ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS OF THE POINT BARROW 
EXPEDITION. 
By Joun MurpbDocu. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, was 
organized in 1881 by the Chief Signal Officer of the Army, for the pur- 
pose of cooperating in the work of circumpolar observation proposed 
by the International Polar Conference. The expedition, which was 
commanded by Lieut. P. H. Ray, Eighth Infantry, U. S. Army, sailed 
from San Francisco July 18, 1881, and reached Cape Smyth, 11 miles 
southwest of Point Barrow, on September 8 of the same year. Here a 
permanent station was established, where the party remained until 
August 28, 1883, when the station was abandoned, and the party sailed 
for San Francisco, arriving there October 7. 
Though the main object of the expedition was the prosecution of the 
observations in terrestrial magnetism and meteorology, it was possible 
to obtain a large collection of articles illustrating the arts and industries 
of the Eskimo of the region, with whom the most friendly relations 
were early established. Nearly all of the collection was made by barter, 
the natives bringing their weapons, clothing, and other objects to the 
station for sale. Full notes on the habits and customs of the Eskimo 
also were collected by the different members of the party, especially 
by the commanding officer; the interpreter, Capt. E. P. Herendeen; the 
surgeon, Dr. George Scott Oldmixon, and myself, who served as one of 
the naturalists and observers of the expedition. It fell to my share 
to take charge of and catalogue all the collections made by the expedi- 
tion, and therefore I had especially favorable opportunities for becoming 
acquainted with the ethnography of the region. Consequently, upon 
the return of the expedition, when it was found that the ethnological 
observations would occupy too much space for publication in the official 
report,! all the collections and notes were intrusted to me for the purpose 
of preparing a special report. The Smithsonian Institution, through 
the kindness of the late Prof. Spencer F. Baird, then secretary, furnished 
‘Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, by Lieut. P. H. Ray, Wash 
ington, 1885. 
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