At occasional
intervals men wallowed into its dismal fastnesses, or emerged gaunt
and famine-worn. But in the fall of 1896 a great gold strike was
made--greater than any since the days of California and Australia;
yet, so rude were the means of communication, nearly a year elapsed
before the news of it reached the eager ear of the world. Passionate
pilgrims disembarked their outfits at Dyea. Over the terrible
Chilcoot Pass the trail led to the lakes, thirty miles away.
Carriage was yet in its most primitive stage, the road builder and
bridge builder unheard of. With heavy packs upon their backs men
plunged waist-deep into hideous quagmires, bridged mountain torrents
by felling trees across them, toiled against the precipitous slopes
of the ice-worn mountains, and crossed the dizzy faces of innumerable
glaciers. When, after incalculable toil they reached the lakes, they
went into the woods, sawed pine trees into lumber by hand, and built
it into boats. In these, overloaded, unseaworthy, they battled down
the long chain of lakes.
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