CHAPTER XLIII. 



REMARKABLE DISCOVERIES OF A YOUNG ARMY 



OFFICER. 



While all the world knows of the discovery of the north pole, not one 

 person in 10,000, it is safe to say, knows that in 1899 a young American 

 army officer, acting under orders of the Secretary of War, proceeded to 

 Alaska, where he made a tour of exploration that resulted in the discovery of 

 a safe overland route from the Pacific Ocean to the golden-laden fields of 

 the Nome country. 



Not only did this officer discover the wonderful natural roadway through 

 the Alaskan Mountains known as Simpson Pass, but he also discovered the 

 second highest peak in Alaska, and he brought back to Washington the best 

 description of the Alaskan country and some of the finest maps ever made of 

 that far northern country. 



The man who did all this and the record of whose achievements have been 

 filed away in the archives of the War Department all these years is Captain 

 Joseph H. Herron of the Second United States Cavalry, now adjutant of the 

 United States Military Academy at West Point. 



EXPLORER STILL IN HIS THIRTIES. 



Captain Herron, who was a young lieutenant not long out of West Point 

 when he made his wonderful journey of exploration, never refers to his 

 achievements in Alaska, and were it not for the fact that a few copies of the 

 report were ordered printed for the use of the United States Senate, this 

 story could not be told, for Herron would never tell it— at least for publica- 

 tion. 



The route to the Yukon and Nome countries explored and mapped out by 

 Captain Herron is officially recorded in the War Department as the "All 

 American Overland Route From Cook Inlet, Pacifi.c Ocean, to the Yukon." 



The route follows the Yentna and Keechatno rivers, and breaks through 

 the To-Toy-Lon Mountains in the Fleischmann glacier region of the Tateno 



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