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EA-I. (Philip S. Smith)

EXPLORATIONS IN ALASKA BY THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

        The first specific federal appropriation for explorations by the United

States Geological Survey in Alaska was carried in the Sundry Civil Act for

the fiscal year 1895-96, which was passed by Congress March 2, 1895. The

amount of money thus provided was $5,000 and was made available for the

“investigation of the coal and gold resources” of the Territory. Undeterred

by the meagerness of the funds, the Survey promptly arranged for starting

the work — the studies of the gold resources under Dr. G. F. Becker and

of the coals by Dr. William H. Dall ( q.v .). Becker was assisted by C. W.

Purington and the party was able to visit a number of the mines and touch at

various points along the southern coast from Sitka westward to Unalaska.

Much hitherto unrecorded information was gathered in the course of this

expedition which added greatly to an understanding of some of the major

geologic features of this part of the Territory. Some delay ensued in the

completion of the manuscript containing the results of the work, owing to

Becker’s other commitments so that his findings were not published until

1897 in the Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey,

1896-97 , Part III, pp. 1-86.

        The field work done by the Dall party was more or less localized around

coal fields of southeastern and central-southern Alaska. Dall, however, was

fortunate in having a wide knowledge of many other parts of Alaska through

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his earlier travels and thus added in his report much information regarding

some of the other fields than those he had been able to visit in the course

of his work in 1895. How extensive Dall’s journeys through remote parts of

Alaska had been before he joined the Survey may be realized when it is

pointed out that as a young man of 20 years, he had been a member of the

field group that had been engaged in seeking out a route which c ould

advantageously be followed in laying out a telegraph line that would con–

nect America, Asia, and Europe. (See article in another volume on the Western

Union Telegraph Expedition.) After the abandonment of that project in 1867,

because it was not needed after the successful laying of the Atlantic cable

to Europe, he served with distinction in the Alaskan work of the Coast and

Geodetic Survey until 1884, when he joined the Geological Survey and the

National Museum. Although Dall, after joining the Survey, did not make trips

to the Territory other than that noted above in 1895, and later as a member

of the Harriman Alaskan Expedition, he always retained a keen interest in the

Territory, and, as the world authority on the paleontology of the late

Mesozoic-Tertiary groups of invertebrates, kept constantly informed regarding

all Alaskan matters that pertained to his special field. The results of Dall’s

studies in 1895, supplemented by information he had gained from other sources,

were published in the Seventeenth Annual Report of the United States Geological

Survey , 1895-96 , Part I, pp. 763-908.

        Before passing from these two oldest official explorations by the

Geological Survey Survey in Alaska, it seems well to recall that even before

that time three of its members or those who ultimately became its members,

had made notable contributions through other than official channels to the

knowledge of the Territory. Earliest of this group was Prof. Israel C. Russell ( q.v .) ,

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who, in 1889, as a member of the Coast and Geodetic Survey party that was

concerned with the determination of the position of the boundary between

Canada and the United States, made a boat trip along the Yukon River from

the mouth to and beyond the then assumed position of the boundary line.

In 1890 and 1891, mainly through the auspices of the National Geographic

Society, Russell carried on extensive reconnaissance surveys in the vicinity

of Mount St. Elias. In the course of that work he made notable attempts to

scale the 18,000-foot peak only to be thwarted by exceedingly adverse weather.

In spite of the failure to surmount the mountain, he gathered a wealth of

important scientific information regarding the general features of the mountain

and its environs. The report of the expedition in 1890 was published in the

National Geographic Magazine (11), and of the expedition in 1891 in the

Thirteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey , 1891-92 ,

pp. 1-91.

        Another of the Survey men who made a remarkable traverse in Alaska prior

to the time when the Geological Survey officially entered that field was

Dr. Charles W. Hayes ( q.v .). The expedition to which Hayes was attached was

organized and financed by a group of newspapers and was placed under the leader–

ship of Lt. Frederick Schwatka ( q.v .), who had made an enviable reputation by

his traverses along the Yukon River in 1883, and in the vicinity of Mount

St. Elias in 1886. The trip in which Hayes participated was in 1891, and the

route followed led from near Juneau across country to Lewes and White rivers,

and thence across the difficult Skolai Pass to the Copper River. The circuit

thus completed brought the party back to tidewater at the mouth of the Copper

River. This epic journey afforded knowledge of a vast tract of the great

mountainous belt that forms part of the Alaska Range and the adjacent highlands.

The more important of Hayes’ observations were published in the National

Geographi s c Magazine (6). ✓

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        The fourth of the precursors of the Geological Survey’s official entry

into Alaskan exploration to be mentioned here, was Prof. N. F. Reid. In

1890, under the auspices of the National Geographic Society, Reid made

intensive investigations of the glaciers and resulting phenomena in the

vicinity of Glacier Bay. His studies were directed mainly toward obtaining

a better understanding of the physics of glacial motion and of their rates

of flow, so he not only made a number of measurements himself but left care–

fully placed monuments to which subsequent explorers might definitely tie

their observations and thus record long-time fluctuations in the movements

of the ice. The results of his first season’s work were published in the

National Geographic Magazine (10). So exciting were the results of Reid’s

studies in Glacial Bay that with a small party he revisited the area in 1892

and continued and expanded his earlier observations. A report of the work

done in Glacial Bay in 1892 was published in the Sixteenth Annual Report of

the United States Geological Survey , 1894-95 , Part I, pp. 415-61.

        Returning to an orderly presentation of the story of the Survey’s

official explorations in Alaska, let us pick up again the record where it

was dropped at the close of the 1895-96 season. For each of the three years

following 1895, an annual item of $5,000 was carried in each of the Sundry

Civil Acts for “the investigation of the coal and gold resources” of the

Territory. Obviously with the insignificant amount of money thus made avail–

able, the only projects that could be undertaken were those of very limited

scope. However, by practicing the utmost economy and restricting the areas

covered to those that could be reached and studied with least outlay for

travel and equipment, it was possible, in 1896, for J. E. Spurr, H. B.

Goodrich, and Frank C. Schrader ( q.v .) to carry a geologic reconnaissance

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EA-I. Smith: Survey’s Explorations

from the head of Lynn Canal across Chilkoot Pass and down the entire length

of the Yukon River, visting en route most of the then known gold camps of

interior Alaska. The results of those investigations were promptly published

and formed the groundwork on which many of the subsequent plans were developed.

(See Eighteenth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey , 1896-97 ,

Part III, pp. 87-392.

        As a result of the growing popular interest in Alaska, many of the govern–

ment organizations began to recognize their responsibilities to carry out

their functions in the Territory and were able to enlist the interest of

Congress in making funds available for the enlarge s d task that properly they ✓

should handle. Among those organizations that received additional recognition

was the Geological Survey, which had its funds supplemented by an item in the

Deficiency Act, passed January 28, 1898, for an additional $20,000 for “geologic

and topographic surveys in Alaska.” Plans were quickly formulated and the

necessary personnel and equipment to carry them out selected and early in

April 1898, four groups of geologists and engineers were on their way to their

field assignments. G. H. Eldridge had general over-all charge of these parties

when together. The separate project assigned to Eldridge specifically was a

reconnaissance of the Susitna River, which empties into Cook Inlet; explore

its course, and to find a suitable pass across from its headwaters into steams that

flow northward and are tributary to Tanana River. Associated with Eldridge on

this trip was Robert Muldrow, a topographic engineer. The results of the

surveys made by this party were published in the Twentieth Annual Report of

the United States Geological Survey , 1898-99 . Part VII, pp. 1-29.

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        Two of the other Alaska parties sent out by the Geological Survey, in

1898, set out together for their journey to interior Alaska from the head of

Lynn Canal and crossed the mountain belt to the north and reached parts of

the Yukon drainage system. At the junction of the White and Lewes rivers,

one section of this group, that with William J. Peters ( q.v .) as topographer

and Alfred H. Brooks ( q.v .) as geologist, turned westward to carry out

reconnaissance in the valleys of the White and Tanana rivers, while the other

section with Edward C. Barnard, topographer, in charge continued down the

Yukon to conduct surveys in the vicinity of Fortymile River and Eagle. The

results of the investigations by Peters and Brooks were published in the

Twentieth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey , 1898-99 ,

Part VII, pp. 425-94. The topographic map prepared by Barnard of the Fortymile

district was issued as one of the illustrations accompanying Bulletin 375 of

the Geological Survey.

        The fourth, and by far the most difficult project undertaken during the

season 1898 with the Survey’s Alaska funds, was the reconnaissance carried

out by Spurr and Post in southwestern Alaska. This work called for the

members of the party to travel by their own canoes from Tyonek; ascend the

Sus t i tna, one of the great rivers flowing eastward from the Alaska Range; ✓

enter Cook Inlet n d e ar its head; and find a pass across the mountains that ✓

would load f t o streams tributary to the Kuskokwi n m River. Arriving on such ✓

westward-flowing waters, the party travaled in its canoes the entire length

of the Kuskokwim to the mouth in Bering Sea. Then, as though the successful

accomplishment of those remarkable traverses merely whetted its zest for the

tackling of even more arduous tasks, the party undertook to fight its way

back to Cook Inlet by plunging into additional traverses by which the course

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EA-I. Smith: Survey’s Explorations

of the Kanektok River was explored. Surveys were carried along the north

shores of Bristol Bay, and then the backbone of the Alaska Peninsula was

surmounted by way of Nakn a e k River and the lakes adjacent thereto. Finally, ✓

the explorers again reached the shores of Cook Inlet, where late in October

they were able to connect with a vessel of one of the regular transportation

companies and thus return to the States.

        In addition to these four projects which the Survey was able to under–

take as parts of its own direct program, it was fortunate in having established

relations with the War Department whereby it was able to participate in certain

of the expeditions being sent out to investigate parts of the Prince William

Sound and Copper River regions. By this arrangement a Survey geologist was

attached to each of the two expeditions that were to make the explorations. line missing cf original p. 6 line 12, fr. bottom

Walter C. Mandenhall ( q.v .) was the geologist selected to accompany the expe–

dition led by Captain Edwin F. Glenn. This party, starting near the head of

Cook Inlet, traveled eastward following the general course of Matanuska River ✓ word missing

until, finding a pass between that stream and tributaries of Copper River,

its members continued northward up the valley of the Copper River and

ultimately reached Delta River, one of the streams flowing northward to join

Tanana River. The return of this party from its farthermost point close

to Tanana River followed essentially the same route which it had traversed

on its outward journey. Supplies for the expedition for the entire period

when it was in the field has to be carried by the party so that pack horses

were used for transportation of most of this material, but as is usual with

pack train parties in cross-country travel in Alaska, all the men made the

distance of foot. For an account of the scientific results of this work see

the Twentieth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey , 1898-99 ,

Part VII, pp. 265-340.

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        The other Alaska expedition sent out by the Army, in 1898, was , under the

leadership of Capt. William H. Abercrombie. To this party was a rr tt ached ✓

Frank C. Schrader (q.v.) as geologist from the Survey. This expedition

started from Valdez and proceeded northward across Valdez Glacier, crossing

the Chugach Mountains, and reaching the Copper River valley. In mid - season ✓

the group divided into two separate units, one of which was placed under the

charge of Schrader. The party under Schrader spent the rest of the open

season traversing parts of the Copper River plateau and the southern part

of the Copper River basin. Transportation for the supplies of this party

was effected by pack train but many of the side trips made by members of

the party involved considerable p b ack-packing by each of the members over ✓

difficult terrain. An account of the results obtained by Schrader was

published in the Twentieth Annual Report of the United States Geological

Survey , 1898-99 , Part VII, pp. 341-423.

        In referring to the dates relating to certain of the Survey’s Alaska

project, the reader should distinguish carefully between the dates applying

to the specific appropriation to which the work was charged, or that one on e ✓

which the work was n d one, or the date on which the results were published. ✓

Otherwise one is apt to become confused by the apparent lack of agreement

between the different dates used for apparently the same exploration. The

diversities that arise regarding the dates assigned to fiscal matters neces–

sarily stem from the general practice in the government’s accounting, to

start the fiscal year July 1 and close it on June 30. Obviously this period

does not conform at all to that in which exploration work can be done in

Alaska. As a result, most of the Survey’s projects are started with funds from

one appropriation and completed with those from another. Indeed it would

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be impossible to operate if one had to wait until an appropriation became

available on July 1 and then scramble around getting men and equipment and

transporting them to the places in Alaska where the work was to be done —

one would be lucky to be able to have the party arrive in time to turn

right around and head homeward to avoid getting caught in the oncoming

winter’s snow and freeze-up. Fortunately many of the Survey’s Alaska appro–

priations have been made “immediately available” which removed from them

some of the limitations placed on others that did not contain this provision.

        Of course the date of publication bears little relation to the date

when the field work is done or the manuscript completed by its author. This

is because much editing both of the text and illustrations may be required, and ✓

even after the complete copy is sent to the printer, there are innumerable

steps to be taken before the completed book is in shape for distribution.

        From the Survey’s standpoint the assignment of a certain project to

a specified “season” has been found more satisfactory than any other means

of dating a piece of exploratory work. Obviously the term covers an indefinite

period of time, generally embracing the four main steps in any well-organized

exploration, namely, ( 1 ) the period spent in preparing for the job, ( 2 ) the

time required in performing the actual field work, ( 3 ) the analysis and

interpretation of the observations made, and ( 4 ) the preparation of a report

setting forth the accomplishments and conclusions reached. Of course there

are occasionally projects undertaken which are planned to require several

years for their completion, but ordinarily the Survey’s Alaska explorations

have been laid out so that by the time a geologist or topographer has finished

his former work, he would be ready in the spring to make his plans for the

ensuing exploration. The field work is done during the summer and fall.

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During the winter he completes the working up of his notes, makes the

microscopic studies of the rocks and minerals he collected, submits his

fossils for identification, and does the necessary writing of his report

accompanied by maps and illustrations, so as then to be ready to prepare

plans for his next expedition. That calls for a strenuous schedule but it

was long the proud aim of the technical members of the Alaska group to see

that they maintained that pace. The foregoing explanation may be summarized

by saying that the term season as here used includes the preparatory and

field work of that year and the office and laboratory studies of the succeed–

ing year in which the job was brought to completion.

        In determin in g the period during which the Alaska field season is done ✓

it may not be amiss to note that the time of starting or closing the Survey’s

field season is governed by climate and weather conditions rather than the

comfort or whims of the individuals. As is evident, geologic observations

cannot readily be made when there is even a thin covering of snow to obscure

the surface features, and travel with pack train or by boats is impossible

when forage for the animals is lacking, or when the streams are locked in

their sheaths of winter ice. Of course, on certain of the expeditions when

extensive travel was required to reach the field of operations and heavy

supplies had to be dragged in by dog teams, the winter season proved to be

the most advantageous for cross-country travel and a number of the parties

took advantage of these conditions to get to their appointed fields before

the snow and ice disappeared.

        The startling discoveries of placer gold in the Canadian Klondike in

1897-98 led to the unprecedented rush of miners and others anxious to make

their stakes in the new Eldorado. This stampede into our neighbor’s territory

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soon led many of those who did not get suitable properties in that camp to

overflow into Alaska e a nd take up their search for the noble metal there. ✓

As a result new discoveries were made which extended at intervals all the

way to remote Seward Peninsula and the fabulous Nome gold fields. Tens of

thousands of seekers after the promise of quickly acquired wealth thronged

to the Territory and overran even some of its most remote tracts. The

Survey’s task in assisting these hordes of earnest but generally poorly

informed searchers after mineral deposits called for more than ordinary

effort because so few of the physical features of the country were known.

The available maps of the back country were so lacking in accuracy that they

were of little use in showing even the general relations of one gold field

to another, and the geologic setting of most of the mineral deposits was not

even indicated.

        It was, therefore, important under this situation that the first atten–

tion should be given by the Survey to getting together quickly general infor–

mation regarding the most important areas and making it available to the

public at the earliest opportunity. This led to the undertaking of broad

reconnaissance surveys which should cover extensive tracts of country rather

than focus attention on intensive studies of small, restricted tracts. This

led to the adoption of a general publication scale for the Survey’s Alaska

maps of four miles to the inch (1:250,000) by which 2,000 to 5,000 square

miles of country could be covered by a single Survey party in a season. Such

a party usually consisted of a geologist and his assistant, a topographer and

his helper, together with necessary camp hands as were required to look after

the horses if a pack train was used, or boatman if boats were used for trans–

portation, together with ax men and such other special camp hands as might be

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required. Inasmuch as practically all these parties operated at considerable

distances from any regular source of supplies, they were of necessity forced

to carry all of the e quipment and supplies that they would need for the entire ✓

time they were in the field. As the work progressed, modifications in the

general procedures were worked out to make them best adapted to the local

conditions encountered but it is interesting to note that the general plans

as originally laid down were the basis on which most of the exploratory work

for the next forty years was performed . Its success is to be measured by the ✓

fact that it permitted the covering of hundreds of thousands of square miles

without a single serious accident under the most rigorous conditions and

yielded geographic and geologic information of incalculable value at a cost

of only a few dollars per square mile.

        The early organization of the Survey’s work in Alaska was more or less

of an adaption of the methods that had been developed in the States for

comparable work there, directed by a group especially designated for the

task. It early became apparent, however, that proper planning and management

called for specially close familiarity with the local situations that had to

be met. Thus it was not long before it was recognized that the committee

type of management which had been used in handling the Survey’s Alaska work

in the early days must give way to more direct one-man planning and respon–

sibility. Thus, in 1903, a separate unit was established as the Division of

Alaskan Mineral Resources, as part of the Geologic Branch of the Survey.

Brooks, who since 1898 had been engaged in Alaskan work, was designated as

the geologist in charge and retained his leadership of its work until his

death in 1924.

        It would be too time-consuming to recount here the individual projects

that were undertaken during each of the ensuing years by the Survey’s Alaska

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unit. A full statement of the accomplishments of each year is given in the

official administrative report of the unit for the appropriate year from

1904 until the close of 1931. Subsequent to that date the publication of

this particular report was discontinued and the work was described in more

general terms in the annual report of the Director to the Secretary of the

Interior, or in the hearings before the House Subcommittee on Interior

Department appropriations.

        Although it has seemed fitting to pass over without detailed mention

the year-by-year accumulations of geographic and geologic information that

were collected and interpreted for the public by the Alaska unit of the

Survey, there were a number of outstanding events that served to highlight

certain of the normal yearly accomplishments and thus merit being singled

out for special mention. Necessarily, as the work progressed the cruder

reconnaissance and exploratory surveys that had been adequate in the earliest

work were supplemented by more and more detailed intensive work and certain

of the greater mining camps were studied with great care. As a result of

this higher-grade work, detailed geologic and topographic maps were prepared

to cover the great lode-gold camp near Juneau and the placer-gold camps near

Nome and Fairbanks. Funds, however, were always too inadequate to permit

much of this detailed work being done and even after fifty years of the

Survey’s work in Alaska, less than one per cent of the Territory had been

covered by such detailed maps and reports.

        Specific mention should be made of one phase of the Survey’s Alaska

work, namely, the annual canvass of all the mines and prospects so as to

obtain authoritative statistics of the production of minerals from Alaskan

deposits. The tabulations of the records were promptly published and up to

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1943 afforded the most reliable information as to the progress of mining in

the Territory. These annual summaries included not only statistical data

but also notes on all of the late developments and even of some of those that

were in prospect. These reports were based on hundreds of schedules sent out

not only to the individuals known to be mining but also to mints, assay offices,

banks, express companies, smelters and refineries, and selected individuals,

supplemented by the notes gathered by the various members of the field staff

of the Survey in the course of their explorations through the Territory.

        In 1906, the Alaska unit, in addition to its other duties, began to

carry on explorations and examinations of the Territory’s water resources.

At first these studies were concerned mainly with the quantity of water

available at various localities for mining operations. This was an especially

welcome service to miners because throughout most of central Alaska where

there were the great placer-mining camps, water was one of the controlling

factors which often spelled the success or failure of an enterprise. Through–

out most of central Alaska, the annual precipitation is less than 15 inches

or that of a semiarid country. The success of the water resources investi–

gations concerned with the quantity of water available led before long to a

study of the potential resources of water power in the Territory. These

examinations were more or less closely confined to the southern and south–

central coastal regions where the glacial sculpturing of the country had

produced catchment basins separated by rocky gorges with swift flowing

streams or waterfalls, and where the annual precipitation was often more

than 100 inches. A study of the hot and mineral springs was also made and

109 such springs were reported by Gerald A. Waring (13). Unfortunately, the

need to use the all too meager funds available on more pressing investigations

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necessitated the dropping of the water resources work in Alaska by the

Survey in 1920 and it was not resumed until 1946. (For reports issued

by the Geological Survey on the water resources of Alaska see (2; 3; 4; 5;

7; 8; 9; 12). References (4) and (12) relate mainly to potential water

power.)

        In 1907, the installation of a new director, Dr. George Otis Smith,

as head of the Survey changed in part the accent that heretofore had been

placed on phases of the Survey’s work both in the States and in Alaska.

Smith was a highly trained scientist but he had long had close personal

contact with practical problems not only is his official work but also in

his personal affairs t s o that he brought a high degree of business acumen to ✓

his new job. The organization, therefore, soon became imbued with the

sprit not only of doing scientific work superlatively well but also keeping

in mind that the work should be of distinct use to the public from whom came

the funds that allowed the Survey to function.

        What effect this modification of the Survey policy may have had on the

larger policies of the nation cannot now be unscrambled from the records of

the past. It is certain, however, that toward the close of the administration

of President Theodore Roosevelt one of the great issues of the day was the

question of “conservation” of the nation’s resources. True, there was much

confusion as to the meaning of the term because followers of Gifford Pinchot

seemed to feel that it implied the locking up of the nation’s assets whereas

others, including the Survey, regarded “the wise utilization” of the nation’s

assets as better defining the aim of the movement. Whatever should have been

the correct interpretation of the phrase, it soon became a question around

which acrimonious disputes raged for several years. This had a serious

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repercussion on Alaska because, while raging, the problem of Alaskan develop–

ment cane into prominence.

        One school of thought fought to prevent the opening-up and exploitation

of any of that country’s mineral resources whereas the other saw that if the

Territory was to be opened up it would be necessary to make inducements to

business sufficiently attractive to compel attention. There were ample grounds

for differences of opinion as to how far either policy should be carried, but

there was no justification for the mud-slinging and falsifications that were

injected into the controversy by the “look tight” school. Before the con–

flict waned the President had been forced to call for the resignation of

Pinchot and accept the resignation of Secretary of Interior Ballinger.

Unfortunately even this solution of the feud could not avoid irreparable

damage on the innocent bystander, Alaska. Alaska, by discouraging the active swing toward

development that had been in progress — ✓ (line missing cf. original p. 14, 4 line fr bottom)

and those effects have not yet been fully dissipated.

        Although gold valued at nearly $200,000,000 had been mined from Alaska

deposits by the close of 1911, it was readily apparent to any thoughtful

geologist or mining engineer that the mineral resources of low unit value

could not be profitably developed unless improved transportation facilities

were available to get the product to market. Gold, because of its high unit

value, suffered less because of lack of transportation than any of the other

mineral products — a million dollars worth of gold weighing less than three

tons — but if gold mining was to be done on a large scale, the working of

low-grade ore deposits would require the importation of heavy equipment and

supplies that necessitated far more extensive transportation facilities than

were then available.

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        Foremost in demonstrating this need to the higher powers was Brooks,

and so successful was he in instilling this lesson to the awareness of

President Taft and Congress that, in 1912, a commission was set up with

Brooks as vice-chairman to report “the best and most available routes for

railroads in Alaska which will develop the country and the resources thereof

for the use of the people of the United States.” In spite of the fact that

the authorization of the commission was not formally made until August 1912,

it quickly was organized and set out for a field study of the conditions

adjacent to any of the feasible routes for a railroad from the coast to the

interior. As a result of the commission’s study, conclusions were reached

and submitted to the President who forwarded them to Congress with his

approval on February 6, 1913.

        The most important conclusion reached was “that a route from Cordova

by way of Chitina to Fairbanks would furnish the best trunk line to the Yukon

and Tanana waters.” Unfortunately, before the commission’s recommendations

were acted upon by Congress, a change of administration had occurred and

instead of adhering to the original plan, President Wilson had allowed the

substitution of the route by way of Susitna River and Broad Pass for that

way by Cordova. By this change in location many of the advantages that

might have aided in the development of the Territory were lost and much

additional expense and bickering incurred as a constant handicap.

        In spite of the regret felt by the Survey at the selection of the Susitna

route for the new main line of the railroad, the Survey could not but feel

that the railroad would aid materially in the development of the country’s

mineral resources as well as settlement for other purposes. Thus the local

coal deposits of the Matanuska Valley and the Healy Creek area were afforded

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EA-I. Smith: Survey’s Explorations

a rail outlet and unquestionably a number of the large gold-mining enter–

prises of interior Alaska could have been developed if this means of

moving large quantities of heavy machinery and equipment had not been

available. A start on the construction of the government-operated rail–

road which was called the Alaska Railroad was begun late in 1914 and the

ceremonies marking its completion took place in 1921.

        Throughout all of the Survey’s activities in Alaska, much of its work

had centered around the prospective coal resources of the Territory. The

early investigation of Dall had been followed up by those of G. C. Martin

and others until a considerable body of facts had been built up. Contem–

poraneously with or antedating this work in Alaska, the geologists in the

States had awakened to the stupidity of the way in which certain of our

mineral resources had been alienated from the general use of the pubic by

the existing laws. Thus for many years prior to 1914 the government had been

disposing of its coal lands at a set price per acre regardless of the amount

of coal contained therein — the only qualifying condition being whether or

not the land in question lay within a distance of five miles from a railroad.

This was obviously an unwise policy because in Alaska certain coal beds were

as much as forty feet thick whereas others were of less than minable thickness.

t T hen too the quality of the coal in the different areas differed widely in its ✓

heating value as some were high-grade anthracites and others were low-grade

lignites.

        To be fair both to the government and the prospective purchaser, it was

evident that all of the various factors entering into setting a value on a

specific tract of coal land should be determined before its value could be

properly appraised. Although this procedure was obviously fair to both parties,

019      |      Vol_I-0302                                                                                                                  
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there was considerable opposition to substituting it for the former and then

existing practice. Persons wishing to grab for themselves some of the par–

ticulary high-grade coal lands cheaply, fought against any action that would

increase the price they would have to pay for the lands they coveted. Of

course the fight to pass the necessary legislation was conducted mainly by

other than members of the Survey, but its geologists were constantly being

called on the supply technical information needed by both sides in the hearings.

Finally, in 1914, an act “to provide for the leasing of coal lands in the

Territory of Alaska and other purposes” was passed by Congress and approved

by the President. Since that time none of the coal lands in the Territory

have been allowed to pass permanently into private hands but have been leased

to applicants under the terms of the law and the proceeds received therefrom

have returned to the public pocketbook and thus been available for the benefit

of all out citizens. This leasing policy was later adopted for application

in the disposal of coal and certain other types of mineral lands in the

States proper so that no longer are valuable mineral lands disposed for a

song.

        The necessity of placing proper valuation on the coal lands thus became

a matter for the joint application of the specialized knowledge of members

of the General Land Office, the Bureau of Mines, and the Geological Survey.

Close cooperation was established for coordinating the activities of these

different offices, and intensive studies were made in the field for the proper

carrying out of the tasks assigned respectively to the different agencies.

As a result, the two large coal fields adjacent to the Alaska Railroad, which

of course, were susceptible to early development, were examined and subdivided

into appropriate leasing blocks that could be offered for lease to the public,

020      |      Vol_I-0303                                                                                                                  
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while at the same time certain ones were set aside for retention by the

government for its own uses, such as making coal available in emergencies

for the maintenance of the Alaska Railroad or other national uses.

        While these Alaska activities were in the process of formulation or

beginning to take shape, the heavy war clouds that had long been hanging

low over. Europe finally broke and the world was precipitated into war.

At first, the direct effects on the work of the Geological Survey and

especially on its Alaska work was relatively slight. As time went on, how–

ever, it became increasingly evident that this nation must have an inventory

of its assets not only for its own protection but also to find out what

supplies it could afford to make available to other nations in whose

success we were vitally concerned. Thus, a number of the geologists of

the Division of Alaska Mineral Resources were assigned to make special

studies of those mineral commodities which might be significant, especially

such scarce materials as tin, tungsten, and chromium. As our nation’s

involvement in the war became more and more imminent, many of the members

of the Division felt the urge to place their personal services more directly

in the military forces of their country. Of the several who left the unit

for this reason, none made a more direct contribution to the nation’s mili–

tary might than Brooks and J. W. Bagley. Brooks early was placed on General

Pershing’s staff as chief geologist of the American Expeditionary Forces and

left in May 1917, for field service in Europe. His ready grasp of the aid

geology could render the troops in the field in the siting of structures for

defense and offense, water supplies, and sources of mineral supplies for

purposes of construction or indicating points of attack within the enemy

lines made his advice constantly sought by his brother-officers, and earned

021      |      Vol_I-0304                                                                                                                  
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him high commendations from his superiors. He had been advanced in rank

to that of lieutenant colonel by May 1919, when, at the close of the war,

he was relieved from his military duties and resumed those of geologist in

charge of the Geological Survey’s Alaska work.

        The particular contribution which Bagley was able to make to the nation’s

military program during the First World War was an outgrowth of his regular

duties as a topographer engaged in the Survey’s Alaska work. This is not

the place to try and trace in detail the various steps that led to this

proficiency. Suffice it here to state that because of the short working

season in Alaska and the enormous tracts to be mapped, the Survey engineers

had long given special consideration to devising short cuts or other means

by which their work could be expedited. As a result of Bagley’s studies of

this problem he had devised methods and equipment for obtaining cartographic

data from photographs taken in the field (1). Examples of maps produced by

these methods so impressed the responsible Army officials that early in the

war they induced him to devote his time exclusively to carrying on experiments

for further perfecting the method and equipment and for making it applicable

not only to photographs taken from ground stations looking out horizontally

over the visible terrane, but also to photographs pointed downward from

high-flying airplanes. So successful was Bagley in this work that he became

the foremost exponent of this method of mapping in North America and remained

so during the rest of his career in the Army and as professor in the

Geographical Institute at Harvard University. Contributing in no small

measure to the success of Bagley during the early years while still members

of the Geological Survey was the work of F. H. Moffit and J. B. Mertie, Jr.

of the Alaska unit.

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        For many years the presence of petroleum had been recognized at a

number of places in the Territory but at only one had there been any com–

mercial amount of oil produced. In 1920, a bill was enacted relating to

the Territory’s oil lands, drawn along a line similar to that followed in the

act providing for the leasing of coal lands in Alaska. The public interest

was stirred up while this measure was pending in Congress, and the duties

it imposed on the Geological Survey (to determine the areas subject to the

qualifications set up by the act) revived interest in the search for and the

delimitation of the prospective tracts where oil might be developed. This

led the Geological Survey to reexamine many of the fields that had been

hastily reconnoitered in the past as well as to examine with care some of

the areas in the Alaska Peninsula that had not been studied at all heretofore.

Within the next few years several strongly financed companies undertook to

make deep drill tests of the tracts in which they were interested. Unfor–

tunately none of these tests disclosed the presence of commercial quantities

of oil. Drilling was, therefore, stopped without more than a single test

hole on a structure so that they cannot be regarded as conclusively indi–

cating the absence of commercial acc o u mulations of petroleum. ✓

        Although for many years the Alaska work was carried on nominally as

a division of the Geologic Branch of the Survey, actually it functioned

essentially as an independent unit under the leadership of Brooks. In 1922,

Director Smith of the Geological Survey, aware of this condition, decided that

this situation should be definitely recognized by making the unit an inde–

pendant branch on equal standing with geology, topography, and water resources.

Brooks was designated as chief Alaskan geologist in charge of the newly

established branch. It will be noted that the various functional activities

023      |      Vol_I-0306                                                                                                                  
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which were performed in the States by the different branches all had been

and continued to be handled for Alaska by the Alaskan Branch.

        Activities in the search for oil throughout the world, as well as the

scandals that had arisen regarding the administration of certain of the

government oil reservations in the States aroused the Navy Department into

having a large tract in northern Alaska in which seeps of oil were known to

occur, set aside as a Naval petroleum Reserve for its investigation. As a

result an Executive Order was issued February 27, 1923, setting aside about

35,000 square miles of country in northern Alaska as Naval Petroleum

Reserve No. 4. Most of this vast tract of land had been practically

unvisited up to the time the Reservation was created and the Navy Department

soon invited the Survey to make necessary explorations to determine the

geographic and geologic facts regarding the tract. Sidney Paige with two

other geologists, three topographers, and the necessary camp hands were

assigned to begin the necessary surveys. Although the parties traveled

northward as rapidly as conditions permitted, the sea ice in the Arctic Sea

prevented the vessel on which they sailed from reaching Barrow until late

in July, and field work was stopped by the oncoming of winter by September 2.

In spite of this short season, the parties made notable traverses of the

coastal parts of the Reserve and brought back much new authoritative informa–

tion bearing on the resources of the area.

        It was evident, that, in the short time available for parties reaching the

area by ship, extensive inland explorations would be impossible. The obvious

solution of getting more time for the exploration of the inland areas was to

send the parties overland during the winter so that they might be on the

ground to utilize all of the open season in their explorations. This was done

024      |      Vol_I-0307                                                                                                                  
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during the winter of 1923-24. Philip S. Smith and J. B. Merti a e , Jr., ✓

geologists, and Gerald FitzGerald and R. K. Lynt, topographers, with the

necessary camp hands, made the trip from the railroad at Nenana across the

country with their dog teams to the headwaters of one of the tributaries

of the Colville River, north of the Brooks Range. Much work was accomplished

during the late winter and early spring as well as during the regular open

season so that the Survey estimates three to four times as much could be

be accomplished during a single year, by parties organized as was that of

Smith and his associates, as could be done when the parties were transported

by ships. So well did this method work out that in 1925 and again in 1926

other parties went to Naval Reserve No. 4 overland during the winter and

traversed most of the large streams during the summer in the canoes that

they had brought in by dog team during the winter. As a result of these

four seasons of work most of the larger geographic and geologic features of

the Reserve had been outlined. It was obvious, however, that definite answer

as to prospective value of the Reserve for oil could not be forecast by

surface examinations alone and that, while such surface examinations should

be continued, actual drilling tests were required. The costs and difficulties

of operating in this remote region served to deter the Navy Department from

carrying the test further and so further exploration was carried on in the

search for oil in the Reserve until, as will be noted later, the oncoming og

World War II again focussed the attention of the world on seeking additional

supplies of petroleum and its pro c d u c ts wherever they might be found. ✓

        Late in 1924, while these various investigations were under way, the

Survey and geologic science suffered a severe loss through the death of Brooks

who had so successfully led and participated in the Alaska work for more than

025      |      Vol_I-0308                                                                                                                  
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a score of years. The vacancy thus created was filled by the appointment

of P. S. Smith as chief Alaskan geologist and the work continued under his

charge for the next twenty-odd years.

        Perhaps the next incident which affected the Alaska Branch that is

worth mention was the transfer of certain duties formerly performed by the

Bureau of Mines in the Territory to the Survey. The necessity for this

transfer arose through the fact that in 1925 the Bureau of Mines, which had

long been one of the bureaus of the Interior Department, was transferred to

the Department of Commerce. As a consequence, many of the activities that

centered around the technical supervision of the coal- and oil-land leases

by the government had to be exercised by agencies of the Interior Department.

Of those having technical knowledge of such matters, the Geological Survey

was obviously most fit. The former members of the Bureau of Mines who were

handling Alaska leases were transferred to the Alaska Branch of the Survey

and for a number of years a field office was maintained at Anchorage, Alaska,

for the conduct of this work. As a result of this transfer, the Bureau of

Mines dropped practically all of its Alaska work and, through a cooperative

arrangement, B. D. Stewart of the Alaska Branch was permitted to render such

assistance as might be required in matters with which his former association

with the Bureau permitted. According to internal arrangements within the

Survey, the Alaska Branch was responsible for the conduct of the field work

required in connection with the leasing work in the Territory, and the

Conservation Branch of the Survey in Washington performed the necessary

headquarter’s office functions. The sum of $22,000 was transferred from the

Bureau of Mines to the Survey for conducting the Alaska work. This arrangement

soon lapsed as the Conservation Branch felt that this amount of money was out

026      |      Vol_I-0309                                                                                                                  
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of proportion to that spent on comparable work in the States and, conse–

quently, the amount was whittled down until after a few years only $7,000

a year was allotted and soon thereafter (1934), the allotment was cut out

entirely and the Alaska Branch as such ceased having an active part in the

supervision of the leasing operations in Alaska.

        The year 1926 was notable in the records of the Alaska Branch because

it marked the first extensive use of aerial photographs for mapping parts of

the Territory. The great strides that had been made by Bagley and others

in the preparation of maps from aerial photographs had provided a tool that

would be of inestimable value in covering the mountainous belt of south–

eastern Alaska that was practically inaccessible by any ground methods of

survey. Unfortunately, the cost of obtaining the necessary airplanes and

flying personnel put the project far outside the scope of projects that could

be paid for from the meager appropriations made to the Survey. There were,

however, so many calls for maps of that part of the Territory that it seemed

incumbent on the Survey to discover means by which the work could be done.

Contact was, therefore, made with other government agencies that customarily

operated airplanes to enlist their assistance, but for a long time the quest

was unsuccessful. Finally, however, when the matter was broached to the Navy

Department a responsive spark was struck. The officers recognized the wonder–

ful training such a project would afford a selected personnel from their ✓

service and at the same time produce much needed cartographic data. As

the cost of such training would be essentially the same as that required in

rand u o m flying over well-known terrane, the Navy was willing to detail a ✓

squadron of planes with the necessary personnel and equipment to do the work.

The Survey agreed to attach one of its most experienced topographers, R. H. Sargent,

027      |      Vol_I-0310                                                                                                                  
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to assist in every way possible and to defray such expenses as were properly

its part of the mapping work. When the project for the aerial work was

announced, many, if not all, of the governmental agencies operating in that

part of Alaska tendered their services, wherever possible, to help as best

they could. With this cordial spirit of cooperation and keen enthusiasm

to carry out the objects of the expedition, it is needless to say that

results were eminently satisfactory. Approximately 10,000 square miles

of country, much of which called for flying under extremely difficult and

hazardous conditions, was photographed and approximately 17,000 negatives

were secured. In charge of the Navy’s operations were Lt. Ben H. Wyatt and

Executive Officer Lt. Wallace M. Dillon, both from the Bureau of Aeronautics.

        Recognition of the value of the method of making maps of southeastern

Alaska through the use of photographs taken from airplanes was so immediate

that the Survey was anxious to have the work which had been done so well by

the Navy continued. For several years, because of the urgency of its other

duties, it was not possible for the Navy to resume that work. In 1929,

however, it did become possible for the Navy to take up the task of completing

the photographing of southeastern Alaska, and a well-equipped expedition under

the leadership of Lt. Comdr. (now Vice Admiral) A. W. Radford was dispatched

with the necessary personnel and equipment to carry out the task. Again

Sargent served as representative of the Geological Survey. Again the expedi–

tion made an enviable record of accomplishment, completing the photographing

of some 12,000 square miles of difficult country and virtually completing the

photographic coverage of the entire Panhandle portion of Alaska.

        Since its completion in 1921, the Alaska Railroad has had a hard struggle

to make its operating income nearly balance the outgo that was required for

028      |      Vol_I-0311                                                                                                                  
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its expenses. Year after year Congress had been called on to grant supple–

mental funds to make up the deficiency and was becoming increasingly averse

to doing so. In 1930 a senatorial c ommittee headed by Clark Howell made a ✓

trip to Alaska to study the situation and to take such steps as might put the

railroad on a self-sustaining basis. Various palliative measures were sug–

gested but the real answer to the situation lay in increasing the amount of

tonnage handled. Obviously an increase in the hauling of mineral products

would supply this extra business.

        As a consequence, the Geological Survey was called upon to intensify

its explorations in the country, tributary to the Alaska Railroad, and ten

parties were dispatched in 1931 to carry out these special investigations.

Practically all of the area adjacent to the Alaska Railroad had already been

reconnoitered by the Survey in its search for mineral deposits so that the

explorations focussed on intensive examinations of those that might furnish

heavy commodities such as coal and ores of the metals rather than on placer

deposits and those that even if successful would yield little tonnage.

Drilling tests were made to determine the potential resources of the

Anthracite Ridge coal field in the hope that the finding of considerable

quantities of high-grade coal might open up an entirely new market for its

product and thus be of material aid to the railroad. Unfortunately, the

tests did not disclose a large quantity of fuel superior to that already

under development and much nearer the regular line of the road. As a further

means of assisting in the search for workable mineral deposits in the vicinity

of the Alaska Railroad, a geologist was permanently assigned to the Anchorage

office of the Alaska Branch whose sole duty was to keep informed of any

mineral finds that he might assist in bringing into production.

029      |      Vol_I-0312                                                                                                                  
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        The depression that affected all lines of national endeavor during the

last years of the Hoover administration and the early years of that of

Franklin D. Roosevelt took a heavy toll of the Alaskan activities of the

Geological Survey. Its appropriations were out back to about $30,000 a year

so that its ordinary program was very much curtailed. Fortunately grants were

made for continuation of some of its explorations from funds appropriated

by Congress to the Public Works Administration or Works Progress Adminis–

tration and the payroll of the Branch was temporarily relieved of the salary

of the chief Alaskan geologist, who was designated as in charge of the

administration of the Public Works program in Alaska. The early stages of

the relief work in Alaska were attended by difficulties because, as elsewhere,

many of the schemes for making work were highly impractical. For instance,

much pressure was put behind the plan to send out thousands of unemployed

city dwellers from the States to Alaska to search for hidden supplies of

needed minerals. The proponents of this plan suggested that the Geological

Survey supervise these persons who had no familiarity with mineral deposits

or even with taking care of themselves in a frontier country and most of whom,

therefore, would be a serious liability rather than a help in any such special–

ized task as prospecting or developing mineral deposits, and would entail

heavy expenses for their transportation and maintenance. The foregoing

adverse comments regarding certain of the PWA and WPA activities in Alaska

are intended to apply only to some of the effects on the mineral industry,

as doubtless the efforts in other directions were well planned and carried

out the tided over otherwise very difficult situations.

        As the nation began to recover from the severest effects of the depression,

the Survey’s activities began to resume a more normal tone though the decreased

030      |      Vol_I-0313                                                                                                                  
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appropriations allotted by Congress for that work coupled with the constantly

mounting costs for its performance necessitated considerable retrenchment in

the number and kind of projects that could be undertaken each year. Situations

in Alaska had hardly begun to resume some of their ordinary tenor when the war

clouds hanging over Europe finally broke with the German invasion of Belgium,

the Netherlands, and Luxembourg in 1940. The effects on our own country were

promptly realized by our statesmen who saw that we would inevitably be drawn

into the conflict. As part of the preparation for this situation, Congress

made special appropriations for the Geological Survey to carry out intensive

examinations throughout the national domain for those deposits of minerals

that were in short supply and would be needed for any all-out national war

effort. Part of these funds for “strategic minerals” were allotted for

exploration in Alaska. Funds for this search were regularly granted by

Congress for each of the succeeding six years and during that period prac–

tically every known deposit in Alaska that could furnish these needed war

minerals was reexamined by geologists and engineers of the Survey so as to

afford reliable current estimates as to the quantities of the different

minerals that each could be counted on to supply.

        As the outbreak of war involving the United States daily became more

and more imminent, the other agencies of the government began to draw heavily

on the accumulated stock of information that had been acquired by the Survey’s

field men in the course of their explorations in the Territory. It would

unduly lengthen this article to try to enumerate the various subjects for

which the knowledge of the Alaskan staff was drawn on to supply information

needed by the war agencies. All existing maps made by the Branch were avidly

sought and utilized. The personal familiarity with the terrane in different

031      |      Vol_I-0314                                                                                                                  
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areas was invoked in answering questions bearing on the location of airfields

and in the availability of materials for their c onstruction or camouflage. ✓

With these countless calls for service and the demand for men for the

Armed Forces, the Survey was sorely put to it to get and maintain the staff

necessary to do even its most essential tasks. Of course the declaration,

in October 1942, that gold mining was no longer considered an essential industry cut ✓

off one line of investigation by the Survey, but for each item dropped a

score of new calls for service seemed to arise.

        Of all the lines in which the exploration of the Survey’s Alaska unit

were utilized by the military agencies, none made a greater or more spectacular

contribution than the topographic mapping for the Army Air Forces. As has

been noted, the topographers of the Alaska Branch had long specialized in

catching and recording the major aspects of the terrane and quickly producing

maps that were not cluttered up with a maze of intricate detail. In the

realization of this aim they had devised and were familiar with various

methods for the recovery of cartographic data from photographs taken from

fast moving airplanes and translating the information into maps covering

extensive areas. When the Army Air Force reviewed the situation which it

faced if a global war was to be wage s d , it immediately became apparent that ✓

tremendous areas in North America as well as in all other continents were

little more than blank paper on even the best of existing maps. It was evident,

therefore, that steps must be taken at once to remedy this situation or

invaluable personnel and equipment would be jeopardized in the long-range

operations that must be undertaken. By fortunate chance some of the officers

responsible for the formulation of the War Department’s policies relating

to mapping were acquainted with the Survey’s Alaska maps and with FitzGerald

032      |      Vol_I-0315                                                                                                                  
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who was then chief topographic engineer of the Alaska unit. They readily

appreciated that for fast flying planes the amount and character of topo–

graphic detail shown on these Alaska maps was adequate and could be quickly

grasped by the pilot and so guide him safely on his course. The problem was

to map with a minimum of delay enormous areas of unsurveyed country adjacent

to the routes to be traveled. Obviously this could only be done speedily by

aerial photographic methods. The details of this program were worked out

under the leadership of Capt. Minton M K aye of the Air Forces and FitzGerald ✓

of the Alaska Branch. New photographic instruments were devised and tested

and the whole procedure of working the data up into maps was organized on

more or less of an assembly-line basis, so as to use largely unskilled

personnel who had no previous technical cartographic experience. At no time

was it possible to get adequate personnel to carry on the work on as extensive

a scale as was desired, but in spite of all obstacles the work progressed

rapidly. The new system, called the Trimetrogon method from the trade name

of the lens e used in the aerial cameras selected, rapidly was adopted by ✓

the Army Air Forces as the main method of preparing the maps it needed for

its flyers in their flights throughout all parts of the world. Fit s z Gerald ✓

was subsequently commissioned and placed in charge of all this mapping pro–

gram, and by the end of the war had turned out new maps, covering about

15,000,000 square miles of the earth’s surface, a feat of “exploration”

unparalleled in the annals of cartography. It earned for him the

Distinguished Service Medal, and for the rank and file under him commendations

from the highest military authorities for a good job well done.

        After a lapse of nearly 20 years, the Navy Department, in 1945, began

to take renewed interest in the large Naval Petroleum Reserve that had been

033      |      Vol_I-0316                                                                                                                  
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created for its used in northern Alaska and turned to the Geological Survey

for help in planning and carrying out some of its explorations that were

required in connection with proposed developments. These studies have

involved extensive mapping from aerial photographs supplemented by some

ground surveys. A score or more ground parties from the Geological Survey

under the general direction of J. C. Reed and under the immediate charge of

G. O. Gates have made detailed examinations of almost all of the visible

geological formations and have prepared accurate cross sections and maps of

their findings. Several moderately deep wells have been drilled to test

some of the structures that appeared favorable and various modern electrical

and gravimetric devices have been freely used to shed whatever additional

light they could on those features that could not be determined by direct

observation. Altogether the work has been done in a most intensive fashion

and with the best technical skill and equipment.

        With the advent of V-E and V-J Days and the cessation of hostilities,

many of the war activities of the Alaska Branch were allowed to taper off.

The civilian activities of the Survey, however, began to take on ever-increasing

prominence owing to the Interior Department’s attempts to foster the development

of Alaska. Increased appropriations were requested form Congress to permit

the various kinds of work performed by the Survey in Alaska to be carried

on much more intensively. To meet this situation, a general reorganization

of the former Alaskan Branch was undertaken, in 1946, whereby it was abolished

and the varied kinds of work it had hitherto done were distributed among the

main functional units of the Survey — thus the geologic work was transferred

to a new unit under the Geologic Branch, the topographic mapping to the

Topographic Branch, water resources studies to the Water Resources Branch,

and the mineral-leasing activities to the Conservation Branch. After more

034      |      Vol_I-0317                                                                                                                  
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than forty years of service on the Survey, Philip S. Smith retired, and

the general coordination of the diversified activities of the Geological

Survey was taken over by Dr. John C. Reed, who serves as staff geologist

to the Director for this special assignment.

        In summarizing the accomplishments of the Geological Survey in the

exploration of Alaska, it has seemed desirable to omit from the following

statistics the records of performance during the years subsequent to 1941

when World War II was in progress. This is because much of the work accom–

plished during those years does not lend itself readily to specific measure–

ment and such of the items as could be stated in terms of area were largely

work performed by the Geological Survey for other governmental agencies

and paid for by their funds. Limiting the period discussed to that from

1896 to 1940, both dates inclusive, the Survey has had appropriated by

Congress directly for its Alaska work $2,927,000. The annual appropriation

from Congress for these years has thus averaged a little more than $60,000.

In addition to the foregoing sum, $141,000 was received for the conservation

or leasing work in Alaska; $252,000 was received for miscellaneous services

such as the early work done for the Navy Department in connection with the

Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, from PWA and WPA; and $35,000 for a start on

the war work seeking “strategic minerals.” The combined sum of all these

items is $3,355,000. In this connection it may be interesting to point out

that for six years, 1941 to 1946 inclusive, the funds received by the Alaska

Branch from all sources was over $3,646,000, or nearly $300,000 more than the

Geological Survey had at its disposal for all its Alaskan work during the

45 years it had been operating prior to 1941.

035      |      Vol_I-0318                                                                                                                  
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        Again reverting to the period prior to World War II, the record shows

that as a result of the foregoing expenditures, the Geological Survey had

at times sent as many as 12 expeditions to the Territory in a single year

for exploration. Approximately three hundred thousand square miles of

Alaska had been mapped by original topographic surveys; about an equal area

had been mapped geologically; and hundreds of stream measurements had been

made. Records had been collected and maintained regarding the production

of minerals to the value of nearly $900,000,000. More than 140 separate

volumes, some of which contain as many as 10 separate sections covering

different investigations, have been issued as units of the Survey’s official

series of professional papers, bulletins, and water-supply papers as well as

a score or more reports on Alaska which have appeared as parts of other

Survey volumes. Hundreds of less formal communications have been prepared

by members of the Alaska Branch for publication in magazines of the scientific

and technical press that are issued unofficially.

        Much has been learned about Alaska through the explorations of the

Geological Survey but much still remains for the Survey to do in solving

more of the problems that our great northern outpost still presents. As

yet, less than two per cent has been mapped by the Survey with the degree of

detail that is considered requisite for mapping even the least intensively

developed areas in the States proper. There still remains much to be done

in making an adequate [ ?] inventory of the mineral resources of the

Territory. Many distinctly geologic matters, such as the collection of facts

relating to character, extent, and distribution of the areas of permanently

frozen ground in the Territory, have by no means been done adequately in

spite of the fact that this condition widely affects the successful practice

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EA-I. Smith: Survey’s Explorations

of farming or the building of roads and structures. Although the work

already done has accomplished much in making the public aware of some of

the marvelous scenic features such as the imponderable mountains, the amazing

glaciers, the majestic volcanoes, the remedial hot springs, and the countless

other manifestations of Nature’s beneficence and inspiration, many others

remain to be explored and described so that they may attract sightseers and

others from all over the world to pay them reverential homage or enjoy their

eternal lure.

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EA-I. Smith: Survey’s Explorations

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bagley, J.W. The Use of the Panoramic Camera in Topographic Surveying, with

Notes on the Application of Photogrammetry to Aerial Surveys . Wash.,

D.C., G.P.O., 1917. U.S.Geol.Surv. Bull . 657.

2. Covert, C.C., and Ellsworth, C.E. Water-Supply Investigations in the Yukon-

Tanana Region, Alaska, 1907 X X and 1908. (Fairbanks, Circle, and Rampart

Districts.) Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1909. U.S.Geol.Surv. Wat.Supp.Pap . 228.

3. Ellsworth, C.E., and Davenport, R.W. Surface Water-Supply of the Yukon-Tnanana

Region, Alaska . Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1915. Ibid . 342.

4. ----, and----, A Water-Power Reconnaissance in South-Central Alaska . Wash.,

D.C., G.P.O., 1915. Ibid . 372.

5. Grover, N.C. Contributions to the Hydrology of the United States . Wash.,

D.C., G.P.O., 1915. Ibid . 345.

6. Hayes, C.W. “An expedition through the Yukon district,” Nat.Geogr.Mag.

vol.4, pp.118-62, May 15, 1892.

7. Henshaw, F.F., and Cover, C.C. Water-Supply Investigations in Alaska ,

1906-7. (Nome and Kougarok Regions, Seward Peninsula; Fairbanks District,

Yukon-Tanana Region.) Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1908. U.S.Geol.Surv.

Wat.Supp.Pap . 218.

8. ----, and Parker, G.L. Surface Water Supply of Seward Peninsula, Alaska .

Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1913. Ibid . 314.

9. Hoyt, J.C., and Henshaw, F.F. Water Supply of Nome Region, Seward Peninsula,

Alaska, 1906 . Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1907. Ibid . 196.

10. Reid, H.F. “Studies of Muir glacier, Alaska,” Nat.Geogr.Mag . vol.4, pp.19-84,

Mar.21, 1892.

11. Russell, I.C. “An expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska,” Ibid . vol.3, pp.53-204,

May, 1891.

12. Smith, P.S., and others. Mineral Resources of Alaska, Report on Progress of

Investigations in 1930 . Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1933. U.S.Geol.Surv.

Bull . 836.

13. Waring, G.A. Mineral Springs of Alaska . Wash.,D.C., G.P.O., 1917. U.S.Geol.

Surv. Wat.Supp.Pap . 418.

       

Philip S. Smith