A Woman who went to Alaska - May Kellogg Sullivan

A Woman Who
Went ———
To Alaska

By May Kellogg Sullivan

ILLUSTRATED

Boston:
James H. Earle & Company
178 Washington Street

CONTENTS.

Chapter		Page
I	Under Way	[9]
II	Midnight on a Yukon Steamer	[19]
III	Dawson	[28]
IV	The Rush	[36]
V	At The Arctic Circle	[48]
VI	Companions	[58]
VII	Going to Nome	[78]
VIII	Fresh Danger	[81]
IX	Nome	[94]
X	The Four Sisters	[109]
XI	Life in a Mining Camp	[131]
XII	Bar-Room Disturbances	[149]
XIII	Off For Golovin Bay	[162]
XIV	Life at Golovin	[184]
XV	Winter in the Mission	[199]
XVI	The Retired Sea Captain	[215]
XVII	How the Long Days Passed	[231]
XVIII	Swarming	[247]
XIX	New Quarters	[261]
XX	Christmas in Alaska	[275]
XXI	My First Gold Claims	[292]
XXII	The Little Sick Child	[311]
XXIII	Lights and Shadows of the Mining Camp	[325]
XXIV	An Unpleasant Adventure	[340]
XXV	Stones and Dynamite	[354]
XXVI	Good-bye to Golovin Bay	[374]
XXVII	Going Outside	[379]

Transcriber's Note

Obvious printer errors have been corrected. All other inconsistencies remain as printed.

A list of illustrations, though not present in the original, has been provided below:

[COVER]
[MAY KELLOGG SULLIVAN IN ALASKA DRESS.]
[DAWSON, Y. T.]
[CITY HALL AT SKAGWAY.]
[PORCUPINE CANYON, WHITE PASS.]
[MILES CANYON.]
[UPPER YUKON STEAMER.]
[FIVE FINGER RAPIDS.]
[GOING TO DAWSON IN WINTER.]
[A KLONDYKE CLAIM.]
[EAGLE CITY, ON THE YUKON, IN 1899.]
[YUKON STEAMER "HANNAH."]
[FELLOW TRAVELERS.]
[ESKIMOS.]
[UNALASKA.]
[STEAMSHIP ST. PAUL.]
[NOME.]
[LIFE AT NOME.]
[CLAIM NUMBER NINE, ANVIL CREEK.]
[CLAIM NUMBER FOUR, ANVIL CREEK, NOME.]
[MAP OF ALASKA.]
[ESKIMO DOGS.]
[WINTER PROSPECTING.]
[AT CHINIK. THE MISSION.]
[CLAIM ON BONANZA CREEK.]
[ON BONANZA CREEK.]
[SKAGWAY RIVER, FROM THE TRAIN.]

PREFACE

This unpretentious little book is the outcome of my own experiences and adventures in Alaska. Two trips, covering a period of eighteen months and a distance of over twelve thousand miles were made practically alone.

In answer to the oft-repeated question of why I went to Alaska I can only give the same reply that so many others give: I wanted to go in search of my fortune which had been successfully eluding my grasp for a good many years. Neither home nor children claimed my attention. No good reason, I thought, stood in the way of my going to Alaska; for my husband, traveling constantly at his work had long ago allowed me carte blanche as to my inclinations and movements. To be sure, there was no money in the bank upon which to draw, and an account with certain friends whose kindness and generosity cannot be forgotten, was opened up to pay passage money; but so far neither they nor I have regretted making the venture.

I had first-class health and made up in endurance what I lacked in avoirdupois, along with a firm determination to take up the first honest work that presented itself, regardless of choice, and in the meantime to secure a few gold claims, the fame of which had for two years reached my ears.

In regard to the truthfulness of this record I have tried faithfully to relate my experiences as they took place. Not all, of course, have been included, for numerous and varied trials came to me, of which I have not written, else a far more thrilling story could have been told.

Enough has, however, been noted to give my readers a fair idea of a woman's life during a period of eighteen months in a few of the roughest mining camps in the world; and that many may be interested, and to some extent possibly instructed by the perusal of my little book, is the sincere wish of the author.

May Kellogg Sullivan.