EPISODE 224 YUKON DIARY Monday July 16,1962 to Monday July 30, 1962
alan skeoch
jan. 2021
Turam harness was elaborate. If we met a hungry Bear escape would be difficult.
“God I loved those jobs…remember each one to this day but the Yukon job is best because I kept a detailed diary.”
Bill Dunn and Alan Skeoch…swimming…alone on this wilderness Yukon lake.
One of our campsites…looks a little messy but it was clean. That’s Andy the Korean War Vet holding the pot and spoon which meant it was his day to do he cooking. We never complained to a cook. Had we done so we would never get a cook. Those are socks on the guideline. Meat was always strung high in a tree to discourage bears. Garbage was burned. Dishes were washed. Socks were Most important pieces of clothing. Water was dangerous as streams may have had arsenic, cadmium, certainly lead in
the water. Easier to drink beer and safer.
Monday July 16, 1962
Breakfast of Prem*, orange juice, crackers, cheese snd coffee then began packing. Mailed books to mom and Marjorie then met Henry who insisted I have coffee with him. Nice.
(*we called it Clap)
In the pouring rain we loaded the 1953 Dodge Power wagon again for the Silver Titan job. then drove to Cecils’ where we were surprised to find a brand new campsite..neat…like a military camp…new tents lined up with precision…clean as a whistle. Had a delicious meal…better than canned meat and sardines and pork and beans. Then got our new home in order….12 x 14 foot tent with wood walls and floor. Old Ted Swanson supervised.
Bill Dunn arrived back in camp….we traded stories for an hour
expenses Meals 1.50
Tuesday July 17, 1962
Got base line cable ready then drove to Proctor’s and began stringing cable ….. 12,000 feet.
A long and agonizing day…reels weigh about 50 lbs. Drove back to camp for gas and field books.
Started reading console for 20 stations…..2,000 feet then had trouble with motor generator .
Took picture of old shaft with windlass on top. System was strange. In order to get to gold baring gravel the old placer miners had to dig vertical shafts through the permafrost. To do this they had to heat the ground in order to loosen the gravel from the icy grip of ancient frost. Then haul the waste gravel up using the windlass and tub. At least I think that was how it was done.
Wednesday July 18 1962
Had 10 cable breaks in morning, but did manage 13,600 feet of line….2.72 miles.
Thursday, July 19, 1962
Bills Scott, Bill Dunn and I had a successful day…14,300 feet read (2.86 miles). The bush was hot as hell
Swimming was unusual. Picture of Bill Dunn and I swimming somewhere near our Silver Titan site. But we had taken time to make a raft so this picture does not make sense unless we found the raft already made. Pic shows Bill Dunn on the left. Whose underwear needed cleaning the most?
At four we knocked off and went for swim in a little lake…good way to wash
our underwear. Wonderful swim. Letters from home report that cucumbers and tomatoes are good at farm.
Ed Jackman wrote (Dominican priest now) to report he is surrounded by Nuns. Drove to Elsa for ice cream only to find the store closed.
Friday, July 20, 1962
Hard day in bush…19,000 feet .. 3.82 miles.
Returned to camp to find that Ted Swanson had shot a bear…a grizzly. I just hate the worship of guns here in the Yukon . No reason to shoot the bear….depressing to see the corpse on the trail. Our company, Hunting Tech, does not include guns in bush camps…a ‘no no’…I remember asking Floyd Faulkner why ? His answer.
“If guns were in camps we would shoot each other.”…a joke but the joke has
some meaning. Tensions can get high on some jobs. That was especially so
on the Groundhog River job when three of us were in total wilderness isolation for more than two months.
Drove to Mayo for a milk shake made with 1 can of condensed milk slightly shaken. Lousy taste. Girls in Mayo gave me a rough time. I forgot my pants were torn…no underwear on…kept winking at me…sort of funny.
Saturday, July 21, 1962
Rain for first two hours then Andy and I drove into the bush to begin work.
Good progress…12,500 line feet…2.5 miles.
These plastic car coins were free in boxes of cereal. Good for rewards. “Special award to A. Skeoch and team on August 23, 1962 for getting 3 line miles done in the pouring rain.” “presented by Axel Doulis of Rio Plata Mines, Dublin Gulch”
Blueberries are ripe and ready for picking…same applies to the swamp apples (which are too sweet…different taste.} At lunch Andy told me some hair raising stories about the Korean war and North Korean guerrillas operating behind the lines. Andy drove supply trucks in convoy at night. NK guerrillas would jump on board the last truck….kill driver. Andy would jump off when that happened. True? False? Check the record.
Bill Dunn joined us in the afternoon reducing work load. Henry Robichuck and Lionel Raltin awaited us on the road by the truck They had been walking since 5.30 a.m. after their truck broke down on the Haggart Creek road. Hardly a road since a good part is the riverbed. I drove them to camp hen Bob Gilroy took them on to Mayo.
Sunday, July 22, 1962
Overcast but no rain. Bugs will be bad. Bill Dunn and I got a good start. We did 14,000 line feet…2.82 mlles. Motor cut out twice.
Andy’s feet have been terribly mangled by his boots…cuts… open wounds to the tendons it seems and quite infected. He is frightened at any suggestion that he see a doctor.
The mosquitoes are sons bitches. we spent the lunch break enveloped in smoke from a smudge fire to keep the little bastards at bay. I think we ate more smoke than food.
No danger of a forest fire…everything was soaking wet including us. Smoke discouraged mosquitoes.
Returned to camp at 4 p.m. and began building my packing case to ship to Toronto much to the amusement of Ted. Then John Strebchuck asked for a lift to Alex Smith’s place …took nearly an hour to get there… through Keno City road which was treacherous . Then gathered up some of the old 1920’s wall paper from a roadhouse that was being torn down. Roadhouse is a flattering term. In the mid 1920’s this had been a kind of hotel…two to a bed. Man above leaked something onto old man Wernecke while snooker guy arrived to share the lower bunk. Copies of News of the World, 1916-1919 pasted to walls as insulation.
My eyes are quite sore for some reason.
Monday July 23, 1962
The heavens opened up today…full day of rain. Got up, ate breakfast and went back to bed for an hour. Luxury. Spent the afternoon reading, writing and adding to my diary.
The foreman of the diamond drill crew came into our tent and we spent time talking politics. In the afternoon Bill drove to Mayo to phone Rosemary long distance ($8.75) while I relaxed with my copy of Klondike and the Star Weekly (sent by Marjorie). Then finished my packing case.
Bill Dunn examining diamond drill core at Silver Titan geologist’s shack.
At supper one of the fellows suggested the beef be wrapped in brown paper…to give the Wrigley gum people some competition. Ted dumped sugar bowl all over…mess. Andy got cake icing all over his face. Mess.
Bill Scott arrived back at camp with mail from Marjorie…to letters plus a Huckleberry Hound pin. Amusing. Bill also brought the old pick, shovel and axe that I left in the Chateau Inn after finding them in an old mine adit when Moses Lord, Dinky and I found an old adit entrance from the 1920’s. The tools will go in my packing crate.
Abandoned log shack somewhere near Peso Silver holdings. Sod roof.
Election 1962…Tommy Douglas, John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson in costume from the Wizard of Oz. (MacPherson political cartoon)
Tuesday July 24, 1962.
Overcast and wet but suitable enough for working…that does not mean pleasant, every bush we try to slide past soaks us…every mossy swamp has more water to soak into our worn out gum rubbers…wet feet are bloody uncomfortable. But we can work…got 15,500 feet done, 3.1 line miles. our lunch was enjoyable, a respite before we launched into swampy land all afternoon. All the eastern part of this base line set up is swamp.
Andy fell in the river…tough times for him. His feet are a nightmare…cut, cut, cut.
In the evening we went to a movie in Elsa…titled Tiger Bay…good. Drove back to camp and had a slice of lemon meringue pie before crawling into my damp sleeping bag. Nights are getting colder and it is only nearly end of July. Hot days sometimes. Cold nights most times.
Ted Scanson told story of an old man on one bush job …a man who never washed his plate. “reversed the plate for each meal…had a heap of driedfoodi on each side” Sometimes we must get close to that.
Wednesday July 25, 1962
Most frustrating day. Only got 4,300 feet done. Trouble with the battery connection…. off and on…short circuit or maybe moisture…slowed us to a crawl …long time at each picket just to get signal. Really hard to make repairs when off and on signals.
Returned to camp in hell of a mood…cursing. “Last time I will ever work with this goddamn Turam” etc. etc. Cooled down once I realized the problem was repairable.
Ontario College of Education information arrived. I will be a teacher in the future…sort of hard to believe. Love this life in the bush at times but it is only for the young.
Thursday July 26, 1962
Jack Gillies arrived in camp for breakfast…drunk as a skunk. While it was distressing to see him that way, it was also humorous. Jack is a good natured drunk. I have seen others who turn angry and dangerous but none of those yet in the Yukon.
The console failed again and I spent the morning checking the circuitry…found a broken connection and soldered same. Meanwhile I had Bill Dunn and Andy coil up the base line. Rain came around lunch but we worked through it and had the base line coiled by 3.30.
Three packages from home and Marjorie today one of which was a bottle of wild raspberry jam, some cookies and magazines. Old Ted Scanson came in but refused a cookie because he had a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth.
Jeff Morin, the CP airline agent, paid a visit before flying home to Ireland.
We drove to Mayo Landing and registered in the Tim-O-Lou motel. Had two rum and Coca Cola drinks at the Chateau Inn then returned to the Motel.
In the middle of the night Bill got up and drove out of town for a walk.
Nice pic of Marjorie beside my little library and alarm clock. Books are important.
Seismograph did not operate for some reason. Always some problem…often simple but hard to find. Worst is a loose connection…off snd on problem.
Very depressing scene in the Chateau Inn where an old man (in his 50’s)
was sitting alone at a table talking to himself and making actions that
seemed to simulate a man fishing. An elderly First Nations woman sat
at the next table. also seemed drunk. She was watching him closely and
eventually joined him at his table as he babbled . One comment was
“She was such a tiny woman.” Whatever that meant only he would
know. Maybe she knew as well. Sad.
Note from 2021: I was 23 years old when I kept this diary. To me at
that time I described him as “an elderly man in his 50’s”. Today in
2021 I consider a man in his 50’s as young. Hell, our own kids are
in their 50’s.
Friday July 27, 1962
“Who the hell is hammering on the door?” It was Bill Dunn…cheerful
as usual. Had a good shower, washed my hair and put my dirty clothes
back on once more. We shared Marjorie’s jam and cookies for breakfast.
Spent the morning walking around town and then packed our equipment in
Al Trigg’s truck. Then bought two little girls ice cream cones…very cute
kids one of which belonged to the Gilroys. Then Bill Scott and I got
into the back of the truck where Bill sat on the seismograph which gave
me a bit of a worry.
Hans Buka was still not ready for us when we arrived. No tent had
been pitched, His work team leaves much to be desired. Filthy.
Garbage dump is right beside their eating table. Seem to be eating
a diet consisting mostly of beans. Their latrine is non existent which
means the little white patches here and there are toilet paper markers.
Perhaps I should not mention this. When we set up a camp we
designste s latrine spot immediately.
No point in us staying so we came back to the motel with Al. He told us how his mom was killed in an avalanche last winter. Ten miles by snowshoe at -40 degrees… tragedy made the national news.
After supper at Luigi’s we joined the Mayo Landing volunteer fire department in a test fire. Quite amusing. Two glasses of wine.
Then off to bed reading Generation of Vipers.
expenses food $5.50 (saved some for end of job plan, ate jam instead)
Insect repellent $4.35
Saturday July 28, 1962
We got up at 8, showered and Bill went down to breakfast while I read.
Hans Buhr picked us up in the Land Rover at 11 a.m. and drove us to the job site. …60 miles…we stopped en route to look at his D9 bulldozer which was sinking into a muskeg bog.
Arrived at the camp at 1.10 … disgusted by the filth. Garbage all around..i.e.
bacon rinds under feet at cook tent…empty food cans and broken bottles…and worse i.e. the little white patches. Doing mining exploration may sound rough and dirty but really not so bad. We have standards. This linocutting crew did not have standards. Nothing we could do about it.
We immediately set up our motor generator and associated equipment…base line cable up the hill (more like s mountain than a hill) So steep that Andy nearly had a heart attack. He is a constant worry…really nice guy but his health has been compromised…terrified of doctors.
After that we had to set up our own tent and get ready for bed.
Bill and Andy decided to sleep outside the tent due to the heat.
Days are unpredictable…hot, cold and freezing.
We had beans and beeferoni for lunch…same for supper. I am amazed
that their crew has survived he filth.
Tested the equipment then went for a walk and discovered that’
Bill Dunn had broken into the Wadco Placer miners shed. I told him
to get the hell out. Then watched the grayling jumping in the Creek.
Then had glass Gilbey’s Red Castle tawny Australian wine. Why did I
keep this record so precisely…who cares what wine I drank?
Expenses $5.50
Ordered prints of my pictures for fellows
5 x Dawson Hardware
5 x Red Feather bar
5 x Old sod covered shack
2 x Al and campsite
2 x Bill at shitter
2 x haircut
2 x Americans
Sunday July 29, 1962
Arose and had breakfast with whole crew then waited around for vehicle…waited until 1.30…stopped at a placer gold mine site operated by Gerry Smasniuk (sp?) from Dublin Gulch.
Heard story about an old timer who took his annual bath by walking into Mayo Lake with his bar of soap.
We chased a big brown bear down the road.
George showed us a 7.5 ounce gold nugget he owns.
Visited the Gilroys and had a drink with them. Patricia and Susan, their
daughters, were cute and fascinating . Charming. Bob got us a vehicle and we drove back to camp at 8 p.m.
Monday July 30, 1962
Had breakfast with Moses Lord and Water Malecky both of whom are legendary Yukoners. (see note from Aho book on Malecky AND story about Moses Lord)
Then started the motor and left Ed to his trouble shooting examination of our equipment. He was a disappointment by creating more troubles than he solved.
We built a log pyramid to take our cable over Haggart Creek.
Dirk, Wheland, Hugh, Len, and Bud dropped in for a few laughs and cup of tea.
Bill drove out to Mayo Landing again (60 miles)…no point in me going as well so I remained and had a nice day of rest. Spent an hour watching the grayling jumping in Haggart Creek then went to bed but could not sleep for some reason…either nerves or lack of exercise.
alan skeoch
Jan. 2021
NEXT SECTION OF DIARY WILL BEGIN
Tuesday July 31, 1962
