Show YUKON COUNTRY returned miners speak of starvation fears entertained that there will be a shortage of promising discoveries on the american side denver col sept 2 the news in ao interview with returned Klond ikeie bays the detailed reports of the interviews will he passengers on the portland from klondike are coming to hand they agree that it is complete for more people to try to get into the country this year and that there will aurely be shortness ot food in the gold fields this year N W powers ot idaho return on the portland was reported monday morning went over the dyea pass in 1894 and was one of the original discoverers ican creek in american territory in when the klondike strike was made the report reached him at his claim he went up the river traveling on the ice with a dog team with the thermometer 60 degrees below finding the district all that was claimed for it be returned to american creek for his outfit and an march 3 was back at bonanza where he and joe goldsmith entered partnership in working 4 claim on george cormacks discovery claim the fourth day after starting work they struck dirt boing 6 to the pan and while working on the discovery be located claims 1 and 2 on skookum tributary of the bonanza coming near Cor macke claim after forty two days work on the cormack claim they cleared up while drifting on cormacks they worked at odd times on skookum sinking a abatt and on april 16 h struck a pay streak at a depth of four feet giving up their lay on Cor macke claim they went to work on skookum nm after drifting four days they cleaned up 2800 their pay streak was the caare beet gold found in the district prospectors who had weeks before passed over skookum and considered it worthless BOSH began to stampede to it and every foot of ground was quickly located by july 1st powers and goldsmith had cleaned several thousand dollars more and had sold their claim for between them they bad cleaned up between march 3rd and july ast 1st and both are now coming back thoroughly satisfied with their luck powers as one ot the original locators of american creek has great faith in it lie bays al Nol lener and myself went into american in july 1896 from forty mile prospecting as we traveled we reached the creek in august and made a location at a fork ct the creek about thirteen miles back from the yukon we got in supplies and got ready to prospect before winter came As eoon as things froze up we sank holes to bedrock and found pay it was a mild winter and went sow but before spring awe struck pay going from 25 cents to 50 cents in the gravel which was six to eighteen inches deep and 1 to the pan on bedrock As soon the news reached forty mile and the other creeks thera was a stampede to american creek whatever claims were opened showed up rich but still very little was done last year jast about at the time work was starting for last winter the news of the bonanza creek reached us and everybody etrick out no more than ten men wintering in the creek american creek is about twenty five miles long and has beveral tributaries that show gold it is a tributary of mission creek empting emp ying into that body it is fifty miles down ibe river from forty mile inside of another year american creek will be one ot the beet creeks on the yukon As eoon aa r it h worked it ie eure to prove rich it is I 1 close to the river and easy to get at supplies can be brought la cheaply this district is a laree one and there is every indication of gold being in tt boundary seventy mile and american creeks all head on the same divide and gold liaa been found on each of them they are all in american territory and will ba producers before long mr powers is an old places min erand that the yukon ie the richest and hardest country to prospect on earth the people who ar rushing there now dont know what they will have to face he eaid supplies are short they cannot get enough to keep people alio are there now through the winter it anybody wc nta to starve they will ind it a sure thing by going in and win terice there if they dont want I 1 to starve and care anything for themselves they had better sey out I 1 believe I 1 could have made considerable money by wintering at rawdon but I 1 prefer to take my chances outside win oler another of the colorado contingent returns after four years on the yukon he was one of the elret men on the el dorado creek locating claim no 29 on september 9 and eel J ling it for a good price later on to him belongs the credit ot making the first quartz discovery io the klondike district on september 15 he found a well defined ledge of gold bearing quartz on hunker creek just above list chalce crude assays showed tree gold and a half interest was quickly purchased by joseph ladue for oler then bought an interest in no 10 above discovery on bonanza creek also no 7 on gold bolt now mr oler bos every prospect of beine one of the richest men of the klondike five box lengths of no 10 above discovery yielded besides this oler and his partner ed parka own no 32 below discovery on bonanza just bow much money he is bringing out hie trip mr oler declines to pay but it is not less than and bis claims have not yet been worked systematically in feet the bulk of his gold came from no 10 above discovery on bonanza no work having been done other than prospecting on the other claims he is considered the bist quartz expert on the yukon and his discovery eo soon after the first rush to the district Is of the greatest importance he pays the quartz is pure white resembling the rose quartz of california the walls are porphyry and slate the ledge averages seven feet on the droppings crop pings next spring he will be among the first to go back to the di goins mr oler left dameon july 14 he baye there was not at that time enough supplies at to last the people there over three months 1 I dont believe he sa id that they can get enough supplies this beason to last hall the people until the river opens next spring I 1 saw old timers paying for their supplies in advance when I 1 left friend of mine paid one of the stores 1000 in dust for goods that bad not let st michaels numbers of men have done the same 1 dont think there will be a pound of food left in any of the stores by december 1 firewood will beat least 15 per cord thia winter and perhaps more has comedown for medical treatment since 1892 he has been working a claim on fortymile forty mile creek and the bard life finally broke his health his claim is one of the and best on fortymile forty mile and has always paid good wages he brings out with him several thousand collais in dust still retaining his claim at forty mile As boon as he regains his health be intends to go back and will work out bis claim for the past twenty five years be has been minine on the pacific coast andt bere is hardly a camp in ibe west that be has not been in at last be baruck it on the yukon he Is one of the few who did not leave their claims and stake in the klondyke buckley is a firm believer in the american part of the yukon it is just as good and even better than tho canadian side be said there is lota of rich gravel on our side outside of the klondyke strike nearly all of the gold diggings have been found in american territory there are good chances there for prospectors and for capital buckley cannot understand why people have become u crazed as to rial life by gling into the yukon this year he bays no man has any business to go in there until next spring if be has not to keep out hia friends or somebody elee should keep him out it is going to be hard enough for the people already there the hundreds who are now will make starvation almost a certainty on the river next winter there is no good reason for going in before next sprine another of the returned voyagers puts the situation in this way warn people to stay out of the yukon this year tell them it meana starvation telegraph lo 10 every paper in the country that people will starve it more go in I 1 have heard these warnings repeated time and again to each and every one of the yukon miners who turned on the portland this trip more than this beveral of these have frankly stated that thoy realized there would not be sufficient supplies in there for the coming winter or they would not have come out these men are in earnest they know what they are talking about these warnings too they asked me to write before we knew half the story of tho insane rush to dameon J when we reached hutch harbor on our return and secured a few scattering capers of late date the latest august ath the o 0 topic of conversation was what the situation would bo dameon and in abu yukon this when the excelsior arrived at st michaels with her load of odd people and the heard that the cleveland would brine more bihy ihy talked strongly thea they said too many people were go ingin and that supplies could not poa bibly hold out during the winter after leaving dutch harbor alie partial extent of the rueh dawned us my God eaid ne man to me what are they thinking of are people crazy there will be terrible horrible times on the yukon next winter starvation will ebare them in the face long before from my own personal hinves bt 1 I 1 am con hl 4 t f L fenced that miners do not speak too strongly the companies are doina their utmost to get supplies up the river and were it possible to da eo would bave food for all but they labor under disadvantages which cannot be appreciated butil seen serious mistake was made by the alaska commercial company in carrying up too much liquor on the laet trip on two of their boats ane miners want food and not lianor last year with 1500 people on the river and facilities for transportation very little under those of this teacon te there was a cerious shortage this year these same 1500 beope must have supplies and they with who went in last borim making a total ol 01 probably people on the river before the last husli will require every pound that can possibly be in 1 I doubt it tons will be taken up the river tins beason this does not mean tons of food by any perhaps the larger half will be food but shovels hardware stores liquore blankets etc will figure up neaily one half regarding the situation over or over the various passes I 1 not informed but these minere each and every one of whom have gone in over the trail eay that it is an utter impossibility to transport enough supplies over at that route at this season ot the year in warning people to wait until spring I 1 simply act for the m cerp who speak in the name of humanity there is gold in the yukon country plenty of it but to seek it in this season under I 1 bese circumstances is sheer madness it is even more jt is criminal to those who are already iu the country |