1,200 Cattle Bound for the Yukon Gold Camps
A Seattle-led expedition planned to drive a thousand head over the Dalton Trail and float them down the Yukon, with the herd fattening in the Wenas Valley before the journey.
C. W. Tabor is at the head of an expedition that will start with 1,200 head of cattle from Seattle for the Yukon next month. The cattle are now pasturing on the Clemans ranch in the Wenas valley, and part of them, we are told, come from the Marcus Daly farm in Montana. It is the largest expedition of the kind that has yet been undertaken, and by proper management will hardly fail to be successful. It is planned to land at Pyramid Harbor and go over the Dalton trail, which will take about 45 days. The cattle will be in charge of 75 men, who will be divided into squads of six, and take care of 125 to 150 head. At Five Fingers boats will be provided and they will be floated down the Yukon, to be sold at the different mining camps.
“It is the largest expedition of the kind that has yet been undertaken, and by proper management will hardly fail to be successful.”
The Yukon gold rush turned Yakima County pastures into staging grounds for an international supply chain. Today's export economy still moves Washington livestock and produce through distant ports and trails, though the gold camps are gone.
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