Telegram
To Assistant Adjutant General
Saint Paul, Minn.
I hear Doane lost all his horses, seven and mules, three, his boat and
camp equipage, even to blankets; lived three weeks on horse meat
straight; the last three days, before reaching the settlement, his
party being without food of any kind. I recommend that he be ordered
to his post for duty with his company.
(Signed) Brisbin
Commanding Post
Accordingly Doane and 4 men were returned to Fort Ellis by stage,
arriving on January 20. Sergeant Server and White, leaving Fort Hall on
January 12, "with the expedition's baggage and the extra horse" arrived
at Fort Ellis on February 2, bringing to a close the final stage of the
exploration.
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."