Fwd: EPISODE 234 YUKON DIARY SUNDAY AUUST 26, 1962 TO sept. 9, 1962

Begin forwarded message:

From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

Subject: EPISODE 234 YUKON DIARY SUNDAY AUUST 26, 1962 TO sept. 9, 1962

Date: January 27, 2021 at 10:54:40 PM EST

To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>

EPISODE 234    YUKON DIARY   SUNDAY AUGUST 26, 1962 TO Sept 9,1962

alan skeoch

Jan. 2021

Each camp needed a kitchen which I got good at constructing.   Hope you agree.   When  we 

 I cannot be sure where this kitchen camp was located.  My green and black  bush shirt was with me in the Yukon.  But this camp

kitchen looks too well stocked for the Yukon job.

Sunday August 25, 1962

8 a.m. Had coffee at Luigi’s and  drove to Silver Titan where Dick, the Japanese cook,

insisted I have bacon and  eggs with all trimmings.

A very dreary day with no one around. I unloaded part of the Turam gear

then continued  on to Rio Plata where Bill Scott made me another hot rum

and we continued packing the Turam gear.   Axe and  I then drove  on up

to Jack Acheson’s to pick up the huge Mammoth tooth.

We got into a fierce rainstorm back at the Rio Plata camp.  Dumped all 

the Turam  gear at Silver Titan and  then drove to town for supper and

a shower.

Hans Bahr is very excited about the anomalies we  found on their property.

Axe and Bill Scott are still very sick.  Axe paid  back the $30 he borrowed in Whitehorse.

Monday, August 27, 1962

Packed my crate full of antlers and ancient miners tools…shipped to Toronto…100 pounds

cost me $33.00…had supper with Gilroys then drove back north to Silver Titan camp

using Ruth McGurlay’s truck,  Nice  supper cooked by Dick.

Got boys together…Terry Doubt and  Bill Andrechuck.   Bill Dunn showed me his

new dog…part wolf.  And his new  car, a 1951 Pontiac,  How can he afford a car even if

11 years old?  Amusing character.

We   drove into a new property North of us and began assembling the equipment in

another new camp…a loose term as  a camp is always short term and  not pretty.

Andy brought a bottle of  Lindemsn’s Port to celebrate our new location.

Expenses  meals  $3.50. tape  $2.20

Tuesday August 28, 1962

Up at 7.30 with long day ahead of us.Terry and I packed grounding rods  and  reel of cable

to the south end  of Base Line #1.  Back to camp to do same for North end of BL #1.

Built a table  then settled down by candlelight.   Traded  stories in evening as usual.

Seems that bush  camp workers have  a never ending number of  stories some of  which

might even  be true.  The hookers of Keno City in the 1920’s are favourite subjects.

Wed.  August 29, 1962

Up at 6, out by 7.45 in pouring rain.  Managed  to get 12 lines  done which is  half  the property.

Both Terry and Andy are good  men in the bush…no complaining.  The wet bush makes  work

really miserable.  A big fire and billy can of tea was nice at lunch. (Billy can is just a fruit can with wire

for hanging over open fire).

Came across 20 blue geese as tame as chickens

In the evening Terry and  I made beds from long poles.  Cooked  by candlelight…not good.

Got some custard  ready and we  all ate from the pot.  

Picked  up  large anomaly…largest yet in the Yukon.

Thursday August 30, 1962

UP at 7, out by 8…finished  B.L #1…12 lines.  A wet long day.   Terry tells some damn good

stories…i.e. the bear that nearly got him on a glacier….and  the girls he had  success with.

Went to bed at 6.30 … telling each other stories in the dark.

Bill Scott is working in the other tent using our Coleman lantern.   Andy decided to cook apples

tonight but pot boiled  over. Bit of a mess. Applesauce was edible. Overall things are fine now that we have a tin wood

stove in the tent as  nights are getting colder.

Terry regaled us with with story of a woman he met in Haileybury, Ontario.  Funny.  Sensitive.  Terry

knows my friend Bob Tyson back in Ontario.   Laughed  a lot in the darkness.

Friday  August 31, 1962

Slept late…9.30…then got fellows up for a  hasty breakfast.  Ice in the water bucket .  Rolled up Base Line #1

and  laid  out Base Line #2.  Packed in  the motor generator and got everything working …even managed

to do  4 lines finishing at 6.30 pm.  Not pleasant.  We are not  tourists…work to do.

Extremely cold weather.  We needed  a big fire at noon just to get warm.   

Andy is really bitching today as  he wants to get back to Mayo Landing tomorrow evening as

his First Nations woman wants him back fast.  Not  sure how true that is…he  drinks a lot.

Terry gave a whole load of tips on women.  True?  Maybe.  Bill Scott gave all of us Hot Rum

drinks while Terry read  poetry of Robert Service.

The Northern Lights  lit up the night sky tonight…flashing  across the darkness  like lightning bolts.

Our dinner plates were frozen to the table before we had  time to dry them.  Now that is cold.

Stacked up pile of  firewood in our tent.  We will try to keep stove going all night. Must be careful as

stove is just tin plate…could get red hot and very dangerous.

Saturday Sept. 1, 1962

Up at 6 and got out in bush by 7.30. Finished  C.L. # 3 by noon.   Had good lunch of cold french

toast and bacon…and  hot tea over the bush fire.

Andy is determined to get  to Mayo Landing … decided to hike over the mountain to Silver Titan

leaving us at noon.  Terry and I pulled ground rods and coiled  cable.  Bill Scott helped

carry out some of the load.   Terry and I heard  a scream and rushed down the trail thinking

Bill was  in trouble.   Instead we met Bill and Mr and  Mrs. Gilroy drinking beer.  Bill gave

me a can of beer and a pile of mail.

We  put our food  up in a cache where bears could not get it then packed out several loads

of the heavy equipment.   I ripped the ass  out of my pants  again so had to keep facing

Mrs. Gilroy.

Terry and I hopped in the back of the Gilroy truck…a bitterly cold northern night.  We stopped

at Elsa for beer then drove on to Mayo Landing…delighted the little girls there…so cute…then

dinner at Luigi’s  and a drink with Andy and Ted in the Silver Inn.   Quite tragic to see Andy’

so drunk…and  Ted sitting there in his own urine as it trickled down his leg to the floor and out the door.

Met Henry Robachuk  who offered me a set of caribou antlers.  Amazing how many  friends  i now

have in Mayo  Landing…end  of third month here.

(Note:  I got the Antlers  from Henry and not from Moses as previously mentioned…or

maybe they were both involved  in the gift(

Expenses  $1.85  meals

Sunday  September 2, 1962

Packed some of our gear.  Visited Mrs  Moses and bought moccasins….$20 for two pair…Took

load of  waste to the dump.  Gilroys…then visited Mrs.Robachuk and got the caribou antlers.

Bob Gilroy bought a case of beer from the bootlegger and  gave each of us  a  can.  Poor Bob

Gilroy is an alcoholic which  is very hard on Mrs. Gilroy who is a  very kind and  extroverted French

Canadian lady.  Bob is great guy…charismatic…but wonder about his future.

Drove back to the Silver Titan  camp where Dick, the cook, fed us  all … seemed surly today.

Too much alcohol around today. Mrs. Gilroy and the little girls Patricia and Susan fled in tears.

(*Note:  As mentioned earlier Mrs.  Gilroy committed  suicide around Christmas  time in 1962.

I  was  informed  by some of the boys still in Mayo Landing.   Alcohol would not be a reason…

but would be a complicating factor..

I wondered what would happen to those two little girls)

Monday Sept. 3, 1962

Dick had  great breakfast for us today.  Then I washed 8 pair of  dirty socks  before starting

work.

Terry and I  packed motor generator, 2100 feet of coiled wire, 4 rods,  sledge, etc.  into the

old C.L. #2 of Silver Titan in preparation for a day of Turam work.tomorrow.  Too  many

swamps to slosh through…water is icy.

Northern lights are spectacular.

Tuesday Sept. 4, 2021

Up ar 6…cook provided

6 slices  of bacon, 2eggs,2 pancakes,  3 cups of orange juice

and coffee.

Terry Doubt, Jim Coyle and I packed carried rest of  Turam  equipment in to C.L.#2 at

Silver Titan.   Started  motor generator and read  lines 10, 15, 17, 20 on East side of  loop.

Left off line 18 because  10 degrees off proper grid. Survey error.

Packed  equipment uphill to the road.  No easy matter as  each of us  had  60 to 70 pound 

packsacks.   Poor John Coyle had  just come off a two to three week bender…drunk in other

words.  We  really thought he would have a heart attack,  We Left packs at side of road  and hiked

into town.

Bill Dunn reported we can expect snow any time…for sure next week.   Bill Scott got

us another hot rum drink … for all crew.

Nights are getting very cold.

Wednesday Sept. 5, 1962

Snow.   All pipes and pails with water now frozen.  Steve drove us to job site.  Then Jim Coyle,

Jack Gillis, Terry Doubt and I packed Turam equipment in to the new prperty which is very wet…swampy.

Did lines 132, 134, 134, 128, 126, 122….all west lines.  

Feels like December back home.  Ice  on all the small ponds, snow flurries most of the day.

Did all my washing in the wash basin in evening.  Two letters from Marjorie  Now starting to

get serious about plans to return home..the long way rather than the direct flight from Whitehorse.

I want to get the full Yukon experience which means Skagway…need to know more about the

Treadwell mine disaster on Douglas Island near Juneau.  Know so  little about these big events

Thursday Sept. 6, 1962

Motor trouble today…likely dirty gas.  Cleaned  the carburetor.  Broke the governor by accident.

scraped  carb  with a spoon.  Walked out to road and borrowed Hans  Buhr’s Land Rover then

on to Elsa for repairs.  Had the master mechanic do some spot welding on the governor..excelent job.

Hard drive back to camp then walked  down Proctor’s Road to site…not much of a road, more like a track..

put things back together

and completed the layout…116, 118, 120, 124, all on west side of base line.

I feel relieved..proud of myself getting  repairs done and survey done  But my legs

are very sore.

I hope I can  get some work on the side for the next few days…tagging claims  for Hans Buhr…I will

need the money for my escape route from the Yukon.   It will be a tight trip. Have some money but

not enough.  Will take a chance anyway…be  a  shame to miss Dead Horse Pass, Skagway,

Juneau…all landlocked places…mysterious  places.

Friday, Sept. 7, 1962

Muggy day…reclaimed cable from BL #3 and talked with Hans Burr in morning.   Read  book in pm.

Our last day and Silver Titan was slow and  uncomfortable.  

Pleasant feeling now job is  over and the weight of the world  off my shoulders.

This has been fascinating job but very stressful at times.   Yukon hills are not hills.  They are

 6,000 foot mountains.

Drove to Mayo Landing with Steve Rudnicki … slept on floor of  the Tim-o-Lou Motel basement.

Visited Bob Gilroy and got job tagging claims for a day…a little extra money.   

Had a Tom Collins at the bar and later a glass of sauterne white wine and shot of

rye with Bob Gilroy…hard on my stomach I fear…gut ache.

Have got really attached to Mayo Landing and all the characters I have met…even

the drunks.  Often drinkers have nice personalities.

Saturday Sept. 8, 1962

My idea of sleeping on he floor was not a good idea….bad  night.  Had breakfast 

at Luigi’s.  Dirk and Ray were there.  Dirk put on quite a show  by vomitting…food

poisoning…mild.  

Bill Scott and I went to the airport to make  sure the bags got away.    Cold, bleak

day in the Yukon.  Later  we went back to the Gilroys and jointly presented a bottle

of sauterne ($4.50) which  may not have been  a good idea.   Perhaps better than

a bottle of rye whisky though.

I arranged  to take the little girls, Patricia and Susan to the movies after our

supper at Luigi’s   The show  was terrible…John Wayne at his worst…killing Indians.

Patricia fell asleep.  Susan seemed happy about the movie.

Bob Gilroy  showed us his new discovery on Silver Titan…good stock market

opportunity for us but we had no money.   Stock  tips are to always accurate.

Expenses   $5.50

Sunday Sept. 9, 1962

My last Sunday morning in Mayo Landing.  Had biscuits for breakfast, read a little…in

afternoon I helped  Bob Gilroy cutting brush.

Made  arrangements to do the tagging of  claims.

…What  a nightmare that turned out to be…ice about an

inch or two thick in the swamps where claim posts were located.

YUKON DIARY   to Sept. 9, 1962..END  OF THE JOB.

NEXT EPISODE:   PERSONAL  PLANNED ESCAPE FROM THE YUKON