June 27
The good weather holds so we continue to make our way through the mountain pass. We rested little today, only during the hottest hours of the afternoon. We are all of us anxious to be out of the mountains before another storm develops.
We did stop for a time where an engorged creek had eroded a bank of mud. Protruding from the half-frozen mud were a pair of tusks like those of an elephant, each near to three feet long & of a tawny color. While the rest of us were admiring the strange sight, Tillman cursed.
?—?That’s it, Colonel. That’s the horns I saw coming out of the clouds, on these monstrous furry beasts, except they were just fog.
Tillman climbed down into the creek bed, inspected the walls.
?—?Look here, he called out. —?Christ!
He had found the animal’s spine bone embedded in the mud, with each separate vertebrae larger than a man’s hand. He tried to pull one of the bones loose but it would not budge.
Pruitt would likely know something of these remains, if only his mind were coherent. He does not speak or acknowledge our presence, but only stumbles along beside us. Then, with no apparent provocation, he bursts out with yells or sobs. It startles & disturbs us all. Several times I have ordered the lieutenant to pull himself together, but it is of no use.
June 28
We have done it! We are through the pass, now look out over the Tanana River Valley.
It is as if we prepare to drop into another world. The rocks & glaciers of the Wolverine Valley here give way to a wide vista with a great number of lakes, braided streams. We emerged from the pass at 3 in the morning, just as the sun rose, not in the east, but almost directly north. It was a grand sight?—?the sun breaching the distant horizon, the valley spread before us in golden dawn. All of us are euphoric. When Tillman let out a whoop, the dog ran in excited circles around him & barked. Even reserved Nat’aaggi is revived. She has since gone down into a ravine to gather firewood.
It is a tremendous relief. We are not home yet, but the worst hardships are over.
Even with Pruitt’s pathetic state, I am proud of these men. There were many who thought this expedition impossible, to travel up the Wolverine River, to cross this divide into the heart of Alaska. Yet here we stand. We made the long, steady march up from the coast about 500 miles. Ahead of us is yet 1,000 miles to the sea, but we will travel through land charted by white men. We will float at ease down rivers, rather than drag sledges & skin boats up them. There will be trading posts where we will be able to restock our provisions.
We could reach the coast before summer is out.
Between rising sun & Nat’aaggi’s fire, we are well on our way to being drier, warmer & closer to content. Boyo sleeps hard beside the fire, though he kicks & whines in his sleep.
Tillman just took from his coat pocket a small square, wrapped in wax paper & tied with twine with unusual neatness. He set it on his knee.
He asked if anyone cared to guess its content.
None of us answered. Tillman unwrapped it to reveal two bits of chocolate. He broke them into smaller pieces, gave each of us a share.
To taste such sweet flavor after months of unsalted half-raw game, flour paste, wormy rice, & rancid salmon was almost too much for the senses.
?—?Wooo-eeee, Tillman howled. —?I don’t know that I’ve ever tasted anything as good as that. Well, go on Nattie. Aren’t you going to try it?
Eyeing us closely, she at last put the chocolate to her tongue. It brought a look of surprised wonder to her face.
?—?This is more like it, Tillman said.
The others are drowsing in the sun. All is quiet along this hillside. The only living creature spotted so far this side of the mountain pass was a raven that passed overhead & flew down towards the Tanana Valley.
Part Five
Alaska Indian Man’s Tunic.
Wolverine River Indians, 1885.
Allen Forrester Collection.
Moose hide, sinew threading, decorated with flattened porcupine quills, dentalium shells, river otter fur trim, dye of silverberry seeds and ochre. Adornment suggest the garment was owned by a man of high status. Atypically opened down the front as in the style of a European jacket.
Damage: bullet hole left upper torso, staining front and back.
Oregon Post
A TRIP INTO ALASKA
LIEUT.-COL. FORRESTER EXPLORES WILD NORTHERN RIVER
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 15?—?Gen. James Keirn has received the first report from Lieut.-Col. Allen Forrester who this spring left Vancouver Barracks in the Washington Territory to attempt an exploration into the regions of the far North.