This is what Grace Bentham proceeded to do. Arriving in Dawson
with a few pounds of flour and several letters of introduction,
she at once applied herself to the task of pushing her big baby
to the fore. It was she who melted the stony heart and wrung
credit from the rude barbarian who presided over the destiny of
the P. C. Company; yet it was Edwin Bentham to whom the
concession was ostensibly granted. It was she who dragged her
baby up and down creeks, over benches and divides, and on a dozen
wild stampedes; yet everybody remarked what an energetic fellow
that Bentham was. It was she who studied maps, and catechised
miners, and hammered geography and locations into his hollow
head, till everybody marveled at his broad grasp of the country
and knowledge of its conditions. Of course, they said the wife
was a brick, and only a few wise ones appreciated and pitied the
brave little woman.
She did the work; he got the credit and reward. In the Northwest
Territory a married woman cannot stake or record a creek, bench,
or quartz claim; so Edwin Bentham went down to the Gold
Commissioner and filed on Bench Claim 23, second tier, of French
Hill. And when April came they were washing out a thousand
dollars a day, with many, many such days in prospect.
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