Salty Thieves

“Another Robbery, This One On the Yukon, Netted $7,000,” read the August 31, 1898, headline in The Helena Independent. These clever thieves had used salt to conceal their robbery. While the steamer Cudahy traveled between Dawson, Yukon Territory, and St. Michael, Alaska,  a sack of gold dust valued at $7,000 had disappeared. Its owner, an Indian named Stick Jim, discovered his sack now held salt! In 1898, salt was valuable, but not nearly as valuable as gold. In ancient times, however