The Yukon River steamboats were a lifeline for the early prospectors at Fortymile. Everyone waited anxiously for the last boat of the season to bring supplies, liquor, and mail, and the community celebrated when it arrived. But when the steamboat Arctic sank on its maiden voyage in 1889, the whole community of Fortymile was threatened.
When the news reached town, there was widespread panic. Jack McQuesten immediately sent a warning to the prospectors scattered along the Fortymile River that his store did not have enough supplies to last the winter, and that they should leave. The message was relayed from creek to creek, and the miners met in Fortymile to plan what to do.
Although many decided to stay, despite the grim warning, a hundred miners choose to leave. Jack McQuesten offered them the use of the steamer New Racket. It left for the coast in October 1889, with Al Mayo at the helm and enough food to last a few days.
The journey turned out to be arduous. Some men were dropped off along the way, at Rampart House and Nuklukayet. The others stayed on board until Nulato, by which time the river was freezing. They spent three weeks there, fed by the Roman Catholic mission or the local First Nation. When the ice was solid enough to travel, 30 men left for St. Michael, 190 miles overland, a seven-day journey by foot and dogteam. They arrived safely and spent a cosy winter in two log cabins at the Alaska Commercial Company post, reading books and telling stories and jokes.
And what happened to those who chose to stay behind? They lived on meagre rations that winter, but no one starved. Frank Buteau and John Campbell had nothing but a sack of flour and a few pounds of beans from October to July, but they and their other two partners shot 40 caribou, and survived!
