April 8th.—Lieutenant Lockwood fell in a faint in the alley-way, and much difficulty was experienced in resuscitating him.
April 9th.—Lieutenant Lockwood became unconscious at an early hour this morning, and at 4.20 P. M. he breathed his last. His end was painless and without a struggle. This will be a sad and unexpected blow to his family, who evidently idolized him. To me it is also a sorrowful event. He had been my companion during long and eventful excursions, and my feelings toward him were akin to those of a brother. Biederbick, who was with him at the last moment, and I straightened his limbs and prepared his remains for burial. It is the saddest duty I have ever been called on to perform, and I hope I may never experience the like again. A few days prior to his death he had spoken of writing to his family, but, owing to weakness, had deferred the matter until too late.
April 10th.—The last sad rites were performed over the remains of our late comrade, and he was interred with the others on Cemetery Ridge, Lieutenant Greely reading the Episcopal service.
To the above may be added the following remark made by Brainard in regard to his friend Lockwood: “The lieutenant was buried in an officer’s blouse. It affected me deeply to pass his grave, as I thought of the leader of our little party which had carried the Stars and Stripes beyond the English Jack; but this feeling soon wore away, and, as I had so many other horrible things to occupy my mind, I became somewhat indifferent.”
But wholly indifferent he could not be, even when he saw two men in one sleeping-bag, one of them a corpse, and the other too weak to assist in pulling the body out for burial.
Another and most touching reference made by Brainard to the burial-place of his friend Lockwood occurs in his journal under date of May 31, 1884, and is as follows: “In my daily journeys across Cemetery Ridge, it was but natural at first that my reflections should be sad and gloomy. Here lie my departed comrades, and to their left is the vacant space where, in a few days, my own remains will be deposited if sufficient strength remain to those who may survive me. The brass buttons on Lieutenant Lockwood’s blouse, worn bright by the flying gravel, protruded through the scanty covering of earth which our depleted strength barely enabled us to place over him. At first these dazzling buttons would awaken thoughts of those bright days spent at Fort Conger, of the half-forgotten scene of his death, and of the universal sorrow that was felt at his departure. But later my own wretched circumstances served to counteract these feelings, and I would pass and repass this place without emotion, and almost with indifference.”
The supply of food had been almost entirely exhausted during the first few days of April, and it was impossible to obtain any game or rations from distant caches. An effort made by Rice to secure certain provisions that had been abandoned on a former expedition in order to save the life of Ellison when frozen, resulted in his own death, breathing his last in the arms of Fredericks, his only companion, who buried him in a lonely, ice-made grave. Nor were the horrors of the situation lessened by the discovery that the man Henry had been guilty of stealing their food, for which, after ample warning, under orders from Lieutenant Greely, he was summarily shot, according to the law of self-preservation. His remains were not deposited in the cemetery, but by themselves in a place near by.
The total number of deaths out of the twenty-five composing the complete party of explorers was nineteen, and, while twelve of them were buried at Camp Clay, the remainder, like the lamented Rice, were buried elsewhere or where they died. Jans was lost in his kyack. During a discussion that occurred, about the final disposition of the dead, Lieutenant Greely expressed the wish that the remains of his men might be left undisturbed. They had died, he said, beneath Arctic skies. Arctic desolation witnessed their sufferings, heard their cries of anguish. They are buried in Arctic soil. Let them lie where they fell. Lockwood told me that he wanted to rest forever on the field of his work. Why disturb them? Why not respect their wishes?
Before closing this chapter it seems proper that an allusion should be made to alleged cannibalism at Camp Clay. The writer of this was informed by Sergeant Brainard that such might have been the case, but that not a single one of the survivors had ever known or witnessed anything of the kind. So far as Lieutenant Lockwood was concerned, it was positively established, by unimpeachable testimony, that his remains were not mutilated in the least degree. When carefully carried, with all the others, on board the ship that was to bring them to the United States, his remains were perfect in every respect, and of this his father has the assurance of those who saw them.
In view of the fact that Sergeant David L. Brainard accompanied Lieutenant Lockwood in all his explorations, it seems only proper that a notice of his life should appear in this volume. He was born in Norway, Herkimer County, New York, December 21, 1856, his parents having come from Massachusetts. His father was of French extraction and his mother of English stock. He attended a district school until his eleventh year, when he removed with his family to Freetown, Cortland County, New York, where he attended the State Normal School. On the 18th of September, 1876, he enlisted at New York city in the regular army, being assigned to Company L, Second Cavalry, then stationed at Fort Ellis, in Montana Territory. He joined his troops late that year after an arduous journey of five hundred miles on horseback from Corinne, Utah. In the following spring he participated in the Indian campaigns under General Miles, along the Yellowstone River and its tributaries, and was wounded in the face while in action with the Sioux, at Muddy Creek, Montana, May 7, 1877. In August of the same year, he was selected as one of four men to act as escort to General Sherman and party in their tour through the National Park. In October following, he was made a corporal, and in July, 1879, was promoted to be a sergeant. He was frequently in charge of parties in the field on detached service, and was intrusted with important missions by his commanding officers. Lieutenant Doane, Second Cavalry, recommended him for detail on the Howgate Polar Expedition in May, 1880, Brainard visiting Washington for that purpose. The enterprise having been abandoned, he was ordered back to his regiment at Fort Assiniboin, on Milk River. Early in the spring of 1881, Lieutenant Greely requested his detail on the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, and, on his arrival in Washington, appointed him first sergeant of the expedition, which position he held during the three years of Arctic service. On the 1st of August, 1884, he was transferred, with the rank of sergeant, to the United States Signal Corps, having always acquitted himself with ability and honor as a man, a soldier, and an explorer.