Klondike Cattle Drive

Susan Brown is a B.C. horticulturist, permaculture designer, and early
childhood education instructor.

The proposal was, as soon as spring grasses were up, to drive 200 head
of cattle 1500 miles from the southern B.C. interior to Dawson City to
meet and, it was hoped, profit from the Klondike gold rush of 1898. (The
alternatives for a beef market were neither profitable nor easy.) Lee
kept a diary for most of the trek. Later he rewrote it for himself and
his family, and added simple sketches. This is his account.

Is there feed? River crossings? How far? Are we ahead of winter?
“Wretched country!” “Dismal town!” are the frank responses of an
exhausted, not winning, cattle owner. And he was not alone. There were
many fellow “pilgrims” on the trail. Eventually, all was lost as
feed was eaten up, and the way North became a trail of starved horses,
abandoned gear, mud, and later ice and snow.

The story, we are told, has become a legend in its own land, where the
Lee family continues ranching. For some of us today, tales told ’round
the fire are heritage books such as this. Lee’s story is an
interesting and thought-provoking one.