James Hinkle letter to wide Mollie and his family in Illinois regarding his activities in Alberta, Canada, August 7, 1898

• Main Author: Hinkle, James, 1852-1899
• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: xyz; Yukon; Hudson Bay; Canada; Indian; Hudson; British Columbia; Halfway River
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/pioneerlife/id/18407

Hinkle continues to describe his journey across Alberta. He describes the small amounts of gold his companions have found and his own plans to trap fur during the winter. Quote from letter: "Dunvagen is on a bank. Prettiest place we have come to yet, prettiest sights you ever saw. All around there are 7 log houses, a Hudson Bay store, a mission and some Indian teepees. I will give you a sketch of the place. The mountains on the right are 2000 feet high. There is gardens planted by the priest lots of vegetables but won't sell them. If we steal them we get hung so we look at them through the fence and say, oh I wish I had some of them onions and lettuce." Letter includes a hand-drawn map of the area around Dunvagen, Alberta. 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.