Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 62, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 April 1898 — PERISH IN THE PASS [ARTICLE]

PERISH IN THE PASS

Gold Hunters Lose Their Lives on the Chilkat Trail. OVERWHELMED BY AN AVALANCHE. j. A Sadden Snow-Slide Buriea a Large Party of Traveler Number of Ueathe May Reach s*—Twen-ty-Five Bodies Recovered. Seattle, Wash., April 9.—A dispatch from Skaguay, Alaska, dated April s, says that about noon on that day, on the Chilkat trail between the Scales and Stonehouse, at least 31 met death and a large number of others were Injured more or leas seriously In a snowslide. The dead were crushed under an avalanche of snow and lee, which came down the mountain side upon the left hand side of the trail midway between the Scales and Stonehouse. The known dead are: Gus Sebarth, Seattle: Frank Sprague, Seattle; ~Steve Stevenson, Seattle; Tom Collins, Portland, Ore.; C. F. Harrison, Seattle; W. L. Riley, Seattle; one woman, name unknown; Ed Atwood, New C. Beck, Sanford, Fla.; L. Widelein, Kansas City, Mo.; Mrs. i Ryan, Baltimore, Md.; John Morgan, Emporia, Kan.; Grimes, Sacramento, Cai., who has a brother In business at Talya; Garrison, Initials and residence unknown; Ritchie, initials and residence unknown; j Durber, Initials unknown, residence Seattle. Two of the seriously Injured are Walter Chappey, of New York, and John C. Murphy, of Dixon, Dakota. , Fully 50 people were overtaken by the slide and are either buried in the snow or I scattered along the borders of the avalanche in a more or less injured condition. I The point at which the accident occurred ' Is some five miles above Sheep Camp. The nearest telephone station is four miles dis- ; tant. The telephone wires at this point were carried away by the slide. This fact I makes it difficult to obtain further partlc- i uiars at this time. A blinding snowstorm was raging all day upon the summit, and as a consequence many of those in the vicinity were making no attempt to travel. Sobarth, Sprague and Stevenson, of Seattle, were traveling together as partners, and were found sid«

by side In bed. Thousands of people were encamped in the vicinity of the accident, and were soon uppn the scene rendering such assistance as possible. Upon receipt of the news, points below Talya telephoned up to know if assistance was required and received answer to the effect that 5,000 people were at work on the debris and were only in each others’ way. All day yesterday and Sunday a southerly storm with rain, wind and snow prevailed In this vicinity, and it is believed the softening of the snow on the mountain side by those agencies was the cause of the avalanche. The quantity of snow and Ice that came down in the slide Is estimated at thousands of tons. It'swept directly across the trail, which, notwithstanding the fact that the weather was unsuitable for travel, was thronged with wayfarers. The last vestige of the trail in the vicinity was wiped out of existence, ar,d when It led is now a mountain of snow and Ice, under which are many dead bodies that cannot be recovered for days to come. There was a preliminary slide at two o’clock in the morning. People were digging up their goods when the second slide occurred about noon. Later advices from Skaguay say that ft Is now believed that 50 or 100 people were killetl tn the slide. Twenty-two bodies have been recovered and Identified, and 25 were brought out alive. The Chilkat pass Is the main thoroughfare over the summit from Taiya to the headwaters of the Yukon It consists of a narrow gorge extending up the mountain side, affording scant foothold for the traveler. For the most of the distance the way Is precipitous, rough and full of danger. Towering above the traveler are the peaks of the coast range, at this time of the year covered with snow and threatening at any moment to hurl a mass of Ice and bowlders down upon the hapless gold seekers struggling upward. At the side of the pathway there appear dangerous chasms worn by the torrents from the mountain tops. Into these abysses the Klondikers have lost many outfits and many horses, which, having onoe lost their foothold, are beyond recovery. Chilkat pass is about 30 miles in length. Ita northern terminus Ison Lake Lindeman.