Evening star., 1925-11-01

~ is approximately 1000 square
~ miles-an empire in itself-has
1 a been visited for the first time
this Summer by white men.
In the official files of the Interior
Department this enormous stretch OF
tundra, mountain and river, with min
eral riches still unscratched, is known
simply as Petroleum Reserve No. 4.
The record of it's exploration, which
has been in progress for the past three
years, forms one of the most thrilling
episodes in the recent activities of the
Interior Department. The latest chap
ter was written by Gerald Fitzgerald
and Walter II. Smith, Government en-
gineers, this Summer. They have just
returned to Washington out of the
northern slope of the Alaskan PENN
sula after more than seven months OF
work in one of the loneliest, most
sparsely inhabited corners of the globe
Petroleum Reserve No. 4 is indeed
Americas last frontier. On the north
it borders on the Arctic Ocean. Its
coastal plain stretches south into mys
terjouS, impenetrable mountains.
For five months Fitzgerald and
Smith did not see any other human
beings except two members of their
party who were picked up on the
Pacific coast. They were entirely out
Of communication with the rest of the
world. The radio, modern boon OF
Arctic explorers. was denied them
Cut off from the world and obliged al
times to carry all their supplies on
their backs, a radio set would have
been an extra burden which they could
az IN, bn 1,1rSiynce ha.
fore them.
Fhe story of their trip, as reported
to Secretary Work. is u simple nara,
ton Of the doing of a job which was
part of their routine duty.
Fitzgerald, Smith and one other
Faye Delezene, sailed from Seattle
February %, 1925. and arrived at the
little village of Nenana, the northern
terminus Of the Alaska Railroad
March 10. The fourth member of the
party, Walter r. Blankenship, had
reached Nenana from Tanana with
two dog teams Of II dogs each one day
before.
Sixty miles out on the trail the day
before Blankenship had lost a finger
while unfastening the dogs from a
snubbing post. but he came on to
Nenana and had the wound dressed by
a physician. This was the only acct
dent of the entire trip. On March Il
the party set out with two dog sleds.
each loaded with about 400 pounds of
camp equipment and instruments, for
the head of the CoIville River, more
than ! 900 miles away.
Z !; \ <
once before a similar trip had been
~ undertaken. In 1924 Dr. Philip
S. Smith started from Nenana with
dog teams and crossed the northern
Alaskan mountain range into the Col
vile River basin in the dead of Win
ter in order TO be in the territory
which he wished to explore when
Spring set in. Previous efforts to map
the territory had been made by engi-
neers who went by boat to the north.
ernmost settlement under the Ameri.
ran flag, Point Barrow, and from there
aScended the rivers. The difficulty
with this method proved that, on ac-
count of the long delay in getting to
Point Barrow by boat the explorers
could 20 only few miles up any one
of the coastal plain rivers before tho
long Arctic Winter began to set in,
early in September, and it was neces-
sary 10 make haste back to the coast.
Fitzgerald and his party followed a
somewhat different route from that
taken by Smith. 1t led down the Ia
rama and Yukon rivers to the village
of kaltag, overland to Cnalakleet. an
Eskimo village on the Behring Sea;
northward along the coast, across
Norton Sound and the base of the
Seward peninsula to kotzebue, where
the party arrived April s. The dis
tance of about 700 miles from Nenana
to kotzebue was accomplished in 26
days of actual training, so that
the average was q miles a day. Great
est distance travelled in one day was
AZ miles.
Over nearly the entire distance at
least one man ran behind each sled to
guide it by means of handle bars.
Often it was necessary to go on snow
shoes ahead of the dogs where the
trail was obscured by drifts and newly
fallen snow. The snow was four or
five feet deep, and when the sleds
missed the beaten trail by few
inches they would upset in the soft,
deep drifts. Little accidents of this
kind would sometimes result in q dog
fight.
The arrival at kotZebue ended the
first stage of the journey. The greater
part of it covered much the same trail
as was followed by the dog teams that
carried the diphtheria anti-toxin TO
Nome a few months earlier, and over
which the mail for Nome and places
farther north is hauled at regular in
tervals throughout the Winter regard
less of storms and with temperatures
as low as Go degrees below zero.
When the survey party left Nenana
the weather was warm. 1t had been
raining, suggestive of an early Spring
in the Far North. This was rather
discouraging, in view of the long trip
ahead over the snow. However, the
temperature dropped in a few DAYS.
Before the party left the Yukon it
was 80 degrees below zero. One of the
engineers received a few frost bites.
A heavy snowstorm was encountered
while the party was crossing Norton
Sound on April l. The snow became
incrusted over the eyes of the dogs,
and 1t was necessary for man to go
on ahead of them. At times it was
impossible for this guide TO see the
lead dog, although only a few feet
ahead. Had it not been for q well
staked trail the party probably would
not have reached the roadhouse at
koyuk that night. The Eskimo road.
house keeper was astonished when
they drove in, and told them he had
not thought 1t possible for anybody to
cross the sound in such a storm.
x J. x
A T Kotzebue the party secured
supplies for the summer. The
most difficult stage of the Journey
was before them, the crossing of the