Jarvis and the Alaskan Reindeer Caper

Abstract

The United States Coast Guard has announced a departure from the traditional practice of naming vessels in honour of former Secretaries of the Treasury (in effect since 1830), and hereafter will use the names of heroes. One of the first of three new 378-foot cutters bears the name Jarvis. During the winter of 1897-1898, Lieutenant David H. Jarvis of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Bear led a three-man relief party to 265 whalers whose ships had been stranded in the ice off the northern coast of Alaska, a feat that must rank among the highest in the annals of polar history and exploration. More remarkable, it was not carried out on the high seas but instead on land; three brave men, wearing parkas and boots instead of chaps, helped to carry out a reindeer drive from Cape Nome to Point Barrow, a distance of approximately 800 miles. ... during the summer of 1897, whaling ships came north as usual; some ships returned south early in the summer, while others familiar with shifting ice planned to remain until early fall .... Perhaps a sign of things to come happened during the last of July when the Navarch got caught in the pack-ice off Icy Cape and had to be abandoned. A little over two months later seven other whaling ships had been icebound off Point Barrow or within a 100-mile radius .... The situation was serious. Most of the ships had supplies to last only till January, and sailing south would be impossible until the following July or even later. ... When part of the whaling fleet failed to return to San Francisco by early November, an urgent plea from the people of that city to organize a relief expedition was sent to President William McKinley. ... The problem was to get food to an area inaccessible by ship in a reasonable amount of time. ... Borrowing proven methods used by the Texas cattlemen to transport beef on the hoof, it was decided to let the potential food move itself. Instead of cattle, though, it was necessary to use an animal species capable of surviving and feeding under the harsh conditions of the arctic winter - the reindeer. These were already in Alaska having been domesticated for possible industry during the early 1890s .... The next problem to solve was to find someone to carry out the drive or at least supervise it. ... It would be up to three men to deliver a herd of reindeer to Point Barrow. The leader of this party was to be First Lieutenant D. H. Jarvis, accompanied by Second Lieutenant E. P. Bertholf, and Surgeon S. J. Call. They would pick up the herds in northwestern Alaska and drive them overland. This would have to be done in darkness and under the worst of weather conditions because the arctic winter was approaching fast. ... So the job was done. A party of three, with help from natives, missionaries, traders and government workers, under the command of a tough, modest sailor, had led a herd of reindeer over the frozen tundra, and in the dead of winter, something that no one had done before or has done since .... He had procured a total of 448 reindeer, 66 of which were lost or killed en route. At Barrow, after delivery, 1 died and 180 were killed for food. There were 254 fawns born, 64 died, for a net increase of 391. With those remaining at Point Hope the sum total was 439, almost enough to pay back the herders from whom they were borrowed. The remaining herd was driven back from Barrow .... Jarvis and his valiant companions left the Arctic that year under sail and steam to return many times, Jarvis and Bertholf as Captains of the Bear. All members were awarded a special Congressional Gold Medal. The new Coast Guard cutter Jarvis, launched on 24 April 1971, is a monument to a brave and capable seafaring man ....