Wrangel Island



that I intend to take over, or perhaps a bear. We will also have about five hundred pounds of seal fat and fiveL/yAy*'.L-, or six gallons of bear oil. Although we realized that it was very cold on our short trip, I was surprised last night t dropped to -51°. The sun came all the way above the rizon to-day.”

Applying some mo? when the battle is over, we can write here a good deal of ”A . pertinent comment on Knight’s entry and on the plans " ' ' y 'v'- which were carried out. Had the main consideration been safety, instead of the desire to communicate with me, ’*'* the whole party should have remained on the island, most A ^ . of them going on short rations while the hunting day- ‘'1

light was scanty, but allowing sufficient for hunting ■ strength to one or two of the most active. In the last extremity the five dogs might have been killed, although we know how repugnant that would have been especially to Knight and Maurer, who had often sailed close to the wind on previous expeditions without ever being compelled to sacrifice a dog. The food supply which Knight mentioned would have taken the^party, on such short rations as are common enough in polar exploration, into the good hunting period, as we know both from our general arctic hunting experience and From itrforaiation about the following spring given by Ada BlackjackX^I**^

The crucial thing seems to have been Knight’s faith in sour seal oil as an antiscorbutic. Apart from that, he , would have realized that his disease would progress and

4#^/m-^>!>

^

1&JL* aJU A 1 ]

[handwritten] 6﹡See pg [8]. beginning "As published, [my] newspaper stories gave the impression" on Jan in the statement of Mr. Harold [Noice], p. 294, post ante.

260 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

would have to name Fred Maurer, in spite of the admiration and gratitude I felt for several of the others.”

It is easy now to see that if Fred Maurer had stayed on the island all would have been well there, for he would have secured not only the bears which Ada Blackjack saw and feared to approach, but also doubtless many other animals of which she saw no sign. It is true, of course, as Knight points out, that three men were better than two for the journey to Nome, because they could ease the sledge over the fractured ice, thus protecting it from damage.

The entries from January 22nd to January 27th are routine, the making of clothing, tending of fox traps, etc. On the 28th Crawford wrote the following postscript to his letter to me of January 7th:

January 28, 1923.

Knight and I returned about a week ago. Knight is troubled with scurvy. As the five dogs are scarcely enough, he was dubious of making the trip as his strength is undermined. My plans are unchanged except that I am taking Maurer and Galle with me. I am taking both Maurer and Galle, although I would like to leave one of them with Knight. I think it is wisdom to do this, as it would be disastrous to return a second time. Allan R. Crawford.

The first start of Crawford and Knight (January 7th) would evidently have been made at the same time of year and with the same equipment if there had been unlimited food supplies on the island.' We have noted in our editorial comment and Knight has pointed out in his diary entry for January 12th that their chief error in outfitting was that they loaded the sled too heavily; he does not say with what, but presumably it was food, for, besides their diaries, there was nothing much else they were likely to carry in addition to their bare camping equipment.

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 275

article will include the diary entry of February 4th, it will consist in large part of a separate paper on his symptoms which Knight wrote about this time. In a way it is to be regretted that this paper, while suited to the medical profession, is not so well adapted for general reading. However, its main interest would be only to show further the marvelous spirit with which Lorne Knight met illness and every other misfortune. But that is sufficiently established by the rest of his straightforward record.

February 5th: “General duties. I tried to cut wood this A. M. but had to give it up. No breath. The woman, however, got plenty for the day. I wish the three fellows would come back, for I can see plainly that it will be very hard on the woman if I get completely laid up.”

At this point we might have inserted in the record Fred Maurer’s last letter to his wife, for it has a bearing on whether the three men, or at least all the three, should have left Wrangel Island. But Mrs. Maurer, on consultation with his parents and family, has decided against this for two reasons. The letter as a whole is of too intimate a nature, and it contains isolated sentences which the public might misinterpret, not knowing other circumstances of the case and not having seen other communications from him. As we have mentioned in this book, Maurer’s family have concluded from all the evidence in their possession that he did not wish to leave Wrangel Island, that he did so in deference to the authority and opinion of the others, that the entire party would probably have lived through had they remained on the island, and that Maurer would probably have been able to secure enough fresh meat for himself, Knight and Ada Blackjack had the journey towards Nome been

THE SECOND WINTER AND THE TRAGIC END 279

we have. She went to the traps to-day and saw only one fresh track. In the meantime, all I can do is to eat all the blubber possible. Come on, Bear!”

February 11th: “Although I have no appetite, I am forcing myself to eat all the blubber I can hold [because he believed it would cure scurvy—an error probably derived from his reading of popular articles about “vitamins,” as discussed elsewhere]. When I say that I don’t feel like eating what I mean is that I don’t feel like eating the things we have here. I am continually hankering for fresh meat. Fortunately, I am able to read and sleep as though there were nothing the matter with me, but I would a great deal rather be up and about. But as soon as I get up I get so dizzy that I have to lie down again.”

February 12th: “Had quite a rainstorm for an hour or so this afternoon, and very warm. Thank fortune I still feel like reading and pass away my time at that and sleeping, which I still do wonderfully well.”

February 13th: “I feel as though I would like to get up but when I make a try I am dizzy as can be. I am as hungry as a wolf but it is all I can do to force down a few mouthfuls. If anyone hankered for anything I hanker for fresh raw meat and lots of it.” In the entire two-year diary the only food Knight mentions hankering for is fresh meat. It would doubtless be otherwise if we had the diaries of Crawford and Galle. During the first and second year of a diet mainly or wholly meat almost anyone will long for accustomed foods, and especially vegetables. But this was Knight’s sixth year in the Arctic and, so far as his diary shows, he had completely outgrown his longing for vegetables.

O RW - Put this below the chapter heading of Chapter X, in italics This Chapter should be omitted by all readers except those who ^ read the long newspaper story [[?]] Wrangel Island Tragedy published by NW. Harold [Noise] in 1923. To all, others it will seem only an unpleasant digression from the main [[?]] of the bank

Appendix IV

The Vicissitudes of the Wrangel Island Documents

[This is the rest of Chapter X edited to conform to the understanding with Mr. Harold Noice when we accepted for publication in this book his explanation and apology—see Chapter XIV.3

The chapter on the vicissitudes of the Wrangel Island documents and on the painful circumstances connected therewith was written at a time when we had a case to establish as well as a story to tell.

The arguments and proofs have at the last moment been made almost unnecessary by the retraction and apology of Mr. Harold Noice, the author of that misleading press account of the Wrangel Island tragedy which we are here attempting to replace by a narrative really based on the expedition records. Unfortunately, his retraction does not make this chapter wholly unnecessary for several minor reasons and two major ones. (1) We have evidence that the original newspaper account made so widespread and firm an impression that nothing but a thoroughgoing exposition of evidence and motives can remove it. (2) While Mr. Noice has retracted those portions of his original story which had the greatest historical and scientific importance, he has not retracted other portions which have vital significance with reference to the character of some of the Wrangel Island party. Since the retraction was not complete, it is impossible to destroy completely the reasoning and evidence necessary to remove Mr. Noice’s unretracted contentions from the reader’s mind as thoroughly as they would have been removed had he himself withdrawn them.

Should this book be read by someone who either did not see Mr.

Noice’s newspaper story or upon whom it made only a slight impression, we suggest and even urge that the rest of this chapter be omitted, for it is desirable whenever possible to keep untarnished by even association with the disproof of serious, though unfounded, charges, the simple and creditable story which Lome Knight has

356

372 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

newspapers or this second contradictory story, will see that both disagree with the records no less than each of his versions disagrees with his other version. That will also become sufficiently clear to the reader who follows through the rest of this book. Here we will consider only one point that bears on the history of the manuscripts. We quote first a paragraph from the above newspaper statement: “Knight’s diary ceased March 21, 1923, the last entry being in a firm hand and with no suggestion of death. Beyond this place, however, several pages were torn from the book. The woman had started her diary about two weeks before Knight’s stopped.”

With regard to this we want to establish, first, that Mr. Noice was not misquoted by the reporter, for that sometimes happens. That this was not the case is shown by the fact that Mr. Noice himself extracted this clipping from the New York World and mailed it to Mr. J. I. Knight with the following letter:

“MY DEAR MR. KNIGHT:

I thought you might be interested in the enclosed clipping which shows that I have a different viewpoint of the Wrangel Island story, as that first published I obtained from the Eskimo woman.

It is thru Mrs. Noice's efforts that the second story was brought to light, and it is thru her desire to give the boys a square deal, which she felt I had not done, that these discoveries were made. It caused her much suffering until these facts were made known.

In this new light I see what a heroic character your son was.

Yours sincerely,

(Signed) HAROLD NOICE.”

Having established that Mr. Noice was not misquoted by the World, we emphasize next that he clearly intimates that it was Ada Blackjack who removed and either destroyed or now possesses the ten pages of Lorne Knight’s diary that are still missing. In that connection we have carefully questioned over again the people to whom Mr. Noice had earlier told his three varying stories about the diary.¹² Mr. Carl Lomen is reasonably certain that when he examined Lorne Knight’s diary as shown him by Mr.

¹² This refers in part to material removed from this book as not needed, after we received his signed retraction.

386 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

On November 22nd, the diary says that, “When Galle arose this morning he found that sometime during the night the foolish female had left with a lantern for the other camp [the hunting camp about eight miles away—at this stage Crawford and Maurer were living there while Knight and Galle were at the main camp.] When I got there Crawford and I decided that I would not take her back home on the sled and that he would not allow her in their tent. Crawford and I told her explicitly yesterday not to leave the main camp again, but as she has done so she would either have to walk back or sleep out all night. She came home at 7:30 P.M. tired out. She surely understands what she is told for she talks, reads and writes English very well, but she seems to have her mind set on doing the opposite of what she is supposed to do.”

On November 23rd, “The seamstress refused to patch a pair of boots to-day, so I tied her to the flagpole until she promised to repair them. Kindness failing to accelerate, I am trying something more forceful.”

November 24th, “Before leaving camp in the morning I told our seamstress to make some skin socks and mittens and told her to start scraping a deer skin. When I returned from out on the ice I found her gone, where I could not ascertain. I hitched up the dogs and put up a pole with a box nailed to it halfway between this camp and the other camp. I then went to the other camp with some traps and incidentals for them and returned home, bringing a load of wood with me. When I arrived at camp I found Galle home and the seamstress just arrived. She said that she had been out on the ice wandering around following a fox track.¹ That is all I could get out of her. Consequently she went supperless to bed. She will not work and sits about and disobeys orders and eats up our food and is being paid fifty dollars a month for doing the opposite always. Sometimes I think she is a little touched in the head and other times just plain ornery.” November 25th, “On arising found the woman gone again and followed her tracks towards the trapping camp for a short dis-

¹ This was undoubtedly done in conformity with an Eskimo belief universal in Alaska that certain spirits which live in hollow hills, sometimes walk about in the guise of foxes. There are many tales of Eskimos following fox tracks and walking right into these hills where they are usually very kindly treated. In some of the stories the Eskimo marries one of the hill people.

THE CHARGES AGAINST ADA BLACKJACK 387

tance. If she does not come home to-night or in the morning I will hitch up the dogs and go to the other camp to see if she is there. It looks as though it will take one man to watch her constantly, for if anything serious happens to her it will be a reflection on Mr. Stefansson and us when we get back to Nome.”

On November 26th, “Hitched up dogs and went to trapping camp to see if the woman had gone there. Arrived and found that she had not been seen. Crawford decided to return to main camp with me and look for her to-morrow. Galle arrived from the westward as we got home, stating that he had found her tracks going west along the beach. They followed the beach from the camp about four miles and then zigzagged northwest for four or five miles farther where Galle turned back. Where he left the tracks to return they were going north-northwest. As far as we can determine she took no food with her but we think she took a nightgown and a suit of underwear. All day yesterday the weather was bad, blowing a light gale from the east with drifting snow which continued during the night. Crawford and I will follow the tracks to-morrow with the dog team.”

November 27th, “Crawford and I hitched up the dogs this morning and followed the tracks Galle had found yesterday. After traveling just an hour west we saw something dark on the harbor to the west and by the aid of the glasses we saw that it was the lost one. She was walking very slowly toward camp with her usual camp clothing on, over which was a double Siberian native reindeer suit, making her look, from a distance, like an inverted sack of potatoes. Under her outer garments was a suit of underwear and a nightgown. We bundled her on the sled and brought her home where she now sits moping. Crawford tried to ascertain what her object in leaving was and where she had been, but to no avail. She did say, however, that she had taken a few hard bread with her, and she did not seem to be very hungry when she arrived here.”

On November 28th, “The woman has done practically nothing to-day except wash a few dishes. Crawford asked her this morning if she intended to run away again and she said ‘Maybe/ She wanted to go to the other camp with us as usual but when we said no, she was as usual disappointed.”

On November 29th, “All of us have one pair of skin socks apiece

390 THE ADVENTURE OF WRANGEL ISLAND

cooking, washing dishes, and sewing.” December 27th, “The seamstress is doing very well and is cheerful.”

In the entry for January 10th, 1922, we have: “The woman is again on a strike, accompanied by a deluge of tears. Why? None of us know.”

In the entry for January 12th four lines have been erased. In that for January 14th two and one-half lines have been erased but the following was not removed: “The weather is warm and she will be all right. I am sure she is the most stubborn creature I have ever known.”

On January 17th the diary tells us “The woman is working fine,” and on January 19th we have this fragment “The seamstress complains of a headache and when I gave her some ‘Aspirin’ -----------”, after which three and one-half lines have been erased. Three lines have also been erased from the entry for January 20th.

These erasures by Mr. Noice are the more exasperating and less defensible because Knight made it plain in the entry for September 29th (quoted above) that he was deliberately putting down the very things he wanted all men to know about this difficult situation. Any sympathy with Mr. Noice one might have had on the ground that he was trying to protect the woman, disappears when we remember that it was he who first published some of these things, that he has tried to publish others, and that on the basis of them he has charged Ada Blackjack in the press with far worse motives and actions than there is just reason to deduce from any evidence we have.

From this time on the troubles with Ada Blackjack seem to have ceased. January 23rd we have, “The woman is working O. K. to-day.” January 25th, “Woman doing O. K.”

On February 9th, “The woman has been working diligently for a long time and excepting an occasional spell of crying seems to be contented.” February 25th, “For the last few days the woman has been doing all the cooking, dishwashing and scullery work besides sewing and mending, and doing it very well. She surely is the most inconsistent body I have ever known.”

There is no further mention of Ada Blackjack until May 27th when Knight says, “I have not said anything much for a long time about the seamstress but will take the time now to say that

Appendix VI

Summary of the History and Political Situation of Wrangel Island¹

Reprinted from “The Geographical Journal” of The Royal Geographical Society of London for December, 1923

The history of the discovery of Wrangel Island is bound up with ideas of a large continent lying off the north-eastern coasts of Siberia. Rumours of islands in this region were current on the mainland from the seventeenth century. During the first half of the next century, a considerable part of this coast and the group of islands, now known as the Bear Islands, were visited by Russian travellers. It was then thought that America reached as far as to the north of the river Kolma. To ascertain the truth of this, Andreyev, a Cossack, undertook a journey in 1763 from the mouth of the Krestvaya northwards, visiting the Bear Islands. From the last of these he claimed to have seen to the east an extensive country which he took to be an island of considerable size. Six years later, however, a party of Russian surveyors, Leontev, Lisev, and Pushkarev, failed to confirm his reported discovery.

In the opinion of the Russian traveller, Baron Wrangel, Andreyev had probably seen part of the Asiatic mainland. Wrangel himself, while on a journey along the Siberian coast from Nijne-Kolimsk to Kolyuchin Bay in 1824, was told by natives that between Cape

¹ This paper was published by the “Geographical Journal” unsigned, and was therefore written presumably by the editor himself, by some member of his staff, or by an authority on the subject who wrote it at the request of the editor. The paper is reprinted here by special permission of the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. It is an important contribution to the subject because of the independent, semi-official position of the Society, who are frequently consulted by the British government as to the scientific or historical soundness of geographical claims. It is also important because it states concisely and forcibly the undebatable essentials of the case.

393