This painting depicts “The body of a Cape Nome prospector found frozen on the ice of the Bering Sea.” The painting is made from a photograph by W.R. Leigh, which was “taken by a member of the rescue party that went in search of the missing miner.
They found him and his dogs dead where they had fallen exhausted with hunger and cold. Even the lashings of the sled had been devoured by the dogs.” This is a quote printed under the picture The Search for Gold - A Tragedy of the Far North, which appeared in Collier’s Weekly of March 7, 1903. The unexpected can happen on the trail at any time. In the Yukon’s and Alaska’s past, there have been many serious accidents on the trail, from being attacked by moose to breaking through the ice. This also happened in our recent past.
This magazine article is from the Jim Robb Collection.
Anyone with information about this subject, please write Jim Robb: The Colourful Five Per Cent Scrapbook - Can You Identify? c/o the Yukon News, 211 Wood Street, Whitehorse, Yukon, Y1A 2E4, or email through the News website, www.yukon-news.com.