AlSr EXPLORATION TO MOUNT McKINLEY. 417 



we had traversed, sweeping- around to the northeast in an apparently 

 unbroken crest line, without a sug-gestion of Rain}- Pass, Far to the 

 southwest distant snow peaks belonging to some unknown range com- 

 pleted the picture. 



On my way down 1 kept along the ridge until 1 caught the glimmer 

 of white tents in the valley 5,000 feet below me, and then, noting the 

 course by my compass, I plunged down the mountain side without 

 further consideration. A clifi' proved a temporary obstacle, then 

 another, and finally a succession of steep slopes which were merely 

 intervals between small cliffs. Once started it was impossible to turn 

 back; one minute I was sliding with a mass of loose talus, another cau- 

 tiously clambering down a cleft in a precipice, bracing myself against 

 either wall to maintain my scant foothold. Once a huge bowlder, 

 which I had loosened in m}' descent, whizzed past and crashed into 

 the timber a thousand feet below. It Avas with a deep sense of relief 

 that I reached the timber line and registered a silent vow never to 

 attempt anything so foolhard}' again. 



By the last week in Juh^ Ave reached the lowland which stretches 

 northwestward from the inland front of the Alaskan Range. Our 

 route now left the river, turning to the northwest. As we slowl}- cut 

 our way through the dense timber of the lower slopes of the valley 

 another horse gave out, and his load was distributed among the others. 

 Poor brute! Only .six weeks before he had been tearing up the beach 

 at Tyonok, scattering his pack to rig-ht and left to the terror of the 

 Siwash dogs. 



Coming shortly after into an open spruce forest, we were startled 

 by the discovery of a blazed trail, which was plainly not the work of 

 natives. No one accustomed to the frontier can ever mistake the scars 

 of an Alaskan Indian's ax, for he has never learned to luake a clean, 

 sharp cut. No; this chopping- had been done by white men, in win- 

 ter, several years before. We followed the trail for some miles until 

 it turned off out of our course. Who were these lonely travelers 

 of this wild region? Whence had they come and whither did they go? 

 These are questions that may never be answered. That they belonged 

 to that class of Alaskan prospectors who have traversed the territory 

 from the almost tropical jungles of its southern coast to the barren 

 grounds which skirt the frozen sea on the north seems not unlikely. 

 Often these pioneers make journeys that would put to shame tlie 

 Avidely advertised explorations of nianj' a well-equipped govermnent 

 expedition. Were the results of their efforts commensurate with the 

 toil, danger, and suffering involved, geographical science would be 

 much enriched thereby. Unfortunately their ideas of Avhere they 

 have been are often almost as vague as of Avhere they are going. 

 Many a life has been lost on these hazardous journeys, and only too 

 often are bleaching bones the sole record of unproclaimed and unre- 

 warded heroism. These adveiitunu-s have no hioh ideals, often no 



