Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-08-30
A NEW RACE IN
THE ART|C REGION
sTEFANSSON, LEADER OF PARTY
BELIEVES THEY ARE LOST
sCANDINANIANS.
A RIVER THAT'S A myth
La Roncicrc shown ON Maps Doesn't
IAi~t, the Scientist
Writes,

New York, Aug pa race of peo-
pile who had never before bchold a
white man or an Indian has been dis
covered In the ArtIc regions Of Brit
lsh Columbia by Nilhjmar Stcfansson,
leader of the American Museums
scientific expedition, which left here
In April 1905, according 10 letter
received from him in Brooklyn today.
In his letter, which is dated Mouth
Of the Dcase River, October Is,
1910 and is the first Intelligence re-
ceiyed from the party within a year,
Stefansson says:
1--WE have discovered people IN re-
pion supposed to be uninhahited and
have lived a few months among pco-
pie who had never seen white man
or an Indian though they had heard
of both), and did not even know
was not an Eskimo-so little were
they informed on what white men are
like. We have discovered Eskimo On
speech and hahits) who are Scandi-
nayions in appearance.
This find is the beginning of the
G'lNAl'll VI tIlf VI lMb ~ N'l'IlSt
what became Of some Of Frank
ln's men?
"What became Of the three thous-
ana Scandinayans who disappeared
from Greenland in the Fifteenth Cen
tury7
"Or, If neither Of these questions Is
to be answered, then we have intro
duced a new problem of scientific in
terest Why do some Of the people Of
Victoria land differ markedly from
the rest o ftheir race? Why are they
50 European in type? We have dis
covered the noneXstence Of a stream
which the maps makes the size of the
Hudson Riyer-when the river La
Ronciere disappears from the map |
shall feel I have done some house
cleaning
I'VE have found a certain cape to
be an island and certain island to
be a cape; we know the source of
Rae River, Of which the mouth and
the lowest ten miles were seen by
Doctor Rae And a few other odd
things we have done that are in the
nature of discoveries. But, Of course.
IL we deserve credit 1t will be more for
our routine work than any discoveries
properly so called"
Stefansson left New York on the
present expedition in April, 1908. His
principal purpose was to study the
different tribes of Eskimo in the
Northwest, and more especially an
unknown tribe living in Victoria
Land.
The explorer is about 33 years old
and a graduate of Harvard University.
He is more than six feet tall, of ro-
bust physique and has devoted many
years of anthrOpological research,
particularly among the Eskimo OF
the Northwest.
Several letters have been received
from him describing his experiences
and hardships. The letter received to-
day was addressed to Herbert Bridg-
man, an authority on Artic eXplora-
tion.
Stefansson was accompanied by DR..
Il. NJ. Anderson of Harvard. During
the long, drcary journey to the Land
of the Midnight sun the party met
with many hardship, the explorer
writes: Once, when the food supplies
ran out and no relief was in sight he
says, they ate the skins from their
fur clothing. In midwinter in 1903
Doctor Anderson fell i'll with pneu-
monia and remained so for month.
Had it not been that we had a
small cache of flour etc, at Camp
Perry we should not have been able
to pull through" the explorer writes.