DISCOVERIES OF ARMY OFFICER 409 



posed which were too shallow to swim, too deep to corduroy, too soft-bot- 

 tomed to ford and too wide to jump ; investigation for wood, water, grass, and, 

 if possible, a breezy location for camp, wind, as an additional requisite, mini- 

 mizing the mosquitoes, gnats, horseflies and mooseflies." 



"The first object," the Herron official report states, "was to get through 

 the Alaskan Range, a mass of enormous peaks and glaciers about seventy 

 miles wide, extending across Alaska and constituting the chief barrier to the 

 interior. I consumed the month of July exploring through these mountains. 



MARCH THROUGH DENSE TIMBER. 



"The first day's march — forty-three miles — was through dense timber 

 and over soft ground. The packs were heavy, the lash ropes stiff, and the 

 horses frolicsome. The transportation stampeded back on the trail at every 

 opportunity, raced through the woods, knocked off packs, plunged into mud 

 holes, bogged down, and it required eleven hours of patient toil to make that 

 short, march." 



After this day's march and until July lo. Captain Herron reported good 

 luck. He was then nearing the To-Toy-Lon Mountains, and though he did 

 not then know it, Simpson Pass, was not far away. The Indian guides, who 

 were later to desert him, told him on that day that it would be impossible to 

 get his horse over the mountains, that the pass was over vertical rock cliffs, 

 and that when the Indians crossed they had to use their hands in climbing 

 over. In the six days that followed Captain Herron discovered the entrance 

 to the pass. 



"During the following six days," he writes, "the Indians informed me 

 that they 'saveyed' (knew) the country no further. I proposed climbing to 

 the top of the mountains for a reconnoissance, and devoted the afternoon of 

 the i6th to doing so. The Indians still wanted to go back, repeatedly warned 

 me 'one month snow,' and made efforts each day to persuade me to abandon 

 the trip. ♦ 



POUNDED ON ROCKS IN RIVER. 



"July 17 I went into camp after a short day's march to make a fire and 

 warm up Carter, who, in fording the Keechatno River, was knocked down, 

 carried off and pounded on the rocks by the swift current. The Indian 

 Stepan rescued him from a disagreeable situation. We were nearing the 



