“Although [Unalakleet] is . . . the difficult trail.” Bertholf, p. 14.
“Our guide led . . . the little fellows.” Ibid., p. 15.
“One of us . . . took its place.” Ibid., p. 14.
“After the meal . . . air as possible.” Ibid., p. 15.
“I was obliged . . . across the country.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 107.
“Having allowed the . . . a full stop.” Ibid., pp. 107–108.
Chapter Nine: A Hazardous Crossing
“It was blowing . . . reindeer parkas.” Taliaferro, p. 27.
“The journey and . . . at Point Barrow.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 57.
“Things had now . . . not be foretold.” Ibid., p. 57.
“In this way . . . state of excitement.” Bixby, p. 175.
“This little fellow . . . one compact body.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 58.
“[Dr. Call] furnished much amusement . . . for some time.” Taliaferro, p. 243.
“We were not . . . to be hauled.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 59.
“The natives along . . . at Cape Blossom.” Ibid., pp. 60–61.
“It was more . . . depended on them.” Bixby, p. 178.
“All the next . . . on our side.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 61.
Chapter Ten: Dire News of the Whalers
“We were relieved . . . to Point Barrow.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 63.
“I paid off . . . our herders had [become worn out].” Ibid., pp. 63–64.
“The difference between . . . his foot gear.” Ibid., pp. 64–65.
“It was reported . . . way to obtain.” Ibid., p. 66.
“almost dead from hunger and fatigue.” Ibid., p. 67.
“showed the marks . . . of Kotzebue Sound.” Ibid., p. 67.
“had fully 400 miles . . . do it in.” Ibid., p. 68.
“We had now come . . . dangers and menaces.” Ibid., pp. 69–70.
“We had been warned . . . on the road.” Ibid., pp. 73–74.
“We had now been traveling . . . warm air possible.” Ibid., p. 75.
“[I] looked anxiously . . . bread box, [with a sign upon it]” and “Letter between boards.” Ibid., p. 183.
“We were wet . . . with wet clothes.” Ibid., p. 184.
“It was all we could do . . . our fires going.” Ibid., p. 73.
“we could see . . . intense white snow.” Bixby, p. 184.
Chapter Eleven: Contact
“The favorite way . . . not thought of.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 74.
“almost every twig . . . of your error.” Ibid., p. 78.
“We drew up . . . extended to us.” Ibid., p. 79.
“Captain Millard was . . . end his misery.” Ibid., pp. 79–80.
“We were so near . . . of our destination.” Ibid., pp. 80–81.
“Passing rapidly by . . . the outside world.” Ibid., p. 81.
“when Lieutenant Jarvis . . . to help us.” Brower, p. 212.
Chapter Twelve: Jarvis Takes Charge
“When the herd . . . that long journey.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 84.
“[the whalemen] were much debilitated . . . and exercise enforced.” Ibid., p. 83.
“These quarters were . . . easily be inspected.” Ibid., p. 84.
“Provisions were short . . . along so far.” Ibid., pp. 81–82.
“I found that the greatest . . . anywhere.” Ibid., p. 99.
“No one can . . . the right time.” Arthur James Allen, p. 74.
“At 12:45 p.m. . . . on the third day.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 119.
“Since most of . . . never forgot that.” Brower, p. 214.
“cleanliness was an absolute necessity.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 85.
“It was difficult . . . was greatly improved.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 85.
“Discipline and obedience . . . all knew that.” Arthur James Allen, p. 75.
“Aside from . . . disturbances and troubles.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 89.
“But for . . . to their relief.” Bertholf, p. 19.
“Louis Rich, carpenter . . . after that lesson.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 90.
“After getting the camp . . . the outlying vessels.” Ibid., p. 86.
“I started [out] with . . . arrived at the vessel.” Ibid., p. 92.
“This . . . hauling was . . . grand beyond description.” Ibid., p. 98.
“They had a . . . very bad straits.” Ibid., p. 88.
“the arrival of . . . discipline until [the Bear’s] arrival.” Ibid., p. 88.
“He gave the . . . 10 miles away.” Arthur James Allen, p. 75.
“A Ball-game with . . . certainly a novelty.” Bertholf, p. 22.
“There was nothing . . . got ashore safely.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 98.
Chapter Thirteen: Voyage Against Time
“How well I . . . was ever built.” Arthur James Allen, pp. 83–84.
Epilogue
“On August 1 . . . carry the pack-ice [away].” Bertholf, pp. 23–24.
“On August 3 . . . ship still safe.” Ibid., p. 24.
“The pack had . . . water once more.” Ibid., p. 24.
“that, I think . . . cutter ever had.” Brower, p. 215.
“The hardships and . . . of American seamen.” McKinley.
“With a herd . . . successfully accomplished.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 137.
“Had not the . . . of its reward.” Jackson, p. 29.
What Happened to Them
“She still lies . . . a seagoing history.” Sandell interview.
“men the like . . . has never known.” Brower, jacket flap.
“It’s the long . . . a bowhead whale.” Ibid., p. 310.
“Scrupulously honest, untiring . . . as her Lincoln.” Taliaferro, p. 362.
“This great reduction . . . sport and profit” and “barbaric love of . . . failed to eradicate.” Bernard, p. 100.
“father of American conservatism” and “the most . . . in the country.” Ibid., p. 104.
“to bring the . . . suffering and sickness.” and “The whole coast . . . part of Alaska.” Overland Expedition Report, p. 101.
“The day is . . . come from Alaska.” Carpenter, chapter 26.
Allen, Arthur James. A Whaler & Trader in the Arctic, 1895 to 1944: My Life with the Bowhead. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, 1978.
Allen, Everett S. Children of the Light. Boston: Little, Brown, 1973.
Bernard, Shane K. Tabasco: An Illustrated History. Avery Island, LA: McIlhenny Company, 2007.
Bertholf, Ellsworth P. “The Rescue of the Whalers.” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, June 1899.
Berton, Pierre. The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole 1818–1909. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Bixby, William. Track of the Bear. New York: David McKay, 1965.
Bockstoce, John R. Whales, Ice, and Men: The History of Whaling in the Western Arctic. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986.
Brower, Charles D. Fifty Years Below Zero: A Lifetime of Adventure in the Far North. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1942.
Carpenter, Frank. Alaska: Our Northern Wonderland. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 1923. Chapter 26 available at http://www.alaskool.org/projects/reindeer/
history/carpenter1928/CarpenterDeerMeat.html.
Cocke, Albert K. “Dr. Samuel J. Call.” Alaska Journal, summer 1974.
Ellis, Richard. Men and Whales. New York: Random House, 1993.
Grosvener, Gilbert H. “Reindeer in Alaska.” National Geographic, April 1903.
Institute of Social, Economic, and Government Research. “Alaska Reindeer Industry: The Early Period, 1892–1932.” http://www.alaskool.org/projects/reindeer/
history/iser1969/RDEER_2.html.
Jackson, Dr. Sheldon. Annual Report on the Introduction of Domestic Reindeer into Alaska, 1898. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1899.
Kroll, C. Douglas. Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf: First Commandant of the Coast Guard. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2002.
Log of the Alexander. New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA.
McKinley, President William. Special Message to Congress, January 17, 1899.
Murphy, Jim. Gone A-Whaling: The Lure of the Sea and the Hunt for the Great Whale. New York: Clarion, 1998.
Report of the Cruise of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear and the Overland Expedition for the Relief of the Whalers in the Arctic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to September 13, 1898. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1899.
Sandell, David. The Bear. Unpublished Manuscript.
Sandler, Martin W. Trapped in Ice: An Amazing True Whaling Adventure. New York: Scholastic, 2006.
Starbuck, Alexander. History of the American Whale Fishery. New York: Castle, 1991.
Taliaferro, John. In a Far Country: The True Story of a Mission, a Marriage, a Murder, and the Remarkable Reindeer Rescue of 1898. New York: PublicAffairs, 2006.
Tilton, George Fred. “Cap’n George Fred” Himself. Edgartown, MA: Dukes County Historical Society, 1969.
Wead, Frank W. Gales, Ice and Men: A Biography of the Steam Barkentine Bear. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1937.
All photographs are courtesy the New Bedford Whaling Museum, with the exception of the following:
Image of Ned McIlhenny in Chapter One courtesy of Shane Bernard and the McIlhenny Company
Image of Captain Francis Tuttle and his officers in Chapter Two and image of a supply party making its way toward the vessels in Chapter Twelve from the U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office.
Images of William McKinley and Lyman Gage in Chapter Two from the Library of Congress
Letter of Instructions in Chapter Two, list of provisions in Chapter Three, receipt from D. H. Jarvis in Chapter Six, receipt from D. H. Jarvis in Chapter Seven, and report submitted by Dr. Call in Chapter Twelve are all from Report of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear and the Overland Expedition for the Relief of the Whalers in the Artic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to September 13, 1898
Image of St. Michael featuring the Alaska Commercial Company in Chapter Four from the Will Streeter Collection, Anchorage Museum B1985.061.26
Image of Charlie and Mary Artislarlook in Chapter Six and image of Tom Lopp in Chapter Seven courtesy of the Thurman Naylor Collection
Image of the Quaker mission at Cape Blossom in Chapter Nine from the Cordelia L. M. Noble Collection, UAF-1973-203-4, Archives, University of Alaska Fairbanks
I am grateful to Candlewick Press’s Mary Lee Donovan for sharing my enthusiasm for this story. A large debt of gratitude is also owed to maritime curator Michael Dyer, librarian Laura Pereira, and curator of photography Michael Lapides of the New Bedford Whaling Museum for their valuable assistance. I am most appreciative of the help I received from Katherine Worten and from Carol Sandler, who, as always, were a constant source of encouragement. And I wish to thank Dianna Russo Glazer and Sherry Fatla for the volume’s beautiful design and Alexandra Redmond for the meticulous way in which every fact in this book was checked and authenticated. Finally, there are not words adequate enough to express what Hilary Van Dusen has brought to this book. If this story has been brought to life in the way it deserves, it is, in great measure, due not only to her expert editing but also to the manner in which she has shaped this volume and guided its author. Thanks, Hilary.
MARTIN W. SANDLER has written more than seventy books for children and adults and has written and produced seven television series. He has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and has won multiple Emmy Awards. He says, “My goal has always been to make history come alive. Above all else, I love a good story, particularly if it is one that is largely unknown and is filled with people battling against great odds. The story of the ‘impossible rescue’ is one of the most remarkable and inspiring sagas I have come across, and I am delighted to have had the opportunity to tell it.” Martin W. Sandler and his wife, Carol, live in Massachusetts.
NOTE: Sources sometimes vary as to the spelling of some of the names of places and people in this book. Where this occurs, the author has chosen to use the spelling contained in the diaries, journals, and official reports of those who participated in the Arctic rescue.
Photography credits appear here.
Map illustration copyright © 2012 by Karen Minot
Copyright © 2012 by Martin W. Sandler
Lower cover photograph courtesy of the United States Coast Guard
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
First electronic edition 2012
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Sandler, Martin W.
The impossible rescue / Martin Sandler. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7636-5080-3 (hardcover)
1. Overland Relief Expedition (1897–1898) 2. Whaling ships — Accidents — Alaska — Barrow, Point — History — 19th century. 3. Whaling — Alaska — Barrow, Point — History — 19th century. 4. Reindeer — Alaska — History — 19th century. 5. Rescues — Alaska — History — 19th century. 6. Barrow, Point (Alaska) — History — 19th century. 7. Bear (Ship) I. Title.
F912.B2S26 2012
979.803 — dc22 2011018618
ISBN 978-0-7636-6634-7 (electronic)
ISBN 978-0-7636-5969-1 (ePDF)
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