After making the second trip for the rest of their supplies, Sam and his friends spent the next week chopping down trees for logs and removing bush on Donald’s claim. They limbed the logs and found an elevated spot for drainage that was away from the river. After levelling the dirt as best they could, they marked out the dimensions for the rectangular cabin. They kept it small for heat in the winter and because the logs were too heavy if they were longer.
They had not built a cabin of their own but had helped others. Ideally, they should let the logs dry for a year so they didn’t shrink once assembled, but they didn’t have the time. Since none of the cabins in the north had foundations and few had floors, they laid the largest of the logs for the base. Frost heaving during the cold of the winter could move the building and might even cause damage. They would worry about that when the time came.
They measured the logs for length, trimmed off the excess to use for their fires, and made notches one foot from the ends. Leaving an opening for a door, they layered the logs alternating between the short and long sides. They locked them in place with the notches, which increased the building’s stability. Throughout the process, Gordon complained that it was a useless effort on their part. Sam also noticed that Gordon had begun to separate some of their food into piles.
While they worked, men swarmed up and down the river checking the gravel for gold, comparing finds, staking claims, hauling supplies, and stopping at their clearing for a cup of coffee.
“I staked a claim to make sure I got one,” one man said. “But I’ve tried a few pans on it and didn’t find anything.”
“My initial find was good,” another stated. “But I’m not sure if it’s worth the price of registering.”
“Yes, for a hundred dollars I’d sell mine,” Gordon told everyone.
The men continued notching the logs and hoisting them into place until the walls were high enough for them to stand up inside. They left an opening for a window to let light in, although they would never have glass to put in the frame. Using the crosscut saw, they hand sawed lumber for the door and peaked roof, cutting a hole for the stovepipe.
There were gaps between the logs, so Sam made a mixture of mud, grass, and moss and shoved it in the holes. That insulation would last until the logs dried out and shrank and then they would have to do it again.
As they worked, they heard sawing and pounding up and down the creek as men worked at building their winter homes.
When they finished the cabin Sam nailed a flour sack over the window opening to keep out the mosquitoes. It could come down when mosquito season was over and before it got too cold. They set up the stove then constructed bunk beds, some shelves and a small table. They upended short logs for chairs. The open door would let in light until it was too cold, and they had plenty of candles for the dark days of winter.
Now it was time to cut wood. Dry wood burned the best so first they gathered what dead logs they could find and bucked them into pieces. Next, they cut down trees and sawed them into lengths. They found a large section of log to use as a chopping block and split the rest into quarters for faster drying. They also made small pieces of kindling for fire starters.
“Hey, Sam,” a voice called from the creek.
Sam turned from where he was throwing an armload of firewood onto the pile beside the cabin. He saw Clarence Berry and his wife pulling a boat up the creek. Gordon and Donald, who were both wielding axes, stopped to listen.
“Clarence,” Sam acknowledged. He wiped his brow with his forearm as he walked to the edge of the creek. He nodded to Mrs. Berry. He’d only met her once but found her cheerful and friendly.
“Your sister and your cousin have set up a tent and are camping down at the mouth of the Klondike.”
“What?” Sam gaped in disbelief.
“Damn,” Gordon swore behind him.
“Are you sure?” Donald rushed to the creek’s edge. “What are they doing there? Who is there with them?”
“I came up the Yukon River with them and helped them set up their camp,” Mrs. Berry said.
“They said to tell you that they have plenty of food and can look after themselves,” Clarence added. “And there are other tents being set up. They aren’t alone.” He waved as he and his wife continued up the creek.
“What are we going to do?” Donald looked at Sam. “We can’t leave them there by themselves.”
“It sounds like they are fine,” Gordon grumbled. He went back to chopping wood.
“We have to go check on them now,” Donald insisted. “They don’t have any experience living here.”
Sam fought back his angry thoughts. He didn’t have time to take care of his sister and cousin. He wished they had never come. They were starting to create trouble for him and it was just beginning. Winter was coming. He, Donald, and Gordon had a lot to do before the snow fell if they wanted to be able to work their claims.
Gordon stopped his downward swing in mid-air. “Clarence said they had plenty of food and were stockpiling wood. Just leave them alone.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Donald sputtered. “They don’t know how to survive in a tent. We could bring them here.”
“Where would they live if they came here?” Sam asked, trying to sound reasonable.
“They could have the cabin.”
“No, damned way!” Gordon yelled. “We gave up our cabin once to them. That is enough. They came here of their own free will, they should have to look after themselves.”
“Maybe they can for now, but what happens when the snow comes? What are they going to do in the cold?”
The desperation in Donald’s voice finally touched a nerve in Sam. They should go and bring his sister and cousin to the claim where they could keep an eye on them. But they didn’t have time to build another cabin.
“Maybe they’ll be back in Fortymile by then.” Sam hoped to calm Donald down.
“We could take them back to Fortymile now where they would have the cabin,” Donald pleaded.
“I doubt they’ll be willing go back so soon after arriving,” Sam said, with resignation. From what little he’d had to do with his sister and his cousin since they came, he doubted they would leave easily. They thought this was a big adventure; they didn’t realize that the consequences from making one mistake could be swift and dire.
“Well, I don’t like the idea of two women being on their own in the middle of nowhere,” Donald said. “I’m going to see them as soon as we are more organized. And at the same time I’ll take the raft to Ogilvie and get lumber from Joe so we can build a sluice box.”
“We’ve got a saw here,” Gordon said. “We can cut our own wood.”
Donald stuck his chin out in defiance. “I’m still going to see them.”
* * *
Pearl and Emma stood and watched Ethel and Clarence Berry load the last of their supplies into their boat. It was hard to believe they had already been in this makeshift place for over a week.
Once the three women had unloaded their supplies from the sternwheeler, Pearl and Emma had looked for a level piece of land away from the beach to set up their tent. With the help of the Drurys they’d moved the stove from where the boat crew had been kind enough to leave it on the beach to the spot. They’d set the tent over it so the stove was to the right of the doorway and cut an opening in the canvas roof for the tin guard and stove pipe. The Drurys then headed up the river to stake a claim. Ethel sent word with them to let Clarence know she was waiting for him.
With Ethel’s help the women moved their supplies up to the tent and they assisted her with transferring her non-perishable items closer to the edge of the Klondike River.
Luckily for Pearl and Emma, Ethel had been there to show them what to do for the first few days.
The three women had laid their bedding on a large canvas sheet on the ground, since the tent did not have a floor. They stored theirs and Ethel’s perishable supplies inside and left the tinned goods, the table and chairs, and their trunks outside. They’d gone into the bush and found dry wood for cooking. Ethel had explained that if they were going to be there over the winter they would need a large supply of cut wood for heat. During that time she’d also become a good friend.
Four days after they arrived, Clarence came down the river to meet Ethel. He’d gone through the boats on the bank until he found the one he had come in. They loaded up what they could and went upriver to the claim Clarence had staked. Pearl had asked them to let Sam know they were at the Klondike River and were able to look after themselves. Three days later the Berrys were back for another load.
Ethel told Pearl and Emma that they had seen Sam and had let him know the women were camping at the Klondike.
“And how did they take that bit of news?” Pearl grinned.
“Both Sam and Donald seemed a little shocked that you had left Fortymile.”
“We’d told them we wanted to come here,” Pearl said. “They should have known that we would.”
“How is Donald…um…?” Emma fumbled. “How are the men?”
“They’ve built a cabin to live in and were cutting wood for winter when we saw them,” Clarence said.
Now, the Berrys were making their last trip upriver, taking their perishables from the tent.
“Are you ladies going to be alright here alone?” Ethel asked, coming over to them.
“We’ll be fine,” Pearl answered. “This place is starting to grow.” She looked around at the other tents that had been set up since their own arrival.
“Until we meet again.” Ethel gave each of the women a hug.
Clarence tipped his hat and then they were pulling their boat up the river. Pearl and Emma watched for a while before going back to their tent.
They had to think about arranging their things inside to keep them dry. To begin they removed everything from the tent except the stove.
“We should have torn down the guys’ bunks and brought the lumber.” Pearl stood looking at the empty space.
“I think we had enough to bring with our food and clothes and this tent,” Emma commented.
“Until we can find some lumber for beds or a floor, we will still have to sleep on the ground.”
“Fine. We can roll our bedding up each morning to make more room.”
They took their bedding back into the tent and set it in the far right corner. Their trunks of clothes went in the left corner.
They set the table and one chair beside the trunks. Then they brought in the pails, washtub, washboard, wringer, and the box of soap and set them in the corner to the left of the door flap. The other two chairs had to stay outside.
“We won’t have shelves, so the food that needs to stay dry will have to be piled in the washtub and on the table,” Pearl said.
They brought in the sacks of flour, cornmeal, sugar, boxes of matches and the dried potatoes, vegetables, and fruit and distributed them between the tub and the table. This left them some room to eat and work at the table.
The tins of coffee, tea, salt, pepper, baking soda, and canned milk went under the table. They put the bacon, wrapped in cheesecloth and then paper, in a back corner of the tent to keep it cool.
Pearl and Emma stood in the doorway and surveyed their work. Because nothing could be set close to the stove, there was only a narrow path down the middle of the tent.
“It’s a good thing Ethel told us to buy a large tent,” Pearl said.
“We’ll have more room when our bedding is rolled up.”
“Yes, but if it gets as cold as everyone says, we will have to build some sort of bed to keep us off the hard ground. And speaking of cold, we should get some more firewood. This pile won’t last us long.”
Pearl picked up their axe and saw while Emma grabbed the length of canvas from under their bedding. Ethel had insisted they buy it, stating it would keep their bedding cleaner on the ground and until they had some sort of sled, the canvas would make hauling wood a lot easier.
As they walked into the nearby bush, Pearl remembered the times she had visited her grandparents on their farm and learned to cut down trees for firewood. Those experiences were certainly coming in handy, considering Mrs. Wills had said that it cost her $225.00 for a winter’s supply of wood. And Pearl’s money was getting tight right now. She would have to spend it wisely in order for it to last until spring when she hoped to receive payment for her first articles.
The trees weren’t very big around, so it didn’t take them long to chop down three of them. They sawed them into short log lengths and threw some of those on the canvas. It took three trips before they had the logs piled near their tent. Now they had to saw them into stove lengths, split them and let them dry. That would have to wait a day or two since their muscles were sore.
Pearl opened the door of the stove and pushed some dry grass in and set kindling over it. She lit the grass and that ignited the kindling, then she added larger pieces of wood and soon had a fire blazing. The small stove gave off lots of warmth, and the top had two lids that to add wood and let more heat into the room. It also had a small side oven.
Pearl reheated some leftover beans and potatoes for their evening meal and they ate outside enjoying the scene of the Yukon River sedately flowing by in the twilight.
* * *
Pearl studied her hair in the hand held mirror. Both she and Emma had tried to keep their hair fashionable since they started their journey but they hadn’t always succeeded and today she resolved to wash her tresses. She’d already hauled four pails of water from the river. Usually they only needed two pails of water a day, but on washday, bath day, and shampooing day, they needed more.
According to the magazines she’d read it was important to keep the scalp clean as that maintained the purity of the person. She needed to shampoo her hair to keep the particles of dust that settle on the scalp from thickening from the scalp oils. That oily matter would clog the pores and retard the hair growth. So between shampooing’s she dislodged the dust that collected on her scalp by using a moderately stiff brush.
Pearl set a pot of water on the stove to heat and finely shaved some pure white Castile soap into it. While it dissolved, she took her brush and used the stiff bristles to loosen the dandruff from her scalp. When the water and soap had turned into a thick lather, she carried the pot and a towel outside into the cool morning air. She’d moved a chair away from the tent and now set the pot and towel on it. On the ground beside the chair, she had placed a pail of warm water with a dipper for rinsing.
Pearl hated the idea of washing her hair out in the open. She considered it part of her toilette that she did private, but life was more primitive here and she had to adjust. She bent and poured a liberal amount of the liquid over her head and rubbed it into her scalp and hair until she felt thoroughly cleansed.
She dipped the dipper into the pail and poured the already cooling water over her hair, letting the soap drip onto the ground. When the rinse water ran clear, she took the towel and vigorously dried her hair. The best way to dry hair in the summer was in the warm sunlight, but there wasn’t much sun this morning so Pearl returned to the tent and used the heat from the stove to get most of the moisture out.
While Pearl untangled her hair with a coarse comb, Emma took her turn at washing her own hair. Pearl’s hair was free of snarls when Emma came in to dry and comb hers. Then they checked each other’s hair for split ends and clipped them. Clipping was better and easier than singeing and less dangerous for a woman taking care of her own hair, she had read.
By the time their hair had been styled, the sun had warmed. Emma took her parasol and went for a walk. Pearl donned a hat, then picked up her sketchpad and pencil and headed out to do some sketching. With the land around them being mainly flat, she didn’t have a vantage point to look down on the abandoned boats, the wandering men, the tents, and the river.
To make the best of what view she had Pearl found a rock near the riverbank with an unobstructed view of everything. There she sat and opened her book.
As she drew the tents, the bushes, and the hill behind, she noticed a muscular man of medium height who seemed to be taking large steps in different directions as if measuring something. He had the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up above his elbows and his black hat pushed back on his head.
She’d seen him arrive the day before and watched him walk around the area. At the time she wondered what he was doing, but went on about her own business. Now he had aroused her curiosity. Closing her pad, she stood and approached him.
He seemed so concentrated on what he was doing that he didn’t notice her.
“Excuse me,” she said.
He jerked his head, as if started, and she noted that he appeared older than she had first thought, maybe in his late thirties. He had brown hair, streaked with gray and a weathered face. The skin around his dark blue eyes crinkled when he smiled at her, inspiring a strange sensation in her stomach.
“How may I help you?” he asked.
Pearl took a deep breath to steady her suddenly tingling nerves. “My name is Pearl Owens.” She couldn’t seem to say anything more.
“How do you do, Miss Owens?” He gave a slight bow “I’m Joseph Ladue. Are you related to Sam?”
Joseph Ladue. This was the man Ethel Berry had told her about. “My cousin. I’m here with his sister, Emma.”
“And why are you here?”
He had a soft warm voice with a French accent that she found very appealing. She started to reply that she had been curious about what he was doing, but then she realized that wasn’t what he was asking.
Her voice trembled as she began the spiel she’d already grown tired of telling. Maybe she should come up with something else. “I’ve come north to write articles about life here and the men and women who live it.”
“Well, you are just in time,” Joseph nodded his head. “You are getting in on the ground floor of what will be the biggest gold strike in this country’s history.”
“How do you know it will be the biggest? The gold has just been discovered.”
“Ah.” Joseph waggled his finger at her. “Many men have doubted my prediction of a gold strike over the years, but now I will be vindicated. You just wait and see.”
“So you have been here for a long time?” Pearl opened her sketchpad to an empty page and wrote his name at the top.
“I came to the Yukon River area in 1882.”
“From where?”
“I was born in Schuyler Falls, New York, but my parents were from Quebec.”
“That’s where your accent comes from.” Pearl caught herself before saying charming accent.
“Yes, we spoke French at home.”
She was having trouble remembering what questions to ask and the one question she really wanted an answer to she was having a hard time figuring out how to slip into the conversation.
“Can you tell me a bit about your life here?”
Joseph rubbed his neck and scrunched his face. “There’s not much to tell. I’ve tried prospecting, farming, and for the past two years I’ve owned a trading post on a large island upriver with my partner, Arthur Harper.”
“Is your wife looking after it while you are here?” Pearl thought she had worded that very well.
“I’m not married. Yet.”
Yet. Did that mean he was looking? She hoped so because, for some reason, she felt herself drawn to this older man.
“Hey, Joe,” someone yelled at him. “I’m needing some lumber. Got any for sale?”
“As soon as I get my saw mill here,” Joseph hollered back. He looked at Pearl. “I’m sorry but I have to get back to work.”
“Thank you for answering my questions,” Pearl said, wishing she could ask him more. “Would I be able to speak with you again if I need more information for my article?”
“Any time you wish.” Joseph’s smile lit up his face as he turned and left.
Pearl stared after him. For the first time in her life, her heart had been set aflutter by the smile of a man.