One last entry in Lieutenant Doane’s journal is worthy of mention.
In December, 1878, I was told by my commanding officer, Major Jas. S. Brisbin, that he had disapproved of the expedition from the beginning, and had worked to have me ordered back because I had not applied for the detail through him. I make no comment.
A careful study of the journal reveals statements that can be questioned in the light of later knowledge. The mellifluous descriptions, the references to “hundreds of otter,” and some other observations, together with the general tone of the document, may to some readers appear overdrawn. It must be borne in mind, however, that the journal was obviously written some time after Doane’s return to Fort Ellis, and from Server’s notes, since the Lieutenant’s records had been lost when the boat capsized on December 12. Server’s notes were probably sketchy at best, much of the writing then was done from memory. That the account is colored by some imagination and a desire to make a “good yarn” of it is probably true, but forgivable, particularly when one considers the usual tenor adopted by writers of that day.
However critical the reader’s opinion may be, it cannot be denied that here is an odyssey which defies comparison with any other record of winter exploration of the region. It was fortunate, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Doane’s expedition did not continue. That his party could have survived ultimate disaster in the Hell’s Canyon of the Snake is incomprehensible. That Doane, stubborn and fearless as he was, would have been turned back by any terrors the river threw at him is equally so. Doane was an explorer in every sense of the word, he was determined to overcome all obstacles, he was, in truth, a man “to ride the river with.”
Bibliography
Chittenden, Hiram Martin: The Yellowstone National Park, J. E. Haynes, Saint Paul, 1927.
Doane, G. C.: Expedition of 1876-1877, 44 pp. typed from original manuscript, Library, Grand Teton National Park.
THE STORY OF DEADMAN’S BAR[5]
By Fritiof Fryxell
Jackson Hole, widely reputed to have been the favored retreat and rendezvous of cattle thieves, outlaws, and “bad men” in the early days, has long enjoyed the glamour which goes with a dark and sinful past, and this reputation has by no means been lost sight of by those who have been active in advertising the assets of this fascinating region. But when the dispassionate historian critically investigates the basis for this reputation he is surprised to find so little evidence wherewith to justify it, or to indicate that pioneer times in Jackson Hole were much different from those in other nearby frontier communities; and he is forced to conclude that the notoriety of Jackson Hole, like the rumor of Mark Twain’s death, has been slightly exaggerated. Doubtless the geographic features of the valley have encouraged the popular belief, for from the standpoint of isolation and inaccessibility Jackson Hole might well have been a paradise for the fugitive and lawless.