Romancing the Klondike

by Donadlson-Yarmey, Joan;

  Isabel collapsed in Sam’s arms and there were few dry eyes in the crowd.

  * * *

  Emma was at Clara’s discussing her wedding dress. Later Pearl was to meet Emma and Joseph in front of the warehouse to decide where the marriage ceremony would be held. Until then she worked on an article that she titled, Romancing the Klondike.

  My cousin, Sam, who had been living in the north for five years, wrote letters home about his life along the Yukon River. He and his friends spent their days wandering the land, panning for gold, finding enough to pay their bills and purchase new grubstakes. They had a freedom that the average person with a job and family did not have. I read and reread those letters and it all sounded so romantic that I wanted to experience the northern lifestyle for myself.

  I did come north last summer and I soon discovered that reality was not as romantic as words on a piece of paper. My cousin, Emma, Sam’s sister, and I arrived in August about the same time as the first inkling of gold was found on a small creek known as Rabbit Creek. The creek was renamed Bonanza and an off shoot was called Eldorado. Both were quickly staked by prospectors who already lived in the vicinity.

  The miners built small cabins and sometimes up to four men lived in them. Heat in the cabin was supplied by a sheet-iron stove which was kept red hot in the winter and did little to dispel the cold. Above the stove usually hung a tin of sourdough bread starter, which was a staple in the north. It was used to make bread, biscuits, and flapjacks. Few cabins had windows and the inside was hazy from candles, the fire in the stove, and cigarette smoke.

  Many of the men had left their wives and children to look for gold in the early 1890s. They carried wrinkled, worn photographs of their families with them and showed the pictures to anyone who expressed any interest, sometimes to those who didn’t. The men needed to speak of home and family as if doing so brought them closer.

  Here in the north towns rose and died at the whim of gold. Circle City and Fortymile, both along the Yukon River were large thriving towns until the discovery of gold near the mouth of the Klondike River. Within months, they turned into ghost towns and Dawson became the place to be. Businessmen and women took down their signs and travelled, some for hundreds of miles, over the frozen river on foot or by dogsled to reach the new town and set up business again.

  The town of Dawson, staked by Joseph Ladue in the fall of 1896 and named by him in January of this year, slowly took shape over the winter. It began with just his warehouse and saloon, his sawmill, and a few tents. By this spring, more than fifteen hundred men and women lived in the few cabins and the hundreds of tents of all shapes and sizes.

  Gold was worth sixteen dollars an ounce and there was hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold being found along the creeks. Miners carried their gold dust or nuggets into the store in sacks where it was weighed out on a scale by the proprietor to pay for their purchases.

  However, right now, here in Dawson, gold has no value. Most everyone has enough containers of nuggets and gold dust stacked in their cabins or buried on their claims to pay for anything they want. But what they want cannot be found here. There are no large, respectable homes to be bought, no elegant carriages to ride around in, no fine suits and top hats to wear, none of the extravagant products that only the rich can afford to buy. There isn’t even frivolous merchandise such as ice cream or chocolates to be sampled. Gold is the cheapest of commodities because of its abundance and its lack of buying power.

  Of course, the lives of many of the men, who for years had nothing to call their own except a gold pan and shovel, will change once they leave on the steamboats and reach the outside world. Here they are still prospectors, but there they will be wealthy members of society.

  It’s funny how the actual living of the life takes away the romance of it. I’ve changed my mind on the dreamy side of living in the north and I’m sure that, right now, these men and women don’t look at their lives as being romantic. That may be altered in the coming years when they think back about their time spent here.

  Pearl put her pencil down but left the paper on the table. She wasn’t sure if she would add more to it later, but right now she wanted to take a walk before meeting Emma and Joseph.

  She stood and left the tent, strolling slowly through the town that she now called home. It was a beautiful spring day. The days were getting longer and warmer and there was little darkness. Flies were buzzing around any garbage they could find. Birds were returning. She didn’t know their names, but she liked hearing their songs again.

  It was a few days since the breakup on the river and there were scarcely any chunks of ice on the water. She knew that riverboats would soon be arriving and her life would change. Emma and Donald were taking the first boat out, but she wanted to stay for the summer.

  She was on the verge of acting in a most unladylike manner by telling Joseph how she felt about him and she wanted to give him a chance to respond.

  Pearl joined Emma and Joseph in front of the store. It was time to decide where the wedding ceremony would take place. They looked at the door of the warehouse where Emma would emerge, checked where the minister and Donald should be waiting on the riverbank, and figured where the guests and other people would stand.

  As they discussed the arrangement of the important event, no one mentioned the horror they had watched from the same spot only days before.

  They heard voices on the water and turned to see small vessels coming downstream. Pearl never failed to be surprised at the people who always seemed to be coming from nowhere.

  “Who are they?” she asked Joseph. “And how did they get here so fast?”

  Joseph shrugged. “Never seen them before, but they probably started this way last fall and spent the winter along the river.”

  Joseph walked down to greet them. He liked to welcome newcomers to his town. He’d give them a brief history of the place and offer them a lot or lumber. Most had come to stake gold claims so turned down his offer. He usually smiled and pointed out where his saloon was.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sam and Donald had been readying themselves for Donald’s leaving for the past few days. The wedding was less than a week away and they were heading to Dawson tomorrow. Donald needed some new clothes, and they had to help with the last minute arrangements. After the wedding, Donald would be staying in Dawson until the sternwheeler arrived.

  They had divided the gold they had cleaned, dumping Donald’s share into the backpack. Sam insisted that Donald take a larger portion.

  “No, the agreement was that we divide our gold in half,” Donald said.

  “I’ll be finding more gold after you leave. Plus, in return for the claim transfer I did for Clarence, he ceded me an equal length of the lower end of the property. I will have whatever gold I get from that.”

  “No.” Donald’s tone was firm. He closed the backpack then looked at Sam. “Are you thinking of coming home with us?”

  Sam shrugged. “I’ve thought about it, but apart from my parents, there is nothing for me in Nova Scotia.”

  “But with all the gold you have you could buy yourself a nice home, start a business, and see the world maybe even find a wife.”

  “Or I could do most of that here.” Sam hated himself for it, but he was already wondering how soon he could start courting Isabel.

  “True.” Donald looked around the small room. “This is our last night together in this cabin,” he said, a catch in his voice. “I feel like we should do something to mark it.”

  “I’d invite our neighbours over to say goodbye to you, but most of them are also leaving on the same boat.”

  “Except Isabel,” Donald said.

  “Yes, except Isabel.” Sam’s voice softened as he said her name.

  Donald looked at him. “Is that why you are staying? Because she is?”

  Sam felt himself blush.

  “It is.” Donald pounced. “You like her.”

  “I just think that since the Berrys are leaving, sh
e needs someone she can call on to help her,” Sam said.

  “And that would be you.”

  “I’ve let her know that I am staying.”

  “Well, buddy, I hope it works for you.”

  * * *

  It was late afternoon when Pearl stood in Joseph’s warehouse and gazed at her cousin in her wedding dress. In spite of the short notice, they had managed to pull things together. Clara had done a wonderful job of making the white wedding dress. It had a fitted bodice with a scooped neck. The leg o’mutton sleeves ended in pleated lace at her elbows. Attached to the front of the bodice it had a matching layer of lace. The skirt of the dress was A-line and around the hem was a row of lace. Pearl had done her hair up and placed a diamond shaped piece of lace on top.

  Emma looked as radiant as a bride should and Pearl hoped she, herself, looked half as good. She wore one of her white shirtwaists and a light blue walking skirt. There hadn’t been time for her to get a new outfit.

  Sam and Donald had each bought new shirts from another seamstress but wore their old dungarees. One of the new arrivals in town was a barber so both men had gone to him for a haircut. Donald had gotten a shave while Sam had his beard trimmed.

  Joseph and Paul had built a wooden archway for Emma to walk through and decorated it with spruce boughs. Since Sam was Donald’s best man, Joseph would walk Emma to her husband-to-be. The minister had the marriage license

  Pearl peeked out the doorway. Word had spread about the first wedding in Dawson and the banks of the river were full of men and women. The invited guests clustered around the archway.

  Reverend Bowen, Donald, and Sam stood waiting. Pearl stepped out of the warehouse, crossed Front Street and walked under the archway to stand across from Sam. She looked back and saw Emma and Joseph emerge. Emma had her hand in Joseph’s arm. Pearl wondered if Joseph would look as proud when he walked his own daughter down the aisle.

  When Emma stood beside Donald, Joseph bowed and stepped back. The minister began the service by welcoming everyone. He read from the Bible then had Emma and Donald repeat their wedding vows. Sam handed Donald a wedding ring. It was a gold nugget that Donald had pounded into a line, then wrapped into a circle the size of Emma’s finger. It was soft and pliable but would do until Donald could buy her one in Nova Scotia.

  Pearl looked sideways at Joseph. How she wished she knew what was on his mind. Was the ceremony before them stirring any feelings in him? Was he thinking that it would be nice to have a wife to come home to, to share his life with—like she was thinking it would be wonderful to have a husband, a husband named Joseph?

  When the formalities were over, Donald leaned over to kiss his bride. A whoop went up from the crowd. Donald and Emma led the way back to the warehouse where they signed the necessary papers and Pearl and Sam witnessed them. Reverend Bowen rolled them up and put them in his pack. Sam handed him a sack of gold as payment for the ceremony.

  Outside, someone began playing a fiddle. Donald and Emma went to the doorway. There was a loud cheer then they began chanting. “Speech! Speech! Speech!”

  Donald held up his hand. The music stopped and everyone quieted.

  “First of all, Emma and I want to thank all of you for coming, and we especially want to thank everyone who helped make this wedding happen on such short notice.”

  The crowd clapped in acknowledgement.

  “I’ve been in the north for five years. Some of them, well most of them, have been very lean. I am happy to say that my life has totally changed in the past ten months. I have a gold claim that is paying well, and I have a new wife.” He glanced down into Emma’s eyes. They exchanged a smile.

  Cheers and whooping.

  “I’m keeping my claim, because Emma and I are coming back next year. We both love living in the north and we want to make Dawson our home.”

  More cheering and clapping.

  Pearl and Sam looked at each other in surprise.

  “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Sam whispered.

  “Me, too,” Pearl admitted. “They sure managed to keep it a secret.”

  “Dance! Dance! Dance!” the crowd yelled.

  The fiddler started playing again. Donald took Emma into his arms and they began to waltz along Front Street. After a few rounds, Sam and Pearl joined them. There was laughter and clapping. The wedding party had begun.

  Sam released Pearl after two dances and cut in on Donald. Donald, in turn, held out his hand to Pearl. She grinned and slipped into his arms. When he went back to Emma after one dance, Pearl stood alone watching the dancers. She looked around for Joseph and saw him talking with Paul. She decided that she had waited long enough.

  Pearl walked up to Joseph. “Would you care to dance?”

  She almost laughed at the startled look on both Joseph and Paul’s faces. It went against all convention for a woman to ask a man to dance. Paul moved aside.

  Without a word, Joseph took her in his arms and they did the two-step. The fiddler seemed to know only two types of dance music. He next played a waltz. Last time Pearl and Joseph had waltzed together, he had pulled her tight against him. This time he kept her at arm’s length.

  Pearl almost cried in dismay. What had happened? Why was he suddenly so distant? Was he mad at her for over stepping the boundaries of a man-woman relationship? It wasn’t as if people cared. The north was a more carefree place than where she had grown up.

  “I need to talk with you,” Joseph said, when the dance finished.

  Pearl’s heart fluttered with excitement as he led her down Front Street away from the noisy crowd. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he was about to declare his intentions to her. When they were by themselves, he stopped and turned to her.

  “I don’t know how to say this,” Joseph began.

  Just say it, Pearl wanted to tell him. I will say yes.

  “I cannot court you.”

  “What?” Pearl wasn’t sure she had heard right.

  “I cannot court you,” Joseph repeated.

  She knew he was saying that because of Sam. She took a deep breath to control her anger at her cousin.

  “I overheard the conversation Sam had with you at Christmas,” she said. “He had no right to talk to you like that and you don’t need to listen to him. I’m a grown woman and I can decide who I want to see.”

  “Sam was right, though.” Joseph’s voice was quiet as he looked at the ground. “I should not have led you on, making you think I cared.”

  “You mean you don’t?” Pearl could barely keep the anguish from her voice.

  “Oh, I do love you.”

  “You do?” Pearl’s heart swelled. He had finally said it. He loved her. They would have a life together.

  “I do, but I cannot marry you.”

  Pearl was confused. “How can you love me but not marry me?”

  “Because I am engaged to a woman in Schuyler Falls.”

  Pearl felt as if the wind had been knocked from her. He was already engaged, had been when they’d watched the northern lights, had been when they’d waltzed close together at Christmas, had been when he’d held her at the ice breakup. All the time she had been thinking there was something between them, he’d been thinking of another woman.

  “Who?” she asked weakly.

  “Her name is Anna Mason and she has been waiting for me to return a rich man so that her family will let her marry me.”

  The life seemed to drain from her. She felt faint and would have fallen to the ground if Joseph hadn’t grabbed her.

  “I love you!” Pearl cried, holding tightly to him. “I really love you.”

  “And I love you.” Joseph’s voice cracked as if he was going to cry. “But I have loved her longer. I will be leaving on the first boat out.”

  Pearl looked up and saw the truth in his eyes. She let go and backed away from him, her heart broken. She stumbled to her cabin and threw herself on her bunk. Her life was ruined. The man she loved had professed his love for her but was leaving her to g
o to his betrothed. Tears ran down her cheeks and she cried until she had no tears left.

  Pearl lay on her bed listening to the faint music and laughter of the wedding dance. She had no desire to return to it. There was no way she could share Emma’s happiness right now. She was about to disrobe and climb under the covers when she remembered that Donald and Emma were spending the night, and the following weeks until the boat arrived, in the cabin. She was staying with Clara.

  She climbed off the bed and gathered up her bedding. She would have to move the mattress tomorrow. Heedless of what she looked like, she left the cabin dragging her blankets behind her. It was still daylight, but no one was about. She found her way to Clara’s tent and drew the flap aside. She arranged her bedding on the wooden floor and dropped onto it, clothes and all.

  * * *

  Pearl spent the next two weeks aimlessly wandering the streets, for she didn’t have a home right now. Somehow, she had managed to make it through the time since Joseph had told her he loved another woman and would be leaving Dawson to marry her. No one had particularly noticed her change in mood. Emma and Donald were wrapped up in their lives as newlyweds and spent most of their time in the cabin. Sam and the Berrys had returned to their claims, Sam to do more work and the Berrys to pack up their gold and a few possessions for their trip out. Clara and Hattie were both busy with their businesses. She avoided Joseph and the warehouse.

  As the time grew close for the first sternwheeler to arrive, Pearl noticed an air of impatience in the miners who had come from their claims with bulging suitcases, canvas sacks, and blankets full of gold. Some were anxious to return to the life they had rejected for whatever reason years ago. Having gold now made it seem much better. Others were happy to go back home with a fortune to show for their time spent in the north and stories to tell of their adventure. All were glad to leave their cramped cabins and their dark, murky mine shafts.