146 The National Geographic Magazine 



materiall}' increased b}^ the explorations 

 of Pike from St. Louis to Chihuahua, 

 via the Kansas, Arkansas, and the Rio 

 Grande. 



Kotzebue and Zagostin in the first 

 half, and Dall, Kennicott, and Allen in 

 the last half, of the century have out- 

 lined the general features of Alaska. In 

 the Stikine, Klondike, Tanana, Nome, 

 and Koyukuk regions the gold hunters 

 have explored thoroughl)^ In Canada 

 the early discoveries of Franklin, Rich- 

 ardson, Rae, and Back have been sup- 

 plemented by Petitot in the Macken- 

 zie Basin, Dawson and Ogilvie in the 

 Yukon watershed. Bell and Tyrrell 

 around Hudson Bay, Boas in Baffin 

 Land, and L,ow in Labrador. 



As regards theUnited States, the coun- 

 try west of the Mississippi was almost 

 entirely unknown in 1800. The early 

 trans- Mississippi explorations form one 

 phase of the history of the United States 

 Army. The most fruitful in results of 

 such journeys is that of Lewis and Clarke 

 (i8o4-'o6). The}' ascended the Mis- 

 souri from mouth to source, crossed the 

 continental divide, traced thence the 

 Snake and Columbia to the ocean, and 

 returned via the Yellowstone. For the 

 first time the United States was crossed 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This 

 demonstration of the practicability of 

 overland travel was an essential factor 

 in the occupancy of Oregon, which gave 

 the first foothold for the American on 

 the Pacific Coast. 



MAPPING THE GREAT WEST 



Pike explored the vallej^s of the upper 

 Mississippi, Arkansas, and Rio Grande, 

 crossed part of Chihuahua and Texas, 

 then unknown countries. Bonneville 

 ( 1 832-' 36) explored the valleys of the 

 Platte, Green, and Yellowstone, and, 

 pioneer of the Oregon trail, twice crossed 

 to the Columbia, passing west via the 

 Snake River, the Grand Ronde, and 

 Blue Mountains. He also made known 



the great basins of Salt L,ake and Hum- 

 boldt River and the pass across the 

 Nevadas to the Sacramento. Bonne- 

 ville first correctly charted the hydrog- 

 raphy of the trans-Rocky Mountain 

 regions, and eliminated the Rio Buena- 

 ventura and other mythical streams. 

 Fremont's journeys were important as 

 initiating an extensive series of scientific 

 explorations. Kearney surveyed the 

 boundaries of Texas and Louisiana, 

 Boone the country between the Arkan- 

 sas and Canadian, and Emor}' from 

 Leavenworth to San Diego via the Ar- 

 kansas, Del Norte, and Gila. 



Among the many expeditions may be 

 mentioned that of Simpson to the Navajo 

 country, Stansbury to Salt Lake, Sit- 

 greaves to the Zuni and Colorado Rivers, 

 and Mullen from Walla Walla to Fort 

 Benton. Important surveys are those of 

 the Pacific Railway route by McClellan, 

 Whipple, Parke, Williamson, and Derby; 

 the Mexican boundary b}^ Emory, the 

 northwestern boundary' (i857-'6i), and 

 in later j^ears those of King, Hayden, 

 Powell, and Wheeler, which have eluci- 

 dated most of the geographical problems 

 in the United States. 



RIVALRY IN ASIA BEGAN EARI.Y 



In the geographical as in the political 

 evolution of Asia the potent forces have 

 been Great Britain and Russia, so that 

 Northern and Southern Asia have been 

 almost separate fields of enterprise for 

 the dominant nation, with Central Asia 

 as debatable ground for rivalry by both 

 nations. In Northern Asia explorations 

 in the early century were confined 

 largel}' to the local extensions of knowl- 

 edge, except additions to the New Si- 

 berian Islands by Samkif, Sirovatskof, 

 Hedenstrom, and Sannikof, i8o5-'ii ;• 

 of the Siberian Ocean by Wrangell 

 and Anjou, i82o-'23, and in Nova 

 Zembla b)' Liitke, i82i-'24; Pachtus- 

 sow, 1 832-' 35, and Baer and Zivolka 

 1837-38. 



