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The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, October 01, 1913, Image 14


Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045487/1913-10-01/ed-1/seq-14/

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oint out as "the only man in the ter
ritory who had nerve enough to make
the Guggenheims stand hitched,
wants THE GOVERNMENT to open
the'coal fields and build Tailroads in
to the interior. of this bounteously
rich country of Alaska.
Dalton came to Alaska in 1884 and
many a path he cut where no man
had ever been before. On the gov
ernment mags these are marked
"Dalton trail."
Just now Jack is running a saw
mill here, near the Guggenheim
dock. He plans to build a dock of his
own next year and a cold storage
plant. There are vast halibut banks
off this port and cold storage will
make Cordova a fabulously rich fish
ing town.
Before he came to Alaska, Dalton,
who was born in Kansas, drove pack
trains in the great southwest. When
this hardy pioneer came "here, it was
just a howling wilderness!
"When I first wenl into the Yukon"
country the wolf-packs used to keep
us company," said Dalton. "They
trailed us day after day and circled
the camp at night. Now and then a
dog wandered too far from the fire
and didn't come back sometimes
they pulled down a horse.
"I was the first man to bring pack
horses into Alaska and they wanted
to put me in an asylum! But it was
no colder here than in Minnesota and
they did fine! Along in '87 I had
three hundred of them packing sup
plies to mines from the head of Lynn
canal, where Skagway now stands.
Hay was $125 a ton, so I cleared some
ground on the east slope and raised
timothy, three and a half tons to the
acre. It cost me about $5 a ton in
the barn ! So that's how they started
to grow things' here."
Dalton is credited with being the
first -white man to cross the waters of
the White River. He was at Dawson
during the first gold rush and has
since been interested in many mining
ventures. When the Guggenheims
failed in their efforts to establish 'a
terminus for their line at Katalla he-i
assisted in locating the Cordovas,
route. At this time he staked the cop- -
per claim on which his home, -and
sawmill are now located. Later the ft
railroad -selected the same point for j
its dock site. '
Jack didn't amount to much in the n
eyes of the Guggenheims and they &
started to lay track right through his I
claim. He issued a warning and"
when the workmen got pretty close
he .visited headquarters.
What happened there I learned n
from old Cordovans before I -went to i
see the old-timer. They say he walk- -ed
up to the superintendent and said, 3
"I told you n6t to build acrossmy
claim You can come within six feet
of it with your railroad track and no 1
closer that's the law! New, If yout;
have that track put any closer than "
six feet, I am not going to shoot up '
the engineers or the workmen, but
I'm goingto pay YOU another call.'
Dalton has a reputation through- i
out Alaska as a rifle shot he simply
doesn't miss, EVER!
While we were talking I said, "By
the way, Dalton, that railroad track
runs acrjoss the corner of your claim, f
doesn't it?"
"No," he answered; "it Just skirts'
ROUND THE EDGE you see ,my "
line runs here and the railroad is a
over six feet away at every point." I'7
had quite a little argument about!
that, but it's all settled now!"
Dalton is a friend of Gifford Pin-"f
chot and he is a great admirer of
Senator Poindexter. "
"Nothing would be better for-Alas-T
ka than for the government td'take1'
over this line and continue it into therl
interior," he declared, earnestly.'
"There are great opportunities for'
agricultural and mineral develops
ments, but not without low and equal0
freight rates. The government
should operate a steamship line also1
or else force the present line to equal-9
ize its rates. The rates are very rea,-B
sonable as far north as Skagway, be-
cause -"there Is competition, -but thi ..

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