Petersburg Pilot -

Prospector Creighton Campbell's 1887 diary tells a challenging tale of winter survival as the first white person up the Iskut River headwaters in the Stikine watershed. Indians recommended travel over ice, so Campbell and buddies gathered gear, food and a dog named "Useless" for prospecting upriver. Snows 8 ft. deep hampered efforts, and by March they were barely halfway. Bacon and salt were getting low; by April just beans and flour were left. When they finally returned to Ft. Wrangel, they were a haggard sight. Alas, their bounty was lost playing poker, leaving nothing to show for months...