Read Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic Page 41


  313 “like an animal” Nan Allan to Inglis Fletcher, February 11, 1924, DART

  314 “You must shoot...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 8, 1924, DART

  314 “Well, I don’t...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, March 8, 1924, DART

  315 “just sit still...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 8, 1924, DART

  315 “I have been...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 8, 1924, DART

  315 “Do you think...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 8, 1924, DART

  315 “It is like...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 8, 1924, DART

  316 “halfbreed” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 346

  316 “Were there many...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 346

  316 “it always makes...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 346

  316 “Too many questions...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 12, 1924, DART

  318 “If I have...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  319 “When thinking of...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, February 16, 1924, DART

  319 “I am more...” Alma Galle to Ada Roach, n.d., LAW

  319 “The truth is...” H.H. Langton, The Canadian Historical Review of the Adventure of Wrangel Island, NAC

  320 “ ‘done for’ from...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, March 11, 1924, NAC

  320 “If I would...” William McKinlay on the Wrangel Island Expedition, NAC

  320 “Mr. Knight thinks...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, February 16, 1924, NAC

  321 “Stefansson could not...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, June 20, 1924, NAC

  321 “Now that a...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, October 21, 1924, DART

  322 “Oh, Oh!” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  323 “If my mother...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  323 “I do not...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  323 “Are they for...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  323 “Please tell him...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 10, 1924, DART

  324 “The New York...” New York World, “Spurned Eskimo Woman Is Blamed for Arctic Death,” February 11, 1924 New York World, February 11,1924

  NINETEEN

  326 “I thought you...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 372

  327 “The hills look...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 12, 1924, DART

  327 “Here is my...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 12, 1924, DART

  328 “Now the old...” “Lady in the Moon,” as told to Inglis Fletcher by Ada Blackjack, February 11, 1924, IFP

  329 “During the six...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, pp. 375–377

  331 “Last night...” Los Angeles Times, “Survivor of Arctic Trip Is in City,” February 13, 1924

  331 “Well, I do...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, February 18, 1924, DART

  331 “Well, maybe white...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 349

  333 “I’m sorry for...” Ada Blackjack to Stefansson, February 17, 1924, DART

  333 “That she could...” New York World, “Spurned Eskimo Woman Is Blamed for Arctic Death,” February 11, 1924

  334 “When I got...” The Adventure of Wrangel Island, p. 349

  334 “A little woman...” Los Angeles Times,“Ada Blackjack Hits Back,” February 27, 1924

  334 “Other allegations...” Los Angeles Times,“Ada Blackjack Hits Back,” February 27, 1924

  335 “I don’t think...” Los Angeles Times,“Ada Blackjack Hits Back,” February 27, 1924

  335 “doctor, nurse...” Los Angeles Times,“Death Vigil in Arctic Snows,” February 28, 1924

  336 “They found her...” Unnamed, undated newspaper article, “Ada the Eskimo” (Stef MSS 196.97: Fletcher, Inglis (2) 1922–25), DART

  336 “She had ‘guts’...” Unnamed, undated newspaper article, “In a Biological Sense” (Stef MSS 196: 97: Fletcher, Inglis (2) 1922–25), DART

  336 “For two months...” Unnamed, undated newspaper article, “Ada Blackjack Refutes Noice,” by Consolidated Press (Stef MSS 196:97: Fletcher, Inglis (2) 1922–25), DART

  336 “She will not...” Los Angeles Times,“Death Vigil in Arctic Snows,” February 28, 1924

  338 “In all matters...” J.I. Knight to Stefansson, December 3, 1923, DART

  340 “New Philadelphia...” Mary Maurer to the Galles, August 10, 1924, LAW (translated from German by Jessica Gilroy)

  TWENTY

  341 “Ada Blackjack is...” Unnamed, undated newspaper article, LAW

  341 “I am very...” Anchorage Times, “Only Survivor of Arctic Expedition Dies in Obscurity,” June 5, 1983

  341 “I am afraid...” A.J.T. Taylor to Stefansson, March 29, 1924, DART

  342 “Could I discard...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, October 21, 1924, DART

  343 “no claim to...” London Times, “Wrangel Island,” April 9, 1924

  343 “How would you...” ASIA, “Staking Wrangel Island,” by D. M. Le Bourdais, April 1925

  344 And then someone... The four jawbones did, in fact, belong to members of Stefansson’s Canadian Arctic Expedition: First Mate Sandy Anderson; Second Mate Charles Barker; and seamen John Brady and Edmund Lawrence Golightly (alias Archie King).

  345 “Soviet officials...” New York Evening Post, “Soviet to Lease Wrangel,” September 20, 1924

  346 Perhaps it was... An intriguing letter from Alma’s sister Maggie, dated May 10, 1925 (LAW), stated that she and her husband had been to the Majestic Theatre at their home in Austin to see a psychic and mind reader who was passing through town. “He’s alive. He’s not dead,” the psychic said when asked about Milton Galle, “—two men left—four men were on the island. He is wearing a uniform now.” She told them he had been captured in Siberia and was not being held prisoner but was being kept quiet due to governmental reasons.

  346 “It has been...” David and Mary Maurer and family to Harry and Alma Galle and family, August 28, 1924, LAW

  347 “We have never...” J.I. and Georgia Knight to friends, September 1, 1924, LAW

  347 “Our thoughts have . . .” The Crawfords to the Galles, September 1, 1924, LAW

  347 “We must all...” Delphine Maurer to Alma Galle, September 3, 1924, LAW

  348 “It is not...” Alma Galle to Mr. and Mrs. Robb, undated, LAW

  348 Noice knew that... Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, April 21, 1924, NAC

  349 “In Noice’s favour...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, January 20, 1924, NAC

  350 “I am glad...” Harold Noice’s retraction to Stefansson, October 19, 1924, LAW

  350 “My complete...” Harold Noice’s retraction to Stefansson, October 19, 1924, LAW

  351 “the relatives and...” J. T. Crawford to A. J. T. Taylor, October 13,1924, DART, and J. T. Crawford telegram to Macmillan Co., undated, DART

  351 “We now think...” J.T. and Helen Crawford to the Macmillan Co., October 16, 1924, DART

  351 “as sympathetic...” Stefansson to A. J. T. Taylor, November 20, 1924, DART

  352 “If Stefansson gets...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, April 26, 1924, NAC

  352 “think it wise...” J.T. Crawford to A. J. T. Taylor, December 19, 1924, DART

  352 “You claim that...” J.T. Crawford to A. J. T. Taylor, December 14, 1924, DART

  353 “Is he still...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, December 20, 1924, DART

  353 “I never show...” Ada Blackjack to Stefansson, December 20, 1924, DART

  354 “Oh! It’s...” Inglis Fletcher to Stefansson, December 21, 1924, DART

  355 “Glorious was life...” Netsit, Northern Voices, “Dead Man’s Song,” pp. 34–35

  TWENTY-ONE

  357 “After escaping the...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, February 25, 1925, NAC

  358 “I don
’t want...” Ada Blackjack to Gertrude Andrus, April 13, 1925, DART

  358 “It isn’t very...” Ada Blackjack to Gertrude Andrus, April 16, 1925, DART

  359 “ ‘piratically appropriated’...” New York World,“Stefansson Says Noice Admits Slurring Wrangel Island Heroes,” April 20, 1925

  359 “Wife Goes to...” New York Evening Post, “Wife Goes to Reno on Noice Retraction,” April 20, 1925

  361 “For many months...” New York World, “Parents Blame Stefansson for Crawford’s Death,” May 10, 1925

  362 “The Maurer Family...” John Maurer to Stefansson, May 3, 1925, LAW

  362 “He is sometimes...” Canadian House of Commons Debates, June 10, 1925, NAC

  363 “of exceptional...” Canadian House of Commons Debates, June 10, 1925, NAC

  363 “If there is...” Canadian House of Commons Debates, June 10, 1925, NAC

  364 “Ada will die...” Kansas City Journal, “Arctic Heroine Going Back to Die on Island,” August 1, 1927

  365 “Hardship of the...” Toronto Mail & Empire, “Ada Blackjack Goes North to Die,” November 1, 1927

  365 Stefansson read the... Stefansson to Carl Lomen, July 6, 1950, IFP

  PART VI

  367 “I thank God...” Ada Blackjack’s diary, July 23, 1923, UAA/BBJ

  368 “THE ADA BLACKJACK...” Burt E. Anderson to Commander Fitz-hugh Green, June 1, 1928, FG

  TWENTY-TWO

  369 “I had a...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  370 “Never mind...” Interview with Billy Blackjack Johnson, January 25, 2003

  370 “When I was...” Interview with Billy Blackjack Johnson, January 25, 2003

  370 “Ah nooga naga...” Interview with Billy Blackjack Johnson, January 25, 2003

  372 “It is sometimes...” Olaf Swenson to the Galles, July 1, 1930, LAW

  372 “All this has...” Helen Crawford to Alma Galle, March 27, 1930, LAW

  372 “I always dread...” Helen Crawford to Harry and Alma Galle, September 1,1930, LAW

  372 “When I woke...” Helen Crawford to Alma Galle, September 1, 1934, LAW

  374 “Some day the...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, February 9, 1927, NAC

  375 “My husband was...” Helen Crawford to Alma Galle, September 1, 1928, LAW

  375 “I feel at...” Helen Crawford to Alma Galle, September 1, 1928, LAW

  376 “True, our brother...” McMinnville Elk, “McMinnville Elks Mourn Death of Joseph I. Knight,” October 25, 1930, LAW

  376 “I always want...” J.I. Knight to friends, September 8, 1924, LAW

  377 “Since my paying...” Stefansson to Alma Galle, January 14, 1928, LAW

  377 “I can only...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, January 20, 1929, LAW

  377 “However great this...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, November 1, 1932, LAW

  378 “strange, completely...” Alma Galle to Stefansson, November 1, 1932, LAW

  378 “strange, completely . . .” Harold Noice, Back of Beyond, 1939

  380 “he is prone...” E.P. Coffey to Mr. Ladd, October 11, 1939 (FBI Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Section; Vilhjalmur Stefansson, File: 100–7516 Section 1)

  381 “Summarizing the . . .” J. Edgar Hoover to Stefansson, December 21, 1939 (Freedom of Information/ Privacy Acts Section; Vilhjalmur Stefansson, File: 100-7516 Section 1)

  382 In the late... Interview with Bill Lawless, April 2002 and again October 10, 2002, LAW

  383 “I really will...” Literary Digest, July 13,1935, p. 29

  384 “Feb. 28, 1974...” Stanton H. Patty to William S. Crosby, February 28, 1974, DART

  EPILOGUE

  387 “In memory of...” Don Knight, cousin of E. Lorne Knight, DN

  387 “a true and...” Lorne Knight, Pechuck, 1932, flyleaf

  387 “God did not...” Mae Belle Anderson to Helen Crawford, December 14, 1923, NAC

  388 “To commemorate...” Toronto Star, “Fellow Students Honor Late Allan Crawford,” June 1, 1924

  388 “sacrifice and heroism...” Toronto Star, “University Schools Memorial,” June 18, 1924

  388 Long after Alfred... Interview with Don Tolle, March 2002

  389 “Why are you...” Interview with Bill Lawless, October 30, 2002, LAW

  389 “Dear Stefansson . . .” Ada Blackjack Johnson to Stefansson, June 28, 1950, IFP

  390 “formerly Ada...” Ada Blackjack Johnson to Stefansson, June 28, 1950, IFP

  390 “pathetic case” Stefansson to Carl Lomen, July 6, 1950, IFP

  390 “These charities...” Stefansson to Ada Blackjack, July 6, 1950, IFP

  390 “It is still...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  390 But she had... Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  390 “no trace at...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  391 “It was a...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  391 “I think I...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  391 “Brave? I don’t...” Sunday Denver Post, “Lone Survivor Ada Blackjack Recalls Arctic,” January 14, 1973

  392 “Am I beautiful...” Interview with Billy Blackjack Johnson, January 25, 2003

  392 “I consider my...” CIRI Newsletter, “Look Back in History: Ada Blackjack Johnson—Arctic Heroine”

  393 “The final chapter...” Billy Blackjack Johnson letter, 1973, UAA/BBJ

  393 “a small token...” Rep. John G. Fuller to Billy Blackjack Johnson, August 26, 1983, BBJ

  393 “Born in 1898...” The Alaska Legislature, In Memoriam: Ada Blackjack Johnson, June 16,1983, UAA/BBJ

  394 “I am so...” Billy Blackjack Johnson to Rep. Frank R. Ferguson, September 13, 1983, UAA/BBJ

  Maps

  Picture Section

  1. Ada Blackjack’s parents with three of their children. (Ada is believed to be the oldest child, standing here behind her siblings.)

  2. Ada Blackjack’s mother, Maggie Delutuk.

  3. Ada Blackjack and son Bennett, Nome, Alaska.

  4. Ada in the latest fashions. (Date unknown, taken before the expedition to Wrangel Island.)

  5. Ada with Bennett and sister Rita on the porch of her home in Nome before joining the Wrangel Island Expedition.

  6. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, organizer of the expedition.

  7. Ada in Eskimo costume.

  8. Allan Crawford, official leader of the Wrangel Island Expedition.

  9. Fred Maurer, survivor of Stefansson’s 1913–1914 Canadian Arctic Expedition, and member of the 1921 Wrangel Island venture.

  10. E. Lorne Knight, second-in-command.

  11. Promotional poster for Fred Maurer’s lecture stint on the Chautauqua circuit.

  12. Nineteen-year-old Milton Galle of New Braunfels, Texas.

  13. The Silver Wave, before sailing for Wrangel Island.

  14. View of Wrangel Island on the approach.

  15. The camp on Wrangel Island.

  16. Allan Crawford with expedition cat, Vic.

  17. Milton Galle walking into the wind on the gravel beach.

  18. Lorne Knight displays his catch.

  19. Fred Maurer in winter gear.

  20. Ada Blackjack scraping skins.

  21. Milton Galle making a seal poke.

  22. Allan Crawford carving snow blocks for the winter house.

  23. Building walls of snow to surround the tents for winter.

  24. Ada in riding pants.

  25. Summer camp in June 1922.

  26. Crawford and Maurer skinning a walrus.

  27. Displaying the walrus skull in camp.

  28. Ada with a polar bear.

  29. One of the many bears shot around camp.

  1. Crawford with rifle, preparing for the hunt.

>   2. Lorne Knight after his walk to Skeleton Island.

  3. Milton Galle with Vic.

  4. Crawford on the beach in summer as the ice closes in.

  5. Fred Maurer watching for a ship.

  6. Ada in hunting costume (self-portrait).

  7. Ada and Knight’s camp in May of 1923.

  8. The rescue ship Donaldson.

  9. Donaldson commander Harold Noice on the approach to Wrangel Island.

  10. Ada, wearing the reindeer parka she made for herself, meets her rescuers (note the platform she constructed in the background).

  11. Ada standing over Lorne Knight’s grave.

  12. Ada on the rescue ship Donaldson.

  13. Ada and Vic aboard the rescue ship on the way home to Alaska.

  14. Alma Galle, awaiting word from her son.

  15. Professor Crawford, Helen Crawford, and Allan’s younger brother, Johnnie.

  16. Mary Maurer and Nigeraurak, or Nicki, the cat Fred saved from the Karluk expedition.

  17. Ada with Georgia and John Knight outside their home in McMinnville, Oregon.

  18. The diary of Lorne Knight, defaced by Harold Noice.

  19. Ada as heroine (circa 1924).

  20. Bennett in California, February 25, 1924.

  21. Ada on porch, shortly after her return from California.

  22. Ada, discovered by a reporter, gathering driftwood on the beach in Unalaska in 1935.

  23. Ada trying to disappear in a crowd.

  24. Ada with son Billy in 1973, posing once again for newspaper photographers.

  25. Ada in the home of the Maurers in the mid-1970s, working on her favorite puzzle.