Lost and Found

The only record of what happened to John McCafferty had been a letter written by his great-nephew sometime in the 1940s. In it, William T. Painter wrote:

John McCaferty was a big strong man. Went to Alaska in the Gold Rush 1898, most likely died on the Chillcoot Pass (where many failed to get over the terriable mountain) never heard from.

I had always wondered what happened to him. It would have been unusual for someone to make that trip by themselves, why hadn't his companion(s) written to say what had happened?

Today I randomly put "Montgomery County, Missouri" and "McCafferty" into Google and I found this listing of an unmarked grave:

John John McCafferty
From Montgomery County, Missouri
Died during the week prior to March 12, 1898, of "Tuberculos fever".
Death and burial at Dyea reported in 2 sentences in The Dyea Trail of March 12, 1898.

and with him:

Thomas E. See
From Montgomery County, Missouri
Died during the week prior to March 12, 1898, of "Tuberculos fever".
Death and burial at Dyea reported in 2 sentences in The Dyea Trail of March 12, 1898.

I guess he didn't go alone.