and went back for stuff until all was up, then moved it all ahead (mostly by back, to save horses and because of boggy ground) and inoved camp. This was rather hard wark for yours truly and during the mouth it took us to go the 35 miles to here, I have been stripped oí ílesh as clean as crows picK a bone, oiily I still have my skin. At 18 miles íroin here we lost our eleventh horse, who mired by one foot in a bog hole. The other horse too weak to pack, we took, we leaviug ou snovv shoes with packs, over these mountains where she sauk two to flve feet at every step, and through a crust. She came throunh alive and we sold her tolndiaus here ïor $12 worth of skin goods for Frank- squirrel and bear coat, lyux hat, caribou pants, and ruoccasius to knee oï same. We have a üne camp here near Jack Daltou's house, 10 i'eet from the Altsek river (now fast filliug with ice) and when the store opens after a vacation we eau buy what we ueed. But this will be little, as we have nearly as rnuch as when we started, and store prices are high e. g. $10 for 50 lb sack of flour, 3 candles for 25c. We have the price of one sack of flour in the skin of a fine bear, shot by Frank as it was devouring oue of our dead horses. Our game to date has been ptarmigan (uow pure white), partridge, mallard ducks, squirrels, rabbits and bear, all oL which went into our stew pot or frying pan. The weather, since we left the región of cold rains, has been about two of fine to one of blustering. My appetite ís immense and I haven't had even a cold. We not only 11ÍIV6 plcllty Ol glliu nciC uwu charge of 5,000 lbs. iu Thorpe's cache 35 miles back, where we can get it. In fact, Frank went there alone, with only a blanket, yesterday, to take an inventory, in the hopes of selliug to Dalton. This is of course uncertain, but would square us to date. As to uiy plans : You see we are stuck, stuck in the snow, but in a few days we shall move into an Indian log cabiu. No very cold weather yet. We can't go ahead with our goods,on account of slowness or expense of hiring Indians, who charge $50 to $100 per 100 lbs. to the Yukon at Five Fiuger Rapids. We don't wish to go back, although we niight if Dalton would buy us out íor a good figure. To go to Dawson now without grub is starvation. Our present plan is to winter here and go in the spring to Lake Arkell, a three days trip east of here ; with 1000 lbs. There we will make a boat, go down the Takheena riverneartoLake Lebarge, where we join the regular route. Had our horses taken us in this f all, we would have made a suiall fortune each. Having had a set back, we do not lament, but feel we have done all we could- in fact, my back says, "a little more," thougli it reached camp a week ago. This life just suits me and I coukl be well content if I knew all were goiug well at home. Why, we had beeísteak pie yesterday ! Vi e have a íukon stove, and its a heater. This letter goes out by a party ol Yukoners who say 3000 to 5000 people must leave Dawson or starve. Oue had $300 in nuggets, but said it was good for only flve sacks of flour, or about 40 prices.