The Carlin Party , [ 1 ] sometimes referred to as the Carlin-Himmelwright Hunting Party , was the name given to a hunting expedition that left Kendrick, Idaho , on September 18, , and was met and rescued along the Lochsa River on November 22 of that year, after becoming trapped on the upper reaches of the Lochsa by unseasonably early snowfall.
The hunting party was led by William E. Carlin, the then year-old son of Brigadier General William Carlin. Carlin was a West Point graduate. While the party would later be referred to disparagingly in regional press the press as "the New York Men [ 3 ] " implying that they were unfit for the rigors of hunting in the Idaho mountains , Carlin had a significant amount of experience exploring the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. This included serving as a photographer on Army Lieutenant James A.
Leyden's expedition through parts of Idaho and British Columbia. Carlin was joined by A. Pierce was 20 at the time of the expedition, the son of Dr. Pierce whose primary occupation was managing his father's investments.
Before setting out the party hired two additional members, a guide named Martin C. Spencer, [ 8 ] and a cook from Post Falls who had worked for Carlin on previous expeditions named George Colegate often written as Colgate in contemporary press accounts.
Colegate suffered from an enlarged prostate and chronic inflammation of the bladder, and required the use of a catheter to urinate. While his physician, W. Webb, advised that Colegate only make the trip with his catheters, Colegate left the devices behind. Midway through their journey the group encountered and hired trapper Ben Keeley to assist them in rafting down the Lochsa river. The party was accompanied by three dogs. Carlin was loaned a white English Terrier and Scottish Terrier by a former hunting companion Fred Palmer, for the purposes of the hunting trip.
