Overland Relief Expedition

The Overland Relief Expedition, also called the Alaska Relief Expedition or Point Barrow-Overland Relief Expedition, was an expedition in the winter of 1897-1898 by officers of the United States Revenue Cutter Service to save the lives of 265 whalers trapped in the Arctic Ocean by ice around their ships near Point Barrow, Alaska.

Background

In 1892, the government began a project of importing reindeer from Siberia to Alaska, and teach the natives how to raise the animals in order to have a steady and dependable food supply. The reindeer were obtained by Captain Michael Healy, who was known and trusted by the Siberian natives. Sheldon Jackson, the General Superintendent of Alaska, used his influence in the United States Congress to raise funds to purchase and care for the animals, and was placed in overall charge of training the herders.

The project started with 17 reindeer. From 1892 to 1906, cutters would cruise up the Siberian coast and barter with Chukchi for reindeer, which were then transported to a station at Port Clarence, near Nome, Alaska. In 1897, eight whaling ships were trapped in an Arctic ice field surrounding Point Barrow, the northernmost point of Alaska. The owners of the ships were concerned that the 265 men of the boats' crews would starve during the winter. They appealed to president William McKinley to send a relief expedition. McKinley asked the United States Treasury Department to organize an expedition, and they sent the USRC Bear, returned from Bering Sea Patrol, to undertake the expedition.

Expedition

In November 1897, the Bear commanded by Captain Francis Tuttle sailed from Port Townsend, Washington. It was too late in the year for the cutter to push through the ice, so it was decided the party must go overland, enlisting the help of natives, stopping by a reindeer station to purchase a herd of reindeer.

The overland trek left from Cape Vancouver, Alaska on December 16, 1897. The expedition was led by Lieutenant David H. Jarvis and second-in-command was Lieutenant Ellsworth P. Bertholf. They were accompanied by Surgeon Samuel Call and for part of the way the enlisted man F. Koltchoff. They were also assisted by William Thomas Lopp, the Superintendent of the Teller Reindeer Station, and Charlie Artiserlook, a native reindeer herder. They traveled and carried the provisions using dog sleds, sleds pulled by reindeer, snowshoes, and skis.

After 1,500 miles, the group reached Point Barrow on March 29, 1898. The expedition brought 382 reindeer to the whalers, having lost only 66. The following summer, the Bear reached Point Barrow and the expedition officers could rejoin their ship.

Recognition

McKinley recognized the achievements of the rescue in a letter dated January 17, 1899 to the United States Congress, in which he asked Congress to award the three officers Congressional Gold Medals of Honor "commemorative of their heroic struggles in aid of suffering fellow-men." He also recommended $2,500 to be disbursed by the United States Secretary of the Treasury to W.T. Lopp, Artisarlock, and the native herders who helped.

In recognition of their work, Bertholf, Call, and Jarvis received a Congressional Gold Medal in 1902 (public law 32 Stat. 492).

References

• Fog, Men, and Cutters: A Short History of the Bering Sea Patrol, by Dennis L. Noble, Ph.D. from the United States Coast Guard website

Further reading

• John Taliaferro. In a Far Country: The True Story of a Mission, a Marriage, a Murder,and the Remarkable Reindeer Rescue of 1898. PublicAffairs, 2006. ISBN 1586482211