The scream of the metal blades slicing wood and the groan of the steam engine filled the night. Above the din, James heard men's voices and the thud of greased logs that had been pushed down the hillside along Skid Road to the sawmill. James sipped his beer nervously. It was midnight. Rain hammered hard on the tin roof, but the bar and town outside bustled with rowdy characters.

He wore the new rain slicker he'd bought for his journey tomorrow to the Yukon. He swam in the large coat, being a slight man of only 19, but was thankful for its warmth on such a wet, chilly night. Anxiety over what lay ahead gnawed at his stomach.

Suddenly a woman, the kind of woman his mother had warned him about, made eye contact and walked towards him. She put a delicate hand with long red fingernails on his shoulder and a shiver went down his spine.

"I'm Susan. Are you looking for company?" she purred.

"No thank you," replied James as politely as he could.

Susan seemed undeterred by his initial rejection. She pulled up a barstool and sat down. A shapely leg wiggled out from under her skirts. James sucked in a breath as she rubbed it along his trousers. He was too terrified to move.

"You're new here," she said, batting her eyes.

"Yes, ma"am." James stared into his beer.

She fingered the lapel of his raincoat. "You and your daddy all stocked up on supplies for the Yukon then?"

"No, ma'am. My daddy's back home running our family's sawmill in Iowa."

"A sawmill like Mr. Yesler's?" she lifted an eyebrow and nodded towards the ruckus outside.

"Oh, no ma'am," said James, wide-eyed. "It's nothing like that sawmill out yonder. That's an operation of a magnitude I didn't even know existed."

"And you've gone and run away from your family in Iowa to strike it rich looking for gold?"

James lifted his head and nodded, grinning.

"Awe, honey, you ain't gonna find any gold." Susan stroked his cheek.

"I'm not?"

She shook her head and tousled his hair. "And even if you did, with a baby face like this, the burly men and the bears will eat you alive."

James felt a lump in his throat. This was his worst fear and the reason why his mother had begged him not to go. His hands shook and beer slopped over the rim of the glass onto the filthy bar.

Susan came closer and whispered in James' ear. "If you want to strike it rich, stick around here in Seattle. The gold rush is here."

More tingles shot down James' spine. "It is?"

She nodded. "I tell you what, come with me and introduce you to Mr. Yestler himself. Tell him about your daddy's sawmill. He just fired his night foreman and you might just get lucky." She winked at him.

"You know Mr. Yesler?" asked James.

She smiled wickedly and slid a hand up James thigh causing him to spill more beer. "Oh, yes. I know him personally."

"Oh...ok." James stuttered. He felt conflicted but overall relieved.

"You work at the sawmill for a while, and you can build yourself a house up the hill. Maybe Mr. Yester's wife will set you up to marry one of those respectable Mercer girls." She mockingly lifted her breasts and pouted her lips. Then she took James by the hand.

He allowed himself be led by out into the night towards the massive sawmill.

___________________

Author's Note: In addition to serving as a chute for logs headed for the saw mill, Skid Road, now Yesler Way in Seattle, Washington, divided the 'nice side' of town from the seedier side. It is believed this was the origin of the term Skid Row. Henry Yesler ran his sawmill 24 hours a day. He and his wife were Spiritualists and believed in free love. 

The Klondike Gold rush began in 1897 when the steamship Portland arrived in Seattle from Dawson (now Canada) with "more than a ton of gold". The journey to the remote land was dangerous, filled with con men and mountains where temperatures reached -50 F. Supplies for the year-long journey typically cost $1200. Only 30,000 of the 100,000 gold-seekers completed the trip and many died. Seattle businesses made over a million dollars selling supplies. 

Source and pictures: https://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/goldrush.html and Wikipedia.

Photos below of Yesler's Mill in Seattle 1874 and an exhausted Klondiker 1898.