Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/464218
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 9 5 but his paper shotgun shells had gotten wet and swollen, and failed to feed into the mud-encrusted chamber. Bruce reached into a pocket with his only usable hand and grabbed what he thought was another shotgun shell. Instead, he latched onto a waterproof match container that jammed the action of his shotgun. While sitting in water and covered in mud and his own blood, Bruce found a dry shell and managed to load the gun. He was saving the last shell for the enraged boar while striking at the cub with the shotgun barrel. Another hunting guide just happened to be in the area and came to Bruce's aid. He killed the large cub as well as the blind boar. He flushed Bruce's wounds with whisky to help prevent infection and got him to a hospital in Ketchikan. S ix years later, after living and guiding in the Haines area and just before our search for the Dalton Trail, I met Marty Cordes, who had been hunting with a man who'd been attacked by a bear. I asked him to tell the story to Carol and me. Back in 1955 Marty had been hunting in the upper Chilkat Valley near Haines, Alaska, with his friend Forest Young, who'd returned alone to the site where they had killed a moose and left its hide hanging in a tree. As he neared the carcass, a brown bear sow with a cub attacked Young and mauled him repeatedly. (See the September/October 2014 issue of Sporting Classics for the full story). The bear tore portions of his ribs completely from his body and had bitten through him to the point that his breath vented partly through his back. Eventually, the bears wandered off, basically leaving him for dead. In his extreme suffering, Young attempted but failed to end his life by cutting his wrists. Eventually, Marty found him, but Young was in no shape to be carried. Marty returned to Haines and brought back help, saving his friend's life. B y the time we began our investigation, the Dalton Trail had been abandoned for more than 80 years and only an occasional tree-blaze or vague pattern of rotted logs from portions of corduroy roadway remained to mark the passage of men. In practicality, the old-growth forest and lush vegetation of the Chilkat Valley had relegated the Dalton Trail to the history The Dalton Trail existed for years as a trade route between native tribes. Jack Dalton (pictured) took it over in the early 1890s and charged miners on the way to the Klondike for its use. The Dalton Trail ran from Haines, Alaska, through the Chilkat Pass, then to Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River, upstream of the Klondike gold strike. BILL TIPTON/COMPART DESIGN MACBRIDE MUSEUM OF YUKON HISTORY