The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-04-22

{ wild game which are to be found on
 the slopes. Some of my best impress sions of the park have been gotten from him.
 have also talked with Charles Shei- don of the Boone and Crockett club of New York about his experiences on the slope of Mount Mckinley He is another of the great authorities on this out of the-way game region. He built cabin on the slope of the noun tain some years go and spent a wilt- ter or so there studying the game of lfhe country and collecting specimens
 for the biological survey in Washing ton.
 In addition to these two men, have met during my travels in Alaska meni- bers of every party, with the single ex- ception of that of pr. Cook of north pole fame who has been connected with the attempt to climb the noun tain. or who have succeeded in reach- ing it's top, so that have considerable information at first hand concern ling it,
 The great mountain was known to the Russians and it was mentioned in literature. in connection with the coast range. by George Vancouver. the navi- gator after whom Vancouver Island was named. He came into Cook inlet and reached the site of the present town of Anchorage in 1794. Ills rec ords describe his view of "stupendous
 snow mountains covered with snow and apparently detached from each
 other." He must have seen Mount Nc Kinley. Mount Foraker and others. Wa
 took possession of Alaska in 1867, bu. it was not until II years later that two Alaskan prospectors named Mayo and Harper made a trip 300 miles up | fl1a To ~fxr a,,1 t,ofr mentioned an enormous ice mountain which they saw in the south In lSS9 another prospector named Dens- more gave an enthusiastic description of the mountain, but it was not until 1896 that a Princeton graduate w A. Dickey, travelled through the Susitna val ley and made an extended description Of the mountain as he saw it. MT. Dickey named the mountain after President Me Kinley and he recorded that name in a letter which was published in the New York Sun in 1897. Mckinley had been nominated for the presidency while he was on his exploring tour. and he gave the mountain that name on coming out of the wilderness. Dickey estimated the height of the mountain as 10000 feet. little later George Eldridge and Robert Muldrow of our geological survey took itsl height by triangulation at 29.3Q0 feet. which is the generally accepted figure of its altitude, although I have seen es- inmates which make it 200 or 300 feet higher.
 Another remarkable survey was made of a part of the region by Dr. Alfred Brooks and D. l.. Reyburn, in 1902 and they were the first men to set their feet upon the slopes of the mountain. have talked with Dr. Brooks about his experiences. He made reconnais- ance survey of the western and north- western face of the group and was the first to lay out plan for attempting the ascent of the mountain. Dr. Brooks is one of the best authorities on Alaska, and his geography Of Alaska published by the government is by far the best authority as to all matters regarding the territory. He estimates the height of Mount Mckinley at 20,300 feet, of Mount Foraker at 17.0oo feet. Mount St Elias at 1s.02i feet and Mount Logan at l9,539 feet.
 And now as to the ascent of the noun tain. The first man to attempt it was James Wickersham who is now the l delegate to Congress from Alaska Judge Wickersham has told me how he caught sight of the mountain from far up the Yukon when he first came to Alaska, and determined to do what he could to climb to it's top. It was in May 1903,
 
 Fairbanks that he set out with four men and two mules. He went down the Ia mana in a steamer and ascended to the head of navigation on the Kantishna. He left the river and struck across the coun- try to the base of the mountain. but he tried to ascend by the Peters glacier, and was stopped by the enormous ice-covered cliffs of the north peak He came back saying that only balloon or flying machine could ever take one to the top. He spent a week in attempting the climb, and it was only when his pro- visions gave out that he returned to Fairbanks
 The next attempt to reach the top was made by Dr. Cook who claimed that he stood on the peak and gave an il- illustrated lecture at Washington. telling how he got there. This. like his north polar expedition. was afterward shown up as fraud.
 The first real ascent of Mount Me Kinley was made in February, 1910, by party of mining prospectors who were backed by three saloon keepers of Fair banks. The prospectors were Thomas Lloyd. Charles McGonogill, William Tay- Tor, Peter Anderson and Bob Horne. and also by F. c. Davidson, a surveyor. One of the saloon keepers was William Me- Phee, Big Bill McPhee," whom I met fin Fairbanks. He and the two others each put up $500 apiece for the Journey. and that sum sufficed for the needs of the party. had talk in a club at Fair banks with Tom Lloyd, who headed the party, and also with Taylor and An derson with whom travelled on the Ta- mana river from Nenana to Cinema.
 The party got to the foothills about the first of March, l910 and a little later Davidson and Horne left them. Lloyd had been hunting mountain sheep in the region and he led the party up the slope by easy passes and through the experience of McGonogill made his way over the great Muldrow glacier. It took them about 25 days to get to the head of the glacier with their dogs and supplies. and it was on April 10 that Tay- Tor. Anderson and McGonogin made the final part of the ascent, climbing over the ice by means of irons strapped to their moccasins and with hooked pipe poles in their hands. They did not tie themselves together. with ropes as they crawled over the ice, and there was no cutting of steps It was every man for himself and they gradually climbed the ice os the north peak of the mountain, carrying 14-foot flagstaff with them. They planted the flagstaff on the peak and 1t stands there today.
 The north peak is several hundred feet lower than the south peak. The top of the mountain is somewhat like a horseshoe It is an extinct volcano and the south point is perhaps 300 feet higher than the north point Tom LlQyd, Pete