The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-05-12
IN THE WILDS OF ALASKA |
An All-American Route Discov
cred by Lieutenant Heron.
FIVE MOTHS TRAVEL N SNOW.

dtttOn was tnugbt IN the Iotls OF
winters Ice and Snow-Discovered
Another Great Mountain Besides
Mount Mckinley, 10000 Feet High.
The report Of Lieutenant Joseph :.
Heron. Eighth cavalry. who. with his
small command. was reported TO be- lost
lu the vicinity Of the Mckinley range.
Alaska. Boz the fall and winter Of .sgg
is about 90 be- published by the war :,
partmcnt writes the Washington cor.
respondent u the New York sun 4
portion OF the territory travcrsed D.
Lieutenant Heron and bis men was
never before pressed hy the feet of
white men. and the narrative of that
officer represents the heroic efforts OF a
small party .u unknown regions against
almost msurmouutable obstacles de
serted hy guides. caught iu the tolls OF
winters ice and snow aud deprived OF
transportation and hampcryd hy scar.
city of food. II was only .n the early
spring OF 1900 that intelligence reached
the war department that the gallant
band had arrived Coz safety az Port
Gibson
After engaging I'm some explorations
In and about Cook inlet during the
months Of May and June. 1899. Lieu
tenant Heron and the men who were
10 accompany him into heretofore un-
explored regions were landed 10y steam.
boat at the head Of navigation OF the
kcechatno. From this point began the
series OF overland explorations TO the
Yukon. the object being TO discover
the most practicable route 10 the juno
tlon Of that river with the Tanana.
The detachment was composed. I'm ad.
dition TO Lieutenant Heron, OF FIVE
men. Fifteen pack horses carried ra.
tions 20 oct. 81. Considerable trouble
was encountered in getting Indian
| guides. Two Indian guides were final
/ ly engaged and on July l, 1899 the ex-
peditlon began its journey.
/ The first objective was 10 get through
/ the Alaskan range, mass Of euOr-
nous peaks and glaciers about 20 miles
4 wide. extending across Alaska and con
stitutng the chief barrier TO the inte-
/ rior. The expedition consumed the en-
/ tire month In exploring these noun
tains. Moose and bear were OCCASION
] ally encountered, which gave the cxpe-
| dition fresh meat. On July 22 the crest
OF the divide was crossed. ana the eX-
. ucditl0u started down the other side
. East Of the divide the drainage Is into
the Pacific ocean. west Of it into the
Beriug sea. The latter is closed by ice
..
open.
IN The latter part of July the Indians
deserted and went back 10 the coast.
This proved severe blow 10 the eype-
duion. Thereafter Lieutenant Heron
travelled hy the compass and sun. with
Scutcmhpr came frusts that killed the
grass and leaves. and the horses were
fed ON aour 4 great deal Of food was
subsequently, lost during the month hy
accidents Of one Kind or another from
which men and horses suffered one
night a big brown bear knocked down
a cache aud ate 80 pounds of bacon
Fortunately an Indian crossed the
bears trail and killed it. and members
Of the expedition evened up matters by
eating bruin In turn.
For two months Lieutenant Heron
was compelled TO remain among the
Indians before he could figure n way
out to civilization. In the meantime
: he was not idle. He learned the Ian
guage Of the tribe he was among in or
der that he might gain all possible
knowledge Of the country yet to be eN
plored and 10y so doing worked the res
? cue Of himself and men. In the mean
q time the horses had either died natura
3 deaths or had been killed and eaten
The horse blankets carried by the par
e. were made into clothing. socks anC
' mltts. Their food. when they could &c
{ II, was moose beaver and fish. The In
- dians were hosplrable, but required
p careful management.
. In the latter part Of November Lieu
tenant Heron, with four Indians a
guides resumed the exploration OF IN,
; last III miles on snowshoes. cuttini
10 and blazing trall and mapping IN
+ country as he went along. Nine dog
d and three sleds hauled such lmpedi
r mcnta as remained 10 the expedition
II During the extremely cold nights tina
j. ensued the men blvouacked on Ia
ground, digging through the snow, Us
ing their snowshoes as shovels, pllln
i shelters Of spruce trees around ther
Q and keeping the fire going all night I
keep from being frozen to death.
was only when they found band q
Indians canned Mt Coshaget. on ia
u Tanana, that such luxuries as breaC
IS butter and tea passed their lips.
r At $3.50 on Dec. IL. 1880, the littl
IS band Of hardy explorers reached the
% objective point. the junction Of the II
y mana and Yukon rivers. after havin
passed , months and II days on n
d trall. The total number of miles ira
elod was 1000, all on foot.
In his observations on the countr
d travorSed Lieutenant Heron says D
Ie should judge the Kuskokwim TO /
% naylcable for large steamboats, as "a
ms the Echoatnu and for small steam
- boats as far as the Tatathuo III
A A l.