The San Francisco call., 1898-03-23
FOR ALASKAN
 EXPLORATION Government Decides to Send Out Three Ex-
 petitions. Their Mission to Obtain Various Data Regarding the
 Country. Will Locate Feasible Railway Routes and Suitable Military
Special Dispatch to The Call.

PORTLAND, March 22.-Although the Government has abandoned the re- lief expedition to Dawson City, it has not abandoned the idea of obtaining information of the territory that may be valuable to the development of the country regarding available routes of travel, feasible routes for railroad con- struction, available sites for military posts, mineral resources, timber, fuel, products, capabilities of sustaining stock or animals of any kind and the animal best suited for service in that country in winter and summer. In or der to obtain this information the War Department has ordered the following expeditions for exploring purposes in Alaska:
 Expedition No 1-consisting of Cap tain BogarduS Eldridge, Fourteenth In fantry, commanding; Second Lieuten- ants Elmer w. Clark and Robert Field and twenty enlisted men, Fourteenth Infantry; Captain D. l.. Brainard, com missary of subsistence, as quarter master and commissary; First Lieuten- ant Franklin M. Kemp, assistant sur geon; Acting Hospital Steward John G. Abele and two privateS of the Hospital Corps; guides to be employed as need ed; 200 reindeer, with proportional number of sledges and drivers, trIly equipped and supplied to June 30, 1S9S- will proceed to Pyramid harpor or Haines Mission, Alaska, not later than March 24, and via the Dalton trail to Dawson, N. W. T., thence to the Vi cinity of Belle Isle, Alaska, and there establish a military camp and depot.
 The expedition will proceed thence to discover explore and mark trail rom the Yukon up Forty Mile Creek to the Panama River. It will also explore for other practicable routes southwaro from the Yukon between Belle Isle and Circle City to the Tanana. Its district of exploration will not be limited ex- cept by the valley of Forty Mile Creek on the south, the Yukon on the east and north to Circle City, and the Panama River on the west. It will also en- deavor to communicate with expedi- tions and 3.
 Expedition No. 2-consisting of Cap tain w. R. Abercrombie, Second Infan- try, commanding; First Lieutenant Guy H. Preston, Ninth Cavalry; First Lieutenant P. c. Lowe. Eighteenth In- fantry; Second Lieutenant R. M. Brookfield, Second Infantry; and if teen enlisted men from the Fourteenth Infantry; Acting Hospital Steward John w. Cleave and two privates of the Hospital Corps; fifty reindeer and supplies to include June 30, 1SsS-will proceed about April l to Valdes Inlet, AlaSkd, ana there eSldOllSn t anu depot and explore the valley of the Copper River and tributaries to the Panama River, establishing a line of communication to the junction with expedition No. on the Panama River. It's district of exploration will De the valley of Copper River. It will also erdeaVor to communicate with expadi- tions Nos. 1 and 3.
 Expedition No. 3-consisting os Cap tain E F. Glenn, Twenty-fourth Infan- try, commanding; First Lieutenant James A. Ryan. Ninth Cavalry; Sec ond Lieutenant Henry G. Learnard and nineteen enlisted men of the Four teenth Infantry; Second Lieutenant J. c. Castner, Fourth Infantry; First Lieutenant John s. Kulp, Assistant Surgeon; Acting Hospital Stewart Ar thur Neville and two privates of the Hospital Corps; fifty reindeer, fully equipped to include June 30, 1S9S-will proceed to Port Wells, Prince William Sound, Alaska, about April l, there es- tablish a camp and depot and explore northeastward and northwestward for routes towards Copper and Suchitna rivers. This expedition will be ready to re-embark about May 1, 1898, for Cooks Inlet. thence to explore. north ward and endeavor- to discover the most direct and practicable route from tidewater to one or more crossings of the Tanai a. River in the direction of the Yukon between Forty Mile Creek and Circle City. It will also endeavor to communicate with expeditions Nos. 1 and 2. The district of exploration will be the route indicated and the country north between that and the Panama and Yukon rivers. Passes through l the Alaska Mountains south of the Ia mana should be discovered, if existing. -