The Arctic would be Ernest deKoven Leffingwell's home during the early twentieth century. Concentrating on Alaska's north coast and what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), he explored, studied, and mapped the challenging landscape between 1906 and 1914. Much of his success depended on the companionship and assistance of his Inupiat neighbors.Leffingwell first traveled to polar regions as chief scientist for the 1901 Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition. Although they failed in their quest to reach the North Pole from Franz Joseph Land, his participation prepared him for future endeavors. He experienced the dangers of living and traveling in extreme conditions, learned to operate delicate scientific instruments in freezing temperatures, and befriended fellow explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen.
Eager to investigate rumors of land north of Alaska, Mikkelsen and Leffingwell organized the 1906 Anglo American Polar Expedition. Supporters included geographic societies, Alexander Graham Bell, and John D. Rockefeller. Although the Arctic environment pushed the men to their limits, they were able to determine the edge of the continental shelf--a significant geographic discovery.
Laboring in the harsh climate of northeastern Alaska along the North Slope of the Brooks Range, the driven, risk-taking young geologist pioneered research in ground ice (often called permafrost), surveyed and documented the geography of the coastline and interior, observed birds, and collected wildlife specimens for the Smithsonian Institution and other organizations. His groundbreaking work continues to inform scientists and scholars today.
For Leffingwell's biography, author Janet R. Collins consulted his journals and professional reports, family papers and memories, and published and unpublished writings of Alice Barnard, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, and Ejnar Mikkelsen.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1 To the Arctic: Leffingwell and the Baldwin-Ziegler ExpeditionChapter 2 Interlude: 1902-1906
Chapter 3 The Anglo-American Polar Expedition
Chapter 4 Winter Quarters at Flaxman Island and the Search for New Lands
Chapter 5 The Okpilak: "Place of No Willows"
Chapter 6 The Canning and Hulahula Rivers
Chapter 7 Return to the Canning
Chapter 8 The Return North, 1909
Chapter 9 Mapping Coastline and Mountains, 1910-1911
Chapter 10 Exploration of the Coastline Continues, 1912
Chapter 11 Return North on the Mary Sachs, 1913-1914
Chapter 12 Post-Arctic Life: 1914-1949
Chapter 13 The Later Years: 1950-1971
Chapter 14 Recognition
Epilogue
Appendix 1 Baldwin-Zeigler and Anglo-American Polar Expedition Members
Appendix 2 Timeline
Appendix 3 Okpilak Sledge Trip Equipment
Appendix 4 Okpilak Sledge Trip Food
Appendix 5 Selected Geographic Names
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author :
Along with her own passion for the Arctic, Janet R. Collins, former director of the Huxley Map Library at Western Washington University, has an undergraduate degree in geography and a master's degree in library science.
Review :
"On the Arctic Frontier is a rich, readable, and long overdue biography of an Arctic giant."
--Western Historical Quarterly
"[On the Arctic Frontier] is an invaluable contribution to literature on the Alaskan Arctic."
--Roger Kaye, author, The Last Great Wilderness: The Campaign to Establish the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
"Exhaustively researched. I can feel the author's passion for her subject."
--Ned Rozell, writer, University of Alaska Fairbanks
