The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-04-18

1Aeu Ireely without harm.
with roots and branches sweeping everv-
thing before them. The swift current was
constantly undermining the banks, there
by precipitating the trees into the river
Great quantities of ice also drifted down
| stream until the latter part of May. The
| water at first was intensly cold, bur NE
soon became accustomed to it's te.nps--
allure.
From May 20 to July we were in the
| water every doy, wading and pulling the
! Doats abter us. Each Of these was laden
! with 500 to 1000 pounds of provisions and
| supplies. They were light and constantly
! being snagged by the floating trees or by
! sunken timbers. Progress was conse-
! quently slow and difficult On some days
we were unable TO advance more than a
mile, and we esteamed ourselver fortunate
| on the days when we made two OF three
miles, from the mouth of the sush:tna
L ran an instrumental line of survey and
made plane table sketches of the river
and surrounding country. Some twenty
five miles UP its mouth the Sushtna IS
Joined by the Yentno, large tributary
flowing in from the west. At the pint of
conjunction the Alaska Commercial Co.
has established store.
Here we took leave of Mr.. Suurr ara
his party.
We continued on to the Sushitns and
arrived on July "a at a point some eighty
two miles from it's mouth, where 1t re-
ceives two large tributaries, the Talkeet-
ma and the Chulitna, which flow in from
the east and the west respectively. Here
a latitude station was established we
found it to be in GO degrees 20 no"'h. The
channel from here up is more confined
and the river rarely exceeds half Of a
mile in width. The fall, however,
er and the current is swifter, bit the
banks are better than in lower ,our se, and
we made more progress Ia.ly.
On the 5th of July we found rsel-es
at the mouth of Indian Creek nd { the
head of navigation of the :,
accordingly, We determined % caths cur
boats and surplus provisions AMI 20 tlke
the socalled overland trail for the
First, however, we determined to glitch
camp long enough to make final oAse ~
tons on Mt Mckinley and the great
range which 1t dominates.
We had sightedSthe great mountal- from
rear Il6 HIUUtflEOi the SuSDII'lts nIu d.
observations WITH the transit, reading both
horizontal and vertical angles. From
these readings and our final observations
wi determined the height of the mountain
to be 20,4G4, or the highest peak in the
North American continent.
Our last observation on the grea: peak
were made from the tor Of small range
some 1000 feet in height. This range les |
near the mouth of the Sushitna and the |
Chulitna Rivers. The obsslva; III station |
was about five miles from the mouth of
the Indian Creek and almost directly east |
of Mt Mckinley. For some little tino |
we were unable to obtain view Of the |
mountains on account OF the clouds. We |
could tell, however, that the top Of the |
rfge commended a magnificent view OF |
the whose RANGE. and when the winds Tad |
finally dispelled the clouds we saw the /
whole eastern side of the great range for |
a distance of perhaps 200 miles.
The panorama was one which / believe |
Is unsurpas sed for grandeur and magnif- /
cence in the world. AS the air became /
clearer we could see the range stretching
off perhaps $50 miles to the southwest, its
contour broken here and there by jagged +
peaks which shot thousands of feet above
the level of the ridge Some sixty miles
away a great fat-tpped peak rose 1890
feet above the sea level. To the right Of it
was smaller conical shaped psake. per-
haps i. 600 feet in height, while stin fur
Their to our right and about forty-fve
miles from our point Of observation tow
cred Mt. Mckinney. whose peak, clad with
eternal SHOWS, looked down upon the sur
rounding waste and solitude from a height
Of %. 500 feet.
Below US and about ten miles away
the Chulitna River ran along the eastern
side OF the great range. fed mostly from
the glaciers formed on its peaks. Oppo-
site where we stood its bed r about so
feet above the level OF the sea. At a
glance we saw the whole OF the eastern
slope OF the great mountain. This side OF
the mountain Is scanned with hundreds
and thousands of sharp gullies and = cut
by ravines and canons ofttimes 70 depth
OF thousands Of feet. II serves also as
base for fnnumsrable peaks. some Of which
rise to a height OF from 100 10 l9.99
feet. Running of 10 the right Of the great
peak. and perhaps twenty-five niles IN
length. Is glacier fed by tbs ice and
snow Accommodations Of centuries.
The entire party agreed thai as far a. :
human beings are concerned. the mountain
Is absolutely inaccessible from the eastern
side.
The whole Mckinley range gives an i'm
preston OF the greatest ruggedness. and
its outlines would Dc harsh In the extreme :
were they not tempered By the sott wh.is
% the SHOW whica cs7s al high peaks
Moreover. below the snow lire the slaty
rock : covered BY the sott Alaskan MOSES
which lends to all the mountains e Alaska :
a beautiful pale green color effect pecG- /:
larry their oxn- !:
Observations CT Tire Mckinley rsuge. ard :
IN particular OF the great peak. consumed .
oriy a shorr time We made number /:
Of camera exposures. Dat these proves .
70 oe complete failures, presumably @
zccour; CT the intense whlfeness n re .
range. To guard against sach c1nti7- :
yeacy made : number % rough sketches. :
both Of the general landscape ard q ire .
great Peak. Thls e7ns re took 8 last
COX a. me great range ard began pFePAr- :
atoms fg- re long poTtzEs Ac-uzs the d. .