stefansson-wrangel-09-38-004-003

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emanating from Vilhjalmur Stefanason himself, and, In
addition to Maurer, one other, Lorne Knight, was known
to have been a member of the explorer's former expedition.
And Stefansson was about the last man in the world to be
interested in hunting gold.

The two others were Milton Galle, of New Braunfels,
Tex., and Allan Crawford, of Toronto, Canada. Crawford
was the nominal commander of the little expedition, but
having had no experience in the North he would have to
depend largely upon Knight and Maurer for advice.

In due course the expedition sailed from Nome. Little
ice was encountered en route and without adventure the
party was landed at Rodgers Harbor. Their first act was
to hoist the British flag and take possession of the
island in the name of the British King on behalf of Canada.
Then the Silver Wave sailed away and from that day to this
no word has been heard from the little party on Wrangel
Island.

Wrangel Island was discovered in 1849 by Captain
Kellett, a British navigator, and it appears under his
name on subsequent admiralty charts. Herald Island, a
nearby rock, which he discovered at the same time, still
bears the name given by him (after his ship). But an
American whaling captain, Thomas Long, sighting the
island in 1867 and believing it to be new land conferred
upon it the name "Wrangel" in honor of the Russian