48 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Colonel Ohlson on his speeder. We had with us W. L. Brown, Smith- 

 sonian taxidermist, who was to take care of the various specimens ob- 

 tained by the expedition, and Jack Lean, an Alaskan guide, who had 

 been on several former expeditions with me. That night we stopped 

 at the Savage River camp of the McKinley National Park Transpor- 

 tation Company. The next morning we registered at the Park Super- 

 intendant's office and received permits for transportation of the vari- 

 ous specimens through the Park on our return. We then drove to the 

 end of the motor road and finally contacted Harry Boyden and the 

 outfit, camped on the bar of the McKinley River about 2 miles east 

 of Shannon's Cache. 



The lack of game going through the Park was most marked. In 

 1922 and 1925, when I had been there before, sheep were seen on all 

 sides, great bands grazing at the head of Savage, Sanctuary, Teklanika, 

 and Igloo, and in Sable Pass and Polychrome Pass they could be seen 

 in untold numbers. In 1922 I actually counted over 500 sheep in one 

 band on the north side of Polychrome Pass, and on the same day 122 

 in a band on Sable Pass. At the head of the Toklat, a ram pasture, 

 there were bunches of rams everywhere. This condition existed to a 

 greater or less extent the entire length of the Range to Rainy Pass. 

 On our trip through the Park this year we saw 19 sheep. 



That afternoon we busied ourselves getting packs balanced and put- 

 ting the finishing touches on the outfit. August 15 was a day of hustle, 

 with the many contributing delays that one encounters on the first day 

 in getting an outfit under way. We finally were on our way at 1 1 : 40 

 a. m., and traveling across the McKinley River, made directly up to 

 the high gravel ridge that lies along the greater part of the McKinley 

 Range. We were bothered with shifting packs most of the day, but 

 beyond this we had no unpleasant experiences and made our first camp 

 at the head of Muddy River at 5 : 40 p. m. at the exact spot where I 

 had camped in 1922. Watson Webb, who had heard me many times 

 rave about this great game preserve, was inclined, I am afraid, to ques- 

 tion my veracity, and I was beginning to wonder if it had all been a 

 dream on those previous trips. The evidences of many kills of caribou 

 by the wolves along our line of travel was sufficient to explain the 

 great falling off in the caribou and sheep population. 



From the Muddy we made the head of Birch the next day, and then 

 for 3 days we were held there by severe rain. Our next camp was 

 between the first and middle forks of the Foraker River, and here 

 again we were delayed for 2 days by hard rain. We next camped in 

 the Cottonwoods on a branch of the Herron River. On August 24 we 

 crossed the western boundary of McKinley National Park, and com- 



