The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-02
A Dog=Sledge Journey of Nearly Four
Thousand Miles.

SEATTLE, May "a dog-sledge trip o.
1000 miles down the vast extent of the
frozen Yukon is the feat just accomplished
by Guy c. Merriam, a United States Gus
toms inspector for Alaska. 1T surpasse:
the undertaking of Lord Lonsdale a few
years ago, and fifty compares with the
famous Journey of Lieutenant Fred
Schwatka in his search for the remains o.
Sir John Franklin ana his men. Schwatka
was absent from 1873 to 1880, and made g
sledge journey of 1851 statute miles, while
Merriam has far passed that mark and
broken the midwinter record for travel in
the frigid region of the pole. In point Of
hardship and demand for intrepidity his
trip parallels the explorations of Living
stone and Stanley in the heart of Africa.
Passengers from Sitka to Juneau on the
last voyage of the steamer City of Topeka
were insensibly attracted to tall, athletic
distinguished looking gentleman, who was
a fellow passenger to Juneau. From his
quiet and unassuming manners one would
little have suspected him of being the hero
of the journey as remarkable for its extent
as for the scope of the territory covered,
the modes of conveyance used, the season
of the year ii was accomplished and the
sequence TO either the hardy voyageur OF
his guides.
When Mr. Merriam reached Juneau, he
at first modestly declined to be inter.
viewed, but finally told his story. A,
Sitka about year and half ago he was
appointed Inspector of Customs at Una.
laska, and last summer was transferred to
the District of the Yukon. He immedi.
atelv set out for his territory, travelling by
schooner through Boring Sea to st.
Michaels, and thence up the river on the
?. B. Weare, upon which boat he re-
NAMED the greater part of the season.
The account of his travels from Fort
Cudahy to Kodiak is best told in his own
words:
II received instructions from the Govern
ment to make report on the various sta
tons, villages and missions located on the
Yukon from Fort Cudahy to its mouth !;
thence following the coast line as close as
practicable from st. Michaels around the
Kodiak Island. The last boat to ascend
the river in the fall having made its trip
and returned to winter quarters, I left
Fort Cudahy on October 8, in an open boat
with the Indians as guides and interpreters
AT Circle City, the Quitting point for the
Birch Creek diggings, and 200 miles below
Fort Cudahy, the first stop was made.
remained there several days replenishing
our larder and taking some much-needed
rest. There are fully 200 miners wintering
at this point, and all have claims on Birch
Creek or its tributaries.
at is remarkable the erroneous idea the
great majority of the outside world has
of the tremendous extent of the valleys of
the Yukon and its tributaries. While
travelling up and down the river on the P.
B. Weare have frequently passed hun
dreds OF nameless streams flowing into the
river. They are not down upon any chart,
have never had place upon a map, and
their size end extent neither the captain
nor even the natives knew anything about,
and upon the gravel of their shores a pick
had never been struck. Hundreds of
thousands of men could be located in the
Yukon country and yet be lost to each
other.
Setting forth in our canoe at Circle CITY
no other stop was made until the mouth of
the Tanana was reached, excepting the
Mlnuka Creek, at which point we spent
day. Nearing the Tanana the weather be-
came much colder and by the time we
reached there the river had closed and we
had to abandon the canoe. After few
days rest L secured two dog teams of six
animals each. and with my two guides set
out for st. MichaeIs, 1000 miles distant down
the river. The travelling on the ice near
the shore was splendid, the ice being
smooth, almost glare, and we sped along
at great rate, making fifty and sixty
miles day several times during the Jour
ney. The ice gorged and the river closed
up completely October 20. Frequent stops
were made while en- route down the river.
and 1t wassnotlced particularly that the ma
tlves were all in good health and had plenty
OF food. st. MichaeIs was reached Novem-
Der q, thirty eight days from the Tanana.
Neither myself nor my guides suffered
from the cold, being warmly clad from
head to foot in fur clothing. The weather
was clear and dry, not breath of air stir
ring during the entire trip the thermome-
ter averaging about fifteen degrees below
zero.
II remained at st. Michaels two months,
during which time frequent trips were
made to the interior. and at one time | got
as lar north as the head of Norton Bay
On January q, the latter half of my Jour
ney from st. Michaels to Kodiak was be-
gun, The trip down the Yukon was de-
void OF anything but merely a passing in
terest, and was attended with little or no
danger whatever, but the journey overland
TO Kodak, distance of nearly 20O0 miles,
was quite different, and it was with some
apprehension that | MADE the start. There
were no trails or streams to follow; native
villages were few and far between. and
travelling had to be done entirely by com
pass and the general lay of the land. I
had secured at St. Michaels a splendid dog
team and also the services of two Indian
guides. We followed the shore line of
Boring Sea from st. Michaels to the mouth
of the Yukon, then assembled the river a
distance of 500 miles to Kozerfski, at the
mouth OF Shageluk Greek, where the HOLY
Cross mission of the Russian church is To-
Gated. AT this point secured new guides
and started overland across the divide to
the Kuskokwim River
AFTER what seemed an interminabIe
length of time, during which period bitter
cold weather, followed by binding snow
storms. was encountered, our party of
three people struggled into the Morayian
mission, near the mouth of the Kuskokwim,
l found there settlement which is a mar
vel, and certainly worthy of more than
passing note. Ten years ago missionary
and his wife, who had been sent out by the
Moravian church at Bethlehem, Pa. were
put ashore on the beach at Kuskokwim
Bay. They had come from San Francisco
by whaling schooner, and when their
scanty store of supplies and little lumber
were landed, and the schooner had con-
tinued its journey to the far north. thew
were left as utterly and absolutely alone in
a strange land and among strange people
as if they had suddenly been transported