The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1906-10-25

Six weeks had been used up In the
travel, SO that when he finally got
around where he thought the condi-
tons favorable enough for an attempt
the summer was almost gone-Only a
few weeks remaining-and his work
was FASTENED in consequence He tried
the northeast ridge, however, for two
ascents and managed to reach an ele-
walton of 1900 feet, but there he
found sheer precipice, and, as 1t was
already September and conditions were
decidedly adverse, the party was fore
ed to hurry to the coast before the
streams on which they relied for travel
were frozen for the winter. They found
the Chulitna river impracticable for
the pack horses on their return and had
to abandon six of them among the
wilds.
Rats furnished the means Of travel
after that, and by their aid the party
navigated first the Chulitna, then the
Sushitna, finally coming out on Cook
inlet about Oct. l. 1t had gone over no
unexplored territory during the entire
trip, although making a complete cir
cult. Practically the only valuable re-
suits were, first, the experience, and,
second, the discovery Of two glaciers
running right up to Mount Mckinley
from the Chulitna river.
"With the experience and informa-
ton Of that expedition to work on, the
expedition of the present year was fit
ted out with specially constructed
gasoline power boat of twenty five
horsepower, and, although it was forty
feet long, it drew only twenty inches
Of water, having its propeller protected
In such manner as to save 1t from
ruin in case we struck. While cruising
up Cook inlet in this frail craft we
the waves run ten to fifteen feet up
there, and that condition, when taken
with the forty foot rise Of the tide and
the storms that come up without warn
ing, places these waters among the
most dangerous and treacherous in the
world. 1t was necessary to take all
waves on the quarter, as no craft OF
our size could hope to keep the bow
up for any length of time. One inlet
Is named Turnagain bay for no other
reason tf41l that the varying winds
and waves make 1t absolutely neces-
sary to keep changing the course In
order to stay afoat Hundreds OF
prospectors have met death In these
dangerous waters, for In their zeal to
reach new country they attempt the
passage in small craft that stand no
chance of weathering and often are In
complete ignorance Of the dangers they
must encounter Why, with all our
experience and precautions, we thank
ed our lucky fates on more than one
occasion for pulling us through, and
In one of the little rivers we all but
lost our lives in terrible and unex-
pected storm.
Besides our boat, we were provid-
ed with a pack train 80 that we could
60 over Brooks pass by the old route
in case our attempt farther along the
coast proved futile. We sent the
horses overland from Tyonek to o
point near the pass. SO that all would
be in readiness when we returned for
them, and by using the boat instead Of
going along on foot we saved fully
three weeks on the time 1t had re-
quircd the previous expedition to cover
the same territory, for we We're COM
PEELED to return.
snow leaving the boat, we took our
horses and followed the Yentna river
along the lowest part of the range, and
In this way we got within ten or flf-
teen miles of the other side of the d.
vide We had to swim our horses In
many places and got along ourselves
by hanging to the sides of the packs,
being In the Icy waters for hours at a
time, yet feeling no III effects from the
exposure. Finally we reached a place
where the stream was too large to
ford, too strong to swim and impossi-
BILE to pass around. 1t entered what Is
known as box canyon which COM
pletely put stop to further proceed
ings These box canyons consist OF
swirling rapids, pouring through cleft
In the mountain. whose banks are
sheer cliffs. i,r,nssible to climb and