This day in history

The men had constructed a heavy, flat-bottomed barge to transport their extensive supplies up river. They named her Gertie. The plan was to haul Gertie up the river and into the interior, a plan that was abandoned after a few hard-won miles and several sinkings. The Elwha isn’t much suited for barge travel.

I’ve never understood why the winter was seen as the right time to send the exploring party on their way in the first place. I suspect it had more to do with politics and the race to be the first to cross the range than it did with optimum conditions. When the Press Party got their traveling roadshow underway, there were other groups who were likewise gearing up for similar attempts later that year. Coming in second was not an option and, therefore, a winter traverse was the only solution.

The Press Party eventually made it to the other side after months of circuitous travel and many dead ends. they were the Gilligan’s Island of explorers, stretching what is now a three-day hike into months of hardship in the deep snows of the Olympic mountains. And it all began 119 years ago today, with the first tug on the ropes that started their ill-fated barge on its way upriver.