Digital Bob Archive

DECEMBER 18, 1880-In spite of the winter storms that have followed each other in quick succession, more gold seekers continue to arrive as news of the Gold Creek discovery gets around. Three Mikes, all old Cassiar men, have come up from Wrangell in an Indian dugout canoe. They are Mike Duquette, Mike Dunn and Mike Haves. And another dugout has arrived from Sitka carrying Antone Marx, Bill Meehan, John Prior, Frank Berry and Jim Rosewall.

It is rumored that these five made another gold discovery on Gastineau Channel while enroute here, this one across the channel on Douglas Island and a little way to the south. When they pulled into the channel a couple of days ago it was snowing and growing dark and they did not see this camp. Instead they stopped at one of the Douglas Island beaches for the night and in the morning are reported to have found good colors in the beach sands at the mouth of a creek they named Ready Bullion Creek. Douglas Island is not included in the Harris Mining District as set up by Dick Harris and Joe Juneau in October and the men are reluctant to tell the exact location of their find until they can properly stake claims. They came across the channel the next morning and the wind has been blowing too hard for them to get back to the island. They plan to begin working the claims as soon as possible.

In the meantime, nearly everybody?s larder is running low. Someone asked Pat McGlinchy this morning what he had for breakfast and the irrepressible Irishman replied, ?Snowballs and pepper.? Which could be close to the truth. But several hunting parties are out and the scouring of the beaches has produced some clams. Several men have gone to Sheep Creek where, according to the Indians, the mountain goats sometimes come down when the snow is deep. Dick Willoughby and French Pete, both of whom savvy the Tlingit lingo, have talked to Indians from Auk village and learned that there are deer on Douglas Island but very few on this side.

Dick Willoughby says the Indians call this ?the place were even the marmots won?t stay,? but no one knows whether that is true or something Dick made up.