1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 2: This is part two of our podcast on Walter Harper 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 2: and the Summoning of Denali. In addition to Walter Harper, 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 2: at this point, this expedition to the Summit of Denali 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 2: included Hudson Stuck, who funded the expedition, Harry Carston's who 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 2: was the planner and led them out in the field, 9 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 2: and Robert Tatum and John Fredson. So every day three 10 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 2: men would go ahead and they would stake out a 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 2: trail using willow shoots that they had brought up from 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 2: lower elevations. And then two of those three men were 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 2: typically Carston's and Harper. And then while they did this, 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 2: the other two men would work with the sled dogs 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 2: to move all of their gear along that trail. Stuck 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,279 Speaker 2: described Harper as running close to Carston's and strength, pluck, 17 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 2: and endurance, and Stuck credited Harper with keeping the party's 18 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: morale up. So, in Stuck's words quote, he took gleefully 19 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 2: to high mountaineering while his kindliness and invincible amiability endeared 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 2: him to every member of the party. We don't usually 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 2: like give a heads up that the person that we 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 2: are talking about in an episode is going to die, 23 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 2: because this is a history podcast and that's inevitable. But 24 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: Walter Harper's death was sudden and tragic and at a 25 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 2: very early age, and I felt like without that heads up, 26 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 2: it just came as a gut punch out of nowhere. 27 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: So just be aware it's coming. As the expedition continued 28 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: across the Muldro Glacier, the terrain they were crossing got 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: progressively steeper and more irregular. After sending Asias George back 30 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: to Nanana with one of their sled dog teams went 31 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: from using large sleds pulled by teams of seven dogs 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: two smaller sleds pulled by three dogs each. These sleds 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: were lighter and more maneuverable, but Carstons and Harper still 34 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: had to find ways for them to get around obstacles 35 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: and cross chasms on the surface of the glacier. Sometimes 36 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: they could find an existing way to get across, like 37 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: a natural bridge, but sometimes they had to build a bridge, 38 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: starting by finding a spot that had a stable enough 39 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: ledge below it, and then carving blocks of ice or 40 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: hardened snow to stack on top of that ledge. This 41 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: is obviously dangerous. Some of it sounds really terrifying. We've 42 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: been reading a lot from Stuck's account of this expedition, 43 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: and in Stucts words quote, every step of the way 44 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: up the glacier was sounded by a long pole, the 45 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: man in the lead thrusting it deep into the snow, 46 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: while the two behind kept the rope always taut. More 47 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: than one pole slipped into a hidden crevice and was 48 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,680 Speaker 1: lost when the vigor of thrust was not matched by 49 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: the tenacity of grip. More than once a man was 50 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: jerked back just as the snow gave way beneath his feet. 51 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: The open crevasses were not the dangerous ones. The whole 52 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: glacier was criss crossed by crevasses completely covered with snow. 53 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: In bright weather, it was often possible to detect them 54 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: by a slight depression in the surface, or by a faint, 55 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: shadowy difference intent. But in the half light of cloudy 56 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,959 Speaker 1: and misty weather, these signs failed, and there was no safety. 57 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: But in the ceaseless prodding of the pole. When I 58 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: was reading this passage, earlier to review it. I was like, 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: this is a big old noble lope. Yeah, clearly I 60 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: am a land child. At one point, one of the 61 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: lead dogs, named Snowball, broke through a snowbridge and slipped 62 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: out of his harness. Snowball landed on a ledge below, 63 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: and Walter Harper had to be lowered down by rope 64 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: to get him. After being rescued, Snowball was described as 65 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: being scared understandably, but not injured. In addition to being treacherous. 66 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: All of this was hard work. Those three dog teams 67 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: didn't have as much pulling power as a larger team 68 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: of sled dogs would, so climbing steep ascents required the 69 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: men and the dogs to work together, and that was 70 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: something that was so physically difficult that the men often 71 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: felt overheated, especially if they were in the direct sunlight. 72 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: In Stuck's description quote, sometimes it was bitterly cold in 73 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: the mornings, insufferably hot at noon, and again bitterly cold 74 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,679 Speaker 1: toward night. It was a pity we had no black 75 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: bulb sun maximum thermometer amongst our instruments. For one is 76 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: sure its readings would have been of great interest. When 77 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: they were about halfway across Muldro Glacier. The expedition had 78 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: its first and really only major disaster. They had been 79 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: too tired to reach their plans stopping place for the night, 80 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: and instead they stopped and camped by one of the 81 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: caches that they had made The next day, they covered 82 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: up that cash, and they relayed some of their supplies 83 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: to their next campsite. Then they took a break, they ate, 84 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: and they went back for another load. But when they 85 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: approached the cash where they had slept the night before, 86 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: they saw smoke. 87 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 2: At first, they thought another person had found their camp somehow, 88 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,039 Speaker 2: like maybe there was another route up the mountain that 89 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,799 Speaker 2: they didn't know about. But then they realized their cash 90 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 2: was on fire, and Stuck's words quote, we left the 91 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 2: dogs and the sleds and hurried to the spot. Some 92 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 2: things we were able to say, but not much, though 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 2: we were in time to prevent the fire from spreading 94 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 2: to our far hauled wood, and the explanation was not 95 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: far to seek. After luncheon, Carston's and the writer had 96 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 2: smoked their pipes, and one or the other had thrown 97 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 2: a careless match away that had fallen unextinguished upon the 98 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 2: silk tents that covered the cash presently. A little wind 99 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 2: had fanned the smoldering fabric into flame, which had eaten 100 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 2: down into the pile of stuff below, mostly in wooden cases. 101 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 2: All our sugar was gone, all our powdered milk, all 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 2: our baking powder, our prunes, raisins and dried apples, most 103 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 2: of our tobacco, a case of pilot bread, a sack 104 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 2: of woolen socks and gloves, another sack full of photographic 105 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 2: films all were burned. Most Fortunately, the food provided, especially 106 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 2: for the high mountain work, had not yet been taken 107 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 2: to the cash, and our Pemmican herbs, worst chocolate, compressed tea, 108 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 2: and figs were safe. But it was a great blow 109 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 2: to us and involved considerable delay at a very unfortunate time. 110 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: In addition to the loss of crucial gear and supplies. 111 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: Stuck and Carsons were embarrassed that one or the other 112 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: of them had been careless enough to start that fire. 113 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: Stuck's rating about the incident makes it clear that both 114 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: of them ought to have known better, since the entire 115 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: party knew that the dry air and wind made fire 116 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: a much bigger risk in Alaska in the winter and 117 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: in the summer. They still had a camera in some film, 118 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: but it was a small camera belonging to Walter Harper, 119 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: rather than the more sophisticated one that they had brought 120 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: along planning to document the journey with it. They also 121 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: learned only after developing their pictures that they needed a 122 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: longer exposure time at the bright light and high altitude 123 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,239 Speaker 1: of the summit for their pictures to really be clear. 124 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: This fire happened when they were not far from the 125 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: head of the Muldro Glacier, at an elevation of about 126 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: eleven five hundred feet. Once they got to the head 127 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: of the glacier, they made a camp that would serve 128 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 1: as an upper base camp, including building a structure out 129 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 1: of snowblocks to store their supplies in, with a snowblock 130 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: wall around it. They also dismantled the wooden crates that 131 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: their food had been stored in to make a floor 132 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: under the tent. To try to themselves from the damp, 133 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,040 Speaker 1: which had been an issue at their earlier camps, they 134 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: covered this wooden surface with the dried hides of caribou 135 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: and sheep that they had killed earlier in the journey. 136 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: After that, Harper. 137 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 2: And Fredson went all the way back down to their 138 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 2: original base camp to retrieve some of the things they 139 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 2: had left there to support their return journey, including socks 140 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 2: and sled covers. They planned to use those sled covers 141 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 2: to make basic tents. While they were gone, Carston took 142 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 2: some time to make additional socks out of the lining 143 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 2: of his sleeping bag and to repair some of their gear. 144 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 2: This also gave Carston's a chance to stay out of 145 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 2: the sun for a bit. He was used to being 146 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 2: clean shaven, and he was having issues with ingrown hairs 147 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 2: as his beard grew back in his efforts to treat 148 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 2: that had only made things worse, and then being in 149 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 2: continual sun. 150 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: Exposure was not helping. After Harper and Fredson returned with supplies, Stuck, Tatum, 151 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: and Fredsen all went back to their lowest glacier camp 152 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: with their dog teams, and from there Fredson took the 153 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: dogs back to the lower base camp by himself. For 154 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: the rest of the expedition. He would be responsible for 155 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: caring for and feeding the dogs at base camp so 156 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: they would be ready to leave the mountain. 157 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 2: When they parted ways, Stuck told Fredson that he'd see 158 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 2: him again in about two weeks. That is not what happened. 159 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 2: We will have more after a sponsor break. In Part one, 160 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 2: we talked about several previous attempts to summit Denali in 161 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 2: the early twentieth century. One, in particular, the nineteen twelve 162 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 2: Parker Brown expedition, had almost gotten to the summit, and 163 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,280 Speaker 2: they probably would have if they had not been faced 164 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 2: with a blizzard that they could not see through when 165 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 2: they were almost at the top. Their account had described 166 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 2: this final ascent to the south summit as quote, a 167 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 2: steep but practicable snow slope. It also printed a photograph 168 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,079 Speaker 2: that lined up with that description. So based on all 169 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,080 Speaker 2: of this, the Carston Stuck expedition thought they would be 170 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 2: able to make that final ascent over relatively easy terrain 171 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:18,800 Speaker 2: in just a couple of days. 172 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: But when they got to the area the earlier expedition 173 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: had described, the landscape was dramatically different from what the 174 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: Parker and Brown expedition had seen in Stocksword's quote. The 175 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: upper one third of it was indeed as described, but 176 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: at that point there was a sudden, sharp cleavage, and 177 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: all below was a jumbled mass of blocks of ice 178 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: and rocks in all manner of positions, with here a pinnacle, 179 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:46,320 Speaker 1: and there a great gap. Moreover, the floor of the 180 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 1: glacier at its head was strewn with enormous icebergs that 181 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: we could not understand at all. It did not take 182 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: long for them to make the connection between this unexpectedly 183 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: jumbled terrain and an earthquake that had struck the Denali 184 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: region on July sixth, nineteen twelve. 185 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 2: People knew about this earthquake. Members of the earlier expedition 186 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 2: had described the earth shaking. There were at least thirty 187 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 2: other reports of people feeling it around Alaska. This included 188 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 2: reports on the other side of Alaska, on the western coast, 189 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 2: but no one else is known to have seen this 190 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 2: spot in between those two expeditions. Stuck and Carstons quickly 191 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 2: realized that if the earlier expedition had not turned back 192 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 2: when they did, they almost certainly would have been killed, 193 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 2: either crushed by the falling boulders and debris, or stranded 194 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 2: with no way to get across this newly disrupted landscape 195 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,679 Speaker 2: and no food. The mountain was also still unstable, and 196 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 2: the men frequently heard the sounds of avalanches in the distance. 197 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 2: So the Stuck Carston's party had two choices at this 198 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 2: point to give up or to find a waste. So 199 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 2: over the next three weeks they used their axes to 200 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 2: carve steps over about three miles of ice. Although everyone 201 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 2: in the expedition was part of this effort, most of 202 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 2: it fell to Walter Harper and Harry Carston's. They couldn't 203 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 2: work on carving stairs into the mountain every day. Though 204 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 2: the expedition spent a lot of time waiting out bad weather. 205 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 2: Stuck spent some of their time waiting tutoring Harper. 206 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: Who was still hoping to continue his education. They worked 207 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,480 Speaker 1: on a number of subjects, including reading and writing, geography, history, 208 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: and physics. As we said in. 209 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 2: Part one, Robert Tatum was a postulant, meaning that he 210 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 2: was working toward being ordained, so he spent his time 211 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 2: studying religious works. Carston's spent some of his time working 212 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 2: on a new motor boat design, and he also just 213 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 2: continually checked and rechecked all of their gear and supplies 214 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 2: to make sure everything was prepared for the summit. During 215 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 2: this week's long stair carving effort and their time waiting 216 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 2: for the weather to change, the expedition started running out 217 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 2: of supplies. One of the first things they ran out 218 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 2: of was sugar. In Stuck's words quote, our cocoa became useless. 219 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 2: We could not drink it without sugar. Our consumption of 220 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 2: tea and coffee diminished. There was little demand for the 221 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 2: second cup, and we all began to long for sweet things. 222 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,680 Speaker 2: We tried to make a palatable potation from some of 223 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,720 Speaker 2: our milk, chocolate reserved for the higher work and labeled 224 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 2: for eating. Only the label was accurate. It made a 225 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 2: miserable drink. The milk taste entirely lacking, the sweetness almost gone. 226 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 2: We're grateful that they had brought up so much wood, 227 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:46,560 Speaker 2: but also it started to run short near the end. 228 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,160 Speaker 2: As they slowly made progress up the mountain, the terrain 229 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 2: got even more treacherous. There were massive, impassable ice boulders everywhere. 230 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:00,200 Speaker 2: When they managed to find a snow covered slow that 231 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 2: seemed more traversible, it often sheared off and slid down 232 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 2: the mountain, so they mostly had to stick to the 233 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 2: area that was covered in things like ice boulders. They 234 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 2: would chop stairs over or around them, or break them 235 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 2: down into rubble that they could get through, or they 236 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,760 Speaker 2: would tip the ones that were precariously balanced down into 237 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 2: crevasses below I will take a boat and say please 238 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 2: do not tip boulders off of mountains. It is very dangerous. 239 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 2: You don't know who is below you. But this was 240 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 2: into crevasses in a glacier. They knew there was nobody 241 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 2: down there. Sometimes they would hack their way through a 242 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 2: boulder of ice, only to find that there was no 243 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 2: way out from the other side to another safe spot. 244 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 2: They couldn't find a safe place to make camp in 245 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,520 Speaker 2: this disordered terrain, so every day involved a lot of 246 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 2: backtracking to get from where they finished their work to 247 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 2: where they could sleep at night. One day, desperate to 248 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 2: cut down on that long backtrack, they decided to load 249 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 2: up everything they could carry and get to a tiny 250 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 2: flat spot they'd found and make a new camp there. 251 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 2: Before long, they realized they had been way too ambitious 252 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 2: in how much they could carry. Even Carstons, who was 253 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 2: the most experienced person on the team and the person 254 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 2: most used to this kind of work, really started to struggle. 255 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 2: When a snowstorm blew in and forced them to turn back. 256 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 2: They were all a little relieved. 257 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: The next day they tried again, carrying smaller loads and 258 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: doing a relay from point to point. On May twenty fifth, 259 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: the expedition finally established a new camp at an elevation 260 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:41,120 Speaker 1: of about thirteen thousand feet. It was about five hundred 261 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: feet above the glacier floor. They were all sleeping together 262 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: in one very tiny tent, which was apparently so small 263 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: that if one of them wanted to turn over, they 264 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: all had to agree to do it at once. Stuck 265 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,880 Speaker 1: described this as oddly pleasant, since it was the first 266 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: time they had really been cozy in a while, with 267 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: all of them packed together all of their body heat 268 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: in a confined space with direct sunlight. The camp was 269 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: also a little bit warmer than some of their earlier bases, 270 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 1: and the ground was not nearly as damp. They continued 271 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:16,760 Speaker 1: to work their way through the area that had been 272 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: affected by the earthquake, with Carstons and Harper making and 273 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: marking the way, and Tatum and Stuck relaying their food 274 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: and supplies from one cash to the next. And on 275 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: May twenty seventh, Harper and Carstons finally got past the 276 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: last big cleavage made by the earthquake, But then they 277 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: faced another delay, this time dangerous winds that they just 278 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: had to wait out, and they ran out of another 279 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: food source. They had been making a sour dough style bread, 280 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: and the cold killed the micro organisms that allowed the 281 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: dough to ferment. 282 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 2: On May thirtieth, they were able to see the Grand basin, 283 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 2: which Stuck later named the Harper Glacier. They had to 284 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 2: make a treacherous crossing to get there, in which three 285 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,439 Speaker 2: of the four men all had to be on the 286 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 2: same snow slope at the same time, with only one 287 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 2: of them on more solid ground that men of the 288 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 2: snow gave way under them, there would be no way 289 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 2: for that one man to save all the others. He 290 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 2: would be pulled off with them. Harper and Carston's had 291 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 2: made this passage with just the two of them with 292 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 2: no problems, but with all four of them together it 293 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,679 Speaker 2: was a lot more challenging. They made it, though, and 294 00:17:28,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 2: after this crossing they were on a part of the 295 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,439 Speaker 2: mountain that had not been torn up by the earthquake. 296 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 2: Stuck named the final ridge that they would need to 297 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 2: cross Carston's Ridge. Stuck started really struggling with the altitude 298 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 2: as they got closer to the summit. He and Carstons 299 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:49,160 Speaker 2: both smoked pipes, and Stuck started cutting back on his smoking. 300 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,959 Speaker 2: He eventually quit entirely. That did not seem to make 301 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 2: much of a difference, though Stuck attributed his difficulties to 302 00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 2: the fact that he was almost fifty. 303 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:01,639 Speaker 1: He was the oldest man on the team. 304 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:05,639 Speaker 2: Carston's was thirty two, and Tatum and Harper were about 305 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 2: twenty one. 306 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: On June sixth, the expedition moved their camp for the 307 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: last time, close to the base of the final Ridge, 308 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: at an elevation of about eighteen thousand feet. They had 309 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,199 Speaker 1: about two weeks of supplies left, which they thought they 310 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 1: could stretch to three weeks if they had to wait 311 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: for a storm to clear, but it seemed like they 312 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,399 Speaker 1: might not need to wait at all. The weather was 313 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: bright and clear. They decided they would get up at 314 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:33,120 Speaker 1: three am the next day, before the sun was up, 315 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 1: but during the pre dawn twilight, so they could still 316 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 1: see and try to go all the way to the 317 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: summit that night, though Harper. 318 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,399 Speaker 2: Did one of the few things that Stuck really criticized 319 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 2: in his books. They had been hauling around ten pounds 320 00:18:48,560 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 2: of flour, but without their sour nose starter, which had died, 321 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 2: or their baking powder, which had been burned up in 322 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 2: a fire, they didn't have a way to make it 323 00:18:57,920 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 2: into bread. 324 00:18:59,640 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: They want. 325 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,679 Speaker 2: I did to try to use it up, though, and 326 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 2: Harper made a stew and used the flour to make 327 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,639 Speaker 2: noodles to thicken it. But he apparently made these noodles 328 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 2: too big and they did not cook thoroughly. Everybody but 329 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 2: Harper got sick after eating it. In spite of all that, 330 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 2: they all left camp at three am the next morning 331 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 2: is planned, carrying only their scientific instruments, Harper's camera, and 332 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 2: some lunch. In Stock's words, quote, we were rather a 333 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 2: sorry company. Carston still had internal pains, Tatum and I 334 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 2: had severe headaches. Walter was the only one feeling entirely himself, 335 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 2: so Walter was put in the lead, and in the 336 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 2: lead he remained all day. It was bitterly, bitterly cold, 337 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 2: and they all lost feeling in their fingers and toes. 338 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 1: By eleven am. 339 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 2: They thought the cold might be something that would actually 340 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 2: force them to turn back. They all agreed that if 341 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 2: one of them thought that their fingers or toes were 342 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 2: actually freezing, that they would all turn around. But by 343 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 2: that point everything was so numb that they didn't really 344 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 2: have a way of knowing whether that was happening. I 345 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 2: think it would be understandable for any of them to 346 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 2: also be reluctant to be like, hey, let's turn around 347 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 2: now right. The ridge they were on was shaped like 348 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,919 Speaker 2: a horseshoe, and once they got around the curve and 349 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 2: into the sun, they all started to feel a lot warmer. 350 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 2: They stopped for lunch and drank some hot tea from 351 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 2: their thermoses, and after that they were confident that they 352 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 2: could make it to the summit that day. Stuck started 353 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 2: experiencing shortness of breath as they climbed, and Harper offered 354 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 2: to carry some of his load. Finally, though they saw 355 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 2: the summit, as Stuck wrote quote, with keen excitement, we 356 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 2: pushed on. Walter, who had been in the lead all day, 357 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 2: was the first to scramble up. A Native Alaskan, he 358 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,119 Speaker 2: is the first human being to set foot upon the 359 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 2: top of Alaska's Great Mountain, and he had well earned 360 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 2: the lifelong distinction. Carstons and Tatum were hard upon his heels, 361 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:10,160 Speaker 2: but the last man on the rope, in his enthusiasm 362 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:15,359 Speaker 2: and excitement, somewhat overpassing his narrow wind margin, had almost 363 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 2: to be hauled up the last few feet, and fell 364 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 2: unconscious for a moment upon the floor of the little 365 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 2: snow basin that occupies the top of the mountain. Stuck 366 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 2: continued quote, So soon as wind was recovered, we shook 367 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,960 Speaker 2: hands all round, and a brief prayer of thanksgiving to 368 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 2: Almighty God was said that he had granted us our 369 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,480 Speaker 2: heart's desire and brought us safely to the top of 370 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 2: his great mountain. Robert Tatum raised a US flag. We'll 371 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,720 Speaker 2: talk about what happened after reaching the summit after a 372 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 2: sponsor break. 373 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 1: Standing on the. 374 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,919 Speaker 2: Summit of Denali on June seventh, nineteen thirteen, the Carstons 375 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 2: Stuck expedition set up an instrument tent. They took various 376 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 2: readings and measurements. They estimated their altitude. Their estimate was 377 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 2: twenty three thy three hundred feet. They also took photographs, although, 378 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 2: as we said earlier, after developing those photographs they realized 379 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 2: they had needed a longer exposure time for them to 380 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 2: really be capturing the scene. Stuck described the view from 381 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 2: the summit as splendid and so that they also saw 382 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 2: Dinali's wife for the first time during their ascent. This 383 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 2: became another piece of evidence that Frederick Cook had not 384 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,880 Speaker 2: gotten to the summit as he had claimed, since his 385 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 2: account did not say anything about being able to see 386 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 2: the other mountain, which could only be seen from the 387 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 2: top of Denali, not on the way up. They had 388 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,959 Speaker 2: reached the summit at about one thirty pm, and they 389 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 2: left just after three pm. They got back to their 390 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 2: camp about two hours later, and they decided to get 391 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 2: back down the mountain as quickly as possible, cashing a 392 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 2: lot of their surplus gear and supplies along the way 393 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 2: in case some future expedition needed them. It also sounds 394 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 2: like some of it they more just abandoned, like we 395 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 2: don't need this anymore. 396 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: We're not carrying it. They left it there. I don't 397 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: want to carry this. 398 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 2: As the elevation decreased, the temperatures got a lot warmer 399 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 2: and things were starting to thaw. When the team needed 400 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 2: to cross that field of chasms and ice bridges, it 401 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 2: would have been safest to wait until night, when everything 402 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 2: was most frozen, but they knew that John Fredson was 403 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 2: waiting for them at the base camp, and they were 404 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 2: weeks behind when they had told him to expect them. 405 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 2: The longer it passed, the more time it might be 406 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 2: for him to either try to come after them or 407 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,199 Speaker 2: think they must have died and leave, so they just 408 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 2: pushed on. 409 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: They also ran into an unexpected annoyance, and that was mosquitos. 410 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,080 Speaker 1: Mosquitoes are a known problem in Alaska in the warmer months, 411 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: but the expedition had not expected to be on the 412 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: mountain late enough into the spring to encounter any of them, 413 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: so they hadn't brought anything to try to deal with them. 414 00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: Although it had been more than a month or about 415 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: a month since they parted ways, the four men did 416 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: eventually get to base camp and reunited with Fredson. While 417 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 1: they had all been gone, Fredson had hunted mountain sheep 418 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: and cariboo. He had kept the dogs fed, and he 419 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,919 Speaker 1: had also saved the best cuts of the meat for 420 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: the human members of the expedition on their return. Fredson 421 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: had also saved his own ration of sugar, knowing that 422 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: the rest of the team's supply had been destroyed in 423 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: that fire, so the men all had some coffee sweetened 424 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: with sugar, which Stuck described as luxurious. He really praised 425 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: Fredson for having saved his own sugar for them, saying, quote, 426 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: there are not many boys of fifteen or sixteen of 427 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: any race who would voluntarily have done the like the 428 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,160 Speaker 1: next day, the men made pack saddles out of canvas 429 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: for the sled dogs to wear. Since they were too 430 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: far into the thaw for dog sleds to be workable, 431 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,040 Speaker 1: they took their time preparing to go, and they took 432 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: the opportunity to wash themselves in a thawing creek. 433 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 2: They left base camp on June tenth, and they reached 434 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 2: Chanina ten days later. From there, they sent a telegraph 435 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:23,479 Speaker 2: message to a Seattle newspaper reporting their successful expedition. Stuck 436 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 2: said he got a reply from the newspaper asking for 437 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,720 Speaker 2: five hundred more words describing narrow escapes, and he did 438 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 2: not answer that because. 439 00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: There really had not been any. 440 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 2: Maybe he also did not just want to talk about 441 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 2: the fire that may have been his fault. I'm just 442 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 2: laughing to myself here, because it's like, even at this point, 443 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 2: it's very if it bleeds, it leads, like, oh, sure, 444 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:54,119 Speaker 2: they just want they just want sensationalism. After becoming the 445 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 2: first person to summit De Nali, Walter Harper left Alaska 446 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 2: to continue his education. He went to Massachusetts to attend 447 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 2: Northfield Mount Herman, which is a college preparatory school that 448 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,640 Speaker 2: was founded by evangelical preacher Dwight Moody. On the way there, 449 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 2: he stopped at Coney Island, where he attracted the attention 450 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 2: of a reporter from the New York Times. The resulting 451 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 2: article described Harper as hitting one of those test your 452 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,679 Speaker 2: strength carnival attractions at Luna Park so hard that the 453 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 2: bell rang twice and the mechanism broke. He also went 454 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 2: to shoot at balls and hit them all. There was 455 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 2: also a dunk tank with a black man sitting on 456 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 2: the platform inside. The New York Times article refers to 457 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 2: him exclusively by his race. Harper had three balls and 458 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 2: he hit the target all three times. Then he went 459 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 2: to the beach and made a model of Denali out 460 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 2: of sand and traced the route they had taken to 461 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 2: the top. Harper studied at Northfield Mount Herman until nineteen sixteen, 462 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 2: and he had some struggles there. Although Stuck had tutored 463 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 2: him for years, Harper really had not had a lot 464 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 2: of formal education, and he was also really homesick. So 465 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 2: in nineteen seventeen, when Stuck proposed that Harper returned to 466 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 2: Alaska to accompany him on a mission trip around the 467 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 2: Arctic coast, with Stuck continuing to help him prepare for college. 468 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 2: While they traveled, Harper agreed. The Arctic coast had been 469 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 2: part of Stuck's commission when he was named archdeacon, but 470 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:26,080 Speaker 2: he had never actually visited there, and he hadn't met 471 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,360 Speaker 2: many Inuit people who speak languages from a different family 472 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 2: than the Athabaskan speaking peoples that Stuck was most familiar with. 473 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,880 Speaker 2: In Stuck's words, his purpose with this journey was quote 474 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 2: an inquiry into their present state physical, mental, moral, and religious, 475 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 2: industrial and domestic, into their prospects, into what the government 476 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 2: and the religious organizations have done and are doing for them, 477 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 2: and what should yet be done. Stuck planned to take 478 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 2: this trip by dog sled, which meant they had a 479 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,679 Speaker 2: schedule to keep. They needed to get back home before 480 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 2: the bring thaw, but Harper got typhoid about three weeks 481 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 2: before they were supposed to set out. Replacing Harper was 482 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:12,239 Speaker 2: just not an option, both because Stuck needed somebody that 483 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 2: he knew he could travel and live with over this 484 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 2: kind of a journey, and because tutoring Harper so he 485 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:22,359 Speaker 2: could go to college had been part of this whole deal. Fortunately, 486 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 2: Harper recovered a lot faster than the doctor predicted he 487 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 2: would and they were able to leave only a few 488 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 2: days after Stuck had originally planned along the way. During 489 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 2: this journey along the coast, they met various people who 490 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,120 Speaker 2: had known Arthur Harper, who all spoke very highly of him, 491 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 2: and Walter was really pleased about that, since he had 492 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 2: never known his father. Stuck and Harper were both working 493 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 2: toward the goal of Harper going to medical school and 494 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:52,520 Speaker 2: then returning to Alaska to be a doctor in his 495 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 2: own Athabascan community, so their teacher student relationship was ongoing 496 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 2: during this trip. Stuck said a quote Walter displayed an 497 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 2: eagerness to learn in a new sharpened quickness of apprehension 498 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 2: that made teaching him a delight. But some things also 499 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:13,080 Speaker 2: happened that had the potential to affect that med school plan. 500 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 2: One was World War One. The United States became directly 501 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 2: involved in the war in April of nineteen seventeen, and 502 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 2: the Selective Service Act was passed, setting up a draft 503 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 2: that may Although the Selective Service Act applied to all 504 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 2: men regardless of whether they were US citizens and regardless 505 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 2: of whether they lived in a state or in a territory, 506 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,560 Speaker 2: in practice, most men with native ancestry who tried to 507 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 2: register in Alaska were rejected, but on this trip Harper 508 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 2: met a man whose two sons had been accepted into 509 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 2: the service, even though they were Native Harper started talking 510 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 2: about trying to enlist in the Army Air Service and 511 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 2: maybe going to college afterward. 512 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: Back at Fort U, Harper had also met Francis Wells, 513 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: a missionary nurse from Philadelphia who was stationed there, and 514 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: they had quickly formed an attachment. Toward the end of 515 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: this journey, Harper let Stuck read his journal, which is 516 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,560 Speaker 1: when Stuck learned that the two were engaged. Stuck was 517 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,320 Speaker 1: conflicted about all of this. He thought both military service 518 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: and marriage could interfere with Harper's education and his future 519 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: medical career, but at the same time quote, Indeed, so 520 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: far as the enlistment was concerned, I was proud that, 521 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: without any urging, he saw it as his duty, and 522 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: as soon as he saw it resolved upon it. I 523 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: was proud too that he had won the heart of 524 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: a cultivated gentlewoman. 525 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 2: Walter and Francis had not initially planned to get married 526 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 2: until after Walter finished medical school, but after Harper and 527 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 2: Stuck returned from the Arctic coast to Fort Yukon on 528 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 2: April twenty seventh, nineteen eighteen. The couple started talking about 529 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 2: getting married soon. The possibility of Harper joining the army 530 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 2: and going off to war surely played a part in 531 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 2: this decision making. They got married at fort Yukon on 532 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 2: September fourth, nineteen eighteen, with Hudson Stuck conducting the ceremony. 533 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,479 Speaker 2: After they got married, Francis and Walter went on a 534 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 2: three week hunting trip together. Not long after that, Walter 535 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 2: and Francis boarded the SS Princess Sefaia bound for Vancouver. 536 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 2: They planned to travel from there to Philadelphia so that 537 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 2: Walter could meet Francis's family. Then he would either join 538 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 2: the Air Service or enrolling college, depending on what was 539 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,480 Speaker 2: happening in the war. At that point, it seemed like 540 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 2: it might be over soon. On October twenty fourth, the 541 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 2: Princess Safaia struck a reef and it became lodged there. 542 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,640 Speaker 2: About forty hours later, it was swept off of the 543 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 2: reef and it sank. The only known survivor was a 544 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 2: dog who managed to swim to safety covered in oil. 545 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:01,640 Speaker 2: We have an episode on this which will be our 546 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 2: next Saturday Classic. 547 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: Walter and Francis were buried in Juno, Alaska. Their grave 548 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,560 Speaker 1: was marked with a stone that eventually became illegible. In 549 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,720 Speaker 1: more recent years, a plate has been placed over the stone, 550 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 1: like a picture frame, and it contains the original inscription, 551 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,160 Speaker 1: which reads, here lie the bodies of Walter Harper and 552 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:25,520 Speaker 1: Francis Wells, his wife, drowned on the Princess Sophia, twenty 553 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: fifth October nineteen eighteen. May light perpetual shine upon them. 554 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in 555 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: their death they were not divided. To Samuel one twenty three, 556 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: that Bible passage is a reference to Saul and Jonathan quote, 557 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 558 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: and in their death they were not divided. They were 559 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lion's. 560 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 2: Hudson Stuck, who had come to see Walter Harper as 561 00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 2: a son, was truly grief stricken. His book, recounting their 562 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 2: final journey together, was published in nineteen twenty as a 563 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 2: Winter Circuit of Our Arctic Coast, a narrative journey with 564 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 2: dog sleds around the entire Arctic coast of Alaska. This 565 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 2: book is dedicated to Walter Harper quote companion of this 566 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 2: and many other journeys, strong, gentle, brave and clean, who 567 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 2: was drowned in the Lynn Canal when the Princess Sofiah 568 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 2: foundered with her entire company. Twenty fifth October nineteen eighteen. 569 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:32,000 Speaker 2: Perhaps because this is the book Stuck wrote after Harper 570 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:36,680 Speaker 2: had died, it mentions him by name vastly more times 571 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 2: than any of his earlier works, even though Walter Harper 572 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 2: played a similarly important role in Stuck's missionary travels and 573 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 2: the summoning of Denali, the other things he had also 574 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 2: written books about. This book also includes a lot of 575 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 2: stuff about like their discussions about Shakespeare. Like a lot 576 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 2: of it is not strictly related to what Stuck was 577 00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:58,960 Speaker 2: doing in the missionary work. A lot of it is 578 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:00,479 Speaker 2: really about Walter Harper. 579 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 1: A memorial fund was established in honor of Francis Harper 580 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,560 Speaker 1: to support the construction of a hospital as well as 581 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,560 Speaker 1: the Francis Wells Harper Solarium. This was a facility to 582 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: try to treat tuberculosis through sunshine exposure while protecting patients 583 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: from the biting insects that are prevalent in Alaska. In 584 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: the warmer months. 585 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, that was before the development of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis. 586 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: Obviously. 587 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 2: Hudson Stuck died of pneumonia at fort Yukon on October tenth, 588 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:35,879 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty. Issias George died of influenza that same year. 589 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:41,799 Speaker 2: Harry Carstons became the first superintendent of Denali National Park 590 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 2: in Preserve after it was established in nineteen seventeen. He 591 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,800 Speaker 2: died in Fairbanks, Alaska, on November twenty eighth, nineteen fifty five. 592 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 2: Robert Tatum was eventually ordained as an episcopal priest, and 593 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 2: he later returned to Tennessee, where he died on January 594 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 2: twenty seventh, nineteen sixty four. John Fredsen left Alaska and 595 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,319 Speaker 2: attended school at Northfield Mount Herman and then went on 596 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 2: to the University of the South also called Swani, graduating 597 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 2: from there in nineteen thirty. This made him one of 598 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 2: the first Alaska Natives to earn a college degree. Stuck 599 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 2: had sponsored him for admission into the college. After graduating, 600 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,240 Speaker 2: Fredsen returned to Alaska, where he was a teacher, a leader, 601 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 2: and a political activist. This included working with linguists and 602 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,720 Speaker 2: ethnographers to document the Gwichin language and culture, and working 603 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,560 Speaker 2: with the Gwichin people to try to attain self governance 604 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:39,040 Speaker 2: after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of nineteen 605 00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:43,640 Speaker 2: thirty four. He died on August twenty second, nineteen forty five. 606 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 2: There is some natural speculation about whether Walter Harper would 607 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 2: have had a similarly important role among the Koyukon Athabaskan 608 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:55,280 Speaker 2: people if his life had not been cut tragically short. 609 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:00,359 Speaker 2: In twenty thirteen, the Talkitna Ranger Station was re named 610 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,239 Speaker 2: Walter Harper Talkit and a Ranger Station. This is the 611 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,480 Speaker 2: ranger station where people who hope to climb Dnali or 612 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,239 Speaker 2: other peaks in the Alaska Range stop to get their 613 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:11,120 Speaker 2: climbing permits. 614 00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:13,800 Speaker 1: And that is Walter Harper. 615 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:18,840 Speaker 2: The disaster of the SS Princess Thefai was a tremendous 616 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 2: loss to Alaska and the adjacent parts of Canada and 617 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 2: to the Alaska Native communities. There's more on that in 618 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:30,760 Speaker 2: that episode, which will be the next Saturday Classic. 619 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:34,879 Speaker 1: Do you have listener mail for us? I do. 620 00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:40,799 Speaker 2: This is another email from October and it's referencing an 621 00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 2: earlier episode and it is from Caroline. Caroline wrote, Hello, 622 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:47,880 Speaker 2: Holly and Tracy. Love your work, especially the way you 623 00:36:47,920 --> 00:36:50,720 Speaker 2: continue to speak from your hearts and spotlight the history 624 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 2: we don't know but need to. Longtime listener who may 625 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:56,200 Speaker 2: have emailed a time or two. I started listening to 626 00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 2: your William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells episode a 627 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:02,000 Speaker 2: while ago and got interrupted. At the time, I couldn't 628 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:06,240 Speaker 2: think why the UV light treatment sounded so familiar. Today 629 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 2: I had time to finish it and remembered a story 630 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:12,239 Speaker 2: about Chicago's wastewater treatment using it to clean up the 631 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,520 Speaker 2: water that is returned to the Chicago River see story below. 632 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: I know it's not air. 633 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 2: Treatment, but I hope you'll find it interesting. Speaking of Chicago, 634 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,960 Speaker 2: I visited the Art Institute recently to see the Gustav 635 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,800 Speaker 2: Kayabut exhibit, which closes on October fifth, and was great 636 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,600 Speaker 2: and discovered Elizabeth Katlett, whose art is not only stunning, 637 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:33,920 Speaker 2: but her life is so interesting. Her exhibit closes on 638 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,960 Speaker 2: January fourth, twenty twenty six. Could she get added to 639 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:39,040 Speaker 2: a future episode list? I hope you'll get to visit 640 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:43,280 Speaker 2: Chicago and see it for yourselves. I've included a photo 641 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 2: of her statue pensive a teaser from the exhibit love 642 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,400 Speaker 2: her Glasses, along with my usual suspect pet tax Penny. 643 00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 2: And then there is an article linked to an article 644 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:58,280 Speaker 2: about the UV disinfection for the wastewater in Chicago. 645 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:01,440 Speaker 1: Yes, there are lots. 646 00:38:01,200 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 2: Of things that UV light can be used to sanitize 647 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:08,480 Speaker 2: and disinfect. In addition to the air that we talked 648 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:11,719 Speaker 2: about in the William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells episodes. 649 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:18,440 Speaker 2: This sculpture picture is very intriguing. This is not an 650 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:23,399 Speaker 2: artist who I know anything about at all, and so 651 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:26,879 Speaker 2: I will see maybe this will be an episode we'll see. 652 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 2: And then a puppy dog on a couch with his 653 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:35,400 Speaker 2: face resting on a pillow, looking forlorn. I want to 654 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:36,840 Speaker 2: give this dog some snuggles. 655 00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: Is this dog not a boy? Is it Penny? Okay, 656 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,840 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. She looks like a very good girl. It 657 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: jumps out to me because I immediately go it's time 658 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:51,360 Speaker 1: for a Penny cartoon, because oh yeah, yeah, sure, I 659 00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:52,560 Speaker 1: love some Peewey's playhouse. 660 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,120 Speaker 2: So if you would like to send us a note 661 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:01,920 Speaker 2: about this or any their podcasts or at history podcasts 662 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,280 Speaker 2: at iHeartRadio dot com. I'll try not to mis gender 663 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,640 Speaker 2: your pets. You can subscribe to our show on the 664 00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:13,760 Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app and anywhere else you'd like to get your podcasts. 665 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,760 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 666 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 667 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:27,880 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.