There was an American and his wife—Californians—who were very genial and superior: they were excellent company. There were also a young Englishman and an elderly Scotsman. The Americans were bound to San Francisco to buy goods: they had wintered in Dawson, and were returning later with their stock, and were going into storekeeping in Dawson in an extensive way. The Englishman and the Scot had done very well on Bonanza Creek: they owned they had made enough to live in Britain as they pleased.
We did not stop at Fort Reliance; it is all but abandoned, and has been so for years. That is where the first whites settled in that region, and it is from this point that most of the places have been named,—Forty, Sixty, Twelve Mile Posts were supposed to be these distances from Reliance. The Yukon is here five hundred yards in width; there are but few islands, and the current is regular.
At Forty Mile Post our boat was tied up for a few hours. This place is a small repetition of Dawson, although, I believe, a much older settlement: it is on the south side of Forty Mile river, which here joins the Yukon. It has several restaurants, billiard-halls, and bakeries, a blacksmith, and an opera-house!
On the north side of the river lies Cudahy, a smaller collection of stores and shanties. It has no opera-house, and would, in consequence, be unhappy but for Fort Constantine, which was established in 1895. It is a station of the mounted police, who have several fine log buildings, so well cared for that they lend an air of civilisation to the place.
From here to the boundary line between Canada and the United States—the 141st parallel of west longitude—there is nothing worth noticing. The Yukon there is about the same width as at Reliance, but soon after entering American territory—i.e., Alaska—it widens considerably. It continues thus for about one hundred miles, the banks on either hand being high and steep, with fine mountains inland. This portion is known as the Upper Ramparts.
Circle City we touched at. It had been a village of importance before Dawson existed. The Klondyke rush had taken away most of the inhabitants. We found it all but deserted. Here we took in wood for fuel, and heard with pleasure that the ice had left the river for a long distance down.
After this there are 150 miles of very much wider river, but it is a network of channels amongst small islands. Huge piles of ice were still to be seen on many shallows.
At Fort Yukon, which lies north of the Arctic Circle, we found hard winter reigned; but the river was free of ice. It is 380 miles below Dawson. The stream is said to be seven miles wide here. The navigation is most perplexing, as the channel shifts continually.
On the fifth day we came to floating ice, which extended from shore to shore. We moved slowly after it. It was drifting down at the rate of five miles an hour. During the short nights we tied up to the bank. At daylight, no ice being visible, we went on full speed until we overtook it. This continued till we were ten days out; then we came to a solid mass of ice, which was not moving.
Our captain, a bit of a philosopher, reckoned he had foreseen this delay and made light of it, but it was annoying to us.