William A. Redmond
illiam Redmond was one of a party of nine that travelled down the Yukon River in 1887. They left Victoria on 21 April on the Olympian and arrived at Juneau on the 24th. There were several parties there, outfitting for the Yukon and there was a lack of information on whether to take sleighs along. There were parties of men getting ready to prospect in the Juneau area. There were a couple of odd-looking steamers plying between Juneau and the Chilkoot for the transport of miners and their stores. They charged ten dollars. Redmond's party hired an open boat and two men for $64. They packed their stuff up the village and camped next to Healy's store. Dickinson's store was above the village.1)
Indigenous packers would only pack to the summit at this time of year and they charged $10 for 100 pounds. Skookum Jim carried over 100 pounds and his wife carried 50 pounds. At the Summit they passed two white men going out, coming on foot from Stewart River. One of them was named Leslie. They reported serious trouble with the First Nations and starvation times. They said two to three white men and five Indigenous men had been shot at Harper's Post by First Nation people who were starving and who had been refused provisions. This story proved to be without basis in fact but it stopped several parties from coming into the country.2)
Redmond’s party built a boat and made their way down the Yukon River. They found several mining parties on the Hootalinqua (Teslin) River. On 24 June, Redmond's party saw several gold claims on the Yukon bars, and they talked to a few men who had stopped working due to high water. A great deal of work had been done on Cassiar Bar but the bars were almost flooded and were almost worked out. There were under a half dozen men working on the Stewart River. The post at the mouth of the Sixtymile, Ogilvie, was abandoned by those who had gone to the new goldfields. First Nation fishers at a large rancheria [at the mouth of the Klondike] were preparing for the salmon run. Fort Reliance was abandoned and in a state of dilapidation. The mouth of the Fortymile was marked by a cache and a notice board with some directions to places upstream.3)
Two other parties reached the Fortymile at the same time. The parties helped each other tow the boats upstream. One man, Lamont, was drowned and a boat capsized losing their remaining bacon. Two men had been drowned the month before and one of these came into the country with Lamont. They had separated, one going to the Sixtymile and coming over into the Fortymile. There were three parties working between the mouth and the canyon and one of these was taking out $10 to $12 a day. A man above that was getting $6 to $8. And the men above them were doing about the same. Redmond talked to Raymur, who had come down from about 40 miles up. He had just sold his claim for about $300. Redmond left the Yukon drainage at the close of the season.4)