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THE
BY
] 68 Dr Johannes IValtlu:r- The NO?th American Deserts.
Dn T. C. MENDE NHALL
was more hideous than anything I ever read of the worst effects
of plague or leprosy.
In spring, summer and fall thls section is the h ome for in-
numerable geese, swans and ducks. The 1\'bklemut then lives
well, and we were told wonderful stories of th e number of birds
killed by single hunters in a day's hunting. Two wild geese
could be bought in some places for a head of tobacco, and a
miner told us that the ruling rate for wild-goose eggs at th e
trader's store near cape Romannoff was a bead of tobacco, or one-
third of a pound of lead for 150 eggs. It is needless to say that
the native inhabitants of this section are not Ycry particular
about the quality or condition of t he food they eat There are
no fastidious scruples ttbout the cause of th e death of their gam e.
A white whale or seal that drifts ashore is taken with than ks,
and if it is evident that the creature bas been dead for some time
there is the compensating advantage that th e flesh is more tender.
The Yukon river does not lack for settlements, but their size
and condition hardly satisfied the ideas we had formed of them
before they greeted onr view. Kotlik is the home for a single
white man, th e old Russian trader and h is family. Andreaf!;ki
is only a name; a portion of th e old storehouse here came i.n
very handy for wood su pplies when we passecl it going u priver.
Ikogumut has some impor tance becau e it is the home of the
Russian p riest who has spiritual chari{C of most of the natives of
the lower river. Kozcrehhski is a few miles abo,c the large
Catholic mission of the Holy Cross. White Anvik affords a home
to the bishop elect of lhe Episcopal Jioccsc of interior Alaska.
Next above An vik is Nulato, once the outvost of the Russian
Trading company and noted for being the scene (so graphically
described by Professor Dall io his work on Alaska) of the only
massacre perpetrated by the Indians on white people in th e
Yukon valley. The next station of note after passing Nulato is
Juklukayet, the emporium for the trade of Tanana river and the
most productive trading post on the Yukon. ALout 100 Ihiles
aboYe ruklukayet the Yukon begins to spread ou t into the great
lake-like section which is locally known as the" flats." In this
portion of its course the stream is dotted with myriads of islands
The great width of the river and the constant changes in the
shallow chan nels lead ing to every point of the compass make
this the most dreaded part of the river for the steamboat-men .
Near fort Yukon the river is said to be seven miles wide.
Removal of Fort Yukon. 185
J. HENRY TURNER
tering snow filled the air and beat upon us with all the fu ry of
a hail-storm. It was only by the most strenuous exertions that
we were enabled to reach the sleds . which had taken shelter
under the lee of a small hill . In that brief time the end of my
nose, one temple an<l the tip of the right car were frozen solid,
and a broad white streak fully an inch wide, extending from eye
to chin, bore midcncc of th e rapidity with which a man may
freeze if the conditions be favorable. All expediti on po siblc
was necessary to gain the shel ter of the friendly trees. F or the
remainder of that day, that night, and until noon of the fol-
lowing day the shrieking north winu swept over the trackless
wastes in all tbefury of a Dakota bl izzard. Traveling was quite
out of the question; men and dogs huddled together in a pro-
miscuous heap, st.ri \'ing to secure protection from the biting
blast.
The next morning cr erything had changed; the suo shone out
bright again, and th e wind had dic<l away. During the fore-
noon we climbed continually up the further side of the valley,
and about 12 o'clock reached tho summit of a pass at an aJti-
tucle of 2,500 feet. S pread out before us and extending eastward
to the furthest h orizon, appeared a plain covered with a dense
growth of spruce, birch ~md cottonwood- a veritable oasis in the
midst of u tter desolation. ILs western l.imit was a plateau,
doubtless the northern continuation of the eastern front of the
Porcupine ramparts. Fifty miles away to the northward a range
of low mountains was discerned. trending to the eastward, and
forming the northern bou ndary of the plain. As I afterward
discovered, they form the true water-shed of northeastern Alaska
a nd the cou ntry beyond to Mackenzie river.
It took three days to cross this plain. On the first day a
t ribe of Nigalek Eskimos were encountered. They were fi ne-
looking savages and seemed much surprised to meet white men
so far a way from the trading posts. Th ey broke camp on the
following day and started northward for the summer hunt on
the Arctic.
We crossed innumerable lakes during t he next few days, and
on the fi fth clay crossed the m ou ntains at an altitude of 3,00(
feet. The descent on the north ern slope was abrup t, My b urly
foreman covered the distance rapidly by sliding down bead
foremost, necessitating various repairs to certain portions of his
trousers. We found the temperature m uch lower on the north-
The Shmes of the A't'Ctic. 197
ern side of the mountains, ranging from- 20 to - 50 Fahr.
I slept in a parka a ncl beneath a deerskin rolJc. In th e mom-
ing the long h air a round the front of the hood 'ras one ma s of
icc, wh ich h ad to be thawed out before the parl<a became man-
ageable.
After descend ing the mountains, the r oute led through a
valley hemmed in hy most forbidding-looking mountains, run-
ning up in jagged s purs to a height of o,OOO or ,000 feet. Three
l'i\'Crs in this valley run into one, which b as its outlet near th e
eastern cxtrcrllity of the basin . A large area was covered with
icc, the rc ult of OYcrflow, but at the outlet th o current had worn
its way through the icc. and the mpor arising from th e exposed
surface gave the appcar::tnce, at a distance, of a boiling spring.
'l'h is ri vcr was followed to the shores of th e Arctic ocean. pass-
ing often between towering mountains or th rough gloomy can-
yons, where the wind howled dismally.
On th e eighteenth day, April 8, the ocean was reached. A
stiff breeze was blowing from the southeast and the mercury
rcgistcrct1 -30. A fire of driftwood ,vas made a nd shelter
was secured under the leo of a snow bank. The d rifting snow
shrouded the horizon until late in the a fternoon, wh en the wind
ceased a nd a long line of humm ocky icc was revealed skirting the
gloomy shore.
A record of our visit was inclosed in a brass sh ell, some observa-
tions were made, and early the next clay tbe return trip was
begun. Camp Colonna was reached in six days, a rapid journey
consiucring the nature of th e country, the frigid temperature
and the depth of the snow.
Although the season was already well advanced and the sun
well on his northern journey, not the slightest eYidcnce of a
thaw could be detected north of the valley of the Three Rivers .
The stream , which was followed to the ocean, was frozen to the
bottom, objects ten feet beneath the ice being plainly visible
through the tra nsparent medium.
COLLINSON'S ARCTIC JOURNEY
BY
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