HARROW IN G EXPERIENCES
„ OF POINT BARROW PARTY
RELATED BY RELIEF PILOT
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(Continued, from Page 2.)
down. After the dogteams had been
found Wien went, to , the Hegness
catbin and the latter started out with
bis dog team to -search for Robertson
and Clak. As soon as Wien came in,
Hart stated out three .more dog teams
in the direction .of . Smith bay in
search for Merrill.
“We worked on -Wien’s plane to get
it ready again, and.at, 11 o’clock that
night we both took off for a recon
noissan ceof Smith.bay. The fog had
lifted somewhat, an/1, at that hour the
sun was shining high in the horizon.
We flew over. Smitl bay and encoun
-4eed heavy fog, but we went above it
and continued to circle around, hoping
that Merrill would hear our motors
and know that we were searching.
After four hours of flying we re
turned to Barrow, at 3 a. m.
“June 2 the weather again turned
rotten and continued so until the 4th.
That morning, although the fog was
still heavy, we decided to make a
.search anyway,. as Merrill must be
near the coast. .At 11 o’clock the fog
cleared and w ewere warming up
■Wien's motor to .make the flight in
bis plane when Hegness came in with
Merrill.
“Hegness had found Merrill while
he was following the trail of Robert
son and Clark, for whom he was
searching.
“Merrill was wrapped up in a
blanket on the sled, and the few min
utes between the time the sled came
in sight and..the time that Hegness
signaled that; ne was all right were
. about the-most harrowing any of us
had ever gone through.
“Hegness had found Merrill sleep
ing on. a sandspit about,, 35 or 40
, miles from Point Barrow, snowblind
and, unable to travel. Merrill had
beep closer to the coast, but had seen
a cache during his gruelling attempt
to reach the coast and had turned
. back to get some food. He had sub
* sisted entirely on lemmings, a small
rpdent plentiful in that section, which
. he killed with his 22 pistol.
“As soon as the doctor had report
f ed that Merrill was not in serious
condition I decided to return to Kot
zebue to let those who were anxiously
awaiting for news from all of us
know the facts. Wien and Hart were
, opposed to my making the attempt,
but after talking to Merrill and tell
ing him my plan he approved, and I
made eady to start immediately.
“The flight back to Kotzebue did
prove difficult, as Wien had predicted,
and I was forced to travel many extra
miles and double back sew-rpl times
to make sure I had not lost,the coast
line. I landed at Kotzebue that night
at 9:15 o'clock and after preparing
some messages had a night’s rest.
“Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 I took
off for Ruby. I wanted to continue
on into Anchorage, if possible, but de
cided to get the weather report before
crossing the range, and get some rest.
That night I slept soundly for twelve
straight hours, and when I awoke
Wednesday morning it was to find a
downpour of -l'pin, and there was no
possibility of making the flight be
cause of the ppor visibility. This
morning (Thgr^day) the atmosphere
cleared andl.hfcjt no time in making
ready. The course from Ruby was
almost in a straight line, passing to
the right of Mount Dali at an alti
tude of 7,000 feet. The little plane,
one of the best I have ever piloted,
made the flight of something over 320
miles in three hours and five minutes.
“My chief reason for wanting to
leave Barow immediate!^ after all the
missing men had been found was be
cause of the failure of our radio to
send out the good news. Heyser
could pick up several stations and
hear the news, but in all he did pick
np there was nothing concerning any
of us. The only hookup Heyser suc
ceeded in making was with an ama
teur operator at Hawk Inlet, nea J»
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OFFICIAL LOG AS LEFT BY PILOT R. H. MERRILL.
May 13.
May 13.
May 14.
May 15.
May 16.
May 17.
May 18.
May 19.
Sun. 20.
May 21.
May 22.
May 23.
May 24.
(Sun.) Fairbanks-Wiseman. Flying time 2 hrs. 40 min.
Wiseman-Flat, en route Barrow. Flying time 4 hrs. 16
min.
Noel Wien and Hart left for Borrow to bring shovels, gas
and some oil. Was to return same day so we could
shovel out runway and take his baggage and my full
load to Barrow. Did not return, although weather fine
except for stic breeze.
W’eather foggy parts of day but good for considerable
period in morning. No Noel.
Low clouds and low visibility or foggy all day. Tried
snowshoeing down a runway.
Low clouds and fog. Snowshoed runway did not haroen -
at all.
Started to clear runway 1:15 a. m. I worked until 2 p. m.
Others probably 4 hrs each. Decided impractical to do.
Practically clear midnight. Sunset 11:45, rose 1 by clock.
(15 min. slow), observations not carefully made. Blow
ing hard all day. Snow blowing badly.
Blowing hard all day. Wind ENE as usual. Compass var
iation seems to be not over 15 deg. E.
Foggy and blowing snow all day until about 11 (?) pm.
Could see N. horizon then.
Cleared some in a. m. and more in p. m. Tried to get off
but no chance—even alone. No wind. Rdbertson and
Clark decide to walk to Barrow. Would follow course of
about 215 deg. Mag. I decide to take my chance with the
ship. They left at 11 p. m. Have very little grub.
Weather is calm and while overcast is not snowing. Ac
cording to sun compass (watch) they went a little east
of north. Doubt whether I could make it to Barrow on
foot.
Cleared about 30 ft. in front of ship. Foggy in morning
(after 3), but cleared some in p. m. Before I got drift
ceared from runway wind changed and it became foggy
again. Found doughnut in tail of ship Will probably
cook all rice and hit the trail myself.
Flying conditions 1 a. m. seemed favorable so tried to take
off ship in spite of no wind. Nosed her up bending pro
peller. Pulled her tail down, tied her down, drained oil.
No damage whatever except to prop. Leaving at 9:45 p.
m. Wearing Robertson’s fur lined jacket and undershirt
Clark’s. Also taking Clark’s sleepingbag and a thermos
bottle—owner unknown. Will follow compass course of
315 deg. (Mag.) unless same proves to be too far from
true north. Will follow this until I reach river, going in
approximately same direction, and will follow river to
coast. Have enough rice cooked with me to last four
days anyway. Hope to make Barrow or a native home,
but rather doubt whether I can. Dearest love to my
wife, boys and fine two brothers.
(Signed) R. H. MERRILL.
Had to return, as could get nowhere necking the sleep
ing bag, etc., so am leaving same and thermos bottle.
Again love to my dear wife. Leaving at midnight this
time. (Signed) R. H. MERRILL.
.
neau. The amateur called Heyser and
said he could hear him - faintly and
asked him to use more power. When
Heyser did the last tube burned out
and there was no chance of sending
any more messages. With his impro
vised set he picked up sevral mes
sages in Italian, but we could not de
cipher them. Most of them were in
code numbers only.
“I cannot say too much in praise of
the wonderful people of Point Bar
row, particularly of Charles Brower,
who has been there for forty years
and is manager of the trading post
for Liebes & Co., and his assistant,
Alfed Hobson. They extended us
every assistance possible in making
our search for the missing men, and
their hospitality to us was unbound
ed.
“The report sent our from Fair
banks that the injured men at Barrow
were being cared for in an improvised
hospital is entirely erroneous. The
hospital there is one of the most com
plete in Alaska and will compare fav
orably with the Anchorage hospital.
It is finely equipped and most effi
ciently handled. Dr. Newhall, a fine
physician and surgeon as well as a
minister of the gospel, is in charge,
with Miss Morgan as head nurse over
a corps of trained assistants.
“Merrill’s high character and hero
ism is attested by Robertson and
Clark, who said that when they left
the plane in an endeavor to reach the
coast, Merrill insisted on them taking
all of the food that remained except
a little rice. Merrill’s plight after
starting his comrades off with all the
food is told in his log of May 23,
where he chronicled joyously that he
had found a doughnut in the tail of
his ship.
“When I left Barrow the plane car
ried the first air mail ever sent out of
the postoffice there for Anchorage. In
all, about 20 pounds of first-class
mail was taken aboard, with the
stamps canceled with the -Barrow
postmark. It was almost the irony of
fate that I met the mail carrier be
tween Kotzebue and Barrow on my
flight with the mail. He was 13 days
out of Barrow and had at least four
or five days’ more hard, traveling to
reach Barrow, while the plane was
covering the distance in a few hours.
My belief is that without doubt the
mail carrier between those two points
has the toughest route in Alaska.
“While at Barrow and during our
flights we saw literally millions of
ducks of more varieties than I had
any idea existed. The natives go out
on the ice and kill hundreds of the
i ducks, and whenever one of a new va
riety is found it is taken to Mr.
1 Brower to be mounted and sent to
’ some museum in the States.
“And by the way, since Mr. Brower
went to Point Barrow, in 1880, there
have been fifty-two shipwrecks near
there, and they have taken cam of as
high as 300 shipwecked people there
! at one time.
“In our flighhs we also saw sev
eral whales and seals, but no polar
bears.”
Before leaving Barrow, Nieminen
was the recipient of a present from
the people of the village which he
treasures highly, a whalebone basket
made by the natives of the village
I McGrath 1
: Pool Hall:
| * Fresh Fruits j
j Candiesj J
j Tobaccos \
i Pipes |
Cigarettes |
Soft Drinks j
Cigarette Holders
George Walters
Babeesch Moosehide Mitts and Boots
Furs Bought and Sold Clothing
Ail Kinds of Nice Fresh Groceries and Fruits
Canned Goods of All Kinds Beds and Bedding
4 ft. Eldridge - McGrath
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TAKOTNA ROADHOUSE
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Best of Meals and Rooms
Where Everything Is Homelike and
Where You Are Cordially Welcomed
GOOD DOG HOUSES BATHS
Ivar Chilstrom - Prop.
I Rough and Dressed Lum
ber of All Kinds
INNOKO LUMBER CO.
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