In 2004, as America celebrates 

the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 

Alaskans can take pride in our own state’s great journey 

of discovery, the Allen Expedition of 1885. Though it occurred 

eight decades later, it has sometimes been called 

Alaska’s ‘Lewis and Clark Expedition’ 

The 1885 Allen Expedition also 

entailed exploration of uncharted 

terrain and resulted in many new 

discoveries. It was the first time 

westerners traveled from the coastal 

regions of south-central Alaska 

northward through the Alaska 

Range into the Yukon drainage. 

From there the expedition continued 

westward to the Bering Sea — 

completing a total of 1,500 miles in 

less than 20 weeks. It was a 

remarkable achievement. 

Allen’s distinguished career 

Henry Tureman Allen, born in 

1859 in Kentucky (11 years prior to 

the death of the last member of the 

Lewis and Clark Expedition), 

graduated from West Point in 1882. 

During the next 41 years, he would 

serve his country in various military 

capacities, ending his distinguished 

career as commander of the 

American Occupation Forces in 

Germany during 1919-1923 after 

World War I. 

Yet arguably his most exciting 

assignment was one he received in 

his mid-20s as a young lieutenant 

serving as an aide to veteran Indian 

fighter, Gen. Nelson A. Miles. In 

1880, Miles was put in charge of the 

U.S. Army’s operations in the Pacific 

Northwest. This was after leading 

numerous campaigns against 

Indians in the American West, 

including the Cheyenne, Comanche, 

Sioux tribes under Sitting Bull (who 

by Robert E. King 

Lt. Henry T. Allen (center) along with 

Pvt. Frederick Fickett (left) and Sgt. 

Cady Robertson (right) completed an 

historic 1,500-mile exploration into the 

interior of Alaska almost 120 years 

ago. 

defeated Gen. Custer in 1876), and 

Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce in 

1877. However, Miles had other 

interests as well, including 

exploration. He was fascinated with 

reports of Alaska Territory and in 

1883 sent Army Lt. Frederick 

Schwatka on an expedition to 

explore the Yukon River basin, an 

area only partly traversed earlier by 

the Russians, British and 

Americans. The trip was a success. 

SUMMER 2004 • 

A dangerous plan 

With the encouraging results of 

the Schwatka Expedition, Miles set 

his sites on a new and much more 

ambitious goal to explore an area of 

Alaska where no westerner had 

successfully gone before — the 

Copper River country and points 

beyond. The plan was to send a 

party to ascend the Copper River and 

find a passable route through the 

unexplored Alaska Range to the 

Yukon drainage. If successful, it 

would be a major achievement. 

The trip was not without danger 

and uncertainty. Earlier, at least 

three groups of Russian explorers 

had perished in the Copper River 

country, where the Ahtna Indians of 

the Copper River were known to be 

fiercely territorial. Also, no British 

or Americans had successfully made 

the formidable journey despite some 

attempts. To Miles and the military, 

it was a challenge with no guarantee 

of success. It was in this less-thanoptimistic setting that the Allen 

Expedition was launched and its 

start clouded even further. 

Lt. Allen was not Miles’ first 

choice to follow up on the successes of 

the more modest Schwatka 

Expedition. That assignment had 

gone to Lt. William Abercrombie who 

left in 1884. But as weeks passed 

with no word of his fate, Gen. Miles 

became concerned and sent Lt. Allen 

to investigate. Accordingly, he sailed 

—continued on next page 

BLM ALASKA FRONTIERS 3 
Allen expedition, continued 

north in late 1884, thereby getting 

his first taste of adventure in 

Alaska. While Abercrombie and his 

men did return safely, they 

nonetheless failed in their quest. 

Abercrombie’s report painted a 

gloomy prospect for further 

exploration in the region. He 

concluded that the route they had 

tried to pioneer was not practical 

due to overwhelming obstacles of 

high mountains, glacier-filled 

valleys, and daunting rivers beset 

with swift rapids which had forced 

the group to turn back. This was 

certainly discouraging news. Had it 

not been for Gen. Miles’ continuing 

interest in Alaska and Lt. Allen’s 

newly-found excitement for the 

territory, it would have ended there. 

A second attempt 

Instead, Miles persisted and soon 

was able to win support for one 

more attempt to explore the Copper 

River country and beyond. But it 

was to be a more modest expedition 

of only three men. Lt. Allen was 

selected to lead it and he 

handpicked two other men to come 

along. They were Cavalry Sgt. Cady 

Robertson, a fellow soldier from his 

own unit, and Pvt. Frederick W. 

Fickett, a signal corpsman, whom 

Allen had met in Sitka during his 

trip to determine Abercrombie’s fate. 

Both turned out to be good choices. 

The small party wasted little 

time in starting north to Alaska. 

Lt. Allen received official orders on 

Jan. 27, 1885 authorizing the trip. 

Two days later the three men were 

on a steamer headed for Alaska. 

They would not return to Allen’s 

post at Vancouver Barracks in 

Washington Territory until later 

that year. And what they did 

during their time away made 

history. 

As expected, the primary 

purpose of the expedition was to 

learn about and map unknown 

terrain including a pass through the 

Alaska Range and beyond into the 

Yukon Basin. But there was 

another reason, a military one. By 

the terms of their official orders, 

Allen’s epic 

expedition 

covered 1,500 

miles of 

unexplored 

territory in just 

20 weeks. 

Fairbanks is 

shown for 

reference; it did 

not exist in 1885. 

The Native village of Tarai in the Copper River drainage as seen by Allen in 1885. 

Allen and his men were to report on 

the Native people, including 

information on how much of a future 

threat they might pose to other 

westerners that would later venture 

into this region. Memories of the illfated Russian expeditions lingered. 

Also, this was a time in America 

when conflicts with Native peoples 

elsewhere were still occurring in 

some areas. After Allen returned, 

his commander, Gen. Miles, was sent 

on a special mission to fight 

Geronimo. 

Natives contribute to success 

Thus, the military’s concern for 

what they might face in Alaska was 

understandable given the times. 

But, in view of Lt. Allen being 

authorized only two other men for 

his expedition, this order to assess 

Natives from a military standpoint 

was a bit ironic. Later, it would 

become even more ironic in light of 

how well Allen and his men were 

treated by the Natives they 

encountered. Had it not been for the 

Alaska Native people encountered, 

at times the small group of travelers 

might have perished. Similar 

situations occurred during the Lewis 

and Clark Expedition, some 80 years 

earlier. 

4 BLM ALASKA FRONTIERS • SUMMER 2004 
With full knowledge of potential 

problems he might face, Lt. Allen 

nonetheless saw this trip as a great 

opportunity. The expedition 

eventually succeeded where all 

others before them had failed. Not 

only did Allen and his men record 

information on the people they 

encountered, but they became 

trusted enough by Ahtna Chief 

Nicolai that he led them up the 

Chitina River to a secret 

outcropping of nearly pure copper. 

Allen’s record of this remarkable 

place helped inspire later searches 

for copper in the region leading to 

the later discovery of the Kennecott 

Copper Mines, one of the richest 

deposits of high grade copper ever 

found in North America. 

Among the other notable 

discoveries made by the men was 

Suslota Pass, a usable route from 

the Copper River County into the 

Tanana and Yukon Valleys. Most 

remarkable of all was their 

mapping for the first time of the 

Copper, Tanana and Koyukuk 

Rivers. And all this in less than 20 

weeks while traveling overland for 

more than 1,500 miles! 

Allen’s group had lots of help from 

various Alaska Natives along the way. 

These residents of Unalakleet were 

considered “members of the crew” for 

a portion of the trip. 

An invaluable report 

Two years after their return, Lt. 

Allen completed an impressive 172-

page report, accompanied by detailed 

maps. It was modestly titled “Report 

of An Expedition to the Copper, 

Tanana, and Koyukuk River, in the 

Territory of Alaska, in the Year 1885, 

for the Purpose of Obtaining all 

Information Which will be Valuable 

and Important, Especially to the 

Military Branch of the Government.” 

While the document contained 

around 20 illustrations, including 

sketches of terrain they encountered 

as well as depictions of some 

Natives, Allen and Fickett were 

greatly disappointed by one 

unfortunate event. They had 

brought along a camera, but the 

numerous glass-plate photographs 

they made with considerable effort 

were later lost by a messenger. 

Today, Allen’s well-written report 

remains an invaluable document for 

Alaska. It provided not only a 

history of prior exploration in the 

Copper, Tanana and Koyukuk River 

areas including oral history 

anecdotes, but a compelling 

narrative of their harrowing trip. It 

also recorded invaluable 

observations about the Natives 

encountered along the way and their 

cultures, which were already 

undergoing changes due to contact 

with outsiders. Allen, not unlike 

early cultural anthropologists of the 

time, even speculated on connections 

between various peoples of Alaska 

and their prehistoric movements 

based on “general appearance and 

manner.” 

In addition, Allen’s report 

included observations on animals, 

geology, volcanic activity, glaciers, 

minerals, and even the weather. 

Altogether, the Allen Expedition 

created the first written record for 

much of interior Alaska, a 

remarkable accomplishment that 

places it among the greatest 

journeys of discovery in American 

history. It was indeed Alaska’s own 

Lewis and Clark Expedition! 

This map from the official 1887 Allen 

Expedition report shows the lower 

portions of the Copper River. 

Footnote: While Robert King, BLM’s State 

Archaeologist for Alaska has great 

admiration for Lt. Henry T. Allen and the 

remarkable achievements of his 

expedition, he also has a special interest 

in the Lewis and Clark Expedition as he is 

a distant relative of Meriwether Lewis. 

SUMMER 2004 • BLM ALASKA FRONTIERS 5