stefansson-wrangel-09-34-040

Blackjack -10-

Lorne Knight was, I believe, the oldest among this
small group of "colonists” on Wrangel. The Blackjack diary is
an extension of his records begun by Ada at the point where
all in the group of men had perished except Knight who was still
living but was too ill and weak to carry on with the entries.
I am now presuming that copies of the Knight diary, (and pos-
sibly Ada Blackjack's part of it), may be among the Stefansson
archives at Dartmouth.

The diary copy herewith consists of 24 double-spaced pages
on legal-sized paper. To me it's a heart-stirring and touching
document, and much background would have to be written around it.
The quaint English only adds to its appeal.

A point to be noted is the fact that most Eskimo women
are, according to native standards, housewives, their menfolk
providing sustainance through hunting and fishing.

Ada’s pluck in experimenting with rifles, shot guns and
other instruments of survival in the far north is noteworthy
as well as her prowess in improvising two boats.

Much would have to be learned concerning factual background
and dates about all of this. There exists Stefansson's "version"
in one of his books, "The Wrangel Island Adventure." I have no
copy of this but I'm sure it's procurable-- it's the book in
which Noice told me he explains and glosses over the Wrangel
incident.

After reading Noice's book on Arctic travel, one may
assume that had the Wrangel party been equipped with dogs and
sledges, it would have been a comparatively easy journey to
Siberia from Wrangel. They did have this equipment but probably broke through thin ice. It doesn't appear that the party had such