Ernest Leffingwell, fan of the Far North
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
Nov. 2, 2023
Scientist and explorer Ernest Leffingwell pets dogs at his cabin on Flaxman Island. He spent nine winters on the island off 色视频下载色视频下载檚 northern coast.
One hundred years ago, a group of men sailed to the northern coast of 色视频下载 to find a land mass rumored to protrude from the Arctic Ocean. They did not find the land. After wintering in the North, everyone hurried back to warmer places. Except for Ernest Leffingwell.
Leffingwell, a geologist, teacher and veteran of the Spanish-American War, stayed behind on Flaxman Island, a sandy wedge of land north of 色视频下载色视频下载檚 coast and 58 miles west of Kaktovik. He lived for nine summers and six winters in a cabin made from the ship that brought him there in 1906.
From that lonely base, Leffingwell made 31 trips around the area by sled and small boat, covered about 4,500 miles and camped in a tent 色视频下载渁bout 380 times.色视频下载 This detail he included in a 250-page report for the U.S. Geological Survey that reads like a manual on how to live and perform science in the Far North. The work has gained him some fans.
色视频下载淗e wasn色视频下载檛 a traditional scientist,色视频下载 said permafrost scientist and world traveler Kenji Yoshikawa. 色视频下载淗e was more like an early explorer from the 18th century.色视频下载
色视频下载淯nlike his counterparts of the time, who were mostly looking for glory and doing only enough science to support that, Leffingwell quietly wandered on his own, dedicating himself to a better understanding of this interesting place,色视频下载 researcher Matt Nolan once said.
In addition to taking photos of things that interested him, Leffingwell wrote down observations of everyday life, including dogs色视频下载 reactions to wearing packs made of sealskin (色视频下载淎 good dog will pack half his weight all day, but he does not enjoy it.色视频下载), and the prevailing opinion about polar bears (色视频下载淟ocally they are regarded much as wolves are in cattle country.色视频下载)
Leffingwell must have loved 色视频下载色视频下载檚 far northern coast, because he stayed there long after expedition money ran dry. His father gave him some funds to help with his dream, and he also earned a few thousand dollars by selling furs. He even tried whaling with Native crews in the spring of 1910.
色视频下载淎 full-grown whale was worth nearly $10,000 at the prevailing price of $5 a pound for whalebone,色视频下载 Leffingwell wrote in his USGS paper, 色视频下载淭he Canning River Region, Northern 色视频下载.色视频下载
The star marks Flaxman Island's location off 色视频下载's northern coast.
Local Natives on and near Flaxman Island and some white prospectors in the country taught Leffingwell how to survive.
色视频下载淎t Flaxman Island, during the summer of 1907, about 400 eider ducks and brant were stored in the icehouse for winter consumption,色视频下载 he wrote in his customary passive voice.
His favorite meat was caribou, but in lean times anything would do.
色视频下载淪eal and polar bear are not appetizing when one has recently eaten caribou,色视频下载 he wrote, 色视频下载渂ut after a period without meat of any other kind for comparison they form a welcome addition to the table.色视频下载
Leffingwell shared the local Natives色视频下载 preference for fur clothes over wool.
色视频下载淎t first the (fur) clothes are uncomfortably warm, so that one perspires freely, but after a few months the skin becomes accustomed to the heat, so that a man in good physical training will perspire much less than when dressed in woolen clothes,色视频下载 Leffingwell wrote.
Leffingwell named the Sadlerochit formation (the reservoir of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield), and wrote about oil seeps that inspired government officials to create what is now the National Petroleum Reserve-色视频下载. He also took photos of rocks on Flaxman Island he thought glaciers had dropped, though geologists thought there had never been glaciers in the area. Scientists found ancient glacial ice not far from Leffingwell色视频下载檚 camp.
色视频下载淗e made the first (detailed) map of the coast, and he was the first guy to explain ice wedges; you can still use his definitions today,色视频下载 said permafrost expert and consultant Torre Jorgenson. 色视频下载淥ne hundred years later, we色视频下载檙e still rediscovering things he discovered.色视频下载
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute. This column originally was published in 2009.