stefansson-wrangel-09-29-031

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On February 10th Knight outlines a plan the execution of which
would have prevented food shortage. "I have been thinking of establishing a camp
on the north coast of the island in the spring for the purpose of drying meat,
for several reasons: viz. - should Mr. Stefansson intend to make [next winter]
an ice trip [a trip north over the sea ice] from the island, the fact that the
meat is on the north side of the island will save a great deal of hauling over
the mountains or around the coast. Also I think that there should be two camps
of two men each [to prevent the party from getting on each other's nerves by
being constantly together]. Another reason is that if Mr. Stefansson does not or
cannot come next summer, we will have all fall to haul the meat to this camp and
with the meat that will be put up here this will go a long way to tide us over
the winter. Should Mr. Stefansson decide not to stay on the island, it will be
a small matter to go by a ship and pick up the meat which will be on a point or
some other place which a ship can reach easily. I have talked this over with
Crawford and he agrees with me on this as a good plan."

I think this excellent plan may have come indirectly from Maurer
although it is here mentioned as being discussed by Knight and Crawford, for this
had been the method adopted by Hadley the spring of 1914 after Maurer and the other
shipwrecked men of the Karluk landed in Wrangell Island. To the north of Wrangell
the ice is aground for about forty miles from shore. Hadley crossed this stretch
(see "Hadley's Narrative" ante) and camped at the meeting edge of the floe and
the moving pack where bears were numerous and where sealing was occasionally
possible - whenever the wind was right. The scarcity of polar bears on Wrangell
Island itself in the spring could be legitimately presumed to mean that they were
abundant out at the floe edge thirty or forty miles beyond. Knight never tells
us exactly why this plan was not carried out but we can read it between the lines.
It was still the same confidence in the island as such a good game country that
precautions which might be necessary elsewhere would not be necessary here. The