Identifier: alaskaklondike00mcla (find matches)
Title: Alaska and the Klondike
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors: McLain, John Scudder, b. 1853
Subjects: Alaska Klondike River Valley (Yukon) -- Gold discoveries
Publisher: New York : McClure, Phillips & co.
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ot seenthis metropolis of the Yukon. There are no stone build-ings and but one brick building in the town, so far as Iobserved, and not a square yard of plastering. Dawsonis built on what is doubtless an old glacier, now coveredwith a deposit of earth and gravel, washed down fromthe encircling hills. Two feet beneath the surface theexcavator strikes the perpetual ice. Foundations laidupon the ice are necessarily insecure. While the generalsurface of the ground does not thaw out to a depth ofmore than two feet in summer, an excavation results infurther thawing of the surface at that point and a con-sequent settling of the foundations, which are raised againby the freezing in winter. The outer foundations, too,are subject to greater variations than those under thecentre of the building and particularly those on the southside, so that, while there may be little change by reasonof freezing or thawing in some parts of the building, inother parts there is considerable. This would ultimately
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44 ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE destroy a building constructed ol brick or stone and loosenthe plastering on the walls of a wooden building. Nearly all kinds of mercantile business are carried onin Dawson. The leaders, of course, are the old YukonRiver trading and transportation companies. These arethe Northern Commercial company, and the North Amer-ican Transportation and Trading company. These com-panies bring their stock of goods up the Yukon Riverfrom St. Michael, and were engaged in business herebefore the White Pass road opened a shorter route.Ihey do a freighting and transportation business on theriver and were the beneficiaries of a large trade beforethe Klondike was discovered. Their establishments are,in reality, department stores; they carry everything needed,from a miners thawing machine to a watch; from Indianmukluks to jewelry and laces; from hard-tack and bacon togentlemens dress suits, in one of which a member of ourparty—not prepared to find that such things are required

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