The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-08-28


No man who has ever gazed from a
distance upon the 0ud-piercing sum-
nit Of Mount Wrangell will be apt to
dispute its sovereignty as the loftlest
upon the North American continent
True, it has not been measured, but
triangulation, or the anerold and the
boiling point Thermometer, are not nee
essary to form a correct conclusion. AT
the present time the few authorities IN
the country concede pre-eminence TO
Mount Wrangell over Mount st. Elias.
1t is case of the giant and the ordi-
nary man standing before one. There
is no need for the measuring tape.
1t was my fortune in 1890 TO attempt
to reach Mount Wrangen. No White
man had tried it previously. The early
Russians had been content to lock upon
the barous namesake from the lower
Copper River. Seventeen of them I'M
der Seberinoffsh had paid for their
temerity in doing even this back in the
sixties. The Copper River natives had
massacred the entire party. Later, IN
1885, Lieutenant Allen had pushed up
the Copper, despite great difficulties,
and had crossed to the Tanana River,
sighting Mount Wrangell from a dis
/ lance approximately of forty miles, but
| had made no attempt to reach the Vol.
! cano. The lieutenant, with his party OF
| two men, barely escaped starvation.
! From that time up to 1890 no one tr1eu
/
! CELL.
When in the summer of 80 / started
| with two white men and an lndlan from
FOrty-mile Creek on the Yukon, tramp
ing overland toward the far distant
volcano, I little dreamed Of the start
ling adventures that were soon to be-
! fall u.s. We carried our slender stock
of provisions upon our backs ana hao
no shelter save square piece Oh mus
! lin to spread over our heads In case Oh
a storm. Altogether we mad ABOUT
thirty pounds of provisions to the man,
but were hopeful that our two rifles
and shotgun would be efficient to avert
starvation Some risk we expected, put
not such as did befal.
| Three weeks of wearisome tranping
and me- -ntain climbing look US across
the Tanana and well into the dark, for
bidding mountains that form the outer
barriers of the Mount Wrangell region.
| Our provisions became exhausted. Lit
tie game in the way Of rabbits and
grouse could be secured. Our scant
meals had fallen from two to one per
| day. Then came a time when there
was nothingi Mountains enclosed us
in their gloomy silence. In the valley
of the Toxic, up which we slowly
pushed, nature seemed to mock us!
Balmy breezes played through the
! eyergreens Insects hummed on every
side. The sun smiled down from above,
l
| creatures hungered and starved!
Never shall 1 forget those days of dire
distress! Here and there we found the
tracks of moose and large bears. The
| country seemed to be infested with the
brutes, judging from the number of
! tracks we saw at various points. Once
| / kneeled down upon the sand on the
bank of the Toxic and measured prints
thirteen inches across. Only a monster
could have made them. Still we saw
! no signs of the immediate presence Of
| the animals No doubt they had been
| driven up into the higher ranges of
| the mountains by the terrible mosqUi-
toes The swarms of these little pests
made us almost frantic. They kept up
their attacks by day as well as by
night.
In front Of us the country rose
| steeply. Immense glaciers appeared
The perspective was grand and appall-
ing. The tempest-tossed ranges, mass
ing toward the zenith. seemed to lose
themselves in the very heavens. Cold
/ steel-colored clouds rode down upon
the north winds in darkening masses
There was a portent in the air.
1t was one August evening that wit
messed the eating of our last batch of
bread. We cooked the dough in our
frying pan while resting upon the
mountain side. Ahead Of us lay an un-
known region. Behind lay a trading
post three hundred miles distant in an
air line. Between were mountains, ra-
vines and swamps. We dared not at
tempt to go back and we could not go
forward. The great volcano was d.
rectly in our front, not fifty miles