| Summary: | This letter describes the difficult conditions encountered crossing Alberta's Slave Lake. James "Jim" Hinkle was a railroad engineer from Mattoon, Illinois who wished to join in on the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898. To achieve this end, he and other residents of Mattoon formed the Security Mining and Investment Company with the intention of sending a small party (including Hinkle) to the Yukon Territory to search for gold. Hinkle and his partners traveled by train to Edmonton, Alberta and from there travel overland to the gold fields of the Yukon. However, the group decided to try their luck in northeast British Columbia due to the harsh conditions and reports of gold being found in that region. After several months in northeastern British Columbia, James Hinkle drowned while trying to cross the Halfway River on or around August 3, 1899. He was survived by his wife Mollie and children Myrtle, Harry, and Vernon. Hinkle's letters home to his family included rich descriptions of his experiences in the Canadian wilderness and include many drawings and diagrams of the areas he and his colleagues spent time in.
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