# St. Nicholas/Volume 32/Number 2/Yankee Doodle and Miss Columbia

By Commander Robert E. Peary, U. S. Navy
On the Fourth of July, 1899, in a broad level valley in the heart of Ellermore Land, I came upon a herd of five musk-oxen. When they saw us they ran together and stood back to back in star form, with heads outward, This is their usual method of defense against walrus, their only enemies in this land. After they were shot, I discovered two tiny calves, which till then had been hidden under their mothers’ hairy bodies.
Such funny little coal-black creatures they were, with a gray patch on their foreheads, great, soft black eyes, enormously large, bony knock-kneed legs, and no tails at all!
With the falling of the last musk-ox, my dogs made a rush for the little animals, which, though wide-eyed and trembling with fear, showed a bold front to the savage unknown creatures which surrounded them. Fortunately, I was too quick for the dogs, and rescued the little fellows.
Then I hardly knew what to do. I had not the heart to kill them myself, nor to tell my Eskimos to, Finally, I thought I would try to get them to the ship, fifty miles away, though I did not know how I was to do this over the miles of mountains and rough ice.
After the dogs were fastened, the little fellows stood quietly by the bodies of their mothers till all the animals were skinned and cut up; but when we were ready to start for camp, and had put a line about their necks to lead them away, they struggled so violently at the touch of the rope that, knowing they would soon strangle themselves to death, I had the ropes taken off. Then we tried to drive them, but could not. Then I remembered my experience years before at far-off Independence Bay, and told Abngmaloktok to throw one of the musk-ox skins over his back and walk off.
With a baa-a-a the little fellows were at his heels in an instant, and with noses buried in the long hair trailing behind him, followed contentedly, while the rest of us kept off the dogs.
In this way everything went nicely, and we scrambled along over the rocks, waded across two or three streams, and walked through an exquisitely soft, green little patch of meadow, cut by a gurgling crystal brook, until we reached the ice-boat, where the sledge had been left.
The part of the valley through which we passed seemed, in the bright light of the July sun, very summer-like, The space on the south side of the river, between it and the foot of the bluffs, protected from all winds, warmed by the sun throughout the twenty-four hours, watered continually by streams from the ice-cap, trickling down the bluffs, is a series of brilliant green-meadow patches, through which little crystal streams meander over beds of yellow sand and round rocks, like many a trout brook at home.
Flowers were numerous, and the brilliant ​golden sunshine gave everything a luster, Yet behind it all 1 could see the specter of the deadly cold and darkness of the long Arctic night, which follows so quickly this brief period of life and warmth. It was a scene to form one of memory’s vignettes. No wonder it is a favorite haunt for musk-oxen,
At the ice-foot several of the dogs made another rush for the calves, but some were headed off by me, and one was met by a rushing black bull with a head like a piece of iron, which sent him rolling into a crack in the ice, where he lay for some minutes, the breath for the time knocked out of him, and he himself quite dazed by their strange method of attack,
After a short rest at the ice-foot, Ahngmaloktok and I, with the calves, started to cross the ice of the bay to our camp on the opposite side, leaving the Eskimos to follow with the dogs, sledge, and meat. Between the shore and the ice-sheet in the center of the bay was a broad canal of water with cakes of ice floating in it. This was a trying place for the little fellows, but they were very plucky, and nothing could keep them from following that black-furred skin on the back of Ahngmaloktok, who led the way.
When the distance from one cake to another was too great to jump, they plunged into the water without hesitation, though sometimes a reproachful baa-a-a was sent after the unfeeling “mother” ahead, With a little help from me they finally climbed out upon the unbroken ice, and two drenched and forlorn little figures hurried patiently on after Ahngmaloktok.
“the ship was fifty miles away, over mountains and rough ice.”
But their troubles were by no means ended, it was a long four miles across the bay; and there were numerous pools of water, which kept them constantly wet. Fortunately for them, the day was clear and sunny, with no wind, so they were not so cold as they might have been; but when camp was reached they were very, very tired. Ahngmaloktok threw the skin down close beside the tent, and curling themselves up close against it they went at once to sleep, regardless of us and the dogs.
After a good sleep, Ahngmaloktok and Ahn--
Yankee Doodle and Miss Columbia in the Arctic regions
Commander Peary’s musk-ox “Daisy.” Presented to the New York Zoölogical Park by The Peary Arctic Club.
I was delighted to find they were old enough to eat something besides milk, and I led them about from sprig to sprig of the stunted willow which grew here and there among the rocks, until they had had a good breakfast. Then they followed me back to the tent for another nap.
Later they came up to me again for their lunch, and before the day was over I had named them Yankee Doodle and Miss Columbia, because I first saw them on the Fourth of July.
I was thinking, too, that if I could only get them to the ship and keep them till the ice would break up and let the ship sail home, what fine pets they would make for a little blue-eyed girl I knew at home, who had herself been born A chubby little musk-ox. in the Arctic regions, hardly more than a hundred miles from where I found the musk-oxen.
The Eskimos were gone a long time, and after the sun swung round into the north and hid behind the mountains, I rolled myself in my blanket and went to sleep, leaving my little friends browsing contentedly just back of the tent. Some hours later my men returning woke me, and when I asked about the calves, said that they were still back of the tent. So I turned over for another nap.
“I told Anhgmaloktok to throw one of the musk-ox skins over his back.”
When I woke again, and after listening for some time heard nothing of the little fellows, I crawled out of the tent and climbed the slope, but could not see them anywhere. Then I woke sharp-eyed Ahsayoo and told him to trail them.
After a long time he came back and told me he had followed their tracks far up the valley, but had not seen them. They had evidently started off soon after the dogs came back, and, having had a good rest ​and plenty to eat, had kept steadily on without stopping. At first I thought of sending all the Eskimos out with some provisions, with orders not to come back without the calves. Then I remembered how far it was to the ship and how rough the road, and how very barren the rocks were everywhere about the ship, with no willow for the calves to eat, and I decided to let them go.
“With a baa-a-a the little fellows were at his heels in an instant.”
I have often thought of them since, marching off up the broad valley together, like Arctic babes in the wood.I have often thought of them since, marching off up the broad valley together, like Arctic babes in the wood, and have wondered what befell them on their lonely journey—whether they soon found a herd of musk-oxen to join, or whether, perhaps, for days and weeks they cropped the willows and grass, and slept in the shelter of same big rock before they found companions.
If you or I should go to that same valley now, we should not know them even if we saw them, for that was over four years ago, and Yankee Doodle, if alive to-day, is doubtless a great big musk-ox, with huge, strong horns that nearly cover his head, and is, perhaps, the king af a herd. Miss Columbia. quite likely, has a funny little jet black calf of her own, with soft bright eyes, a gray forehead, thick, clumsy legs, who follows her closely with nose pressed into her warm fur, nibbles the willow leaves, and drinks from the sparkling brooks when the sun shines, and, when the cold winds blow and the snow falls, curls up close against her and, covered by her long fur, sleeps warm and very soundly.