Why was the newcomer in the artic?

The newcomer was a logger, he was in the Arctic to work at a logging camp and transport logs to the islands.

He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek, where the boys were already. They had come over across the divide from the Indian Creek country, while he had come the roundabout way to take a look at the possibilities of getting out logs in the spring from the islands in the Yukon.