Evening star., 1899-04-15

| overtopped more than 1000 feet by another
Alaskan peak situated about 125 miles north
OF COOK Inlet and on what is known at
| present as the Mckinley range. This tow
| ertng mountain is close to the intersection
| OF the sixty-third parallel of north latitude
| with the one hundred and fifty-first merid-
| ian Of west longitude, and is designated in
recent maps of Alaska as Mt. Mckinley;
| although 1t was not inaptly named by the
early Russian settlers around Cook Inlet,
| Bulshaia, which translated means "big."
In a general way the great height of Mt
| Mckinley has always been known to the
| Indians and the scattering whites who set
| tied in the vicinity of Cook Inlet and along
| the banks of the Sushitna, as it's towering
summit is plainly visible on clear days for
| a distance of 125 miles or more So far as
there is any record, however, no attempt
was ever made prior to the summer of 1898
| to measure its exact height.
| Unexplored Alaska.
| Alaska has an area of nearly 600 900
| square miles, exclusive of it's many islands,
| and it's coast line exceeds that of the
! United States. Accurate data with regard
| to the geography of this immense territory
| is as yet difficult to obtain. There are many
| large areas on the map of Alaska which
| omniscient white man and are totally un-
| known.
| 1t was in response to a very general de-
| sire for more and better information about
Alaska that several departments of the
| government received appropriations from
Congress to equip and send out exploring
| parties, whose duty it would be to break
| up several of these blank areas and to
| find and report on routes to the interior
from American seaports. Twenty thousand
dollars placed at the disposal of the United
States geological survey determined that
| body to organize and send into Alaska four
parties. Each was to consist of a geologist
topographer and as many assistants as
advisable Two parties were directed to
| cross the passes at the head of Lynn canal
and to proceed down the Yukon until
American territory was reached. The other
two were to proceed to the head of Cook
| Inlet One of them, under the direction of
j. E. Spur, was then to proceed west
ward in an endeavor to reach the Kuskok-
win river; the other party, under George
H. Eldridge, geologist, was directed to
travel north up the Sushitna in an attempt
to get through to the Yukon. The second
of these parties I accompanied in the ca
| pacfty of topographer.
The Journey Begun.
The United States gunboat Wheeling, de-
tailed for the purpose of carrying the four
governmental parties to Alaska. left Seattle
on April 4. Each party was equipped with
So~ahpii6 WILLS, supplies lOT months,
and necessary scientific instruments. The
Wheeling followed the regular inside pas
sage from Seattle to Skagway, where the
two Yukon parties disembarked on April
TO- She arrived at Tyoonok near the head
OF Cook Inlet, on the 9th of April. We
unloaded there and prepared for real work.
Beside Mr.. Eldridge and myself, there
were five experienced woodsmen from the
vicinity of Lake Superior, chosen as es-
pecially adapted for the work proposed on
1ff fI,0,,
and boating. All were stalwart fellows,
injured to hard work and travel and they
bore themselves well throughout the ex-
petition. We consumed little time in pre-
pairing for our trip, and on May we made
start up the Sushitna river
This stream, by far the largest which
flows into Cook Inlet, is of glacial origin,
and its current extremely swift. Through
out its lower course 1t traverses heavily
t1mbered glacial plain. The stream is
divided into many channels by low sand
bars and islands, most of which are COW
cred during seasons of high water and II
carries in its waters immense amount
of silt. 1t is navigable only for canoes and
light draft boats. We started I'D about the
time of the spring flood. and our passage
was constantly impeded by trees which
came floating down stream with roots and
branches sweeping everything before them.
The swift current was constantly under
| mining the banks, thereby precipitating the
| trees into the river. Great quantities Of ic.
| also drifted down stream until the latter
| part of May. The water at first was in
| tensely cold. but We soon became accus-
! toned to its temperature.
Hardskips of the Trim.
From May 20 to the 9Th of July we were
| in the water every day. wading and pull
| ing the boats after US. Each of these was
| laden with from eight hundred to a thous-
and pounds of provisions and supplies.
They wsre Hight and constantly being snag
ged by the floating trees or by sunken
dmbers. Progress was consequently slow
and difficult. On some days we were In
able to advance more than half a mile. ana
we esteemed ourselves fortunate on the
days when We made two OF three miles.