co-operation of the Government of the United States
is necessary. Correspondence is in progress through the proper
authorities with a view to obtaining this co-operation. It may be
mentioned that a United States surveyor has also determined the points
at which the Yukon River and Forty Mile Creek are intersected by the
141st meridian."
ROUTES, DISTANCES, AND TRANSPORTATION.
After considerable experience I have decided that the best route for a
man to take to the gold regions is from Seattle, Washington, to Juneau,
Alaska, and then to Dawson City, by the pass and waterways, and I will
therefore describe this route more in detail than any of the others.
I am devoting a special chapter to the outfit for travellers, and will
therefore deal in this chapter with the route only.
The traveller having paid his fare to Seattle should on arrival there
have not less than $500. This is the minimum sum necessary to pay his
fare from Seattle to Juneau, purchase his outfit and supplies for one
year and pay his necessary expenses in the gold region for that length
of time.
I think it deplorable that so many are starting at this time for the
gold-fields. I do not recommend starting before March 15. I will return
at that time to my claims on the Klondyke, if it were wise to go sooner,
I should certainly go.
The reason March 15 is best is that the season is better then. If a man
has only, say, $500 and wants to do his own packing over the Taiya Pass,
it gives him time to do it by starting March 15, as he will then be in
Juneau April 1st. I fear a great deal of hardship for those who started
out so as to reach Juneau for winter travel.
Of course while I say $500 is sufficient to go to Dawson City, a man
should take $1,000 or even more if possible as he will have many
opportunities to invest the surplus.
While prices will undoubtedly advance at Dawson City owing to the large
influx of people, I do not think the advance will be excessive. It has
never been the policy of the two trading companies to take advantage of
the miners.
The traveller having arrived in Juneau from Seattle, a journey of 725
miles by water, immediately purchases his complete outfit as described
in another chapter. He then loses no time in leaving Juneau for Dyea,
taking a small steamboat which runs regularly to this port via the Lynn
Canal. Dyea has recently been made a customs port of entry and the head
of navigation this side of the Taiya Pass. Th
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