Histories of the Martin, Wilson, Bloom, & Ahola Families

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Klondike Gold Rush -- Miners Climbing the Chilkoot Pass

On 21 Mar 1898 J. K. Martin wrote "We are getting along nicely and have all our goods about one-third the way up the summit now and if we have good weather three more days will put us on top. A person has to be awful careful, as the mountain is so steep if a person falls down he will roll or slide to the bottom, unless he can catch a rope to stop; but it does not hurt a person. We wear iron creepers with long flat calks on them to keep from slipping down, so as long as you can keep your feet you are all right. I let my sled get away from me on St. Patrick`s Day with 350 pounds on it, and it flew back down the mountain at the rate of a mile a minute for 5009 feet and ran into another sled, smashed it and scattered goods all over. The deal cost me $8.50, besides breaking my own sled.

The mountains are so steep a person can hardly ascend them and we use block and tackle and station two men at each end of the line to load and unload and we catch the packers coming down to ride one sled down, which brings the loaded one up. Four men riding a sled down will bring up about 250 or 300 pounds and they are always glad to get a ride down. "


Owner of originalD. L. Martin
Date24 Mar 2014
Linked toMartin, Jira Kenneth

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