Additional Alaska Geographical Items: Encyclopedia Arctica 12: Alaska, Geography and General

Ruby Collins November, 1948 AGIAPUK RIVER, ALASKA

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AGIAPUK RIVER, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, drains an [: ] rea of 700 to 800 miles north of Grantley Harbor and Imuruk Basin, and empties into the Basin about wenty-four miles from Teller, at about 65° 12′ N.Lat., 165° 40′ W. Long.

Rising in the limestone hills fifteen or twenty miles northwest of Grantley Harbor, the Agiapuk flows first southward then eastward along a lowland basin, approximately parallel with the Harbor, for about [: ] wenty miles to its junction with American River (q.v.), its main tributary. American River is, in reality, larger than the Agiapuk. Throughout the east-west part of its course, the Agiapuk drains a broad, gravel-filled lowland, but, in the vicinity of its head [: ] aters, the valleys are narrow and the gravel deposits are of small extent.

Collier gives a good description of this [: ] lowland section of the Agiapuk: "Having an area of about 60 square miles ... it is dotted over with many lakes, and, from the surrounding hills, it has the appearance of a filled lake or estuary. As they approach the plain, the tributaries of the Agiapuk River have broad valleys and flood plains. A mining sh [: ] ft has been sunk on Allene Creek, one of the tributaries from the south, and is said to have failed to reach bed rock at a depth of 65 feet. Below a sur acelayer of gravel, blue clay containing bark and other driftwood was found. Mammoth bones are reported to be common within this basin."

Previous to its confluence with American River, the Agiapuk receives Sunrise, and North Creeks from the south, and innumerable smaller affluents.

North Creek ^ , ^ itself ^ , ^ is joined by Allene, Swanson, John, North, Nickle, and Saturday Creeks, all of which rise in the mountains only a few miles north of Grantley Harbor. Swanson Creek drains from the south– eastern flank of Mukacharme Mountain, which, [: ] with its associated hills, forms the divide between streams flowing northward into the Agiapuk and those flowing southward into Grantley Harbor.

After meeting American River, the Agiapuk bends more and more southward until it is flowing almost directly south toward Imuruk Basin. Here the Agiapuk makes many meanders on the broad flood plain, from which the upland rises by gentle slopes to flat-topped hills with elevations of 600 to 800 feet. For this last twenty-mile stretch, [: ] it is joined by several unnamed streams as well as by Mitchell, and Flat Creeks.

Collier gives the following description of the Agiapuk in the first decade of this century: "Being easy of access and supporting a large Eskimo population, the Agia puk was one of the first streams of Seward Peninsula to receive attention from prospect [: ] rs, but up to the present time no rich or extensive deposits of auriferous gravels have been discovered in its basin. Colors of gold have been found in many of its tributaries and nearly all of them have been st [: ] ked and prospected. Small amounts of gold have been produced on Allene Creek...In general the rocks of the Agiapuk basin are less metamorphosed than the gold-bearing rocks in other parts of the peninsula. They consist mainly of Silurian limestones that are re– garded as equivalent to the Port Clarence member of the Nome group and gen– erally have not been so productive of gold as the lower members of that group. United States Geological Survey parties traversed part of the Agiapuk basin in 1901, and again visited the region in 1903, but very few prospectors were seen on either trip, though prospect holes, claim stakes, and other evidences of white men were everywhere abundant."

The Agiapuk was not destined to develop into a gold– producing stream. As a waterway to the richer deposits on American River, it was important in the [: ] development of this part of Seward Peninsu– la, but, although as late as 1930 there was a renewal of gold mining interest along the Agiapuk, [: ] no placers of commercial value were ever found on it.

Except for the scattered native population, there have never been any settlements on the Agiapuk.

Beechey was the first white man to record the name of this river, which, in 1827, he wrote Agee-ee-puk. It has also been written Ageepuk, Agiopuk, and Ahgeeapuk. The persistent last syllable, puk, probably means big .

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AGIAPUK RIVER, ALASKA

SOURCES

U.S. Geological Survey. Water Supply Paper ^ Water Supply Paper ^ No.314. Plate I. Washington, D.C., 1913.

Collier, Arthur J., and others. Gold Placersof Parts of Seward ^ Gold Placersof Parts of Seward ^ Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin, No.328)

Brooks, Alfred H., and others. Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

Collier, Arthur J. Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion ^ Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion ^ of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washington, D.C., 1902. (U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper ^ Professional Paper ^ No.2)

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ 2d ed. Washington, D.C., 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.299)

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ALAGNAK RIVER, ALASKA (Alaganak; Aliknuk; Lockenuck), ^ in the northern part of the ^ Alaska Peninsula, drains from Kukaklek and Nanwhyenuk Lakes (q.v.) between 59° and 59° 10′ N. Lat. and 155° and 156° W. Long. The Alagnak takes a generally westerly course across the coastal lowland for about 50 miles and joins the Kvichak River (q.v.) at its mouth just north of 59° N. Lat. Tebenkof reported the name in 1849.

The Alagnak is one of the many Bristol Bay rivers reported by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1938 to be poorly surveyed and dangerous to navigate. These rivers are characterized by a tidal rise at the mouth of from 15 to 24 feet, by the appearance of shoals and banks at low tide not only at the mouth but often for [: ] everal miles outside, and by strong tidal currents running as high as 6 knots. Recent maps show no settlements on the banks of the Alagnak, although there is a ^ salmon ^ cannery at ^✓^ its mouth. ^ <formula> 13 12 ﹍ 26 13 ﹍ 6 </formula> ^

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AMERICAN RIVER, sometimes called the North Fork of the Agiapuk River (q.v.), western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, drains a large area west of the Kougarok Basin. The American rises in the mountains about forty miles north of Grantley Harbor (q.v.) and flows in an easterly direction for about fifteen miles, then t [: ] rns and flows nearly southward for about thirty more miles to its junction with the Agiapuk.

The upper reaches of the American are torrential, but, for these last thirty miles, the ^ ^ river meanders torturously across a comparatively broad, gravel-filled valley. It is navigable for small boats and canoes for about thirty miles above the mouth.

No ¶ The upper reaches of the American are torrential, but, for these last thirty miles, the ^ ^ river meanders torturously across a comparatively broad, gravel-filled valley. It is navigable for small boats and canoes for about thirty miles above the mouth.

Along its early east-west course, the American is joined by many unnamed streams, but, starting with its southward bend, the tributaries become larger and can be identified. The first of these is Portage Creek, coming in from the north. This river rises in the divide separating the American from [: ] Shishmaref Inlet and the Arctic Ocean drainage systems. Below this point, Burke (with its affluent Fisher Creek), Goldrun, Budd, Dome, Camp, and Igloo Creeks enter the American from the east. Newton Creek, just north of Camp Creek, is the only named western affluent, but there are a great many unidentified streams entering from this direction.

Of the eastern affluents, Budd Creek is the most complicated and economically the most important. About fifteen miles long, it is joined, three miles from its mouth, by Windy Creek, which itself receives Trilby Creek a few miles above its junction with Budd. About ten miles above its mouth Budd Creek forks, the two parts coming from the north and the south, [: ] their direction being determined by the strike of the bed rocks. This south fork is called Eldorado Creek. According to Collier: "Below the forks the creek sinks, leaving its bed dry except in times of high water. After ^ flowing ^

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underground for about two miles, the creek rises again in a number of springs. This sink occurs where a massive bed of limestone, dipping downstream at a small angle, cuts across the creek."

Kougarok (Kugruk) Mountain rises up 2,787 feet only a few miles from the northern headwaters of Budd Creek.

Windy Creek enters Budd from the south about five miles from its mouth and is it [: e ] self about five miles long. Collier notes that "near the head of the creek its bed contains many bowlders of greenstone, which are derived from sills intruded in the limestone near its head. The valley of Windy Creek is broad and gravel filled. Along the sides of the valley, back from the creek bed, the gravel extends up the slopes, forming some well-marked gravel benches. A cut bank of the creek shows 6 feet of muck overlying 6 feet of gravel."

Igloo Creek, also called Lewis Creek, enters the American only a few miles above its junction with the Agiapuk. Again accordin ^ g ^ to Collier, "this creek, like Budd Creek, flows west across the strike of the bed rock, which, as on Budd Creek, consists of limestones, calcareous and graphitic schists, with some intruded sills of greenstone, which are highly altered. Like Budd Creek, Igloo Creek sinks for about a mile of its course, probably in crossing the same bed of limestone that causes the sink on Budd Creek. In its lower course Igloo Creek meanders over a broad flood plain, from which the hills rise by very gentle slopes to the flat-topped upland. Practically all of Igloo Creek and its tributaries have been staked, but little evidence of prospecting or asse [: n ] ssment work and no active mining was being done. (i.e. in 1901) Colors of gold have been found on the creek, but the exact localities are not known to the writer. Igloo Creek, except where it sinks in passing over limestone beds, carries a large amount of water, which is ample for min– ing the creek bed on a large scale at all seasons."

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Igloo Creek has a complex system of tributaries, including Yale, Magnolia, Mascot, and Blackcrook from the north, and Caribou, Louisville, Kentucky, Virginia, Ruby, and Lone Creeks from the south. A group of hills well of ^ over ^ 1,000 feet high separates the headwaters of these ^ ^ northern tributaries to the Igloo from the headwaters of Trilby and Dome Creeks.

The entire course of American River lies within the permafrost zone. The ground remains frozen the year around in the mountainous sections of the upper river, but thaws for a few feet below the surface along the lower flats section. This area is also beyond the timber line, but small willow and alder, sometimes measuring only one inch thick, grow along the banks of the more southerly streams in the system. These can be [: ] used for fuel. The lowland flats are, during the summer, thickly overgrown with moss, grasses, and shrubs. These supply forage for pack animals, although summer overland travel is very difficult because of the thick layer of h ^ a ^ lf-frozen mud over– laying the frozen sub-soil.

Here, as elsewhere on Seward Peninsula, the best weather com^es^ ^d^ur– ing the long, cold, dark winters. Travelling southward in August from the Kugruk and over the divide to the headwaters of the America, Collier, in the company of others from the U.S. Geological Survey, was held up much more by heavy rain and fog than by the difficulties of the terrain. He mentions low clouds and heavy fogs again and again, and then, on August 22, while in camp on Igloo Creek, re ^ p ^ orts that one inch of snow fell followed by "several days of bad weather." Describing their trip across the lowland flats, he adds, "In places it was so marshy that the horses would have been lost but for the solid ice which was found to overlie the moss as a depth of about 2 1/2 feet."

Considering all this, it can be easily understood why the eraly ^ early ^ miners to American Creek transported equipment almost exclusively by water in preference to bringing it in directly overland.

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Mining The first reports of gold along American and its associated rivers appears in Brooks, who recorded that Ernest [: ] G. Rognon, the U.S. Commissioner for the Port Clarence Mining District at Teller, knew of strikes on Budd and [: ] Burke Creeks in September, 1900. Brooks adds: "Since then there have been rumors of further discoveries in this drainage basin. Colors are said to be found on many other creeks. What little information we cou [: ] d gather about [: ] the bed rock would lead us to believe that the same rock se [: ] ies occurs on the Agiapuk that is found on the Kugruk. What we know of the trend of the beds on both sides of this basin would tend to confirm t is view. If the region becomes a gold producer, it will be found to be easily accessible from Port Clarence either by boat or by pack train."

Collier, who [: ] ^ rev ^ isited this region in 1901, writes as follows: " [: ] long the upper parts of Budd Creek many claims have been staked, and assessment work, consisting of prospect pits and c or ^ ro ^ sscut ditches, has been done in a number of places. Windy Creek is staked by one company for about 3 miles of its length. No prospectors were seen on Budd Creek or its tributaries, and no active mining has been done. This creek carries sufficient water for sluicing, except at the places where it sinks in passing over limestone. The same is true of Windy Creek, the large southern tributary."

But this early [: ] ^ show ^ of promise was not destined to develop into anything significant. After a brief mention, in 1908, of a ditch on Windy Creek, American River and its tributaries drop out of the story of gold mining on Seward Peninsula until about 1929, when one company again investigated the value of the deposits on that stream. These could not have been hopeful since the creek does not again appear in the mining history of this part of Alaska.

Due, no doubt, to the failure of prospectors to find gold in

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paying quantities anywhere along American River, no settlements have ever grown up on its ^ ^ banks or on any of its tributaries.

There is now a winter trail running from Teller across Grantley Harbor and so overland to American River and northward to Shishmaref Inlet. Via Teller, points on American River are connected with Nome and other towns on the coast of Norton Sound, with Tin City, and with Shelton, on the [: ] uzitrin, from which places trails run northward to Kotzebue Sound. There is an 800-foot landing strip on Windy Creek, but no other airplane facilities in ^ ^ the Americ [: ] n River system.

Sources

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, 1901.

Henshaw, F.F. Surface Water Supply of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Surface Water Supply of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper ^ Water-Supply Paper ^ 314)

Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ Alaska. ^ Alaska. ^ Washington, 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.328)

Collier, Arthur J. Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward ^ Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward ^ Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1902. (U.S. Geological Surv [: ] y. Professional Paper ^ Professional Paper ^ No.2)

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ 2d ed. Washington, 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.299)

U.S. Geological Survey. Alaskan Mineral Resources ^ Alaskan Mineral Resources ^ , 1907. Washington, 1908.

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ANIKOVIK RIVER (Anakovik) western Seward Peninsula, Ala ks ^ sk ^ a, empties into Bering Sea a few miles west of Cape York and south of Cape Prince of Wales.

Of the section of coast enclosing the Anikovik, Captain F.W. Beechey wrote, in 1827: "To the southward of Cape Prince of Wales the coast trends nearly due east, and assumes a totally different character to that which leads to Schismareff Inlet, being bounded by steep rocky cliffs, and broken by deep valleys, while the other is low and swampy ground. The river called by the natives Youp-nut (the present Anikovik) must lie in one of these valleys; and in all probability it is in that which opens out near a bold promontory, to which I have given the name of York, in honour of his late Royal Highness. On nearing that part of the coast we found the water more shallow than usual."

Lutke recorded the name of this river as the Up-nut, but, since Brooks' U.S. Geological Survey report of 1900, this ^ the ^ Eskimo name has, with great consistency, retained its present form.

The Anikovik rises in the York Mountains about fifteen miles from the coast, leaves these mountains by a westerly course and then flows almost directly south into the sea. Throughout the greater part of its length it flows across the York Plateau, in which it has cut a comparatively broad valley. The lower river has a broad ^ , ^ flat flood plain from one hundred ^ y ^ ards to one-half a mile in width. The gravels here measure several feet deep and from two to three hundred feet wide.

Writing in 1900, Brooks remarks: "In the upper part of its course the river flows in greenstones, but below its bend to the south it cuts the phyllites and slates which have already been referred to. It carries colors for the lower 10 miles of its course, but no paying claims have ^ ^ yet been devel– oped on it. On some claims about 2 miles from the sea a little prospecting has been done, and it is claimed that the yields show 10 to 15 cents to the pan.

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VILHJALMUR STEFANSSON 67 MORTON STREET NEW YORK 14

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The nugge st ^ ts ^ are sometimes chunky and sometimes flat. The former are probably from the quartz-calcite blebs and the latter from the mineralized slates. The gold is usually rounded and well polished. Much magnetite occurs with the gold. A rough estimate of the fall of Anakovik River makes it about 15 to 18 feet per mile."

The main tributaries to the Anikovik are Ishut, Buhner, and Deer Creeks from the west, and Moonlight, Banner, and Flat Creeks from the east. 72

Gold Mining

Estimating the gold-bearing potentials of these streams, Brooks felt that the basin-shaped valley of the upper Ishut, Buhner, and Deer Creeks offered the best pooepots ^ prospects ^ , since they all ran over bed-rock slates which had proved to be mineralized elsewhere in the district. The original discovery of coarse gold in ^ ^ the York district was made on Buhner Creek, but at the time of Brooks' report (1900) little prospecting had been done there. Collier reports, in 1901, that the entire season for that year probably produced only about $200 in gold.

In 1903, only one party of prospectors mined the gravels of the river and they earned only $600 for one month's work. About half a mile from the coast, the river water was diverted by a ditch so that the river bed was exposed. The gravels here contained small amounts of gold, but could ^ have ^ be ^ en ^ worked profitably only by a large company owning several [: ] miles of river-bed.

Nothing more is heard of the Anikovik placers until 1914, when the American Gold Dredging Company put two dredges there and operated for both tin and gold at the same time. One of these dredges had formerly been used on Peluk Creek, near Nome. After being towed along the shore of Bering Sea to the mouth of the Anikovik, it ^ d ^ ug its own way across the bar and into the river. But gold was never to prove a large source of income in ^ ^ this part of Seward Peninsula. Here, contrary to other districts on all sides, tin becamse ^ promised to become ^ ^ 25 ^

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the most important product.

Tin Mining It was Alfred H. Brooks, while on a U.S. Geological Survey recon– naissance of Seward Peninsula, in 1900, who first recognized evidences of stream tin (cassiterite) on Buhner Creek and Anikovik River. This tin, ignored by the prospectors in ^ ^ the region, was found associated with the gold ^ ^ in these two streams. With characteristic modesty and caution, Brooks remarks, "It is worth while to call the attention of the prospectors and miners to the desirability of being on the lookout for stream tin, and, if possible, of tracing it [: ] to its source in the bed rock. From the description of the occurrence which has been given it is plain that its source can not be far distant."

When Collier visited this region during the summer of 1901, the prospectors had only just receive ^ d ^ the bulletin in ^ ^ which Brooks described his findings. Up to this time they had ignored this heavy metal which they found associated with garnets, magnetite, and gold in the sluice boxes. Subsequent to Collier's departure ^ , ^ considerable prospecting for tin was done with the result that it was found on the Anikovik and all its tributaries, as well as on Baituk Creek and other streams flowing into Bering Sea. It was also found on Grouse, Buck, Yankee, Mint, and other waterw ^ a ^ ys flowing northward from the other side of the York Mountains into the Arctic Ocean.

Collier explains the presence of tin in these streams in the following manner: "The region about York in which the Anikovik River and other tin-bearing streams are located has, in recent geologic time, been reduced to a plain, possibly in part by wave action and in part by subaerial erosion. At this time a considerable thickness of rock strata was undoubtedly removed by erosive agencies, and the heavier constituents of these rock masses must have been more or ^ ^ less concentrated upon the plain surve ^ surface ^ . Subsequent to this base– leveling the York ^ p ^ lain has been elevated to a plateau, which has been dissected ^ 26 ^

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by the creeks and rivers of the region. That ^ t ^ he elevation of this plateau is an occur ^ r ^ ence of comparatively recent geologic time is shown by the fact that the smaller creeks flow in sharply cut V-shaped canyons, and have scarcely begun to broaden their valleys. As these valleys and canyons are developed, the heavier materials of the surface are naturally reconcentrated in them. If during the base-leveling period the heavier concentrates of the erosive agencies were transported to any extent from ^ ^ their original sources, and if they are again concentrated in subsequent creek beds, they may be found removed some distance from their original sources. It is possible that the rocks from which they came may in some instances have been wholly removed, leaving no evidence in the present bed rock to show what they may have been.

"Waterworn pebbles and bowlders of [: ] gabbroic greenstone of the type which forms large masses about the head of the Anikovik River are common in the beds of the Anikovik River and Grouse Creek. These bowlders are frequent along Buhner Creek, where the tin was first found. No rock of this character has been found in the bed rock within the Buhner Creek Basin, or indeed within 5 miles of Buhner Creek. There is no evidence that these bowlders were trans– ported to their present place otherwise than by being rolled along with currents of water. The possibility of their being floated on shore ice at some time of submergence must be considered. The wide distribution of the stream tin in this region, together with the fact that pebbles and bowlders of known origin have been widely distributed independently of the present drainage, suggest at least that the original source of the stream tin may be some distance from the present deposits, and is not necessarily to be found within the present drainage of the streams where it occurs. Acid igneous intrusions, such as Cassiterite veins, are usually associated with, are found in Cape Mountain and Brooks Mountain. The slates of Brooks Mountain have suffered great metamor– phism. The York River, which is reported to be very rich in tin, heads in this mountain and carries granite pebbles and bowlders, which suggests that the tin ^ 28 ^

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had its origin near the granite contact. The wide distribution of this mineral in the creeks of the York district justified the belief that the veins from which it is derived will yet be discovered."

With the discovery of lode tin on Cassiterite Creek, in 1903, interest in tin mining grew. Much prospecting and mining were done throughout the York district. By 1905 a reported 130 tons of tin ore concentrates had been shipped to the States. These concentrates averaged 65% tin, or 1,300 pounds of tin to the ton. With tin selling at 29-30 cents per pound at that time, the value of these shipments can easily be ^ ^ estimated. However, the cost of transporting them Outside and, in several instances, to Europe, plus the cost of smelting, probably ate up most of the profit. Although the United States ^ was and ^ is the largest consumer of tin in the world, this was the first discovery of that metal in the United States or its possessions with the ^ ^ result that smelters in the United States were not equipped for reducing tin ores. This lack of smelting equipment worked an early hardship on the new industry and has con– tinued to do so ever since.

In 1905, Harrison wrote: "Considered in the light of all available data I believe that tin mining in Seward Peninsula is a very promising industry. Any person [: ] familiar with quartz mining knows that a great deal of expense is connected with the development of ledges, and money nust be expended in order to develop the tin ledges of this part of Alaska. Transportation facilities must be provided so that the ores can be transported from the mines to the sea– board, and thence to a ^ ^ smelter conveniently and favorably situated. It is the general opinion that this smelter should be const ur ^ ru ^ cted somewhere on Puget Sound. The large quantity of fuel required for smelting ores makes it apparent that the tin ore can be concentrated and the concentrates shipped to a smelter on Puget Sound and reduced there at a less cost than fuel [: ] can be shipped to Alaska and used by a smelter to secure the same results at the mines. The ^ 27 ^

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development of the tin mines of Alaska is simply a question of time and the intelligent use of capital."

For an explanation of the failure of these high hopes for the Alaskan tin industry see the article on Tin City ^ York mountains. ^ ^ 3 ^

ANIUK RIVER, northwestern Alaska, one of the major northern tributaries to the Noatak (q.v.), heads in the vicinity of Howard Pass, in the Brooks range, and flows in a generally southwesterly direction to the Noatak.

Many of the tributary valleys of the Aniuk have the open U– shaped formations typical of valleys previously occupied by glaciers.

Fauna Creek, one of the early tributaries to the Aniuk, rises on the south side of ^ a ^ 4,680-foot peak in the Range, and the first several miles of the main river pass [: ] between mountains attaining ever higher elevations that this. Soon, however, the Aniuk plunges down upon the broad lowland ^ , ^ to which it gives its name ^ , ^ and across which it works a widely meandering course for about twenty-five miles. Many travelers have note ^ d ^ that the Aniuk adds a large amount of clear water to the Noatak.

The entire lowland section and all but the steepest and highest parts of the mountainous section of the Anuik [: ] valley are covered with an unbroken growth of grasses, sedges, mosses, lichens, and stunted bushes. Where this growth is thick, it retards the thawing of the underlying permafrost layer (q.v.) and absorbs great quantities of moisture. Thereby is formed the spongy cushion of low-growing vegetation so characteristic of arctic and sub-arctic regions. Summer travel across such terrain is accutely exhausting since, with every step, the entire foot and sometimes much of the leg punches through the surface growth and into the underlying half-frozen gravels beneath.

Although the winter trails which lace most of Alaska do not reach up the Noatak and its tributaries, the pass, mentioned above, from the headwaters of the Aniuk to the Ipnavik, a tributary to the Colville (q.v.), is much used by the Eskimos living on both sides of the Brooks ^ R ^ ange.

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Stoney mentions a settlement on the Aniuk, named for the river, but this would seem to have disappeared sometime during the last fifty years.

References:

Smith, P.S. Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ . Washington, 1930.(U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 815)

Smith, P.S. Noatak-Kobuk Region, Alaska ^ Noatak-Kobuk Region, Alaska ^ . Washington, 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 536)

Stoney, G.M. Naval Explorations in Alaska. ^ Naval Explorations in Alaska. ^ Annapolis, Md., 1900.

ARCTIC LAGOON, on the northwestern shore of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, appears as such on Gibson's 1908 map of the Peninsula, but is uniden– tified on more recent maps.

This shallow body of water, which is separated from the Arctic ^ Polar ^ Ocean ^ Sea ^ by a narrow sandspit, receives many of the streams in the northern drainage system of the York Mountains. These include the Pinauk, Nuluk, and Kugrupaga rivers (q.v.), and Trout Creek. Several other tributaries to this lagoon are unnamed.

The lagoon, which lies between Lopp Lagoon and Shish [: ] ^ maref ^ Inlet, is about twenty-four miles long and about four miles wide at the widest ^ greatest ^ . The Eskimo village of Sinrazat lies on the sandspit at a point where it is interrupted, a few miles from the northern end of the lagoon.

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AROLIC RIVER, southewestern Alaska, enters Kuskokwim Bay via two channels, North Mouth and South Mouth, about midway along the eastern side of the bay just north of 59° 40′ N. Lat.

The Arolic is formed by the junction of two streams, South Fork and East Fork. South Fork is fed by streams rising in a chain of peaks of the Ahklun Mountains which forms the divide between its waters and those of the Goodnews River. South Fork receives many unnamed tribu– taries all along its course which trends northward along the valley east of Island Mountain and so to its junction with East Fork. This fork drains from a mountain lake which lies in the Ahklun Range at about 59° 25′ N. Lat., [: ] 161° W. Long. and trends in a westerly direction for about 8 miles. to its [: ] confluence with South Fork. A few miles south of this junction Dear and Fox Creeks enter from the south, and in the same vicinity an unnamed tributary, fed by Tyone, Keno, and Flat Creeks, which rise in the vicinity of Thumb Mountain, and another shorter stream, Snow Creek, enter from the north.

Another group of streams in the Arolic system flows down from the eastern slopes of the chain formed by Figure Four Mountain, Yoke Moun– tain, and Yukon Hill, just east of Jacksmith Bay (q.v.). These, from south to north are: Domingo, Lucky, McLane, Red Lodger, Canyon, Minnesota, and Boulder Creeks. These flow in a generally northeasterly direction to the stream which trends northward along the valley floor to join the Arolic about 5 miles southeast of Yukon Hill. Another group of streams rises in the vicinity of Island Mountain on the eastern side of the valley. These from south to north are: Faro, Dry, Kowkow, Trail, and Butte Creeks, all of which flow in a generally northwesterly direction to the main river of the valley.

After this junction the Arolic receives no tributaries and flows in a northwesterly direction for about 8 miles at which point it divides and follows two channels, North Mouth and South Mouth, to Kuskokwim Bay. South Mouth, for part of its length, itself divides in two, but it joins again about two miles from the bay. Measuring from the confluence of South and East Forks the Arolic is about 30 miles long.

Since the discovery of gold near Butte Creek in 1900 small-scale mining has been carried on in the vicinity north of Island Mountain. In 1939 the Goodnews Bay Mining Co. transferred a dragline from Platinum Creek, Goodnews Bay, to an unspecified point near Butte Creek on the Arolic River. Wilson & Horner [: ] ^ were ^ reported in 1947 to be working a gold placer, with a crew of four, on Canyon Creek.

The only settlement on the river is Arolic on the North Mouth near the Bay.

--------------------

BALDWIN PENINSULA is an irregular extension of the northwest– ern part of Alaska separating Selawik Lake and Hotham Inlet from Kotzebue Sound, an arm of the Polar Sea.

This peninsula is nine or ten miles wide at the point at which it leaves the mainland. About fifteen miles northwest of this point the pen– insula forms Atti [: n ] nuk Point, the southern entrance point in to Selawik Lake, ^ (q.v.) ^ while at the same time the southern side of the peninsula forms the northern shoreline of Eschscholtz Bay ^ (q.v.) ^ ^ In this vicinity, ^ A ^ a ^ finger-like extension of the southern side of the peninsula at this point is called Choris Peninsula, which extends southward toward Chamisso Island (q.v.) ^ and ^ separat ing ^ es ^ Eschscholtz Bay from Kotzebue Sound. Here the main body of the peninsula resembles an isosceles triangle, but almost immediately the apex of this triangle stretches northwest– ward in a thin neck of land which, after about fourteen miles, widens to form the square, club-like head of the peninsula. Th is ^ e ^ head is about nineteen miles long and about twelve miles wide at the greatest. The final two-thirds of the peninsula forms the southern shoreline of Hotham Inlet, and the northern shoreline of Kotzebue Sound.

The promontories on the head of the peninsula are: Pipe Spit, near the entrance to Hotham Inlet; and Nimiuk Point, about midway of the northen side of the peninsula; and Cape Blossom on the Kotzebue Sound, side, approximately opposite Nimiuk Point.

Throughout it area Baldwin Peninsula is spattered with tiny lakes and laced with equally small streams.

Choris Peninsula has two 300-foot hills separated by a low, sandy neck of land. ^ For some distance ^ N ^ n ^ orthward of this point, Baldwin Peninsula is low but then rises into low bluffs. These bluffs, which continue across to Hotham Inlet, are the most unusual feature of the peninsula, since they are

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BALDWIN PENINSULA, ALASKA

composed of ice and frozen mud. The bluffs are gradually melting and sliding down into the Inlet. The bluffs on the Kotzebue Sound side of the Peninsula are highest in the vicinity of Cape Blossom, where a flashing light is shown from a small white house about 200 feet above the water.

Capt. F.W. Beechey, R. N., in H.M.S. Blossom , explored this part of Alaska in September, 1826. He named this promontory after his ship. After examining the icy bluffs in the vicinity of the cape, he wrote:

"In another excursion which I made along the north side of the sound ^ [ ^ Kotzebue Sound ^ ] ^ , I landed at a cape which had been named after the ship, and had the satisfaction of examining an ice formation of a similar nature to that in Escholtz Bay, only more extensive, and having a contrary aspect. The ice here, instead of merely forming a shield to the cliff, was imbedded in the indentations along its edge, filling them up nearly even with the front. A quantity of fallen earth was accumulated at the base of the cliff, which uniting with the earthy spaces intervening between the beds of ice, might lead a person to imagine that the ice formed the cliff, and supported a soil two or three feet thick, part of which appeared to have been precipitated over the brow. But on examining it above, the ice was found to be detached from the cliff at the back of it; and in a few instances so much so, that there were deep chasms between the two. These chasms are no doubt widened by the tendency the ice must have towards the edge of t ^ h ^ e cliff; and I have no doubt the beds of ice are occasionally loosened, and fall upon the beach, where, if they are not carried away by the sea, th ^ e ^ y become covered with the earthy materials from above, and perhaps remain some time immured. In some places the cliff was undermined, and the surface in general was very rugged; but it was evident in this as in the former instance, that the ice was lodged in hollow places in the cliff. While we continued here we had an example of the manner in which the face of the cliff might obtain an icy covering similar to that in Escholtz

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BALDWIN PENINSULA, ALASKA

Bay. There had been a sharp frost during the night, which froze a number of small streams that were trickling down the face of the cliff, and cased those parts of it with a sheet of ice, which, if the oozings from the cliff and the freezing process were continued, would without doubt form a thick coating to it.

"Upon the beach, under the cliffs, there was an abundance of drift birch and pine wood, among which there was a fir-tree three feet in diameter. This tree, and another, which by the appearance of its bark had been recently torn up by the roots, had been washed up since our visit to this spot in July; but from ^ ^ whence they came we could not even form a conjecture, as we frequently remarked the absence of fl ^ o ^ ating timber both in the sound and in the strait."

In contradiction to Beechey's findings, is the statement from the report of the 1881 cruise of the Corwin , under Captain C. L. Hooper, which reads in part: "Cape Blossom is the northwestern termination of the peninsula between Hotham Inlet and Seolowick ^ [ ^ Selawik ^ ] ^ Lake on one side and Kotzebue Sound on the other. It presents seaward a sheer cliff, which was described by Beechey as having an ice formation similar to that at Elephant Point, to be described hereafter. Although I ^ ^ visited this place several times during my two cruises, yet I saw no signs of ice against the face of the cliff like that at Elephant Point, which remains the same from year to year. Cape Blossom is highest at its western extremity and gradually becomes lower to the eastward, until it forms only a low narrow neck, across which the natives easily draw their boats. To the northwest of the cape a shoal extends eight miles from the shore, and as it shoals up suddenly inside the seven-fathom curve, it is [: ] very dangerous and should be approached, even in clear weather, with great caution."

There must have been some kind of ice formation in this area, however, for as late as 1901, Mendenhall gives what he feels is the definitive explanation of these cliffs: "Many writers since Kotzebue have discussed the origin of these ice cliffs, but the explanation given by Mr. L. M. Turner, Messrs. E. W. Nelson and C. L. Hooper, and Prof. I.C. Russell seems to be entirely adequate. It is that many of the numerous lakelets scattered about over the tundra are gradually buried by the advance of their mossy borders toward the center. After their burial they are frozen, as is the entire tundra, a few inches below its surface and are later revealed by lateral river cutting, as in the Kowak delta, or by the work of waves, as at Elephant Point, and appear as masses of comparatively clear ice in the general deposit of frozen mud, sands, and vegetable matter."

Kotzebue (q.v.), the only named town on Baldwin Peninsula, occupies very nearly the same site as the former native settlement of Kikiktak ^ Kikiktak ^ , which Stoney recorded as Ki-ra-targ-ga-roak ^ Ki-ra-targ-ga-roak ^ in 1886. As early as 1880 ^ , ^ this settlement had a known ^ summer ^ population of two hundred or more, and has remained an important trading and distribution point ever since.

The coast northward from Cape Blossom to the mouth of Hotham Inlet is still the summer gathering place for the natives of this entire region. For the purpose of trading and fishing they come down the major rivers of the mainland on the east, from as far west as Cape Prince of Wales, the Diomedes, and King Island, and from as far north as Point Hope, one hundred and fifty miles up the coast of the Polar Sea.

A northern [: ] branch of the winter trail around Norton Sound and across Seward Peninsula connects Baldwin Peninsula with settlements to the south. Branches of this trail lead eastward up the Kobuk River, and northward along the Polar Sea to Barrow.

Several herds of reindeer graze on Baldwin Peninsula, and meat in any quantity may be obtained there.

^ 60 w ^

BATTLE LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern section of the Alaska Peninsula, is a narrow, spoon-shaped lake, about 9 miles long, lying in a valley southeast of Lake Kukaklek (q.v.) and about 5 or 6 miles north of Lake Kulik (q.v.), near 59° N. Lat. and 155° W. Long. Battle Lake is surrounded on all sides by mountains 2,000 to 3,000 feet high from which several small stream flows into the lake.

^ 220 ^

BECHAROF LAKE, ALASKA (Becharoff, Betchareff, Bocharof, Bochonoff) the largest lake on the Alaska Peninsula, extends northwest-southeast across 58° N. Lat. from about 155° 55′ to 156° 53′ W. Long. The lake is roughly rectangular in shape except for a tail-like extension from its southeastern corner. The main body of the lake is about 15 miles wide and 36 miles long, to which the southeastern extension adds approximately 19 miles of varying widths. Severson Peninsula extends about 7 miles straight into the lake from its southeastern shore, leaving only a two-mile entrance to the southern arm. The farthest tip of this arm is only a scant five miles from Portage Bay, Shelikof Strait, on the northeastern side of the Alaska Peninsula. The Kejulik River has its source in the mountains northeast of Becharof Lake. It follows a winding, southwesterly course, and is fed by Gas Creek, Margaret Creek, Catrine Creek, and several unnamed tributaries. Kejulik River runs into the eastern and of Becharof Lake just above Severson Peninsula. The Egegik River (q.v.) drains from the northwestern end of the lake. A winter trail connecting Kanatak (q.v.), on Portage Bay, with Egegik, Naknek, and Koggiung (q.v.), on Kvichak Bay, runs along the south shore of Becharof Lake.

Becharof Lake was named after a master in the ^ ^ Russian Navy who was at Kodiak Island in 1788. <formula> 18 12 ﹍ 36 18 ﹍ 216 </formula>

^ 192 w. Text ^ ^ 25 Bibl ^

Besboro Island, Norton Sound, about 11 miles off the west coast of Alaska, is really the top of a mountain protruding 1,012 feet above the sound. Although the western side of western side of the island is bold-to, a shoal extends for about two miles in a northeasterly direction from the northern end. Sailing south from Cape Denbigh, Captain James Cook, who named this island, was deflected by this same shoal on September 17, 1778. "At seven we were abreast of Besborough Isle," wrote Ellis, assistant surgeon to the Cook expedition, "between which and the main we proposed going, but in the space of ten minutes we shoaled our water from ten to four fathoms and a quarter, so of course tacked ship and stood SW our distance form the island being three-^q^uarters of a mile s ." In 1870 Dall reported: "When the snow melts and the ice goes out of the small rivers ... myriads of water-fowl arrive, and breed on the steep cliffs of Besboro Island." There are no settlements on Besboro Island, but it is an important landmark, since it can be seen from St. Mich ea ^ ae ^ l Island ^ (q.v.) ^ on a clear day. ^ 192 wds ^

Ellis, W. Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and ^ Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and ^ Captain Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ Captain Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ and 1780; in search of a North-West Passage. ^ and 1780; in search of a North-West Passage. ^ London, G. Robinson, 1782.

^D^all. Alaska and its resources. ^ Alaska and its resources. ^ Boston, Lee & Shepard, 1870. U.S.C.P. & Suppl. ^ 50 wds bibl. ^

BETHEL, ALASKA, about 65 miles up the Kuskokwim River, is the center of trading, religious, and education ^ al ^ activities for the entire lower Kuskokwim Valley. It was founded in 1885 as a Moravian Mission by William H. Weinland and John H. Kilbuck.

Bethel, with a reported 376, but an estimated population of 450, of [: ] which about one-third is white and two-thirds are Eskimo, is the metropolis for this section of Alaska. During the summer season of naviga– tion freight and passenger vessels make regular trips between Seattle and Bethel. Bethel is the head of deep water navigation up the Kuskokwim and therefore the point at which cargoes are transferred to lighters for the remainder of their journey to Akiak, Napamiute, Sleitmut and McGrath, to name only a few of the many towns and villages along the more than 500– mile course of the Kuskokwim. Bethel has one lighterage and two river transportation companies to handle this traffic ^ , but ^ T ^t^he airplane however is fast replacing this slower method of freighting. Bethel has a new ^ two ^ ^ ✓ ^ airfields

, a 2,800 - foot airfield on the town on west side of the river and a 5,000– foot hand-surfaced landing area on the east side directily across from the town Bethel receives

airmail service from Anchorage, and mail, express, and passenger air service from Fairbanks. There are two post office ^ s ^ one a third-class Government office and another run by the U.S. Army. Regular mail deliveries arrive monthly by way of the Yukon and Holy Cross Mission. From the Mission it is carried over the Portage to the Kuskokwim and then down the Kuskokwim in small boats as far as Kinak on the west side of the mouth. The Alaska Communications System of the U.S. Army maintains a telegraph and radio station in Bethel, several airlines maintain radio stations, and, in [: ] 1940, the Moravian Mission Orphanage was operating station KEP. Despite the fact that swamps and marshes border both sides of the lower Kuskokwim, Bethel is connected by road with Tuluksak, 40 miles up the river, and with Kwinhagek, 90 miles to the south,

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at the mouth of the Kanektok River (q.v), Kuskokwim Bay.

The Moravian Mission runs an orphange which housed 33 children in 1947 and maintains a training school each year from January 1 to March 15. In December, 1947, there were at least three members serving the mission. This mission owns a reindeer herd which, in 1942, was estimated to have increased beyond 4,000 head. Bethel also has a Native school, a Territorial school, a modern $250,000 Government hospital for Natives, and a resident Deputy Marshal.

The chief activities of the area are fishing, fur trading, and placer gold mining. In 1947 Bethel had 5 licensed fur dealers and one fur farmer. That same year three companies, Marvel Creek Mining Co., Peandori Placer Mining Co., and Wilson & Horner were operating gold placers on Marvel, Cripple, and Canyon Creeks, respectively. These streams lie southeast of Bethel between it and the most northerly of the Tikchik Lakes (q.v.). The placers are equipped with draglines, bulldozers, and hydraulics. Marvel Creek Mining Co. operated during 1945 although many other mines throughout Alaska shut down during World War II because of the shortage and the high cost of labor.

Bethel is seriously endangered by the storms which accompany the spring break - up each year. These storms cause the [: ] Kuskokwim to erode its banks at the Mission end of the town. In 1947 the river cut into the graveyard, opened graves , and caskets, and carried away bodies. A store and several houses have been moved away from the banks along Front Street, but the Territorial and Federal Schools, and the airport are threatened unless more permanent protective measures are taken. Nels Anderson, Chairman of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce, recommended in 1939 that the entire town be moved back from the river to higher ground. In 1946 this had not yet been done, and the Deputy Marshal, although

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approving the idea, explained that since the town lay between the river and a swamp, the evacuation would be extremely difficult. In February, 1947, Bethel citizens were recommending that a road be built over this swamp before the spring breakup and the entire town moved to the ridge beyond it, a safe mile from the river. This mass movement would have been easier before Bethel had reached its present proportions. By 1947 the town had two private air carriers, 6 general stores, 2 liquor stores, 3 restaurants, a water, light, and power company, a theater, bakery, book dealer, and billiard parlor. Provisions and gasoline may be obtained in the town as well as limited supplies of coal although the price of coal is very high. Because of the number and size of the reindeer herds in the vicinity, deer meat is available and reasonably priced.

The territory around Bethel is swamp and treeless tundra. Caribou abound and hundreds of thousands of geese and ducks of many varieties breed in the lake-studded area northwest of the town. The peninsula between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon Rivers is the breeding ground for the game fowl not only of western Alaska but also of western Canada and the United States.

The weather is characterized by a high relative humidity, strong winds, a comparatively light snowfall and temperatures ranging from the mid-seventies to the sub-zero fifties. The following chart reproduces in part the 1947 U.S. Weather Bureau Report for Bethel:

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^ Bethel Weather Report -1947 T-Trace ^

^

Scroll Table to show more columns

	Temp. of the Air	Mean Relative Humidity	l Precipitation Tota in Inches	Wind	Clear Days	Cloudy and Partly Cloudy Days	Snow fall Total in Inches
Maximum Velocity	Aver. Hourly Velocity MPH	Prevailing Direction.
Max.	Date	Min.	Date	MPH	Direct.
Jan.	36°	5	ࢤ52°	25	87	2.10	-	-	10.5	N	16	15	20.2
Feb.	47°	8	ࢤ45°	2	83	0.34	-	-	12.4	NE	11	17	2.9
Mar.	39°	18	ࢤ27°	13	84	14.00	24	NE	0.8	NE	11	20	1.5
Apr.	49°	27	ࢤ4°	-	85	0.13	-	34	-	10.2	N	8	22
May.	74°	31	21°	1	77	0.62	34	-	8.6	S	0	31	2.3
June.	73°	17	37°	2	76	2.64	40	-	8.9	S	0	30	0
July.	75°	19	42°	11	86	2.23	-	-	9.3	S	2	29	0
Aug.	No Report
Sept.	56°	10	25°	25	82	1.52	40	S	10.0	NW	2	28	T
Oct.	52°	6	6°	19	87	0.95	34	-	11.0	NE	3	28	4.9
Nov.	45°	21	ࢤ5°	16	94	1.32	38	-	11.0	NE	2	28	9.2
Dec.	38°	3	ࢤ26°	29	92	0.83	36	-	10.2	NE	3	28	4.5

^

^ 1,000 wds-Text ^ ^ 50 wds - Bibl ^

BLUESTONE RIVER, western Seward Peninsula, Al ^ a ^ ska, was the site of an initially rich but later disappointing gold strike in 1900, and was named by Barnard, of the U.S. Geological Survey, that same year.

The Bluestone rises south of Grantley Harbor (q.v.) and southeast of Port Clarence (q.v.), in a basin-shaped valley in the foothills of the Kigluaik Mountains, and flows in a generally northeasterly direction to Tuksuk Channel. This is the channel which connects Grantley Harbor with Imuruk Basin (q.v.).

From the one thousand-foot heights overlooking the Bluestone Basin, several small streams flow down into the Bluestone. Travelling down-stream these are: Alder, Right Fork, Ruby, Lucky Strike, Leroy, and Gold Creeks.

Right Fork is joined by Ring, Eagle, and Windy Creeks. None of these streams is more than ten miles long, ^ and ^ [: ] most of them are consider– ably shorter.

Brooks points out that, while the small streams in this vicinity have comparatively straight valleys, the larger waterways, of which the Bluestone is a good example, twist and turn most unexpectedly. "The Bluestone," he continues, "... flows through a broad, flat valley nearly east, then turning northward at an angle of 80° continues in this direct– tion with the same character of the valley for about 4 miles, then, turn– ing northeasterly, enters a narrow rock canyon. On emerging from the canyon, about 5 miles below, it enters a broad valley again, and after two more right-angle bends flows into Tisuk ^ [Tuksuk] ^ Channel. These irregularities [: ] [: ] ... are due...to change of drainage."

In 1900, Brooks, ^ continues, ^ reported " P ^ p ^ lacer gold has been reported from many creeks of the district, but so far the only claims that have been worked are on Gold Run, a name given to the Upper Bluestone, and on Alder Creek, a tributary of Gold Run. At a number of other creeks suffici– ent prospecting has been done to show the presence of placer gold. The placers which have thus far produced gold in the region all lie immediately above the canyon on Gold Run and its tributaries...The gravels are coarse and frequently contain large bowlders, which suggest ice transportation. The surface indications are usually not particularly favorable, though as high as 50 cents to the pan has been obtained. On bed rock fabulously rich pans have been reported, and $2 to $3 pans are no uncommon. The largest nugget which had been found at the time of the writer's visit was worth somewhat under $100. The gold is, as a rule, coarse, dark colored, and of irregular outline."

From this ^ account, ^ report it can readily be understood why hopes ran so high for the Bluestone District directly after the 1900 strike. This enthusiasm persisted for about ten years, by which time most claims had been worked out, and mining activities gradually decreased.

In 1908 these was a town a ^ t ^ the mouth of Alder Creek called Sullivan. This could be reached by wagon road from Teller, eighteen miles away. There was also a road leading across [: ] a low divide to the head of Tisuk Creek, then down the Feather River, to ^ Norton Sound and ^ Bering Sea. During the summer months stages ran daily from Sullivan to both these points.

In addition to the richness of the original strikes in the Blue– stone are ^ a ^ , one of the reasons for the optimism of the stampeders to the dis– trict was the anticipated ease ^ ^ with which supplies could be brought in.

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Many of the original claim holders had come from Nome (q.v.). They knew from experience of the disadvantages and dangers of the Nome road– stead; they had probably waited for supplies to be lightered ashore at Nome, and had perhaps lost some much-needed equipment in the storms which sweep the Nome beach every summer. Port Clarence was known to be the deepst and safest harbor anywhere on the coast of Seward Peninsula ^ , and ^ T ^t^he Bluestone miners expected that cargoes could easily be landed at Teller. However, this expectation was short-lived. Shoal water also edges Port Clarence, ^ as well as Norton Sound ^ so that, although it has a safer roadstead, Teller is no more accessible to deep-water vessels than is Nome.

This fact, combining with the speedy depletion of th Bluestone deposits, doomed the hopes of the first miners in that region. From about 1910 to 1930 there was little mining activity along the Bluestone, but the reduction of the gold content of the dollar in 1933, which had the effect of increasing the value of gold, gave new impetus to mining here, as elsewhere in the Territory. By 1936 the U.S. Geological Survey reported: "Placer mining in the Port Clarence dis– trict was decidedly on the upgrade in 1936, owing principally to the highly successful operation of two dredges. These were situated on Gold Run, a tributary of the Bluestone River, and on Dese Creek, which flows directly into Grantley Habor." The latter dredge was worked by N.B. Tweet and Sons. In 1939 production for the Port Clarence area was below that for the previous few years, but only because the largest dredging company at work there, the Bartholomae Oil Corporation, had restricted mining operations so as to recondition the plant and equipment. Hopes were, then, again running high when the World War II restrictive order making gold non-essential went into effect in 1942. This put an end to almost all gold mining in the entire Territory, and killed

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new-born enthusiasm of the Bluestone operators. As of this writing (1948), gold mining in Alaska has not recovered from the effect of this ruling. (See Bluff and Nome articles.) By 1947, three men still held titles to gold property on Gold Run Creek, but the amount of actual mining activity was negligible.

The town of Sullivan, as such, has disappeared, although most recent maps indicate that there are mining camps in the vicinity of its former site.

A winter trail now runs along the same route as was taken by the stage-coaches leaving Sullivan daily for Shea's Roadhouse, and a road leads from the camps in the Sullivan area to Teller.

Sources:

Collier, Arthur J. (and others). Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Penin- ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Penin- ^ sula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, ^ sula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, ^ Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts. ^ Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts. ^ Washington, D.C., 1908. (U.S. Geoloigal Survey. Bulletin , No. 328)

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

Brooks, Alfred H. Report on Progress of Investigations of Mineral Re- ^ Report on Progress of Investigations of Mineral Re- ^ sources of Alaska in 1908. ^ sources of Alaska in 1908. ^ Washington, D.C., 1909.

Smith, Philip S. Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1936. ^ Mineral Industry of Alaska in 1936. ^ Washington, D.C., 1938. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 897-A) Baker

The BLUFF REGION lies midway of the ^ a ^ deep bite in the southern coastline of Seward Peninsula ^ , Alaska, ^ which extends from Rocky Point to Cape Nome in the northern part of Norton Sound. Topkok Head, a promentory at the mouth of the Topkok River midway of this bite, is the coastal extremity of a series of high bluffs which skirt the shore for a distance of about 30 miles northwestern from Golovnin Bay (q.v.). Beyond Topkok Head ^ and Cape Nome, 32 miles away ^ these highlands ^ ^ trend inland leaving an ever-widening stretch of moss-covered sand and gravel ^ along the coast ^ between it and Cape Nome, 32 Miles away Westward from Cape Nome the highlands once more crowd closer to shore, although they leave a 4 to 6 mile fringe of plain for the remaining 12 or 13 miles to Nome, itself ^(q.v.).^

Although the coastline in this area is edged by a narrow shoal, the water one mile or more from shore is deep and the bottom regular. Topkok Head rises abruptly 586 feet out of the water on its seaward side, and is the most conspicuous landmark in the vicinity. A 572-foot yellow bluff about 6 miles east of Topkok Head is likewise conspicuous, but is not so prominent as the Head itself.

From east to west the rivers of the Bluff Region enter Norton Sound in the following order: Koyana, Daniels, Eldorado, Ryan, Silverbow (Little Anvil) Creeks, and the Topkok River, which is the largest of the group. None of these streams is very long, however, because the watershed for the entire area rises not more than 4 miles from the coast. From north to south the tributaries to the Topkok are California Surprise, Allen, and Rock Creeks, all from the west.

There are only two towns in or near the Bluff area: Chiukak, halfway between Rocky Point and Daniels Creek, and Bluff, at the mouth of Daniels Creek. These towns are connected by the winter trail which runs from Golovnin Bay around the southern shore [: ] of Seward Peninsula and then northward to Kotzebue Sound.

^ 25[: 1] ^

Chiukak is an Eskimo village called Chiokuk by Petrof in 1880 and Seookuk by Jarvis in 1898.

^¶^Bluff, on the other hand, is a white mining settlement on the si ^ te ^ of the gold strik ^ e ^ ^ ^ made by William Hunter and Frank Walter in September, 1899, one year after the Anvil Creek strike in the Nome district. Although Hunter and Walter found placer gold at the mouth of Daniels Creek in September, the first c a ^ l ^ aims were made by J.S. Sullivan, George Ryan, and others in December of the same year. In January, 1900, Hunter returned to Daniels Creek with H.C. Malmquist and three ^ other ^ partners who ^ and ^ staked 5 ^ five ^ tundra claims along the beach adjacent to the creek. These men bought Discovery Claim at the mouth of the creek and organized the Black Chief Mining Co.

^ ¶ ^ Alfred H. Brooks writing in 1901 describes what happened immediately thereafter: "The find on the creek was kept secret for a time, but by the middle of March the rush from Nome began and soon many people were on the ground. A miners' meeting decided that 60 feet back from high water belonged to the beach and, as such, could not be claimed. The crowd worked on this ruling, every man where he could, until July 8, when United States troops under Lieutenant Erickson stopped work on the claim at the mouth of Daniels Creek pending litigation. During the few months of work it is estimated that nearly three-quarters of a million dollars were taken from a strip of beach less than 1,000 feet long and 50 feet wide. Two men on an area of 27 square feet reported taking out $37,000. It is said that three men took out $10,000 in five days. It was common for rockers to make from $100 to $300 a day. These extraordinary returns were of short duration, for the richest part of the small strip of beach was soon exhausted. The first week of August, when Mr. Richardson visited the camp, called Bluff, about 200 men were present. There was little inducement for them to stay, however, for the rich beach had been gutted, and the whole region had been staked."

^ ¶ ^ In 1908 Brooks wrote again: [: ] "It is estimated ^ 23 ^

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that the gold tenor of much of the pay streak must have averaged $150 to the cubic yard, or about $1 to the pan. This is far richer than the best part of the Nome beach sands, and, in fact, is the richest marine placer ever found. In gold content it has been equaled by only a very few claims in the peninsula."

^ ¶ In 1900, ^ only $200,000 was taken from the old beach which stretches across the present mouth of Daniels Creek, although the lower part of the creek continued to be exploited until 1902. Most of this gold came from Discovery Claim which, by this time, was being worked with the aid of a gasoline engine which pumped a sluice head of water from the sea. Between 1900 and 1902 gold was discovered on Eldorado and Ryan Creeks and on Swede Gulch, but lack of water impeded their development.

^ ¶ ^ Brooks continues: "In 1902 a strong company called the Topkok Ditch Company began the construction of a waterway from the head of Klokerblok River to Daniels Creek. This work was completed late in the summer of 1903, and sluicing began. In 1904 the company had about 16 miles of ditch in operation, and in 1906 extended the conduit about 4 miles. This enterprise is a most success– ful hydraulic mining operation and demonstrates what can be done under favorable conditions and with intelligent and economical management. When the heavy gravel deposits of Daniels Creek have been sluiced off, the water of the Topkok Ditch Company can be utilized to mine the shallower deposits of Eldorado, Ryan, and other smaller creeks." It is remarkable that a stream less than one mile long could be put to such hard work.

^ ¶ ^ By 1905 the Topkok Ditch Company owned 35 miles of ditch and 5,000 feet of 28 ^ ″ ^ -30″ pipe, as well as a [: ] tunnel a quarter of a mile long connecting the headwater ^ s ^ of Daniels Creek with the Klokerblok River and Skookum Creek. In 1906 an ancient beach deposit below sea level was discovered near Bluff giving new impetus to the production of the area, but despite this development only one man was working there in 1913, and Topkok Ditch was dry. Within the next few years lode deposits were found near Bluff and a gold mill was set up there. By 1920 a fairly thorough ^27 [: !] ^

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U.S. Geological Survey examination of the zones of mineralized schist had revealed rich lode deposits on Daniels Creek and many other streams nearby, and the Bluff area again became the scene of energetic activity.

^ ¶ ^ Brooks visited the region and reported in 1920: "... the deposits adjacent to and just east of Daniels Creek are the most valuable of the region. Here the mineralized schist bands in the limestone were staked as lode claims soon after the Daniels Creek placers were discovered. The original locators have carried on development work on these claims in a small way for some 20 years. Three lodes are recognized from Daniels Creek eastward, the Sea Gull, Idaho, and Eskimo lodes. They trend in a general northerly direction and except where they crop out on the cliff face are concealed by the tundra vegetation and exposed only by mining operations...Four claims are staked along the strike of each of the three lodes, extending from the sea cli^f^f nearly to the head of Daniels Creek valley. The most southerly claim on the Eskimo lode is ^ ^ held by John Corrigan; the remaining eleven claims by Charles Megan, Henry Megan, and W.J. Somerville. The schist zones have been traced by pits and shafts and are said to contain gold wherever prospected. Most of the work has been done about three-quarters of a mile from the beach, where fourteen shafts, ranging in depth from 30 to 100 feet and aggregating 657 feet were pointed out to the writer...The shafts have been sunk chiefly for prospecting purposes, and it is said that no shaft failed to find gold-bearing quartz in sufficient quantities and rich enough to mine. The present mill equipment will handle, efficiently, only the oxidized surface portion of the lodes. There is no timber in the vicinity of Bluff, and mine supports are difficult to obtain. As the lode material is soft no considerable depth can be reached without danger from caving. Only the present working shaft is timbered; all the others are caved and inaccessible...Four men were employed in ^ ^ mining at the time of the writer's visit. Dumps are taken out during the winter, and the ore is milled [: ] in the summer." Some cinnabar was discovered in the lodes although not in ^27 [: ] ^

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commercial quantities.

We have seen the town of Bluff expand to a high ^ ^ of 200, shrink to one, and slowly grow again. The 1939 population was 14, and gold placer, gold quartz, and cinnabar ^ were ^ still being removed from the area. The village is ^ was ^ still strictly a mining community, without a post-office or a school, although it does have a landing strip of unspecified length.

H. Foster Bain ^ ^ in his report for December, 1946, covered the past, present, and future of the gold ^ mining ^ in Alaska. He writes in part: "The outlook for lode mining is obscure, despite the fact that scouts ^ ^ have been maintained in the Territory for a number of years by several of the larger mining interests...So far as ^ ^ Alaska gold mining is concerned, it is a further fact, probably of considerable significance, that so large a proportion of the output has been and continues to be from the placers. This, coupled with the further fact deduced from the observation and experience of geologists in many lands, that big placers are seldom if ever derived from big lodes but rather come from the break-down of country rock cut by many little stringer lodes, is discourag– ing to the search for profitable lode mines...It may well prove that in Alaska, as in California, any really important lode mines found in the future will have no significant relation to the placers. It may also prove that there are no big ones to be found." Discussing Juneau mining developments in particular, but telling a story which relates to all Alaska gold mining, he goes on to explain the virtual shut-down of the industry throughout the Territory over since the beginning of World War II. "It will be noted that there were no profits from the operation through a term of years while the mine was being built up and equipped or, again, after 1941, when war conditions affected operations adversely. It was not only that prices of supplies and labor rose in these later years; but, perhaps more importantly, shortage of manpower reduced output and increased unit costs. The management struggled to keep the operation going, but the decision ^27 [: s. ] ^

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of the War Labor Board decreeing an increase in wages with retroactive payment finally made it cheaper to pay shut-down expenses than to continue to operate at a deficit...It is to be expected that the company, with its heavy investment and large remaining ore reserve, will make every effort to resume operations as soon as possible; but the whole wage pattern in Alaska has been so distorted by the war that resumption will be extremely difficult, and delay is to be expected. It is to be remembered that gold miners operate against a fixed price for their output and have no way to compensate for higher costs by increasing the sale price of their product. In 1932, for the first time in many years, the price of gold, in terms of United States dollars, was increased substantially, but it is considered that since then the cost of taxes, supplies, and labor have increased so much as to wipe out the margin of profit so created...The record shows clearly that the mine can only be operated profitably [: ] by mass production methods and on a large scale. There is no way to run...a small mine, and this fact also precludes resuming operation on a small scale and building up the tonnage gradually...Any consideration of possible increase in price of g l ^ o ^ ld involves to many factors of national policy and of politics that the subject is hardly worth discussing. Meanwhile, one of the largest inudstrial units in the Territory, with abundant raw material and complete and proved equipment, remains idle." ^ ¶ ^ This story has been repeated in big and little throughout Alaska, and it is only to be expected that relatively small operations like those at Bluff will be slower to recover than the Juneau giant.

^22 [: s. ] ^

References:

Harrison, E.S. Nome and Seward Peninsula; a book of information about ^ Nome and Seward Peninsula; a book of information about ^ Northwestern Alaska. ^ Northwestern Alaska. ^ Seattle, Wash., Metropolitan Press, c1905.

Bain, H. Foster. Alaska's Minerals as a Basis for Industry. ^ Alaska's Minerals as a Basis for Industry. ^ Wash. D.C., Bureau of Mines, 1946. (U.S. Bur. of Mines. Information Circular ^ Information Circular ^ 7379. December, 1946)

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others). Redonnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Redonnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ . Washington, G.P.O., 1901. (U.S. Geological Survey)

Collier, Arthur J. (and others). GoldPlacers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ GoldPlacers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, ^ Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, ^ and Goodhope Precincts ^ and Goodhope Precincts ^ . Wash. G.P.O. 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin No.328)

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Mineral Resources of Alaska, report on progress ^ Mineral Resources of Alaska, report on progress ^ of investigations in 1905, 1907, 1909, [: ] 1913, 1917, ^ of investigations in 1905, 1907, 1909, [: ] 1913, 1917, ^ 1920. ^ 1920. ^ Wash. G.P.O. 1906-1922. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletins ^ Bulletins ^ No.284, 345, 442, 592, 692, 722)

Henshaw, F.F., and Parker, G.L. Surface water supply of Seward Peninsula, ^ Surface water supply of Seward Peninsula, ^ Alaska ^ Alaska ^ . Wash. G.P.O. 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water- ^ Water- ^ Supply Paper ^ Supply Paper ^ 314)

^ 1000 ^

BRISTOL BAY, ALASKA, the center for the red salmon canning industry [: ] of ^ sou ^ thern Alaska and the Alaska Peninsula, may be said to include all that part of Bering Sea east of a line dra ^ wn ^ from Cape ^ S ^ arichef, Unimak Island, northeastward to Cape Newenham, the tip of the peninsula which separates Bristol from Kuskokwim Bay (q.v.). Bristol Bay is cut off from the Pacific Ocean on the south and east by Unimak Island and the Alaska Peninsula, and is bounded on the north and northwest by the territory around Kvichak, Nushagak, Kulukak, and Togiak Bays (q.v.), all northerly arms of Bristol Bay. Naknek River, a tributary to Kvichak Bay, is the head of deep water navi [: ] ation in Bristol Bay, although small cannery vessels proceed up the several arms of the bay and, in some cases, to the head of the rivers which flow into them. The waters along the northeastern and northern coasts of Bristol Bay are shoal sometimes for as many as 6 miles offshore and are dangerous to navigate except in daylight on a rising tide and then only with constant use of the lead. Available surveys of this area are old, and it is felt that considerable change in the channels has taken place since they were made. Because of the funnel-shaped configuration of the mouths of the Ugashik, Egegik, Naknek, Kvichak, and Nushagak Rivers, and of the bays into which they flow, tidal currents are strong and run as fast as 6 knots. In addition, the tidal range in these bays and rivers is sometimes as much as 26 feet. The currents in Bristol Bay are therefore considered to be partly tidal, although the bay is also thought to form the eastern part of a permanent eddy which flows eastward past Cape Newenham and dis– charges along the north shore of Unimak Island flowing westward.

The shores of Bristol Bay are mostly low, lake-studded, treeless tundra, but the high, volcanic mountains along the central parts of Unimak Island, and the Alaska Range which borders the southern side of the Alaska Peninsula, would serve as [: ] unmistakable land marks except for the fog which prevails throughout the area during the season of navigation. Fog persists from spring through fall, although it is heaviest during the summer months, so that only what low landmarks are visible beneath the fog may be used as guides to navigation. Very little is known about ice conditions in Bristol Bay. It is probably free from heavy ice sometime between mid-May and mid-June, and there is reason to believe that it is occasionally open to navigation the year around, although the rivers and bays associated with it are always closed from late in the fall to May or June.

Water transportation to Bristol Bay Points is supplemented by overland and air carriers. Although the flat, marshy tundra is impassable in summer, it is excellent terrain for winter travel by dog sled. Two trails running from different points on Shelikof Strait and over the Alaska Range connect settlements along the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula with points on Lake Clar ^ k ^ Iliamna Lake and the Kvichak River with Dillingham, Togiak, Goodnews, and other settlements to the west and northwest. It was reported in 1940 that a new airline^,^ called Naknek Airways, was opening in Koggiung, near the head of Kvichak Bay [: ] , which would serve all Bristol Bay points. Dillingham, the largest settle– ment on Nushagak Bay, had six air carriers in 1947 and was reported to be constructing an airport with a 2200-foot runway. Besides these local services, planes from Anchorage and Fairbanks make regular stops at most Bristol Bay settlements.

The shallow waters of Bristol Bay, which nowhere exceed 300 feet and which receive so many lake-fed rivers and their associated bays, offer an ideal habitat for the red salmon, or sockeye, which spawns only in river systems containing lakes. The canning season runs from mid-June to mid-July during which time not only the men employed [: ] [: ] and brought in by the canneries but also almost the entire popula– tion of the towns of Egegik, Naknek, Koggiung, Nushagak, Dillingham, and other smaller villages along the northeastern coast of Bristol Bay turn fisherman for a month. Workers are in such demand and the pressure of the short season is so great, that the canning companies not only pay the citizenry for their catch but also supply them with boats, nets, and credit in the company stores. [: ] [: ] Cannery buildings, wharves, fresh-water pipe lines, cranes, [: ] marine railways and other company installations in the Bristol Bay area represent an investment of more than $20,000,000. To balance this, the red salmon sells for $15.00 or more per case, the annual catch is worth about $12,000,000, and the ^ industry ^ gives employment to over 8,000 men. In order to protect this valuable industry ^ themselves ^ the canneries have insisted on certain restrictive regulations. Traps are illegal; all fishing must be done with gill nets and from small boats fitted only with oars and a sail. The catch must be returned to the cannery or to a tally scow anchored on the fishing grounds within 24 hours, and many of the companies have a much shorter time-limit. Because buoys would catch and tear the nets, no such markers are maintained in Bristol Bay, a condition which adds considerably to the difficulty of navigating these waters. All cannery operations must be based on ^ ^ the tidal intervals, since low tide exposes bars, shoals, and mud flats all along the shores of Bristol Bay and its tributaries. Most cannery vessels are specially

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constructed so that they will not be damaged when they lie high and dry at low tide. After the middle of August, when the hundreds of cannery vessels and their thousands of workmen depart, Bristol Bay is quiet and little frequented. For the remainder of the year the chief activities are hunting and trapping.

Bristol Bay was named by Cook in 1778 in honor of the Admiral, Earl of Bristol. <formula> 82 12 ﹍ 164 82 ﹍ 98 4 </formula>

^ 70 wds ^

BROOKS, LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern section of the Alaska Peninsula, ^ lies ^ midway between 58° and 59° N. Lat. on 156° W. Long. It is just south of Naknek Lake (q.v.) from which it is separated by a high mountain. A short, swift river connects it with Iliuk Arm, a southeastern extension of Naknek Lake, and it is fed from the east and south by several small streams rising in the foothills of the Aleutian Range, which ^ ^ borders the eastern side of the Alaska Peninsula.

^ Text - 770 words ^ ^ Bibl - 100 " ^

BUCKLAND RIVER, ^ is ^ the largest tributary to Eschscholtz Bay, an arm of Kotzebue Sound, which indents the northeastern side of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The Eskimo name for this river has been recorded variousl ^ y ^ as Kaniek ^ Kaniek ^ , Kotsokotana ^ Kotsokotana ^ , Kunguk ^ Kunguk ^ , Konguk ^ Konguk ^ , and Kongak ^ Kongak ^ , but it was Beechey who, in September, 1826, gave it its present name.

"Having now the assistance of the barge," Beechey wrote, "I ^ e ^ mbarked in her to examine narrowly the shores of Kotzebue Sound. Proceed– ing to survey the head of Escholtz Bay, shallow water obliged the boat to anchor off Elephant Point, where I left Mr. Collie with a party to examine again the cliffs in which the fossils and ice formation had been seen by Kotzebue, and proceeded to the head of the bay in a small boat. We landed upon a flat muddy beach, and were obliged to wade a quarter of a mile before we could reach a cliff for the purpose of having a view of the surrounding country. Having gained its summit we were gratified by the discovery of a large river coming from the southward, and passing between ^ ^ our station and a range of hills. At a few miles distance the river passed between rocky cliffs, whence the land on either side became hilly, and interrupted our further view of its course. The width of the river was about a mile and a half; but this space was broken into narrow and intricate channels by banks — some dry, and others partly so. The stream passed rapidly between them, and at an [: ] earlier period of the season a considerable body of water must be poured into the sound; though, from the comparative width of the channels, the current in the latter is not much felt.

"The shore around us was flat, broken by several lakes, in which there were a great many wildfowl."

Beechey called this river the Buckland, "in compliment to Dr.

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Buckland, the professor of ^ g ^ eology at Oxford, to whom I am much indebted for the above mentioned description of the fossils, and for the arrangement of the geological memoranda attached to this work."

The Buckland rises about 75 miles s^o^utheast of Eschscholtz Bay and opposes the drainage flowing on the one ^ ^ hand into Norton Bay and on the other into the lower Koyukuk, in the Yukon River system. Dead water extends about 30 miles from the mouth and there are no serious rapids for another 30 miles upstream.

^ ¶ ^ Speaking of one of the few ascents of this [: ] river by the white man, Mendenhall writes:"On the 9th of September, 1849, Capt. Henry Kellett, commanding H.M.S. Herald ^ Herald ^ , at that time in Kotzebue Sound, started with several boats' crews to visit the natives reported to live some distance up the Buckland River. Captain Kellett himself ascended the stre ^ a ^ m about 30 miles, until a rock obstruction which prevented the passage of the heavier boats was encountered. He then returned and Command– [: ] er Moore, of the Plover ^ Plover ^ , and Lieutenant Maguire, of the Herald ^ Herald ^ , with lighter boats ascended about 30 miles farther, passing several rapids en route. These officers reported that the river contained several obstruc– tions within the 60 miles explored by them, and at the head of this stretch a strong rapid, half a mile in length, through which they could not pass. Pine (spruce) trees were reported as occurring sparingly in the Buck– land Valley, and an account is also given of the presence of fine basaltic columns along the river.

Only the last thirty miles of the Buckland, and the entire course of its main tributary, West For ^ k ^ may be said to be on Seward Peninsula proper. The upper Buckland system fans out far to the southeastward to the highland which marks this part of the interior of [: ] northwestern Alaska. The data on the territory surrounding the upper reaches of the main river [: ] ^ are ^ still incomplete, and the many tributaries to the Buckland

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in this section are unnamed.

West For ^ k ^ , which enters the main stream from the south about 35 miles up from its mouth, and soon after the Buckland bends sharply to the west, rises in an irregular group of hills north of the Koyuk (q.v.) and east of the Kiwalik (q.v.) Rivers.

Although there are a few mining camps on West Fork, the only settlement in this vicinity is Buckland (65° 59′ N.Lat., 161° 10′ W.Long.) about fifteen miles above the mouth of the river.

^ 115 wds ^

CALIFORNIA RIVER, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, drains an area between the Agiapuk and the Don Rivers, flows almost directly southward to empty into a lagoon on the north side of Port Clarence. California is a prospector's name, first reported by Gerdine, in 1901.

The upp ^ e ^ r four miles of this river work ^ s ^ a southeasterly course out of the mountains, after which it turns due south and continues in this direc– tion to its mouth, a few miles west of Teller Mission. A narrow ^ ^ ^ s ^ and spit cuts the lagoon into which the California empties off from the Port proper. This lagoon is extremely shoal and is [: ] navigable to only the smallest craft.

^ 372 wds ^

CARTER BAY, a small eastern arm ^ ^ of Kuskokwim Bay, indents the mainland about 15 miles north of Goodnews Bay (q.v.). This bay is about 6 miles long on ^ ^ its north-south axis and is separated from Kusko– kwim Bay on the west and south by Carter Spit, a low sand spit from 50 to 300 yards wide. Carter Bay is protected, therefore, on all sides except the north. It is shoal and dotted with mud flats although the channel around the point of the spit offers anchorage to launches and small craft. Indian River, from which fresh water can be obtained by boats at high tide, enters the eastern side of Carter Bay. This river is formed by the confluence of North Fork and South Fork a few miles inland from the bay. North Fork rises in the Ahklun Range northeast of the bay and flows in a southwesterly direction to the valley separat– ing Cot Mountain from Tooth Mountain, where it is joined by Nautilus Creek. It then turns westward to follow a meandering course to its junction with South Fork. South Fork rises in Explorer Mountain, a 3,000-foot peak in the Ahklun Range northward of Goodnews Bay, and takes a westerly and northwesterly course around Tooth Mountain to its meeting with North Fork. Tooth Mountain has a sharp, rocky pinnacle on the northern edge of its summit and is easily recognized from Carter Spit. A few cabins grouped around the mouth of the Indian River form the village of Carter which lies on the long winter trail leading eastward to Dillingham and other Bristol Bay towns and northward to Eek and Bethel ^ (q.v.) ^ on the Kuskokwim.

An inland branch of the main winter trail which runs along the shore of Kuskokwim Bay leads from a point midway of the north side of Goodnews Bay, northward between Explorer Mountain and Carter Bay, across South Fork and North Fork, past Island Mountain to a placer mine on the Arolic River (q.v.) a few miles inland from Jacksmith Bay (q.v.).

The vicinity around Carter Bay, with the exception of the peaks mentioned above, is low, treeless tundra, which, although unsuitable for agricultural purposes, is covered with moss and many kinds of wild flowers during the summer months.

---------

^ Text - 910 wds. ^

CHAMISSO ISLAND (66° 14′ N.Lat., 161° 49′ W.Long.) at the entrance to Eschscholtz Bay, Kotzebue Sound, off the north shore of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, was discovered and named by Kotzebue in August, 1816.

"The land that lay to our right," Kotzebue reported, "in sailing up, was an island, seven miles in circumference. The open sea, indeed, lay before us; but my hope of penetrating far in that direction was diminished, when the boat that was sent out to sound, nowhere found the depth above five or six fathoms...We took an excursion to the island, which I called after our naturalist, Chamisso...We had an extensive prospect from the point of this very high island; the land to the south seemed to join every where; in the north, nothing was to be seen but the open sea: on the east, Chamisso Island is separated from the continent by a channel, which is five miles broad in the narrowest part. The surrounding land was high and rocky. Snow was no where to be seen; the mountains were covered with moss; and the shore was clothed in luxuriant verdure. Chamisso Island was of the same nature, where we had now chosen a green spot, on which we intended to drink tea. I readily confess, that I seldom felt myself happier, than on this spot; to which the idea of being the first European that ever put his foot on this land, may have greatly con– tributed. The weather was at 12° heat, (a height that the thermometer never arrived at without the sound,) and extremely fine. We found in our tongue of land, under ground, several store-rooms, lined with leaves, and filled with seals' flesh. Probably, therefore, the Americans in their hunting parties, have their station here; and to mark the place, have erected a small ill-built stone pyramid. The island, which has only a small landing place, rises almost perpendicularly out of the sea; the rocks round about, and the islands to the west, are inhabited by numerous puffins; and the many egg-shells which we found on our way, were an

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indication that foxes destroyed the nests: hares and partridges were here in plenty; and cranes, on their passage, rested on this island. On places pro– te [: ] ted against the north wind, grow willows from two to three feet high, and these are the only trees that we saw in Beering's Straits. We perceived also seals as we returned to our ship, which had taken their station on some large stones on the west side of the island."

Chamisso Island has a grassy hill about 231 feet high, and its shores are rocky everywhere except at the north [: ] ast end, which extends into a low sand spit. Shoals extend half a mile or less from the north and east sides.

Puffin Islet, just west of Chamisso Island, which is probably one of the outlying islands mentioned by Kotzebue, is [: ] itself rocky and has two conspicuous rocks southward of it. The water separating it from Chamisso Island, is shoal and rocky, but the water off the north and west sides is deep.

Before being driven out of this region by the oncoming winter, Beechey left instructions and supplies for the Franklin Expedition, w ^ h ^ ich he had hoped to find along this coast. Beechey writes: "It now remained for me to consider how Captain Franklin could be most benefited in the event of his party arriving after our departure. It was evident that we could do no more than put him in possession of every information we had obtained, and leave him a temporary supply of provisions and bartering articles, with which he could procure others from the natives. To this end a barrel of flour was buried for him upon the sandy point of Chamisso, a place which, from the nature of the ground, was more likely to escape observation than the former one, where the newly turned turf could not be concealed. A large tin case, containing beads and a letter, was deposited with it, to enable him to purchase provisions from the natives, and to guide his conduct. Ample directions for finding these were both cut and painted on the rock; and to call the attention of the part ^ y ^ to the

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spot, which they might otherwise pass, seeing the ship had departed, her name was painted in very large letters on the cliffs of Puffin Island, accompanied with a notice of her departure, and the period to which she had re– mained in the sound. Beneath it were written directions for finding the cask of flour, and also a piece of drift-wood which was deposited in a hole in the cliff."

Between Choris Peninsula and Chamisso Island, and immediately to the north of the island, is Chamisso Anchorage, the only place on the arctic coast of Alaska which can be called a harbor. Good shelter from all winds will be found here. The deepest water is close to Puffin Islet. Finding almost everywhere else in this region only shoal water, Kotzebue gratefully recorded his discovery of this anchorage. "We found," he writes, "at fifty fathoms from shore, from two and a half to three fathoms depth, on a very good bottom. Ships may lie at anchor, and undertake repairs as safe here as in the best harbour, particularly as the depth in many places permits them to lie almost close to the shore."

Early in the season fresh water will almost alw ^ a ^ ys be found on Chamisso Island. The mean rise and fall of the tide here is four feet, and the maximum range is five feet.

^ 2,425 wds - Text ^ ^ 50 wds - Bite ^

CLARENCE, PORT, Alaska, the only good harbor along the west shore of Seward Peninsula, and one of the earliest rendezvous for the whaling fleetings of the mid-nineteenth century, lies south of Cape Prince of Wales and north of Cape Douglas.

The west side of the Port is formed by a narrow sand spit which extends northwestward from the mainland for about eight miles, just north of Cape Douglas, and then [: ] bends northward for another nine or so miles to Point Spencer, the southern entrance point to Port Clarence. [: ] Therefore, starting at Point Spencer, the shores of Port Clar– ence run southward and then eastward to the mainland and so northward to Cape Riley and Teller. Across the entrance to Grantley Harbor [: ] from Teller, the northern shoreline of the Port runs slightly north of west to Point Jackson, the northern entrance point to the Port.

In addition to the Point Spencer formation, several other sand spits characterize Port [: ] Clarence. One of these, a few miles below Cape Riley, extends southwestward from the mainland into the Port itself and terminates with Jones Point. Another forms most of the north side of the Port and separates its waters from several shallow, coastal lagoons. Point Jackson is on one of the arms of this north-side spit.

Port Clarence, unlike other arms of Bering Sea, is a good harbor, free from ocean swell. The four-mile wide entrance is clear of danger and carries 42 to 54 feet. A shoal, which widens as it continues southward, runs along the west side of the Point Spencer sand spit, but the point itself is bold, with depths of over forty feet less than one-quarter mile offshore to the north and east. There is a safe, well p ^ - ^ protected anchorage of twenty-five feet or more just inside the Point.

Southward ^ , ^ along the east side of the Point Spencer spit ^ , ^ another shoal mak ^ e ^ s out into the Port itself, completely filling in the south [: ] end of the Port and enclosing Jones Point. Along the east side of the Port, above the Jones Point sand spit, and all along the north side, relatively deep water is found quite close to shore. The deepest water is [: ] generally found in the northern part of Port Clarence, where an average of forty-two feet reaches to within a mile of the shore. The bottom is regular throughout the Port, shoaling very gradually toward shore in all directions.

Point Spencer is marked with a flashing light, and there is also a light on the north side of the entrance to Grantley Harbor.

The only navigational dangers in this area are not in Port Clarence itself, but in the approach to the Port. A ledge, with a reported least depth of only about ten feet lies nearly five miles offshore, about halfway between Cape Douglas and Point Spencer. Vessels approaching Point Clarence from the south must give this ledge a berth of at least five miles before hauling in for an entrance.

Fog in this vicinity is frequent and particularly dense r during the summer. Port Clarence is free from ice from the last part of June to the freeze-up in October.

Port Clarence leads into Grantley Harbor (q.v.), which in t e ^ u ^ rn leads, by way of Tuksuk Channel, into Imuruk Basin (q.v.).

Surrounding Although the sand spits forming so much of the shoreline Country of Port Clarence are low, highlands approach the Port fairly closely in those sections where the mainland forms the shoreline. All along the east side of the Port, above the Jones Point sand spit, the foothills of the Kigluaik Mountains, which in some cases rise to over 1,000 feet, begin to appear less than one mile from shore. Again, between

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CLARENCE, PORT,

the northern entrance point to Grantley Harbor and Point Jackson, on the north side of the Port, the ^ ^ highlands associated with 1,527-foot Mukacharni Mountain crowd close to the shore. Westward of this point the foothills of the York Mountains rise several miles north of Port Clarence.

Captain Frederick William Beechey, who visited and named Port Clarence, in September, 1827, describes the surrounding countryside as follows: "The northern and eastern shores of Port Clarence slope from the mountains to the sea, and are occasionally terminated by cliffs compo a sed of fine and talcy mica slate, intersected by veins of calcareous spar of a [: ] [: ] pearly lustre, mixed with grey quartz. The soil is covered with a thick coating of moss, among which there is a very limited flora: the valleys and hollows are filled with dwarf willow and birch. The country is swampy and full of ruts; and vegetation on ^ ^ the whole, even on the north side of the harbour, which had a southern aspect, was more backward than in Kotzebue Sound; still we found here three species of plants we had not seen before. Plants that were going to seed when we left that island ^ [Kotzebue Sound] ^ were here only just in full flower, and berries that were there over ripe were here scarcely fit to be eaten...We saw several reindeer upon the hilly ground; in the lakes, Wild ducks: and upon the low point of the inner harbour, golden plover, and sanderlings, and a gull very much resembling the larus sabini."

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^ Clarence, Port ^

Tributaries As would be expected, these various mountain systems send streams into the Port. Four unnamed streams enter south of Jones Point sand spit, and tiny Fox Creek enters just ^ ^ north of this spit. Yellowstone and Willow Creeks drain into the east side of the Port below Cape Riley. Along the north side, Mission Creek flows down from the Mukacharni group, and California, Thompson, and Don River, from the York group. These last three streams enter the lagoon inside Point Jackson, but, since their waters do finally contribute to Port Clarence, they may be spoken of as tributaries to the Port.

Fresh water may be obtained at the Teller Reindeer Station, at the mouth of Mission Creek. Except during the dry season, it may also be obtained from Yellowstone and Willow Creeks, below Cape Riley.

Settlements The only existing settlement on the shores of Port Clarence is Teller (65° 15′ N.Lat., 166° 21′ W. Long.) on the sand spit forming the southern entrance point to Grantley Harbor. Teller, with a 1939 population of about 118, has a post office, a Territorial and Alaska Native Service school, two general stores, a fur dealer, an oil station, a light plant, a U.S. Commissioner, and a reindeer unit manager. It is the seaport for Imuruk Basin, and the Kuzitrin, Kruzgamepa, and Kougarok Rivers, all of which streams drain areas rich in gold, tin, graphite, and copper. Teller is fortunate in having one of the finest, natural harbors in [: ] northwestern Alaska. Lighterage facilities are available. Much of the Hollywood moving-picture The Eskimo was filmed at Teller.

There is a Moravian Mission on the north shore of the Port. According to latest information (1947), the reindeer station nearby is not in operation. Bering City, which had a population of about 200 at ^ ^ the height of the Bluestone Gold Rush in 1900, has now disapp [: ] ared.

There are several landing strips in the Port Clarence area: one at Point Spencer, 8,500 foot long; and two at Teller, 1,000 and 1,400 feet long respectively. Port Clarence receives monthly air mail service from November 1 to May 31, and semi-monthly water-borne mail service during the rest of the year.

Trails Several well-developed winter trails meet at Teller. From Nome, one trail cuts overland northward and westward to Teller, and the other follows the coast to Cape Douglas, and then takes a direct northeasterly route first overland and then across part of Port Clarence to Teller. At Iron Creek, the overland trail from Nome is joined by several others from Solomon, Council, Golovnin, and points to the east. Just above Pilgrim Springs, this same trail from Nome is joined by others from the Kotzebue District, to the north and northeast, Another trail runs overland and almost directly southward from Shisharef Inlet, while yet another branch follows the coast down from the Inlet, passing around Cape Prince of Wales and so eastward to Teller.

History Port Clarence was known to the early Russian explorers as Kaviaiak Bay .

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Insert 1.

^ In 1827, ^ Beechey wrote in part: "Having passed the night off Cape York on the 31st, we steered to the eastward, and shortly discovered a low spit of land ^ [ ^ Point Spencer ^ ] ^ projecting about ten miles from the coast, which here forms a right angle, and having a channel about two miles wide between its extremity and the northern shore. We sailed through this opening, and entered a spacious harbour, ^ [ ^ Port Clarence ^ ] ^ capable of h l ^ o ^ lding a great many ships of the line. We landed first on the low spit at the entrance, and then stood across, nine miles to the eastward, and came to an anchor off a bold cape, ^ [ ^ Cape Riley ^ ] ^ having carried nothing less than five and a half fathoms water the whole of the way...To the outer harbour, which for convenience and security surpasses any other near Beering's Strait with which we are acquainted, I attached the name of Port Clarence, in honour of his most gracious Majesty, then Duke of Clarence."

^ The town of ^ Bering, on the eastern shore of Port Clarence, was recorded by Brooks [: ] ^ in ^ 1900.

Beechey gives the following description of the native settlement of Nooke, which ^ existed at one time ^ grew up on the present site of Teller: "Upon the low point at the entrance of the inner harbour, ^ [ ^ Grantley Harbor ^ ] ^ called Nooke by the natives, there were some Esquimaux fishermen, who reminded us of a former acquaintance at Chamisso Island, and saluted us so warmly that we felt sorry their recollection had not entirely failed them. They appeared to have established themselves upon the point for the purpose of catching and drying fish; and from the number of salmon that were leaping in the channel, we should have thought they would have been more successful. They had, however, been fortunate in taking plenty of cod, and some species of salmon trout: they had also caught some herrings."

As late as 1870 Dall identified this settlement as Nookmut, and reported it as being one of the principle villages of the Kaviagmuts. In July, 1892, Sheldon Jackson brough 171 reindeer to this spot and established a reindeer station there. He named the station Teller after Henry Moore Teller, then

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Secretary of the Interior, who had helped him with his reindeer project. The station later moved to the north shore of Port Clarence, while the settlement was officially established and given a post office in April, 1900. Beechey, in 1827, called this place Nooke, and ^ I ^ t is still known locally as The Nook , although designated officially as Teller.

Mining ^ & ^ Port Clarence District, the largest mining district of ^ Commerce ^ Seward Peninsula, with a recording office at Teller, includes the former Port Clarence, Blue Stone, Agiapuk, York, and Good Hope Districts.

The Gold Run, or Blue Stone Country, so called after streams of the same name, promised in 1900 to become the ^ ^ richest gold mining section in all the Peninsula. The diggings, however, proved to be spotty, and, although $20,000 was removed from the mouth of Alder Creek, a tributary to the Bluestone, and, although the gold was coarse and several large nuggets were found, subsequent developments proved disappointing.

T he greatest single mining ^ ^ problem in this area has been that of maintaining a reliable water supply. Early in the season the streams do not supply enough water for mining operations; then, with the arrival of the spring rains, these same streams turn into torrents which break through any dams previously designed for their control. Harrison writes: "When water is utilized by means of ditches and made available for all parts of the open season, this region will produce its quota ofgold."

Early in the [: ] century, a great many people had faith in a bright future for Teller. It occupies what has been called "the best townsite in the peninsula," since the ground on which it is built is dry, and since it faces the best harbor for hundreds of miles around. Realizing the extreme disadvantages and dangers of the Nome roadstead (see Nome article), it was even planned to build a railroad across the sixty or so miles of grassland between Teller and Nome, so that all

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cargoes might be unloaded at Teller and carried overland to Nome. However, it was soon discovered that the deep water of Port Clarence did not extend as far as Teller, any more than did the deep water of Norton Sound reach to Nome, with the result that all cargoes had, at both places, to be lightered ashore over one ^ ^ or two miles of shoal water. More– over, it [: ] soon became clear that the Nome roadstead was free of ice several weeks before Port Clarence was open to ^ ^ navigation.

Up to 1906, all supplies for the Kougarok District were sent via Teller. From there they were brought by small steamer through Grantley Har ^ b ^ or and Imuruk Basin, and so up the Kuzitrin River to Igloo, fifty miles inland, at the head of steamboat navigation on the Kuzitrin. At Igloo cargoes were transferred to flat-bottomed river boats and towed up the Kuzitrin and its tributary, the Kougarok. With the completion of the Seward Peninsula Railroad, no ^ w ^ called The Pupmobile, to Lanes Landing on the Kuzitrin, about halfway between [: ] gloo and the mouth of the Kougarok River, most supplies for the interior were brought in by rail rather than by water. This development was a serious economic blow to Teller.

Bering City, a gold rush boom town just below Cape Riley on the east side of Port Clarence, offered vessels some advantages over Teller. Deep water steamers could approach much nearer to the shore and the harbor was better protected from easterly and northeasterly winds.

Soon after the discovery of gold in the Bluestone District in 1900, Teller had a population of over 1,000 people, and Bering City had 200, but, by 1908, Teller had shrunk to 100 and Bering City had disappeared.

In 1927, although five individuals still held gold property near Teller, the actual mining going on in the district was negligible. Teller still has the only good harbor anywhere along this coast and may,

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sometime, be developed as a port through which trade with Asia can be carried on.

Sources:

USCP. Alaska. Pt.II, 1947

VSGB; Colby; Baker; Tewkesbury; Sundborg

Dall, William H. Alaska and its resources ^ Alaska and its resources ^ . Boston, 1870.

Harrison, E.S. Nome and Sew [: ] rd Peninsula. ^ Nome and Sew [: ] rd Peninsula. ^ Seattle, Wash., 1905.

Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, ^ Including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, ^ Including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, ^ Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ . Washington, D.C.,1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ , No.328)

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901. (U.S. Geological Survey)

Alaska Life, ^ Alaska Life, ^ May, 1945 Greely, A.W. Handbook of Alaska. ^ Handbook of Alaska. ^ 3d ed. N.Y., 1925.

Beechey, Capt. F.W. Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Str ^ a ^ it ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ Str ^ a ^ it ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ . London, 1831. Vol.II

50 wds

COVILLE, LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, lies ^ about midway ^ between 155° and 156° W. Long. just northwest of Lake Grosvenor (q.v.) with which it is connected by a short stream. It is a narrow lake about 9 miles long and is fed by streams rising in the foothills of the Alaska Range to the northeast.

CRIPPLE RIVER, southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, the site of considerable gold mining activity subsequent to the Nome Rush, empties into Norton Sound about twelve miles west of Nome at the mouth of the Snake River.

Cripp o ^ l ^ e River drains an area of about ninety square miles and has an average fall of twenty feet to the mile.

The headwaters of the Cripple are cut off from the Kigluaik Mountains by the broad basin of the upper Sinuk River (q.v.), and its tributaries. Rising in a broad basin and then flowing between heights of 1,000 or more feet, the Cripple flows in a generally southwesterly direction for about ten miles, and then, veering sharply, follows a southeasterly course for about ten miles more to Norton Sound.

From North to south the tributaries to the first half of its course are: Gold Run (with its affluent, Slate Creek) Aurora, Oregon (which receives Short Gulch, Nugget Gulch, Hungry c ^ C ^ reek, and Mountain Creek), Cleveland, Willow, Stella, Elizabeth, and Fox Creeks.

After turning to the southeast, Cripple River is joined by Sidney, Arctic (with its tributary Buff Creek), Edward, and Bowhead Creeks.

Where it crosses the coastal plain, here three miles wide, Cripple River s becomes deeply entrenched and meandering with banks thirty or more feet high.

Although never equall y ^ ing ^ the gold mining activity on the Snake, an estimated $50,000 in gold had been removed from the Cripple River region by 1900. There are now no settlements along the river, the old mining camps having almost completely disappeared.

Sources:

VSGB; USCP & Supplement; ^ Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome & ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome & ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, 1901.

^ Text - 575 wds. ^

DEERING (66° 04′ N.Lat., 162° 44′ W.Long.) is a post office and settlement at the mouth of the Inmachuk River, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The 1939 population was estimated at 230, and the town then had a general store, a licensed fur dealer, an Alaska Native Service School, and a Friends' Mission.

Deering has lighterage service and telephone communication with Candle (q.v.). There is a 2200-foot landing strip. Wheeled plane landings can be made on the beach. Sea plane facilities are poor, but ski landings are reasonably safe. Emergency anchorages, one immediately offshore from the town, southeast of Cape Deceit, and one inside Kugruk Lagoon, a few miles southeast of the town, are available. There are known to be several herds of reindeer in this vicinity.

Deering is only about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The Eskimos, who comprise a large percentage of the population, spend the long winter months carving beads and other ornaments from walrus ivory. The Eskimos of this part of Alaska are famous for the artistry of their products, although they have ^ e ^ xchanged the tools of their ancestors for modern files, hack saws, and steel drills. During the summer, the Eskimo men work for the various gold mining companies in the district.

Gold was first discovered in this region by miners who left Nome, in 1900, for less crowded areas ^ parts ^ of the Peninsula. (See Inmachuk River article.) As Mendenhall reported, in 1902: "Lat ^ e ^ in the fall of 1900 a movement began from the Nome region towar ^ d ^ the shore of Goodhope Bay and adjacent parts of Kotzebue Sound, and as soon as navigation opened in July, 1901, the supply station of Deering was established at the mouth of the Ipnechuk River ^ [the present Inmachuk] ^ . Many prospectors and miners came in from the more southerly areas at this time and the Fairhaven mining district was created, and so

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defined as to include Goodhope, Cripple, Sullivan, Ipnechuk, Kugruk, or Swan, and Kewalik rivers, together with the northwestern P ^ p ^ ortion of the Buckland drainage system."

From the white miners' point of view, Deering is a mining town, as is proved by the fact that it [: ] has the offices of the gold mining com– panies now active on the Inmachuk River, as well as the offices of George Wallin's coal company on the Kugruk River.

The Deering Eskimos serve as good examples in refutation of the popular conception of the lives of these people. Unless they have heard them mentioned by the white man, these Eskimos have no knowledge of snowhouses. They themselves, with very few exceptions, live in houses built of shipped-in lumber and of standard design. Those few who do not own a frame house have dwellings of drift-wood and sod. Most of the young Eskimos of this generation have attended the Government school in Deering and are well educated. They know their native tongue but speak English in their homes. They still eat dried fish occasionally, but in all basic respects their diet is exactly the same as that of the average family in the States. They all have radios, all listen to the world news reports, and dance to the popular dance bands. In other words, except for the skill with which they carve in ivory, and the assurance with which they handle small boats, a ^ nd ^ firearms, they are indistinguishable from the younger generation in any small Stateside town.

^ Text - 1,105 wds. ^ ^ Bibl - 50 wds. ^

DEVIL MOUNTAIN is the only prominent feature of the bro [: ] d, blunt peninsula which separates Shishmaref Inlet (q.v.) from Kotzebue Sound (q.v.), on the northern shores of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Kotzebue named this 880-foot peak Teufelsberg ^ Teufelsberg ^ , in August, 1816. "The summit, "wrote Kotzebue, "looks as if the fragments of a ruined castle stood on it, of which some towers were still remaining. These, however, I afterwards recognized to be stone pillars, resembling those which Saritscheff found on the coast of the Icy Sea. I called this mountain, Devil's Mountain." This peak has appeared as Chortof (devil) Mounta ^ i ^ n on some Russian charts.

Kotzebue noted that Devil Mountain is about 15 miles inland from Goodhope Bay and that "the land is everywhere green, but has not a single bush on it." The mountain itself is a basaltic lava mass m ^ a ^ ntled on all sides by the gravels of the coastal plain. Collier reported, in 1908, that these gravels are not known to be auriferous and that the streams are ^ ^ sluggish and [: ] follow meandering courses across the marshy, lake-strewn grasslands of the plain.

Several unnamed streams drain the southern flanks of the mounta in while Cowpack, Kalik, and Espenberg Rivers flow northward into the Polar Sea. Nugnugaluktuk, Lane (^Kugachuk^), and Pish (^Kutuk^) Rivers flow eastward from the southern foothills of Devil Mountain into Goodhope Bay, Kotzebue Sound.

Although there are no named towns along this stretch of coast, it is the home of several hundred Eskimos who make their living hunting, fish– ing, and trapping. Cape Espenberg, on the northeastern tip of the peninsula, is marked by a flashing light. A shoal fringes the san ^ d ^ bars south of Cape Es ^ p ^ enberg. It was probably this same shoal which gave Kotzebue considerable trouble one night in August of 1816.

Telling of his trip in a small boat northward from [: ] Goodhope Bay, he writes: "We had scarcely rowed half an hour, when we struck upon a

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shoal; it was the time of ebb, and all the places which we had previously navigated with ease, were now changed into sand banks, and we heard the breakers roaring round us. We therefore rowed in ^ ^ another direction; but it was not long before we were again on a shoal, where the breakers threatened to swallow us up. A violent wind rendered our situation still more ^ ^ dangerous, our boat drew much water, we were all exhausted by labour, a nd I saw no means of escaping death, as we had every moment to expect that the boat would be seized by the breakers and overturned. The baydare in which our scientific gentlemen were, had got on before us, and some shots as signals of distress ^ horible, as - in original ^ which proceeded from them rendered our situation horible. We answered them with a musket shot, but were not able to go to their assistance. At last the dawning day relieved us all, we could observe the way we had to take to avoid the breakers...At last...after inconceivable difficulties, we reached the Rurick on the morning of the 13th." This night journey back to the mother ship was instigated by the arrival of eight native boats, each ^ ^ carrying twelve men and numberless dogs. "Such neighbors," Kotzebue had instantly decided, "might really prove dangerous to us, as my whole company on ^ ^ this excursion consisted of only fourteen men, and the loss of some of my sailors would have made it impossible for me to complete the expedition." However, since these natives had merely landed nearby and peacably set up camp, Kotzebue's decision to exchange their company for the dangers of stormy and unknown waters would seem unduly precipitous. One is forced to the suspicion that some former action of his own might have given hi [: ] cause to fear reprisal on the p ^ a ^ rt of these natives.

Kitzebue gives what is probably still the best general description of this part of Seward Peninsula. "As far as the eye could reach, " he wrote, "everything was green; here and there were flowers in blossom, and no snow was seen but on the tops of the mountains at a great distance; yet

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one had to dig but half a foot deep to find nothing but frost and ice under this verdant carpet." Of the Eskimos, or, 'Americans', as he quite correctly calls them, he wrote: "They are of a middle size, robust make, and healthy appearance; their motions are lively, and they seemed much inclined to sportive– ness; their countenances, which have an expression o f wantonness, but not of stupidity, are ugly and dirty, characterised by small eyes and very high cheek-bones; they have holes on each side of the mouth, in which they wear morse-bones, ornamented with blue glass beads, which ^ ^ gives them a most frightful appearance. They hair hangs down long, but is cut quite short on the crown of the head. Their head and ears are also adorned with beads. Their dr ^ e ^ sses, which are made of skins, are of the same cut as the Parka in Kamtschatka; only that there it reaches to the feet, and here hardly covers the ^ ^ knee; besides this, they wear pantaloons, and small half-boots, of seal– skin."

Elsewhere he remarks: "They are very expert traders, haggle obstinate– ly, always consult together, and are infinitely happy when they fancy they have cheated any body. Some old women, who were in their baydares, understood bargaining still better. There was so much laughing and joking during the trading, that it appeared as if we were surrounded by the lively South Sea islanders, instead of the serious inhabitants of the north. Their arms consist of lances, bows, arrows,and a knife, two feet long, in a sheath; this military equipment, which they never lay aside, proves that they are in constant wars with other nations. Their lances, which are of iron, very well wrought, resemble those which the Russians have ^ ^ sold to the Tschukutskoi; the glass beads, also, with which they adorn themselves, are of the same kind as those worn in Asia, which proves that they must be in commercial intercourse with that continent."

It does ^ did ^ not occur to Kotzebue that natives who live solely by

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hunting, fishing, and trapping might keep their equipment with them at all times for other reasons than for making war on their neighbors. Neither does ^ did ^ it occur to him that these natives might be genuinely happy and satis– fied with their lot in life, and that, having made an almost perfect adjust– ment to their environment ^ , ^ they no longer felt "serious" about living in the north.

450 wds

DILLINGHAM, ALASKA, strategically situated between the mouths of the Wood and Snake Rivers on the western side of Nushagak Bay (q.v.), Bristol Bay, is the largest village in this vicinity. It was established in August, 1905. Although the offical 1939 Census figure showed a population of 278, the settlement had grown to an estimated 450 by 1947.

Dillingham, like all the other settlements on Nushagak Bay, is most active from mid-June to late July when several large red salmon canneries operate in the Nushagak and Wood Rivers, at the head of the bay, and in the Snake and Igushik Rivers which enter it from the west. The Bristol Bay Packing Co. and Pacific American Fisheries maintain canneries in Dillingham. The second of these companies has a 178-foot wharf. This wharf has a depth of 2 feet at low tide and can be used only by lighters even at high tide. Like other salmon companies in the area, the cannery maintains a radio station and its own supplies of gasoline and oil. The wharf is fitted with a marine railway capable of hauling 100 tons.

According to 1947 reports Dillingham has several other facilities including a Territorial school, a high school, 5 restaurants, 4 taxicabs, 2 hotels, 5 licensed fur dealers, 3 general stores, 5 transfer and storage companies, 2 literage services, a saltery, a light plant, one aircraft and one electrical supplies and service store, a beauty shop, gift shop, theater, and attorney at law. Two labor unions, the Alaska Fishermen's Union (CIO) and the International Union of Fishermen and Allied Workers of America, Local 46, (CIO) have representatives in Dillingham. Two U.S. Commissioners are stationed in the town, one with full powers and one acting as Justice of the Peace and coroner. Although there are no dentists in the town, there is a large hospital staffed with 5 nurses and attended by a doctor from Bethel.

Since the waters of Nushagak Bay are too shallow for large vessels, and since the territory around Dillingham is low, marshy tundra making summer travel impossible, air service is especially important. Six air carriers were in operation in 1947, one of which was certified by the Civil Aeronautics Board. It was reported in November of the same year that the local merchants had appointed an Airport Committee and were sponsoring the construction of a 2200-foot runway. Work on this project had been renewed after a summer delay during which most of of the volunteer workers were off fishing or busy on Alaska Road Commission jobs. Everyone in the Nushagak Bay area turns fisherman during the canning season. The canneries supply boats, nets, and credit to anyone who wants to fish so that other activities come to an abrupt however brief hault. The chief activities for the remainder of the year are hunting and trapping.

Dillingham is on the long winter trail which connects points on Kvichak Bay and Iliamna Lake (q.v.) with Owens, Togiak,and Goodnews (q.v.) to the west.

^ 565 wds. ^

DIOMEDE ISLANDS, Bering Sea, Alaska, comprise Big and Little Diomede. The former belongs to the U.S.S.R., and the latter is a possession of the United States. The internationl boundary is the meridian which passes between Big and Little Diomede Islands.

Vitus Bering would appear to have described one or more ^ both ^ of this group ^ pair ^ on August 16, 1728. There is some doubt as to whether [: ] he named his discovery after the holy martyr St. Diomede, who, according to the church calendar, is ^ was ^ honored on August 16, or whether he named it after St. Demetrius, whose day was August 14. The name Demetrius appears on some early maps, but usage has established Diomede. Michael Gvozdef, a surveyor, who explored Bering Strait in 1730, called these islands after himself, but this name was used only briefly. Some recent maps id [: ] ntify Big Diomede as Rotmanov Island.

The cliff-like sides of the Diomede Islands rise abruptly out of the water. There are no beaches, and their tops are a broken table-land. Big Diomede is about three miles long by one mile wide and rises to a height of 1,758 feet, while Little Diomede is about one-third that area and about 1,200 feet high at the apex. Although the water in this vicinity is deep, the bottom is rocky and the anchorage poor. There are some exposed rocks off the western side of Big Diomede, and there is a flashing light on the northwestern corner of this island.

The villages on these two islands perch on the rocky slopes well above the high water level. The chief settlement on Big Diomede is Nunebruk, and Ignaluk is the principal village of Little Diomede. Ignaluk is constructed on the steep hillside just above the sand spit which extends from the western shore of the island. Vessels approaching the village from the [: ] south and east will find deep water and good anchorage off the southern side of this

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sand spit. From the end of the spit, however, a shoal and reef extend an unknown distance toward Big Diomede Island. Small vessels may pass between these islands, but large vessels are warned against the attempt.

The Diomede Eskimos are Innuits. The ^ y ^ [: ] are famous for their seamanship and for their skill in hunting whales, walrus, and seal, and are equally well-known for their carving of walrus ivory into beads and other items of adornment. However skilled and courageous ^ in the management of their tiny kayaks, ^ these Innuit hunters are known to be in the management of their tiny kayaks, they are not foolhardy, as is clearly shown by the following quotation from Hooper's report of 1881: "Although the passage from Siberia to America and back is made many times each year by the natives in their skin boats, and is not considered by them to be attended with any unusaual amount of [: ] ager, I could not learn that it is ever made over the ice during the winter. The natives say the ice is always broken and subjected to great and sudden changes, rendering any attempts to cross it extremely hazardous. It is said that open spaces occur from time to time throughout the winter, which contain numbers of whales, but that owing to the sudden changes which take place their capture is not attempted."

For winter dwellings the natives dig caves into the face of the cliffs. The entrances to these caves are covered with small wooden frameworks not unlike the woodsheds indigenous to New England. These are the "fortified places" to which Gerhard F. Müller referred in 1761.

Ignaluk has a schoolhouse and a general store where the Eskimos trade their ivory carvings [: ] and seal mocassions for sugar, flour, canned goods, and other staples to which the white man has introduced them.

DON RIVER, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is a northern tribu– tary to the lagoon on the north side of Port Clarence. The name originated locally and was first reported by Gerdine, in 1901.

The Don rises north of Brooks Mountain, in the York range, and flows eastward [: ] for about [: ] four miles, then turns southward to work its way for another sixteen miles out of the mountains, and across the lowland bordering Port Clarence. Soon after turning southward, the Don is joined by Anderson, and El ^ k ^ ington Creeks from the west and east respectively, and, about six miles above its mouth, by Tozer Creek from the east. Several other streams enter the ^ D ^ on, but they are unnamed.

The lagoon into which the Don empties is extremely shoal so that the river is not approachable to any except the smallest vessles. This same is true of Thompson Creek, which enters this same lagoon at a point about half– way between California River (q.v.) and the Don.

^ 150 wds ^

EGEGIK, ALASKA, is a fishing village, post office, and cannery on the south bank of the mouth of the Egegik River, in the northwestern part of the Alaska Peninsula. The village had a population of 125 in 1939. Although the cannery is open only from late June to the end of July, airplane service from Anchorage is available the year around. The Alaska Packers Association and the Pacific American Fisheries ^ Inc ^ maintain canneries and radio stations in Egegik. The winter trail which connects Kanatak, [: ] Portage Bay, on the northeastern side of the Alaska Peninsula,with Naknek, Koggiung and other points [: ] on Kvichak Bay, runs down the northern side of the mouth of the Egegik River, just across from the village of Egegik.

^ 300 wds ^

EGEGIK RIVER, ALASKA (Egegak; Igagik; Ugaguk, etc.), drains from the western end of Lake Becharof (q.v.), in the northern park of the Alaska Peninsula, and flows in a northwesterly direction for about 25 miles to empty into Bristol Bay. Tidewater is reported to run a considerable distance upstream. Egegik River is narrow and rough with rapids for a few miles after leaving Lake Becharof, after which it widens, then narrows again. The middle half of its course is dotted with ^ ^ islands. In 1938, $5,000 were spent clearing a channel through the rapids at the head of the river. The river is now navi a gable to small boats for its entire length, and to ocean-going vessels as far as Egegik ^ (q.v.), ^ the largest settlement on the river, [: ] which is situated at the mouth where the river widens to about 2 miles.

The King Salmon River (q.v.), largest tributary to the Egegik, enters from the north at a point approximately opposite the village of Egegik.

The Alaska Packers Association maintains a cannery and wharf on the Egegik River. The 80-foot wharf has a 5-ton crane and supplies of fresh water. The cannery operates a machine shop which will take on small outside repair work, but the supplies of fuel on the wharf are for c [: ] nnery use only. Libby, McNeill & Libby also. maintains a cannery and wharf on the river. This wharf is 180 feet long but is dry at low water and available only to small boats even at high tide. This wharf has a 5-ton crane and a marine railway.

The Egegik River, which has been variously reported for over a century, was listed by Lütke in 1828 as the Ougagouk, from the Eskimo name perhaps meaning swift .

^ 350 wds ^

ELDORADO RIVER, southern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, enters Port Safety lagoon,on the north side of Norton Sound, about midway between Rocky Point and Cape Rodney.

The headwaters of the Eldorado are separated only by an extremely [: ] low divide from the Kruzgamepa, a tributary to Port Clarence. The Eldorado flo ^ w ^ s almost directly south, first through a wide gravel-filled basin, then through a narrow valley, whose floor merges with the coastal plain.

In the highland section of its course, the Eldorado is joined from the west by Boldrin, North, and Moonlight Creeks, and, from the east, by Grassman, Venetia, San Jose, Carl, and Mulligan Creeks. Pajara Creek enters the Eldorado soon after it reaches the plain, and Beaver Creek, the longest of these tributaries, joins the Eldorado a few miles above its mouth.

The Flambeau River also enters Port Safety lagoon. The Flambeau rises west of the Eldorado, across a low divide separating it from the upper reaches of the Nome River, and flows southeastward through a wide valley to Port Safety. The Flambeau is joined by Iron, and Discovery Creeks from the west, and by several unnamed streams from both sides of its course.

Fox Lake lies just to the west of the mouths of these two vi ^ riv ^ ers, and is joined to an arm of Port Safety by a narrow channel.

Port Safety, itself, is a small anchorage for light draft vessels. The narrow entrance is about eight miles east of Cape Nome and is marked by four buoys during the season of navigation.

On the former site of the small town of Safety, at the entrance to the Port, there is now Port Safety Roadhouse. This roadhouse lies on the winter trail which skirts the southern shores of Seward Peninsula from Norton Bay westward.

Beaver Creek, on that tribuatry to the Eldorado, is the only true settlement in the entire district. It had a population of 17 in 1939, and a landing strip 1,100 feet long.

Text - 1,820 words Bibl. - 100 words

ESCHSCHOLTZ BAY, east of Chamisso Island and Choris Peninsula, and north of Spafarief Bay, indents the northeastern shores of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. The entrance, between Chamisso Island and the mainland, through Spafarief Bay, is six or seven miles wide but shoal. East of Elephant Point, on the mainland, the bay is navigable only for small boats, and the shore at the head of the bay is difficult of access because of the long, muddy flats which are bare at low water as much as one-third of a mile offshore. It is possible that the bay is gradually filling up, and vessels proceeding eastward from Chamisso Anchorage should use caution.

Beechey examined this bay very carefully in ^ ^ September, 1826, and reported as follows: "Having now the assistance of the barge, I embarked in her to examine ^ ^ narrowly the shores of Kotzebue Sound. Proceeding to survey the head of Escholtz Bay, shallow water obliged the boat to anchor off Elephant Point, where I left Mr. Collie with a party to examine again the cliffs in which the fossils and ice formation had been seen by Kotzebue, and proceeded to ^ ^ the head of the bay in a small boat. We landed upon a flat muddy beach, and were obliged to wade a quarter of a mile before we could reach a cliff for the pur– pose of having a view of the surrounding country. Having gained its summit we were graitified by the discovery of ^ ^ a large river coming from the southward, and passing between our station and a range of hills. At a few miles distance the river passed between rocky cliffs, whence the land on either side became hilly, and interrupted our further view of its course. The width of the river was about a mile and a half; but this space was broken into narrow and ^ ^ intricate channels by banks — some dry, and others partly so. The stream passed rapidly between them, and at an earlier period of the season a considerable body of water must be poured into the sound; though, from the comparative width of the

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channels, the current in the latter is not much felt.

"The shore around us was flat, broken by several lakes, in which there were a great many wildfowl. The cliff we had ascended was composed of a bluis ^ h ^ mud and clay, and was full of deep chasms lying in a direction parallel with the [: ] ^ front ^ of the eminence. In appearance this hill was s ^ i ^ milar to that at Elephant Point, [: ] which was said to contain fossils; but there were none seen here, though the earth, in parts, had a disagreeable smell, similar to that which was supposed to proceed from the decayed animal substances in the cliff near Elepphant Point."

The 'large river' described by Beechey was the Buckland, one of the major streams on Seward Peninsula, which enters the extreme southeastern corner of Eschscholtz Bay. The only other named tributary, the Kauk River, a much shorter stream, enters the northeastern side of the Bay.

It was in the vicinity of Elephant Point that Kotzebue, in August, 1816, found what he called 'icebergs' on the shores of the bay. "On the 7th," he writes, "at 8 o'clock in the morning, we [: ] left the Rurick, with a fresh south-east wind, to explore the eastern part of the bay. We had already advanced so far at noon, that we could distinctly observe, that the land was united every– where: at the distance of a full mile from the shore, the water had decreased to five feet; and the hope of discovering a river also vanished. (In this Kotzebue was wrong, but the cliff which Beechey ascended ten ^ ^ years later, obstructed his view of the southeastern corner of the bay, and therefore of the mouth of the Buckland River.) Happily we found a convenie ^ n ^ t place for landing; the current having formed a small tongue of land, where there was [: ] epth enough for us to approach with our long-boat, and I resolved to remain there for the night. There were two small huts, near ourlanding-place, which were raised several feet, supported by four pillars, and ^ ^ covered with morse-skin. These huts did not seem constructed so much for continual residence, as for magazines for their instruments, and hunting utensils. We here found very

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elegantly-made arms. I took several arrows, and put in their stead knives, and a hatchet, on the handle of which, Rurick and the date of the year was carved. Probably the Americans visit this place, at the hunting time. They perhaps also keep rein-deer; as we saw many horns of these useful animals lying on the shore. The land rises a little from t ^ h ^ e ^ ^ coast, but reaches to a considerable height; and is only covered below with beautiful green, and above with moss...We had climbed much about during our stay, without discovering that we were on real ice-bergs. The doctor, who had extended his excursions, found part of the bank broken down, and saw, to his astonishment, that the interior of the mountain, con– sisted of pure ice. At this news, we [: ] ll went, provided with shovels and crows, to examine this phenomenon more closely, and soon arrived at a place where the back rises almost perpendicularly out of the sea, to the height of a hundred feet; and then runs off, rising still higher. We saw masses of the purest ice, of the height of an hundred feet, which are under a cover of moss and grass; and could not have produced, but by some terrible revolution. The ^ ^ place which, by some accident, had fallen in, and is now exposed to the sun and air, melts away, and a good deal of water flows into the sea. An indisputable proof that what we saw was real ice, is the quantity of mammoths' teeth and bones, which were exposed to view by the melting, and among which I myself found a very fine tooth. We could not assign any reason, for a strong smell, like that of burnt horn, which we perceived in this place. The covering of these mountains, on which the most luxuriant grass grows to a certain height, is only half a foot thick, and con– sists of a mixture of clay, sand, and earth; below which the ice gradually melts away, the green cover sinks with it, and continues to grow; and thus it may be foreseen, that in a long series of years, the mountain will vanish, and a green valley be formed in ^ ^ its stead. By a good observation, we found the latitude of the tongue of ^ ^ land 66° 15′ 36″, north...I called the bay after our physician, Eschscholtz, as it was he that made the remarkable discovery there. It seemed to be uninhabited, and only visited at a certain time of the year, on account

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of the hunting. I do not doubt, that there was a river between the high mountains, which the shoals, however, would not permit us to investigate."

Kotzebue was correct in this assumption, as Beechey was to prove ten years later. Beechey also examined and named Elephant Point, of which he writes: "I found Mr.Collie had been successful in his search among the cliffs at Elephant Point, and had discovered several bones and grinders of elephants and other animals in a fossil state, of which a full description and drawings from the remains will be found in the Appendix. Associating these two dis– coveries, I bestowed the name of Elephant upon the point, to mark its vicinity to the place where the fossils were found; and upon the river that of Buck [: ] and, in compliment to Dr. Buck [: ] nd, the professor of geology at Oxford, to wh [: ] m I am much indebted for the above mentioned description of the fossils, and for the arrangement of the ge ^ o ^ logical ^ ^ memoranda attached to this work.

"The cliff in which these fossils appear to have been imbedded is part of the range in which the ice formation was seen in July. During our absence (a space of five weeks) we found that the edge of the cliff in one place had broken away four feet, and ^ ^ in another two feet and a half, and a further portion of it was on the eve of being precipitated upon the beach. In some places where the icy shi le ^ el ^ ds had adhered to the cliff nothing now remained, and frozen earth formed the front of the cliff. But cutting through those parts of the ice which were still attached, the mud in a frozen state presented itself as before, and confirmed our previous opinion of the nature of the cliff. With– out putting it to this test, appearances might well have led to the c l ^ o ^ nclusion come to by Kotzebue and M. Escholtz; more especially if it happened to be visi s ^ t ^ ed early in the summer, and in a season less favourable than that in which we viewed it. The earth, which is fast falling away from the cliffs — not in this place only, but in all parts of the bay — is carried away by the tide; and throughout the summer there must be a tendency to diminish the depth of

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the water, wich at no very distant period will probably leave it navigable only by boats. It is now so shallow off the ice cliffs, that a bank dries at two miles' distance from the shore; and it is only at the shingly points which occur opposite the ravines that a convenient landing can be effected with small boats."

In 1901, Mendenhall gave the definitive explanation of the formation of these ice cliffs. "Many wirters since Kotzebue have discussed the origin of these cliffs, but the explanation given by Mr. L.M. Turner, Messrs. E.W.Nelson and C.L. Hooper, and Prof. I.C. Russell seems to be entirely adequate. It is that [: ] the numerous lakelets scattered about over the tundra ^ ^ are gradually buried by the advance of their mossy borders toward the center. After their burial they are frozen, as is the entire tundra, a few inches below its surface and are later revealed by later [: ] al ^ ^ river cutting, as in ^ ^ the Kowak delta, or by the work of waves, as at Elephant Point, and appear as masses of comparatively clear ice in the general deposit of frozen mud, sands, and vegetable matter."

Of the north side of the bay, Beechey wrote: "In our return to the ship to deposit the fossils, a calm obliged us to anchor on the north side of the bay, where we landed with difficulty, in consequence of the shallowness of the beach, and of several ridges of sa ^ n ^ d thrown up parallel with it, too near the sur– face for the boat to pass over, and with channels of water between them too deep to wade through without getting completely wet. The country abounded in l ^ a ^ kes, in which were many wild ducks, geese, teal, and widgeon; and was of the same swampy nature before described: it was covered with moss, and occasionally by low bushes of juniper, cranberry, whortleberry, and cloudberry. Near this spot, two days before, we saw a herd of eleven reindeer, and shot a musk rat."

Eschscholtz Bay is about 27 miles long and 11 miles wide at the greatest. Aside from several shelter cabins and a reindeer station, at the mouth of the Kauk River, the only settlement in the vicnity is Baldwin, a few miles in [: ] and and west from Elephant Point. There is a 1100-foot landing area near Baldwin, and the village is on the winter trail which leads from Deering

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and Kiwalik northward to the Kobuk River and to Kotzebue (q.v.), on Baldwin Peninsula.

^ 840 wds. ^

ETOLIN STRAIT, western Alaska, separates Nunivak Island (q.v.) from the section of the mainland between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon Rivers (q.v.). For several miles offshore from the main– land, mud flats and extremely shoal water obstruct navigation of the strait all the way from Cape Avinof, [: ] ^ its ^ southeastern entrance point, to Cape Vancouver, Nelson Island. A few miles above Cape Avinof, Kinak Bay indents the lake-strewn mainland. The head of this bay is divided by a small peninsula ^ point of land ^ which separates the mouths of the two rivers, the Kuguklik and the Kinak, which flow into the bay from the northeast. The first of these rivers rises in an unnamed lake east of the bay and about 18 miles inland. The native settlement of Kipnuk is on this river a few miles up from its mouth. Some maps show the Kinak River rising in Dall Lake ^ about ^ 20 miles northeast of Kinak Bay which lake also drains into Kinia River. The Kinia flows in a generally southwesterly direction to empty into Etolin Strait about 18 miles north of Kinak Bay. In December, 1878, Edward William Nelson [: ] ^ v ^ isited the two towns on the Kinia, Chichinak and Sfaganuk, and reported their names [: ] ^ with ^ variants of their present form. A few miles north of the Kinia the southern channel to Baird Inlet empties into the strait. This and the more northerly channel to the inlet cut Nelson Island off from the mainland. Agiukchuk, the only settlement on this southern channel was also visited by Nelson in 1878.

Baird Inlet, which, except for two narrow channels each about 22 miles long, is cut off from Etolin Strait and Bering Sea by Nelson Island. ^ Baird Inlet ^ is a large body of water about 36 miles long from each to west and about 18 miles from north to south at the widest points. The It lies somewhat south of midway of the stretch of coast separating

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the mouth ^ s ^ of the Kuskokwim and Yukon rivers. The country on all sides of the inlet is low, marshy, lake-studded tundra. Many of these lakes empty one into the other or drain into small rivers and stream, a great number of which find their way into the inlet. Petrof named this body of water in 1880 after Professor Spencer F. Baird, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Very little is known about this part of Alaska and most of the lakes and rivers, with the exception of Dall Lake, about 10 miles south of the head of the inlet, are unnamed and unexplored.

Nelson Island fits closely into the mouth of Baird Inlet. It lies ^ northeast ^ across Etolin Strait northeast of ^ from ^ the north end of Nunivak Island. Nelson Island is about 43 miles from north to south and about 33 miles from east to west at the widest points. Mud flats obstruct the southern channel to Baird Inlet and appear again just south of the northern channel entrance . The northern, eastern, and southern sections of the island are low, the southern being dotted with tiny lakes, but the mid-western section is hilly, particularly along the peninsula which juts out from this western side toward Nunivak Island. Cape Vancouver, the westernmost tip of this peninsula, rises boldly 1,000 feet above the water. The shoal water which extends northward from the mouth ^ ^ of the Kuskokwim River persists along the southern side of this peninsula past the settlement of Kaliukluk, on the south side of the cape. Deep water lies directly off the c ^ C ^ ape ^Vancouver^ and continues along the north side of the bite on which Tanunak, a native village of about 65 people, is situated. From Tanunak northeastward along the shore of the island the mudflats reappear and persist to the mouth of the northern channel to Baird Inlet. Kashigaluk, in the center of the island, with a 1939 population of 10, and Kaioliuk, on the north shore a few miles east

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of Tanunak are the only other settlements on the island.

Etolin Strait was discovered by Adolph Karlovich Etolin in 1821, twenty years before he was made governor of the Russian American Colonies. He called it Cook Strait after Captain James Cook, but Krusenstern proposed that it be called Etolin Strait, by which name it is generally indicated on current maps.

The mainland east of the strait is part of the 30,000– square-mile stretch of marsh and tundra between the mouths of the Kukokwim and the Yukon which is the major breeding ground for the water fowl not only of Alaska but also for all of western Canada and the United States. So many ducks and geese nest and rear their young in this area that the natives collect their eggs by the boatload in the spring and drive geese by the thousands ^ of geese and half-grown birds ^ into net corrals in July. Annabel reported in 1948 that not only was their no adequate enforcement of the laws to protect these fowl from destruction at human hands, but also that coyotes had found their way into this part of Alaska within the last few years and that they were adding considerably to the slaughter. Since this is the major source of game fowl for the United States and Canada both ^ , ^ it would seem most necessary that protective measures be taken with all possible speed.

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FAIRWAY ROCK (65°37′ N.Lat., 168° 44′ W.Long.) Bering Strait, Alaska, lies nine or ten miles southeast of Little Diomede Island. Fairway is a 200-foot steep-sided, square-headed granite rock with deep water on all sides and no outlying dangers.

According to W.T. Lopp, a late nineteenth century missionary to the Cape Prince of Wales Eskimos, and namesake of Lopp Lagoon, the top of Fairway Rock is several acres in area and is absolutely flat. Since its characteristics are similar and its altitude only slightl ^ y ^ ^ less ^ than that of York Plateau, it is probably of the same period of erosion.

^ 2180 wds - Text ^ ^ 50 wds - Bibl. ^

GOLOVNIN BAY (Golofnin), a northern arm of Norton Sound, western Alaska, was discovered in 1821 by Kromchenko and named after his ship, which in turn had been named for Captain Vasili Mikhailovich Golofnin, of the Russian Navy.

^ ¶ ^ Golovnin Bay cuts into the south side of Seward Peninsula west of Norton Bay. The 12-mile wide entrance to this bay extends from Cape Darby on the east to Rocky Point on the west. From these two points, the bay extends northward for about twelve miles to its head, where a two-mile entrance leads into Golovnin Sound. This sound extends about 9 miles in a northwesterly direction to the many-channeled mouth of the Fish River. About 8 miles above Cape Darby tiny Carolyn Island stands about one-quarter of a mile off the eastern shore of the bay.

The foothills of the Darby Mountains extend along the peninsula which forms the eastern side of the bay, but nowhere approach the shores very closely except in the vicinity of Cape Darby itself. Inland from the sand spit which ju ^ ts ^ out from the eastern shore of the bay at the entrance to Golovnin Sound, the land is low and swampy, and, across the entire head of the sound, extends a swamp which reaches several miles inland, completely enclosing the tortuous channels of the mouths of the Fish and ^ Klokerblok ^ Rivers.

This swampland and tundra continues halfway down the western side of the bay and reappears on the point of land ^ , ^ and on the tidal island ^ , ^ which extend [: ] from the west side of the bay towards the sand-spit opposite ^ , ^ at the entrance to Golovnin Sound. For the five miles southward to Rocky Point the western side of Golovnin Bay is high and bold, although fringed with a low, sandy beach.

^ ¶ ^ There is good anchorage with protection from all winds in the vicinity of the southern sandspit in the entrance to Golovnin

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Sound, but an extensive shoal cuts across this entrance from the western side of the bay to within three-quarters of a mile of the eastern shore. The channel runs around the eastern end of this shoal and so into Golovnin Sound, which is extremely shallow thoughout and open only to small steamers. McKee describes this sound as "a large and shallow body of water with treacherous mud-flats, surrounded by great barren hills and the all-pervading tundra." There is a mission and reindeer station a few miles above Cape Darby on the eastern shore of the bay, but the only true settlement in this area is Golovnin, (see below).

The Kachauik River enters Golovnin Sound a few miles above Golovnin, and the Fish River, major tributary to the sound, and one of the largest streams in southern Seward Peninsula, enters at the head.

The Fish rises in the Bendeleben Mountains about midway between Death Valley and Mount Bendeleben. After about 7 miles, it works its way southward out of the mountains, then, flowing [: ] in a southwesterly direction, crosses a twelve-mile stretch of low, marshy tundra, called the Fish River Flats, then passes thro ^ u ^ gh a mountain chain of 1,000-foot peaks, and finally veers southward to follow a meandering course down fifteen miles (airline) of tundra to the head of Golovnin Sound. White Mountain, the main Fish River settlement, (see below), lies about midway of this section of the river.

The mountains of the upper Fish River rise to 3,500 feet, and the valleys through which the main river and its tributaries flow are U-shaped and glaciated. There is some timber along the streams in the Fish River Flats area, but otherwise the country is barren of trees. From the west, in the Flats section of its course, the Fish receives the waters of Boston Creek, with its two tributaries Baker and Oregon Creeks, and of Pargon River. It is also joined from the east by Mosquito Creek, Rathlatulik River, Etchepak River, and Cache Creek.

Pargon River rises in the vicinity of Chauik Mountain, is joined by Duncan Creek from the south after leavin ^ g ^ ^ the ^ mountains, and enters the Fish a few miles above its junction with Cache Creek.

Almost immediately after leaving the mountains below the Flats, the Fish is joined from the west by its main tributary, the ^ N ^ iukluk River (q.v.), and, a few miles farther south, by Fox River.

The Fox rises in the divide separating the Fish River system from the Solomon (q.v.), the next major river to the west, and flows first northeastward and then eastward to the Fish. It is ^ j ^ oined by Horton, Slate, Suiro, and Dewey Creeks at fairly regular intervals along its 17-mile course.

A few miles below the mouth of the Fox, a group of low hills diverts the Fish River, the main channel curving around to the west of these hills, and Steamboat Slough flowing to the east of them. Both these streams converge, together with Klokerblok River, immediately to the south of this group of hills, to feed the branched, delta-like mouth of the Fish River.

The [: ] Klokerblok originates in the mountains to the west of the Fish and just north of the Bluff Region (q.v.), at the junction of O'Brien and Kentucky Creeks. Along the early,mountainous,nine-mile section of its course, it is joined by Skookum River, with its tributaries, Boil, Goldbottom, Sourdough, Eureka, and Dewey, and by Basin, Thompson, and Colorado Creeks. It then continues for another nine miles across the coastal tundra to the Fish River, being joined by several unnamed streams on the way.

^ Settlements ^

The only habitations along the first half of the Fish River are Omilak, on an early tributary to Mosquito Creek, Telephone Shelter Cabin, and Boston Shelter Cabin, but White Mountain, at the confluence of the Fish and the Klokerblok Rivers, is one of the major settlements for the entire Fish River area. [: ]

Around 1900, White Mountain was merely a group of log cabins

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and a storehouse point for the Wild Goose Mining and Trading Company, which Chales D. Lane was then operating with remarkable success on Ophir Creek, in the Council District north of White Mountain.

Leaving behind the disappointments, hardships, and confusion of the Nome beach, Lanier Mc ^ K ^ ee made the trip, complete with ^ ^ a library of law books, from Nome to Council City in July, 1900, stopping at Golovnin and White Mountain on the way. At Golovnin (which he called Chenik), he and his three companions built a narrow, shallow-draft boat of the type necessary for the journey, and christened it the Mush-on . The Arctic Bird [: ] , a light– draft stern-wheeler, then making regular runs between Golovnin and White Mountain, towed them the first twenty-five miles of their trip. McKee writes: "The Mush-on was the last of the string in tow, which consisted of a small barge or lighter, containing Wild Goose Company machinery, and the boats of several others, who were also going up the rivers ... After running upon and backing off various mud-flats, at midnight the Arctic Bird rested at the delta of the Fish River ... It was, of course, daylight, — a weird, grayish effect, — and fairly, but not disagreeably, cold. Then we entered and pushed slowly up the swift and shallow stream, the mosquitos, for the first time in our wanderings to date, making themselves manifest and felt ... For the first time there was a semblance of "God's country." The beautifully clear stream, — flanked on each side by scrub willows and an occasional small spruce-tree, — whose tempting water one could dip up and drink ad libitum , seemed in places filled with fish, darting swiftly about above the gravel bed. Hills that appeared more like mountains loomed up in the distance, gray in the early light. There was the inevitable tundra, of course, but it seemed less all-pervading — it had finally met with some competition ... Many times the Arctic Bird would run upon a riffle (where the water runs very shallow over the gravel), to be temporarily baffled and obliged to back off

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and seek another course. The stream averaged hardly two feet in depth ... By noon we were disembarked and camped at White Mountain, a few feet from the river ... this was the best camping-spot yet. The scene was pretty; it seemed a healthful place; and water, plentiful and good, was very near at [: ] hand."

As this shows, even in those days, lighterage companies were making regular trips between Golovnin and White Mountain, which was then, and still is, head of light-draft navigation on the Fish River. Today small craft still bring supplies into the district, but a great deal of freight is carried by air. [: ]

White Mountain, with a 1939 population of about 200, now has a 1,500-foot runway for land planes, a post-office, and telephone connection with Nome. Of the three general stores, two are ^ r ^ un by whites, and the other, a cooperative, by a Native named Abraham Lincoln. The town also has one of the few Alaska Native Service Boarding Schools yet established in the entire Territory.

Golovnin, on the east side of the bay, was formerly called ^ Chenik, or ^ Dexter's, after the pioneer who settled there in the [: ] late 1880's. The Indians called this settlement Chenik (Cheenik), and Mckee described it, in 1900, as a scattered settlement on a high hill containing a small Swedish Evangelical Church Mission, which was caring for 50 or 60 natives. The summer of 1900 brought an epidemic of measles and pneumoni [: ] which killed whole families, and which turned the mission into a hospital for most of the natives of the region.

Golovnin is now a fishing and mining town of 116 or more people with a schoo^l^, post-office, roadhouse, licensed fur dealer, and a Mission Convent Church. There are two general stores in the village, two herring salteries, and two lighterage companies carrying freight up and down the Fish River between White Mountain and Golovnin. In addition to several

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GOLOVNIN BAY REGION [: ]

reindeer corrals, there is a cold storage plant for reindeer meat. The town is connected by telephone with Nome, St. Michael, and Council, and there is a 2,000-foot landing field for wheeled planes, as well as a 9,900-foot sheltered anchorage for seaplanes on each side of the spit upon which the town is located.

History

Golovnin Bay was an important starting point for a series of expedition ^ s ^ which [: ] culminated in the discovery of gold near Council, on the Niukluk, and its subsequent discover ^ y ^ near Nome. The first explorers of the interior of Seward Peninsula were the members of the Western Union Telegraph Company Expedition of 1865-66, who, under the leadership of Baron Otto von Bendeleben, were seeking a route from ^ G ^ olovnin Bay to Port Clar ne ^ en ^ ce on Bering Sea for the proposed telegraph line from the United States to Europe by what ^ way ^ of Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. This party

^ 27 [: ] ^

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ascended Golovnin Bay and the Fish River, turned up the Niukluk, crossed the divide, and went down the Kruzgamepa. Then came the news that the second Atlantic cable had been successfully laid in the summer of 1866, and the Western Union explorers were hastily recalled. It is said that they left behind them valuable machinery, piles of telephone poles, and ^ many ^ fragile wire bridges. They left behind also the gold which Bendeleben and several of his men had noticed along the Niukluk River. In 1881, John Dexter, one of the employees of the Alaska Gold and Silver Mining, Milling and Trading Company (later the Russian American Milling Co.) which mined galena on Bering Sea and also worked a few gold placers on the Fish River, left the company and opened a trading station at the present site of Golovnin, then called ^ Chenik or ^ Dexter's. The galena-gold mining company closed down, but Dexter stayed in the area and continued to prospect for gold. Daniel B. Libby, who had been with Bendeleben in 1865-66, was so forcibly reminded by the Klondike Strike of 1897 of the gold on the Niukluk, that, despite his age and relative ill-health, he found a backer and sailed from San Francisco for Golovnin Bay, arriving in August, 1897. The silver-lead Omalik Mine was already in operation, and a Norwegian named Johannsen ^ , ^ had panned gold on the Niukluk in 1894 ^ , ^ but had abandoned it for the Yukon, so that Libby had some indication of the value of the country. Tom Guarick, an Eskimo , whom Dexter had taught to pan, offered to guide the Libby party to Ophir Creek, where he had reclaimed an ounce of gold while on a hunting trip. Libby accepted this offer, and h [: ] s party, having made the trip and spent a winter prospecting the entire area, in the spring of 1898 staked their claims and recorded the Eldorado Mining District, in the vicinity of Ophir Creek. In so doing they founded Council City which was to prove to be the first producing camp on Seward Peninsula. It was from Golovnin Bay that Eric O. Lindblom, Jafet

^ 28 [: ] ^

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Lindeberg, and John Brynteson set out on September 11, 1898 for their history-making prospecting expedition to the ^ future ^ Nome District during which they staked Discovery claim on Anvil Creek. When news of this strike reached Golovnin Bay ^ , ^ it started the Nome Gold Rush which affected first Golovnin, and particularly John Dexter, then Council, St. Michael and the Bristol Bay area, then ^ Yukon, and finally ^ the west coast of the United States, and ^ thus ^ initiat ed ^ ing ^ the economic development of the entire Seward Peninsula.

^ 7 [: ] ^

Sources: Colby, Tewkesbury; USCP; VSGB; Tompkins, Stuart Ramsay. Alaska, Promyschlennik, and Sourdough. ^ Alaska, Promyschlennik, and Sourdough. ^ Norman, Okla., Univ. of Oklahoma press, 1945.

French, L.H. Seward's Land of Gold. ^ Seward's Land of Gold. ^ N. Y., Montross, Clarke & Emmons (n.d.)

French, L.H. Nome Nuggets. ^ Nome Nuggets. ^ N.Y.,Montross, 1901.

Greely, A.W. Handbook of Alaska. ^ Handbook of Alaska. ^ 3d ed. N.Y., Scribner, 1925.

Mckee, Lanier. Land of Nome. ^ Land of Nome. ^ N.Y., Grafton (c1902)

^ Text- 820 wds. ^ ^ Bibl- 25 wds. ^

GOODHOPE BAY, in the southeastern part of Kotzebue Sound, an arm of the Polar Sea, indents the northern [: ] hore of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Kotzebue named this bay in August of 1816. "I gave up for the present," he wrote, "the farther examination of this arm, as it would cost me too much time on account of the shoals, and put it off till next year, when I might continue it by means of very small baydares from Oonalashka. I called this bay, the Bay of Good Hope, as I might really hope to make a very remarkable discovery here. The coasts on the northern part of the arm rise to a considerabl ^ e ^ height, but gradually become lower the farther one penetrates to the N., where there are many small lakes and rivers. The southern coast of the arm is low, and continues so as far as the eye can reach. It is only in the vicinity of the Devil's mountain, which is fifteen miles from ^ ^ here, that it becomes mountainous. The land is every where green, but has not a single bush on it."

As Kotzebue was to discover, this bay is quite shallow. (See Devil Mountain article.) It does, however, receive three good-sized tribu– taries: the Nugnugaluktuk, Lane, and Pish Rivers. The first of these was recorded by Witherspoon, in 1903. Lane is a prospector's name given to the stream known to the Eskimos as the Kugachuk . The Pish, likewise, is known to the natives as the Kutuk . However, neither of these original names appears on recent maps.

The Nugnugaluktuk [: ] rises in a lake twenty or so miles inland and flows through a divide south of 880-foot Devil Mountain, and then continues almost directly eastward to the bay. Lane and Pish Rivers rise in a low divide east of the Serpentine River system and flow northeast– ward for about twenty miles to the bay.

The arbitrary line separating the Port Clarence mining district

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GOODHOPE BAY, ALASKA

from the Fairhaven precinct passes between the Pish and the Goodhope Rivers. Goodhope River is the next more easterly affluent to Goodhope Bay.

The Goodhope system drains an area of 500 square miles. The main river rises among the lava flows a few miles northwest of Imuruk Lake (q.v.), proceeds westward for about twenty-five miles, then turns northward and northeastward for another twenty-five miles, and debouches into Goodhope Bay. The river may be said to ^ o ^ riginate at the junction of Right Fork and Cottonwood Creek. Cottonwood, with its tributaries, Trail, Divide, and Noyes Creeks, are the most important early tributaries, while Esperanza, placer, and Humbolt Creeks are the main streams in the western portion of the Goodhope basin. The gravel in the beds of these streams is so coarse and ^ ^ loose that almost all the low water flow sinks into it and out of sight. Above placer Creek, the basin includes an area of interbedded limestone and schist, covered with lava, into which the river has cut a fairly deep and narrow valley. Below placer Creek the river valley broadens considerably and merges with the coastal flats.

^ R ^ ight Fork has carved a narrow canyon in the lava and receives part of its water supply from lava springs, which may in turn receive some water from Imuruk Lake. Because of these springs, Right Fork is more plenti– fully supplied with water during the summer than some of the other streams in this system.

About 1908, some gold was found in these early tributaries to the Goodhope, but mining did not flourish in this region, probably because of the lack of a reliable water supply during the summer months, which is the only ^ time ^ [: ] ^ when ^ [: ] placer mining can be carried on [: ] in this part of Alaska.

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GOODHOPE BAY, ALASKA

Traveling eastward around Goodhope Bay, the next tributary is Cripple River, which receives the waters of Oregon, Mystery, Hoodlu ^ m ^ , Polar Bear, Excelsior, Long, and Eagle [: ] (or Pot) Creeks. The Cripple is only about ten miles long and takes a generally northwesterly direction from the same lava flows as those in which the Goodhope rises.

Still traveling eastward, Francis, Clifford, Rex, Sullivan, and Fox Creek, all relatively short streams, flow into the Bay.

Although considerable numbers of natives live in this region, there are no named communities. The nearest settlement is Deering, east of Sullivan Creek and Point Deceit, at the mouth of the Inmachuk River (q.v.). The Eskimos here earn their living [: ] by hunting, fishing, and trapping, activities which are not hindered by the underlying permafrost in the soil, as [: ] are the mining endeavors of the white man.

^ 1824 wds. ^

GOODNEWS BAY, a small, southeastern arm of Bering Sea south of Kuskokwim Bay, lies just north of 59° N. Lat. and across 161° 40′ W. Long. Two shingle spits, North Spit and South Spit, reduce the entrance to less than a mile, but there is a deep channel which leads through the entrance and for a distance of about one mile inside. This channel affords good anchorage for ocean-going vessels, but beyond it, for the remaining 8 or 9 miles to Goodnews, at the head of the bay, the water is shoal and is swept by tidal currents reaching a maximum of 2 1/2 knots, and, with southerly or easterly winds, by dangerous rip tides. The tidal range is about 9 feet. Under Beluka Hill on the north side of the bay 6 ^ ^ feet of water will be found at low tide, and other deeper anchorages have been reported just inside the entrance, but most parts of this bay have not been surveyed recently so that strangers to the region should attempt it only in daylight, on a rising tide, and with constant use of the lead.

The largest tributary to Goodnews Bay is Goodnews River which rises in Goodnews Lake and takes a meandering course southwest– ward for about 45 miles to the head of the bay. The Ahklun Range borders the river basin more closely on the northwest than on the southeast although tributaries to the Goodnews rise in the heights and mountain lakes on both sides of its course. Middle Fork and South Fork, the two largest tributaries to the Goodnews, enter from the east near its mouth. From north to south the main western tribu– taries are Canyon, Bear, Slate, Olympic, Cascade, Wattamuse, Granite, and Barnum Creeks. Of these, Barnum, which is joined by Camp Creek, is the largest. In addition to these tributaries, many small streams

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unnamed streams drain from nearby lakes and mountains into the Goodnews River.

Beluka Mountain and Lump Mountain border the northern shore of Goodnews Bay near its head, and several other peaks in the Ahklun Range rise above the narrow strip of lowland which edges the southern shore of the bay. These include: Red Mountain, just south of the village of Platinum, at the base of South Spit; Thorsen Mountain, a few miles south of Red Mountains; and Susie Mountains a few miles to the east. Crater Hill, Pyramid Peak, and Dome Mountain lie northeastward from Susie Mountain. Salmon River follows the valley between Red and Susie Mountains southwest– ward to Kuskokwim Bay at a point about midway between Chagvan and Goodnews Bays. The Salmon is joined by Clara Creek and Platinum Creek from the west and by Medicine Creek from the east. Smalls River rises in a high mountain valley between Susie Mountain and Crater Hill and flows northwestward into Goodnews Bay. Tundra Creek joins Smalls River a few miles from its mouth, and the town of Platinum is on the west side of the mouth.

Between these peaks in the Ahklun Range and along the whole extent of the Goodnews River Basin the country is treeless tundra which, during the summer, is covered with moss and many kinds of wild flowers. Although the soil is too acid and the climate too rainy for any kind of crop, the vicinity supports large herds of reindeer and a variety of other wildlife including fox, ducks, geese, mink, and muskrat.

In 1926, Walter Smith, an Eskimo, confided to another Eskimo, Henry Whuya, that he had found 'white gold' in Fox Gulch at the south end of Red Mountain. Whuya told Charles Thorsen, an old resident and [: ] [: ] miner, about this discovery. Thorsen collected some samples from the same spot and sent them to Fairbanks for analysis. The 'white gold' was platinum. For many years gold had been known to exist and had been mined in a small way north of Goodnews Bay, but Smith's find

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was the first indication that there was platinum south of the bay. Thorsen continued his prospecting in the area and discovered platinum in Clara Creek in 1928. That same year Edward St. Clair made a similar find on Squirrel Creek. In October, 1936, while three Alaska miners were hand-drilling on the beach near the head of Goodnews Bay they hit a heavy layer of platinum gravel on bedrock at about 38 feet. This gravel was said to be worth about $3.00 per cubic yard. The miners ^ S ^ taked a claim and then went Outside to buy machinery and tools with which to work it. News of their find leaked out, reached newspaper headlines, and started another rush to Alaska. Goodnews River was staked for miles upstream, new prospectors arrived daily by boat and plane, and tent cities sprang up around Platinum and the old native village of Mumtrak, near the head of the bay. Platinum, which had previously been the site of a few native huts and a trading post, grew to an estimated 50 in 1938 and to about 600 in 1947, by which time the town had a general store, a third class post office, a road– house, a radio sales and repair shop, a fur dealer, a liquor store, and a bowling alley supported by the Goodnews Bay Mining Company. Although the town lacked such basic facilities as a hospital or a school, it did have a pet-shop and kennel specializing in springer spaniels. The present landing field is 2,120 feet long by 100 feet wide, and there is a second order CAA weather bureau station in the town.

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The known platinum deposits south of Red Mountain are important not only because they represent the first placers in Alaska workable primarily for platinum, but also because they are much richer than any others so far developed in the United States or its possessions, despite the fact that the bedrock source of these placers has not yet been discovered. An analysis of the 1945 platin ^ um, ^ production figures: Alaska, 26,505 ounces; California, 43 ounces; Oregon, 3 ounces, making a total of 26,551 ounces, shows how slight is the extra-Alaska contribution to the United States platinum industry. The following table gives the history of placer platinum production in Troy ounces:

Since 1938 the United States has been the fourth largest producer of platinum in the world, being preceded by Canada, the U.S.S.R., and the Union of South Africa, in that order, and being followed by Colombia, which up to that year had held fourth place. with the suspension of the OPA price of $35.00 per Troy ounce on April 29, 1946, the price rose to between $95.00 and $100.00 within the year.

Platinum, once the supreme luxury metal, was put to hard, practical use during the war in bomb sights, radar equipment, magneto contacts, spark plug electrodes, and grids in high frequency transmission valves. It was used as a catalyst in the manufacture of nitric acid and for spinerettes and brushings in the manufacture of rayon. Beginning in 1945 the percentage of sales for chemical, electrical, dental, and medical purposes dropped markedly, and in 1946 the jewelry manufacturers took 61% of all the platinum produced, reinstating the metal to its pre-war, primarily decorative status.

In the early days of platinum mining in the Goodnews Bay area, a great many individual operators worked separate claims. Since no one profited under this system, a movement toward consolida– tion began, ^ so that ^ T ^ t ^ he Goodnews Bay Mining Company now holds a controlling interest in the area. Incorporated in 1935, this company held, by 1947, more than 150 claims covering 2500 acres of the vicinity around

^ 6 ^ Platinum. The company maintains an 8 cubic foot dredge with a crew of approximately 63, a gold-platinum ^ ^ placer with two 4 1/4 yard drag lines, and a washing plant employing approximately 10 men. Mining can be carried on in this area with a dragline excavator for about 5 1/2 months of the year. A December, 1947, report tells of the Goodnews Bay Mining Company personnel flying out and the mine closing down. The main plant at Platinum Creek is electrified. It has power for the cleanup plant, the repair shop and the well-equipped machine shop. There are bunkhouses for single workmen and about 11 small houses for married personnel. There is also a good gravel road connecting the camp with Platinum.

The amount of platinum recovered from this area is so great that in 1938 the Goodnews Bay Mining Company entered into a sales contract with one of the largest refiners and sellers of platinum in the United States not only to refine their product but also to feed it to the market gradually so as to hold up the price. The Goodnews Bay Mining Company produces about $25,000 to $30,000 worth of platinum and gold a month. Total 1939 production for the entire Goodnews Bay area was $300,000 in platinum and $100,000 in gold. Analysis of the rocks in the vicinity shows the presence of chromium, nickel, and copper, but not in sufficient quantity to pay for their recovery.

Efforts are still being made to discover the bedrock source of the platinum in the Goodnews Bay area. Red and Susie Mountains are both composed of ultrabasic rocks of the kind with which platinum is usually associated. Since the northwestern side of Red Mountain was once covered by the Goodnews Glacier, a condition which would tend to dissipate rather than concentrate any metallic elements which might be present there, and since most of the placers have been found on the eastern side of the mountain, it is felt that the lode deposits must lie along those eastern slopes. However, according to Mertie's report of 1939, they had not yet been found.

^ -7- ^

The only other towns in the Goodnews Bay area are Goodnews, and Mumtrak near the head of the bay, Goodnews Bay, shown on some maps at the base of North Spit, and Barnum, 8 or 9 miles up the Goodnews River.

Mumtrak had a population of about 161 in 1936 and a Federal school. Barnum had a population of 27 in 1939, and Goodnews Bay, with a population of about 48, is the post office for the area north of the bay. These four towns are on or ^ are ^ connected with the long winter trail which runs westward from two points on Shelikof Strait, joining towns on Iliamna Lake, Kvichak and Nushagak Bays with villages to the west. A branch of this trail connects Mumtrak with Platinum. At Goodnews ^ Bay ^ the trail turns northward and follows the coast of Kuskokwim Bay to [: ] Eek and Bethel.

In 1826 Sarichef gave this bay the Russian equivalent of 'Goodnews,' Port Dobriek Vestei, and Lutke recorded it as Bonnes Nouvelles Baie, adding "it might better be called the bay of false reports ." His criticism may have been based on the difficulties of navigating the bay, but no one, since Johnnie Kilbuck first told of finding 'white gold'near Red Mountain has thought of Goodnews Bay as "the bay of false reports."

^ 1,000 wds - Text ^ ^ 50 wds - Bibl. ^

GRANTLEY HARBOR, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is an almost land-locked arm of Port Clarence ^ ,which itself leads by way of Tuksuk Channel into Imuruk Basin (q.v.). ^ . It can be entered by vessels drawing less than twelve feet and provides an excellent, well-protected anchor– age for such small vessels.

Directly across from Teller, the northern sand spit at the en– trance to Grantley Harbor is marked by a light, and buoys mark the channel during the season of navigation. The small-boat landing in the Harbor consists of floats which are raised or lowered on tracks. There are no docks in the Harbor, and this float-landing is difficult during [: ] storms.

Captain Frederick William Beechey, having already sailed around Port Clarence, entered Grantley Harbor on September 1, 1827. He was the first white man to [: ] do so, and [: ] describes the place as follows: "On examination with the boats, we found, as we expected, an inner harbour ^ [ ^ Grantley Harbour ^ ] ^ , ten miles in length by two and a quarter in width, with almost an uniform depth of two and a half and three fathoms water. The channel into it from the outer harbour is extremely naorrow, the entrance being contracted by two sandy spits; but the water is deep, and in one part there is not less than twelve fathoms. At the upper end of the harbour a second strait, about three hundred yards in width, was formed between steep cliffs; but this channel ^ [ ^ Tuksuk Channel ^ ] ^ was also contracted by sandy points. The current ran strong through the channel, and brought down a great body of water, nearly fresh...The boats had not time to pursue this strait; but in all probability it communicates with a large inland lake ^ [ ^ Imuruk Basin ^ ] ^ , as described by the natives of Kotzebue Sound. At the entrance of the strait, called Tokshook by the natives, there is an Esquimaux village, and upon the northern and eastern shores of the harbour there are two others: the population of the whole amounted to about four hundred persons. They closely resembled the natives we had seen before ^ [ ^ in the Kotzebue District to the north ^ ] ^ , except that they were better provided with clothing, and their implements were neater and more ingeniously made. Among their peltry we noticed several gray fox and land-otter skins, but they would not part with them for less than a hatchet apiece. In addition to the usual weapons of bows and arrows, these people had short iron spears

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nea^t^ly inlaid with brass, upon all which implements they set great value, and kept them wrapped in skins. Among the inhabitants of the village on the northern shore, named Choonowuck, there were several girls with massive bracelets. One had a curb chain for a necklace, and another a bell suspended in front, in the manner described the preceding year at Choris Peninsula.

"These two ports, ^ [Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor] ^ situated so near Beering's Strait, may at some future time be of great importance to navigation, as they will be ^ ^ found particularly useful by vessels which may not wish to pass the strait in bad weather. To the outer harbour, which for convenience and security surpasses any other near Beering's Strait with which we are acquainted. I attached the name of Port Clarence, in honour of his most gracious Majesty, then Duke of Clarence. To the inner, which is well adapted to the purposes of repair, and is sufficiently deep to receive a frigate, provided she lands her guns, which can be done conveniently upon the sandy point at the entrance, I gave the name of Grantley Harbour, in compliment to Lord Grantley.

"On the northern side of Grantley Harbour, Mr. Collie found a bad of purple primulas, anemones, and of dodecatheons, in full [: ] fresh blossom, amidst a covering of snow that had fallen the preceding night."

During the nineteenth century, Grantley Harbor, along with Port Clarence, was an important rendezvous for the many whaling vessels which sailed these waters. Whaling fleets are a thing of the past, and the locality is now visited only by trading schooners and an occasional freighter.

The Harbor was surveyed by Beechey, in September, 1827, and named Grantley, "in compliment to Lord Grantley."

Several small streams rising in the plateau on which Mukacharni Mountain stands flow southward into Grantley Harbor. From west to east these are: Bay, Sunset, Igloo, Dewey, McKinley, and Offield Creeks. From the time of the first strike in this area, in 1900, the gravels of these streams have been known to be auriferous, but the output has been small.

A few streams rising in the foothills of the Kigluaik Mountain ^ s ^ , to the southeast, also flow into Grantley Harbor. From west to east these are: Coyote, and Dese Creeks. Very little prospecting has been done along these streams because of their proximity to the Bluestone (q.v.)

^ -5- ^ which gave, ^ promise ^ early in the century, of being a valuable gold stream.

One of the major difficulties in gold mining in this area has been the problem of a reliable water supply. Early in the mining season, the [: ] streams are too small to support dredging or sluicing activities. Then, with the spring rains, they [: ] are transformed into torrents, which destroy any dams previously contructed for their control. It was originally intended to build a system of ditches to divert these flood waters and put them to use, but then it was discovered that, although the gold in the vicinity was coarse and characterized by large nuggets, the deposits were not sufficiently rich to warrant the expense of a ditch system. The mining activity in this area is now negligible.

Sources:

USCP. Alaska. Pt.II. 1947

Baker

VSGB

USC & G S Chart 9385

Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward ^ Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port ^ Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ . Washington, D.C., 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin. ^ Bulletin. ^ No.328)

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1901.

Beechey, Capt. F.W. Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Strait ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ Strait ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ . London, 1831. Vol.II

^ 80 wds ^

GROSVENOR, LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, is about 17 miles long by only about 2 miles wide. It lies northeastward of the Bay of Islands, an arm of Naknek Lake (q.v.), and is surrounded on almost all sides by the foothills of the ^ ^ Alaska Range from which several small tributaries drain into it. Lake Grosvenor may be reached by easy portage from the Bay is Islands, or by ascent of the Savonoski River which connected with an eastern outlet of the lake.

^ 1008 wds ^

Hazen Bay, western Alaska, opens into Bering ^ Sea ^ north of Etolin Strait (q.v.). The bay was named by Edward William Nelson in 1878 for General William Babcock Hazen, Chief Signal Corps Officers, U.S.A.

The entrance to Hazen Bay is ^ ^ about 7 miles wide, and just within this entrance the bay widens considerably. Several rivers drain from the many lakes which dot this section of the Yukon delta and flow into Hazen Bay. The Manopiknak River, shown on some maps as an outlet of the Yukon River (q.v.), enters the southeastern corner of the bay, and the Azun (Azoon) River enters farther up its head. The mouths of these rivers are wide, shoal and completely clogged with mud flats at low tide. The land which borders the northern side ^ of ^ fo the bay is a marsh edged on the west by more mud flats and cut by several small streams. Some maps show the settlements Ukak and Anakak on the shores of Hazen Bay.

^ ¶ ^ About 10 miles above Hazen Bay the Manakinak River enters Bering Sea. The Kashunuk River, thought to be another outlet of the Yukon, empties into an unnamed bay a few miles north of the Manakinak. Kashunuk a native settlement of 89 peoples in 1939 is in this vicinity.

Because so little is known about this stretch of the Yukon Delta, the coast northward from the Kashunuk is represented by a dotted line. Most of the information concerning this part of Alaska was obtained by Nelson in 1878 ^ , ^ and very little surveying has been done in this area since that time.

The entrance to Hooper Bay, about 22 miles up the coast froms the Kashunuk River, is a narrow channel formed by two small spits of land. Nelson named this bay after Captain Calvin Leighton Hooper. Some maps show the Askinuk River flowing into Hooper Bay.

Hooper Bay on the north shore of this bay ^ is the largest town in this area. It ^ had a ^ ^ reported population of 299, in 1939, which was estimated to have increased to 325 by 1947. Hooper Bay has a post office, ^ and ^ an Alaska Native Service school contained in the new community house which has, [: ] in addition to class– rooms, a shop, clinic, laundry, showers, and teachers' quarters. Mail service runs regularly from Mountain Village on the Yukon except during the months of May and October.

Askinuk which is the only other settlement on Hooper Bay, The promentory between Hooper and Igiak Bays is known as Point Dall.

Igiak Bay, a few miles north of Hooper Bay, is approximately triangular in shape with its broadest side facing the sea. Two narrow spits of land reach toward each other from the north and south to leave a very narrow entrance into Igiak Bay. ^ Dall Point is on the move southerly of these spits. ^ The Kakechik River flows into the bay from the mainland. The tiny native settlement of Igiak on the south shore of the bay was reported both by Petrof and by Nelson.

Cape Romanzof, the most westerly point on the Yukon Delta, is also the most northerly point of the land mass north of Igiak Bay. By a strange coincidence, three men, Shishmaref, Kromchenko, and Etolin, ^ working ^ independently named this Cape Romanzof in 1821. The name has been variously written as Romantsof, [: ] Roumiantsoff, etc. This cape is made up of sheer, perpendicular shafts of rock rising 1,200 to 1,500 feet above the water. The Askinuk Mountains end at Cape Romanzof, the highest peak of the chain, ^ which attains ^ 2,363 feet, being about 5 miles in from the point of the cape. The land trends eastward for about 15 miles from Cape Romanzof in continuous ledges, nowhere lower than 1,230 feet, to the mouth of the Kun River which enters the head of Scammon Bay.

Scammon Bay is shoal and marked with sand bars laid bare at low tide. The only settlements are Kutmiut, at the mouth of the Kun, and Scammon Bay (population 88, in 1939) on the north side of the bay. Scammon Bay is connected by trail with Kwikluak and Kotik at the mouth of the Yukon and with other points up the Yukon and along the shores of Norton S t ound.

South Sand Island and North Sand Island lie outside the entrance to Scammon Bay. Several small native settlements and their associated streams lie on the shores of Bering Sea between the mouth of the Kun and Black River, about 36 miles up the coast: Melatolik, a village on a creek with the same name; Bimiut, an Eskimo camp and village a few miles farther north; and Kwikak, an Eskimo village about 7 miles south of the mouth of the Black River.

Black River is shown on some maps as following an extremely torturous, generally southwesterly ^ 45-mile ^ course, from one of the many small lakes which sprinkle the mainland in this vicinity, for about 45 miles past the village of Ulakakarvik, through Lake Nunawakanuk, to the village of Black (population 15 in 1939), at its mouth. This may be the same village ^ which ^ as appears on some maps as Kipniak.

The entire stretch of coastline north of Scammon Bay is shoal and for several miles offshore. The mainland for hundreds of miles inland is a mass of marshes and lakes, most of which are connected by streams and creeks of varying size. This enormous expanse of tundra is the most important breeding ground for the waterfowl not only for Alaska but also for all of western Canada and the United States. Hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese come to this area every year to lay their eggs and raise their young. The existing wildlife conserva– tions laws are not yet enforced with sufficient strictness to stop the

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natives from gathering these eggs by the boatloads every spring nor from clearing whole areas of nesting and half-grown birds by driving them into net corrals in July. Added to this human threat is the arrival, within the last few years, of the first coyotes to this region. Annabel points out in his recent book that unless something is done very soon to protect these birds from both these hazards they will be in danger of ultimate extinction.

Sources:

VSGB; USCP; Baker; Colby; Annabel. Hunting and Fishing in Alaska ; N.Y. Knopf, 1948

^ 450 wds ^

HOMER, ALASKA (59° 37′ N.Lat.; 151° 27′ W.Long.), a town and post office on Coal Point, Kachemak Bay, Cook Inlet, 75 miles from Seward, was established in November, 1895. It lies at the end of Homer Spit, a narrow neck of land reaching southeastward into the bay. The increase in population from 35 in 1930, to 325 in 1939, is one proof of the wealth of resources in the vicinity and the progressive attitude of the people.

Not only is the region rich in gold, copper and coal, but an estimated 35,000 acres of relatively treeless "Homer Country" is easily cultivated, deep, fertile soil. By 1937, 150 farmers, mostly from the Middle West, had arrived in Homer. In 1938 the Alaska Cooperative Association was incorporated to establish a 200-family settlement program. This, the first cooperative movement ever started in Alaska, was the work of residents of Cordova, a large town on the mainland 210 miles to the south. Neither the climate nor the promise of the soil disappointed the settlers. The mildness of the climate is well shown by the January, 1936, official weather report which recorded five inches of rain and temperatures above 40° for eleven days in succession. The region has 35 inches of rainfall a year and a relatively long growing season. Wheat, oats, barley, and all the hardy vegetables mature successfully. Cattle and sheep stay on ^ ^ pasture at least six months of the year. In about 1945 demands from military establishments on Kodiak Island caused a shift of emphasis from the raising of cattle to truck crops suitable for immediate consumption. Most farmers are specializing on potatoes, although lettuce, celery, cabbage, and berries are also in demand.

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cabbage, and berries are also in demand . All available homesteading land for five miles beyond the town is now taken; although more ^ land ^ is still available in the outlying areas. In contrast with Matanuska Valley (q.v.) the development of the Homer area has gone forward entirely without government aid.

Homer has a dock able to accom ^ m ^ odate large ships ^ , ^ and a road ^ leads ^ from the dock to the town. Boats run regularly to Seattle, Anchorage, and Seldovia. There is a fine CAA airport for land planes. A 1 1/2– mile artificial lake beside the municipal airport for landing amphibian and pontoon planes was nearing completion in October, 1947. There is a radiotelephone station connected with Anchorage. An extension of the Anchorage-Seward road is being built to Homer. This road will solve the accute distribution problems of the Homer farmer ^ , for ^ W^w^ater transportation is difficult, sometimes impossible , along the westernshore of Kenai Peninsula. The new Anchorage-Seward-Homer road supplies the final basic need for the development of Homer into a thriving community. Homesteading land is still available a^l^ong this road. The Cooperative bought the cannery buildings at Kasilof, a town sixty miles to the north, and moved them to Homer. The town has three schools (including a High School), four churches, three restaurants, one theater, two mimeographed weekly newspapers, two general stores, two cold storage plants, a bakery, salmon packer, gift shop, insurance agent, and machine shop. The newest school, completed in 1940, and the newest of the two hotels, completed in 1947, the Alaska Cement Corporation announced plans to build a $1,125,000 cement plant at Homer Spit capable of producing 600 barrels of cement a day. The plant will use native clay, gypsum, limestone and coal. It is expected that proposed military construction

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will use the entire output of this company for two years.

Fishing, canning and fur-farming are other successful projects in the region. Homer was once one of the most important trapping areas in all Alaska. A decade of intensive settlement, however, has greatly reduced the number of mink, beaver, otter, and foxes. The mart i^e^n has been exterminated. In place of the hunter and trapper, therefore, has come the fur-farmer.

Coal mining has always been important in the Homer area. Early gold seekers around Cook Inlet found coal lying loose on the beach. In 1890, five years before the town was established, a coal mine operated in McNeill's Canyon, about ten miles up Kachemak Bay. It is expected that present coal developments will soon be able to supply all the towns on Cook Inlet.

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[: ] HOPE, POINT (68° 21′ N.Lat., 166° 36′ W.Long.), one of the important promontories on the arctic coast of Alaska, is the extreme westerly tip of a low, narrow finger of land projecting some sixteen miles into the Polar Sea. Point Hope is about thirty miles south of Cape Lisburne.

Beechey named this point in August, 1826, in honor of Sir William Johnstone Hope. It has been called Hoffnung (Hope) by German cartographers and Golovnin , or Golofnin , by Russian voyagers, and the Eskimo name, variously recorded as Tikira ^ Tikira ^ , Tikera ^ Tikera ^ , etc., is said to mean "forefinger." The name Golovnin, or Golofnin, is now generally used to identify the bay and sound on the north side of Norton Sound, Bering Sea.

The surface of the land mass terminating in the Point is broken by a number of lagoons, and its shores fall away in a steep shingle beach. Most of these lagoons are not named on recent maps, but the largest, known as Marryatt Inlet, has its entrance on the north side of the promon– tory several miles northeastward from the Point itself. Vessels with a draft up to ten feet can enter Marryatt Inlet, and some schooners have, for several years, been using it as a wintering place. Pilots unfamiliar with this anchorage should sound out the channel before entering. It should also be remembered that during the first part of the season, when the ice is breaking up in the inlet, there is a strong out-going current which carries the ice along at a dangerous velocity. Point Hope proper is marked by a fixed white light maintained from August 1 to November 1 each year.

Very few climatological observations have been taken in this area, but one set recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey between August, 1894, and July, 1896, reads as follows:

Mean total precipitation for the same period was 7.57″, with some fall recorded for 64 days out of the entire year. Precipitation was greatest during the summer ^ ^ months, relatively light from November through March, with a sharp increase in April. The maximum number of rainy days occurred in September.

The first frost occurred on September 13 of 1894, and the first killing frost on October 16. The bay opened on July 17 and August 1, in 1895 and 1896 respectively, and closed on November 19, in 1894.

Writing in 1898, Lieut. E.P. Bertholf gave a good description of summer at Point Hope. "In July it was difficult to imagine I was 125 miles north of the arctic circle, for the open sea showed nota sign of ever having had ice on its surface, the land was covered with many varieties of short-stemmed and brilliantly colored flowers, and the temperature, which had been as low as -45 during the winter, was such that one could wander about in shirt sleeves and not feel uncomfortable. And yet in spite of the fact that we could walk around lightly clad and gather quantities of flowers, with no ice or snow to be seen, if one were to dig below the surface of the ground in the neighborhood of Point Hope from above the Kookpuk River to about half way to Cape Thompson, solid glacial ice would be found at a depth varying from 2, to 7 or 8 feet. How far down this ice extends is not known, but under Mr. Nelson's storehouse an ice house has been chopped out to a depth of 15 feet, and the ice is still clear and solid."

The settlement at Point Hope had a 1939 population of 257, a Federal school, and U.S. commissioner, and Episcopal mission, a post office, and a store. Planes equipped either with wheels or floats may land at Point Hope, and the settlement lies on the winter trail which runs southward to Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula, and northward to Point Barrow.

Point Hope is advantageously situated for trading purposes. It is near the important sealing, whaling, and fishing grounds, while its proximity to the mouth of the Kukpuk River (q.v.) offers an easy route into the interior. Great numbers of Point Hope Eskimos travel the 150 or more miles down the coast to Kotzebue in order to trade with other natives from Cape Prince of Wales and from the far-distant interior regions of the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers.

POINT HOPE, ALASKA

Tigara ^ (q.v.) ^ is a small Eskimo village a little eastward from the Point on the sand spit which forms the north side of Marryatt Inlet.

References:

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, 1906.

Brooks, A.H. Geography and Geology of Alaska ^ Geography and Geology of Alaska ^ . Washington, 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper ^ Professional Paper ^ No.45)

VSGB

USCP

Bertholf, E.P. Report of Second Lieut. E.P. Bertholf, R.C.S. ^ Report of Second Lieut. E.P. Bertholf, R.C.S. ^ July 15, 1898. (U.S. Treasury Department. Report of the Cruise of the U.S. Revenue ^ Report of the Cruise of the U.S. Revenue ^ Cutter Bear and the Overland Expedition for the Relief of the ^ Cutter Bear and the Overland Expedition for the Relief of the ^ Whalers in the Arctic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to September ^ Whalers in the Arctic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to September ^ 13, 1898 ^ 13, 1898 ^ . Washington, 1899. pp.18-27)

^ Text-600 words ^

^ Bibl-50 words ^

HOTHAM INLET, east of Kotzebue Sound, an arm of the Polar Sea, separates the upper half of Baldwin Peninsula (q.v.) from the mainland of northwestern Alaska. This inlet was named by Capt. F.W. Beechey, in 1826, "in compliment to the Hon. Sir Henry Hotham, K.C.B., one of the lords of the Admiralty."

Capt. C.L. Hooper in his report of the second cruise of the Corwin ^ Corwin ^ , which took place in 1881, gives a good description of this Inlet. "Hotham Inlet...is between 30 and 40 miles in length and from 5 to 10 miles in width; and although connected directly with the salt water is entirely fresh on account of the number of rivers which discharge int o it. To the southeast of Hotham Inlet and connected by a narrow channel is Selawik Lake, about 15 miles in width and 20 long, but very shallow. The entrance to the inlet was sounded out by one of the Corwin's boats last year, in the hope of finding a ship channel, but not more than one fathom was found at the entrance, although much deeper inside. The land near the inlet is low, but it is surrounded by a range of hills from 1,000 to 3,000 feet high, from 10 to 30 miles distant. Those to the northward were called by Cook, Mulgrave Hills. To the eastward, in very clear weather, may be seen ^ ^ two conical hills called Deviation Peaks."

The general trend of this inlet is southeast. The entrance is not only shoal but is also obstructed by wide mud flats and innumerable sand bars some of which are bare at low water. The channel within the Inlet is of considerably greater depth, having been reported as early as 1884 as ^ v ^ arying from 18 to 43 feet for a distance of 20 or more miles. Because of the width of the mud flats which fringe both the mainland and the peninsula, no landing can be made at most places ^ o ^ n the Inlet.

Stoney describes the condition of the entrance and the channels

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during his visit in 1884: "Sounding out and temporarily buoying a channel over the bar, a mud and sand-bank about one thousand yards wide with eight feet depth on it at low water, we crossed over. At high water, and when the wind is from the southward and westward, two fathoms can be carried over. Winds from northward and eastward give the least depth. After crossing, a depth of three fathoms was carried in the channel for twenty miles, increas– ing in places to seven fathoms."

Most of the mainland coastline of the Inlet is formed by the many-channelled delta of the Kobuk River (q.v.). Recent maps show no per– manent settlements on [: ] this side of the Inlet, although there is a ^ c ^ abin at the mouth of Riley Channel, one of the more northerly mouths of the Kobuk.

By way of Selawik Lake, Hotham Inlet receives the waters of the Selawik River, from the east, while the Noatak ^ River ^ enters the north side of the entrance at a point approximately opposite Kotzebue, on Baldwin Peninsula.

There are no named promontories on the mainland side, whereas Pipe S ^ p ^ it, the northeastern tip of Baldwin Peninsula, Nimiuk Point, several miles to the south, and Attiunik Point, the southern entrance point to Selawik Lake, mark the peninsula side.

The most important settlement in this entire region i ^ s ^ ^ the ^ large and the thriving town of Kotzebue (q.v.), on the northwestern tip of Baldwin Peninsula.

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HYDABURG, ALASKA (55° 13′ N. LAT.; 132° 50′ W. LONG.), a native fishing village ^ , ^ had a population of 340 ^ 348 ^ in 1939 ^ 1940 ^ making it one of the largest Indian villages of south [: ] eastern Alaska. It is located one-half mile inland on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island just across the ^ Sukkwan ^ narrows from the northernmost tip of Sukkwan Island. The town itself is on the low coastal strip which runs around most of Prince of Wales Island, but is backed by elevations of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. ^ Insert (see Below) ^

Hydaburg was founded on November 11, 1911 by a group of Haida Indians, from the little Indian village of Klinquan, lead by Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Hawkesworth and several government representatives. The town was intended as, and has always remained, a strictly native settlement run on a cooperative basis. No white man is allowed to set up any business in Hydaburg. The site was chosen because of its fine harbor, nearness to the fishing grounds, and prospects of excellent hunting and trapping in the interior. From its outset Hydaburg, so named by Mrs. Hawkesworth, has been a prosperous community.

In 1939 the Hydaburg Cooperative Association received a loan of $145,000 under the Indian Reorganization Act. Using an all– native crew, the Association built, equipped ^ , ^ and began the operation of a modern cannery. From April 1 to September 30 there is a weekly mail boat. There is a point to point r e adiotelephone and radio– telegraph station connecting with Ketchikan.

In 1947 the Department of the Interior expanded the land reserves of Hydaburg by 101,000 acres. It also set up facilities for clearing land titles in all southeastern Alaska. All income from these land reserves will be credited to native villages, such as Hydaburg, for their free use. This grant of land to Hydaburg clears ^ removes ^ all native claims to the Tongass ^ national ^ Forest, ^ (q.v.) ^ since the natives of Hydaburg agreed to exchange it for the new land reserves.

Hydaburg was founded on November 11, 1911 by a group of Haida Indians, from the little Indian village of Klinquan, lead by Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Hawkesworth and several government representatives. The town was intended as, and has always remained, a strictly native settlement run on a cooperative basis. No white man is allowed to set up any business in Hydaburg. The site was chosen because of its fine harbor, nearness to the fishing grounds, and prospects of excellent hunting and trapping in the interior. From its outset Hydaburg, so named by Mrs. Hawkesworth, has been a prosperous community.

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HYDER, ALASKA, is a town and post office at the head of Portland Canal, about 150 miles northeast of Ketchikan, just across the international boundary line from Stewart, British Columbia. It was named in 1910 in honor of a Canadian scientist, and is the American center of the Portland Canal mining district. The population, mostly Indian, was 254 in 1938.

There is a 400-foot wharf which bends inshore somewhat for the last 215 feet. Depths off the wharf run from 22 to 30 feet. There is no fresh water on the wharf and strong current eddies make landing difficult. At the northern end of the wharf is a seaplane float. There is communication by small craft to Ketchikan. In 1947 the Stewart telephone system was being rehabilitated to include a line to Hyder. The Hyder Radio & Telephone Co. operates station KDF A-1 emission, 425 kc.(705m.), 500 kc. (600 m.). Airplane transport of winter fuel oil was being planned in October, 1946. A road along the shore of Portland Canal connects Hyder with Stewart.

Deposits of the natural gold-silver alloy electrum, valued at $14,000 to the ton, have been discovered by tunnel ^ l ^ ing under the glaciers which lie northwest of Hyder. These glaciers and their surrounding mountains are extremely beautiful and little explored. Tungsten has also been found in the vicinity. The Riverside Tungsten mine northwest of Hyder operates a mill in the town. The Premiere Mine, largest in the vicinity, renewed operations in June, 1947, after an eight-month shutdown. The Salmon Gold Mine, Portland Canal ^ m ^ ining area, reported in 1946 what appeared to be a large new vein of electrum assayed at 0.61 ounces of gold and 5 ounces of silver per ton.

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ILIAMNA LAKE, Iliamna District, Alaska, just north of the Alaska Peninsula, is the largest lake in Alaska. Lying about midway between 59° and 60° N.Lat., the lake extends northeast-southwest between 154° and 156° W.Long. It is about 70 miles long by 15 to 25 miles wide and is famous for the size and number of its rainbow trout. In recent years trout measuring up to 3 ^ 4 ^ ″ have been caught here, but these giants do not approach in size the mythical blackfish, Iliamna, said to haunt the lake and to bite holes in the canoes of bad natives. In 1802, the Russians named this Lake Shelekhov, but it is now universally known as Iliamna Lake.

For about one-half their length the north and south shores of the western end of the lake are fairly even, but the eastern half is indented by several small bays. Kakhonak Bay, with its five finger-like extensions, reaches into the south shore of the lake like a great hand which, in general outline, it resembles. The bay is about 7 miles long and about 5 miles wide at the greatest points. It is formed by a narrow-necked peninsula which stretches westward into the lake, partially cutting Kakhonak Bay off from the lake proper. The waters north of this peninsula are dotted with small islands. Kakhonak is a small settlement and post office on ^ ^ the shore just south of this bay. There is a reindeer station on the tip of one of the finger-like extensions at the head of Kakhonak Bay.

Pile Bay, an extension of the eastern end of Iliamna Lake, is about 9 miles long by 2 to 3 miles wide. It is almost cut off from the main body of the lake by the largest of the many islands which are scattered here.

Iliamna Lake is the source of the Kvichak River (q.v.) which drains from its southwestern end. The lake receives the Pile and Iliamna Rivers which rise in the glacier-covered mountains to the northeast, and many unnamed tributaries from the highlands which surround the lake on all sides except

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the southwest. These mountains are all part [: ] of the Aleutian Range and rise from heights of 2000 feet close by the lake to giant peaks, such as Iliamna Volcano, 10, 085 feet high, which lies only a little over 30 miles northeastward from the head of Pile Bay. The Newhalen River drains from Lake Clark (q.v.) and enters Lake Iliamna midway along the north shore. Kakhonak River enters at the head of Kakhonak Bay. On all sides except the northeast the territory around the lake is dotted with lakes. Gibralter, Kakhonak, Moose, and Meadow Lakes lie southeast of the lake, while to the west and [: ] outhwest, where the land is low and marshy, intricate systems of tiny, unnamed lakes send tributaries into Iliamna Lake.

Depths of many hundred feet are reported in the east end of Iliamna Lake. The lake is usually frozen over from late December to late May. In this vicinity some snow falls in September, but the ground at low altitudes is usually not completely covered for a few months thereafter. Most of the snow leaves the low ground during April, but it remains until June in the pass between Old Iliamna and Iliamna Bay, Cook Inlet.

Old Iliamna, the largest settlement in the area, lies a few miles above the mouth of Iliamna River which enters the eastern tip of Pile Bay. It has a United States commissioner, three stores, a Government school, and a ^ U.S. ^ ^ w ^ eather ^ Bureau ^ Station with one observer, which was established in 1939. All parts of Iliamna Lake and the Kvichak River may be reached in gasoline launches available at Old Iliamna. The population of the village was estimated as 100, in 1939, In addition to gas and furs, the busy trading post in the settlement handles about 400 tons of goods a year.

Old Iliamna is only 10 miles from Iliamna Bay, Cook Inlet, on the northeastern coast of the Alaska Peninsula, with which it is connected by a good trail. This trail crosses a 900-foot summit a few miles west of Iliamna Bay. At Old Iliamna the trail continues in two directions, southward to cabins in the mountains southeast of the lake, and westward to Ped ro Bay, a small settlement

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a few miles from Old Iliam [: ] , and to cabins along the north shore of the lake. There is a second trail leading westward from the head of Cottonwood Bay, just south of Iliamna Bay, which crosses three summits of 1700, 1500, and 1975 feet, to join the trail previously described connecting cabins southeast of the lake with Old Iliamna. Horses and wagons can be used on these trails from June to November and dogs and sleds for the remaining months of the year. old Iliamna may also be reached by portage from the head of Kamishak Bay, at a point south of Cottonwood Bay, to Kakhonak Bay, but this route is seldom used except by natives because of the difficulty of landing supplies on the shores ^ ^ of this part of Kamishak Bay.

Seversens is a small settlement on the north shore of Iliamnan Lk^a^ke which is connected by a winter trail to a village at the south end of Lake Clark, about 13 miles north, and to the village of Iliamna. Iliamna is a post office and native settlement on the north shore of Iliamna Lake only a few miles from Seversens. Newhalen, a few miles farther east, at the mouth of the Newhalen River, had a population of 55 in 1940. Recent maps show no towns on the remainder of the northwestern shore of Iliamna Lake. Igiugig, a village and post ^ ^ office on the lake at the head of the Kvichak River, had an estimated population of 100 in 1938. From mid-May to late September small boats and launches can navigate the Kvichak up to Igiugig, and, of course, beyond to other points along Iliamna Lake. Flights to all these points are conducted by planes equipped with floats.

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IMURUK BASIN (Imaourouk, Imurook, Imagazuk), western Seward Pen– insula, Alaska, is a shallow body of water connected by Tuksuk Channel with Grantley Harbor, which in turn leads westward into Port Clarence, and so to Bering Sea. Beechey reported the Eskimo name as Imau-rook ^ , ^ in 1827, but it has also been called Cowvinik and Salt Lake.

Several small streams flow into the south side of the Basin, the longest and most ^ ^ westerly of these being Canyo w n Creek, followed by White, Fall, Pond, Glacier, Snow, and Cobblestone Creeks. Several of these streams enter Windy Cove r , which indents the southern shore of the Basin.

^ ¶ ^ Cobblestone Creek enters the Basin only a few miles below the mouth of the Kaviruk, a wide stream which enters the head of Imuruk Basin from the north. About the middle of the nineteenth century a Franklin Search party recorded this stream as the Cov-vee-arak. ^ Cov-vee-arak. ^ The name has also appeared as Covearak ^ Covearak ^ , Kaurveren ^ Kaurveren ^ , Ka-oovern ^ Ka-oovern ^ , and Kvuveren ^ Kvuveren ^ . Some sources identify this river ^ as ^ with Mary's River ^ Mary's River ^ , but most modern maps have dropped this name entirely.

Having bent northward for about five miles to meet the Kaviruk, the head of Imuruk Basin then veers southeastward, and, after about five more miles, splits up into several channels which finally ^ develop ^ into two well-defined forks.

The southern fork, called the Kruzgamepa (q.v.), rises in the vicinity of Mount Osborn, well within the Kigluaik Mountains to the south. It flows southward until it leaves the Kigluaiks, then takes a northeasterly course around the east end of the range, after which it twists westward to its junction with the Kaviruk and Imuruk Bay.

The northern fork, the Kuzitrin ( Koosetrien ^ Koosetrien ^ ) (q.v.), has its source in a broad, flat drainage basin northeast of Imuruk Basin. It

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IMURUK BASIN, ALASKA

flows in a generally southwesterly direction for about sixty miles and de– bounches very near to the mouth of the Kruzgamepa.

A fairly large unnamed stream flows into the northeast side of Imuruk Basin, but the main northern tributary, the Agiapuk River (q.v.), enters about midway of that side.

Imuruk Basin is navigable to light-draft vessels. It ^ early in this century ^ , formed one link in the chain of water s ^ ways ^ , starting with Port Clarence and Grantley Harbor, and continuing up the Kuzitrin, by which supplies were brought into the Kougarok District early in this century. With the completion of the Seward Peninsula Railroad, now called The Pupmobile, down the Kruzgamepa and northward to Shelton, on the Kuzitrin, most freight ship– ments were brought to the mining camps of the interior by rail from Nome, rather than by water. However, a few supply ships still ^ ^ visit Imuruk Basin.

Except for two sections, the northwestern and south-central, the Basin is surrounded by low, marshy grassland, usually called 'tundra.' This marshland is particularly extensive around [: ] and eastward from the eastern end of the Basin, so that the streams entering this end follow a [: ] sluggish, meandering course for their final few miles. In the main, however, the rivers of this area keep to a remarkably straight course, except for the Kruzpamepa and the Agiapuk, both of which are fed from several different watersheds with axes running in different directions. For this reason, these two rivers undergo major changes in direction.

The lowlands and hills of this part of Alaska are timberless, although small willow and alder grow along the banks of the streams.

Although Imuruk Basin was once the center of the gold mining excitement along the Bluestone River, a tributary to Tuksuk Channel,

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because of its extreme shallowness, there was never a settlement on its shores. Supplies could be landed only with difficulty anywhere in the Basin, and, since no remarkable gold strikes have ever been made on the streams entering it, no settlement has grown up there.

Sources:

USCP. Alaska. Pt.II.1947

VSGB

U.S. C. & G.S. Chart No.9380

Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsu- ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsu- ^ la, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, ^ la, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, ^ and Goodhope Precintcts ^ and Goodhope Precintcts ^ . Washington, D.C., 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin, ^ Bulletin, ^ No.328)

Dall, William H. Alaska and Its Resourc ^ Alaska and Its Resourc ^ es. Boston, 1870.

Text-420 wds Bibl-25 wds

IMURUK LAKE, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is about 75 miles northeast of Imuruk Basin, near 65° 33′ N.Lat., 163° 10′ W.Long. The Eskimo name, which has also appeared as Emuruk and Imourok was first reported by Mendenhall, in 1901.

This lake, whic ^ h ^ has an area of about 31 square miles and which drains a basin of about 102 square miles, is the largest body of fresh water in Seward Peninsula. It ^ ^ occupies a lava plateau with an elevation of 960 feet.

Imuruk Lake supplies water to the Noxapaga (q.v.), an important stream in the Kougaro ^ k ^ system, and to the Kugruk, on ^ e ^ of the main streams in the Fairhaven mining district. Forty-mile Fairhaven Ditch, one of the early efforts to bring a reliable water supply to the Inmachuk system, ran from Imuruk Lake to the upper Pinnell River and from there to Arizona Creek. This was one of the upper Pinnell River and from there to Arizona Creek. This was one of the most extensive ditch-building enterprizes in all of Seward Peninsula.

The thin coat of lava over the plain gravels o ^ f ^ this region has interested geologists since the area was first officially surveyed by Collier, Mendenhall, and Moffit during the first decade of this century. The Imuruk Lake region shows the effects of an older lava flow than is represented in the upper Kuzitrin valley to the south and southwest. Geologists estimate that the volcanic activity around Kotzebue Sound extended over a considerable portion of the Pleistocene Age, ending only in comparatively recent geologic times. The Pleistocene Age, ending only in comparatively recent geologic times. The extruded lava occupied depressions and flowed down the river valleys in broad streams of molten rock. "At times," Moffit writes, "the cooling of the advancing front wall dammed back the flow and forced it over the low, rounded divides between the watercourses in the next valley beyond, or formed a lake which finally overflowed the obstr ^ u ^ ction and resumed its original course, only to repeat the process a little farther on. In this

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IMURUK LAKE, ALASKA

way islands of bare ground were left between the great finger-likepro– trusions along the edge of the sheet. At the same time a shifting of the watercourses was br ^ ou ^ ght about, for when not of sufficient volume to fill it the lava occupied the lowest part of the valley and the waters sought a new channel parallel to the old one, along the edge of the hardened flow. A number of lakes and ponds also owe their existence to the ^ d ^ amming of streams by lava, among which may be mentioned Lake Imuruk, the largest body of fresh water on the peninsula."

INMACHUK RIVER, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rises on the western side of the divide separating it from Trail Creek, a tributary to the Goodhope River immediately to the west. It then flows generally north [: ] eastward for about 30 miles to Kotzebue Sound, at Deering.

Hannum Creek, from the northwest, and Pinnell River, from the south, chief tributaries to the Inmachuk, each drain larger areas than does the main river above these junctions. Below the Pinnell, several smaller tributaries, Arizona, Fink, Washington, West, Cue, and Mystic Creeks, enter the Inmachuk.

The Hannum valley is deep and narrow. Its principal tributaries are Cunningham, Milroy, and Collins Creeks. The Pinnell rises in a broad swamp formed by the lava flow, but about seven or eight miles below its head, the river has cut a deep narrow. Canyon through the laval-covered gravels, and drops about 300 feet in half a mile. Mag ^ n ^ et, June, Perry, Old Glory Creek, and Snow Gulch are the chief affluents to the Pinnell. These streams rise in the vicinity of the 1800-foot peak called Asses Ears, so named by Kotzebue in August, 1816, because of the appearance of its double summit.

The Inmachuk Valley is characterized by a lava rim which follows the left side of the Pinnell for several miles and then crosses to the right side and continues down the Inmachuk to the coastal plain. Below the Pinnell canyon this rim is generally 300 to 400 feet above the level of the stream.

The Inmachuk, below the Pinnell, and the basins of Hannum and Old Glory Creeks contain ^ gold ^ placers which were first ^ discd. ^ worked in 1900. [: ] Describ- ing the mineralization of Hannum Creek region, Moffit writes: "Besides the gold, the heavy concentrates from the sluice boxes show a large number of

Writing in 1904 Moffit says: "The first prospecting in the Kotzebue gold field was done in the latter part of the season of 1900 by William T. Fee ("Missouri Bill"), who discovered gold on Old Glory Creek in the fall of that year. Mr. Fee seems to have prospected all the streams heading up toward the east side of the Asses Ears, but did no staking, owing to the failure of his supplies and the consequent necessity of returning to Nome as quickly as possi– ble. Old Glory was staked on September 21 of the same year by William H. Davis and Jessie Pinnell. Three days later, on September 24, gold was discovered on Hannum Creek, a tributary of Inmachuk River, by Z.E. Foster and Fred Sand– strum, who staked the creek on that day.

"No work done on the gravels in the fall of 1900, owing to the shortness of provisions and the lateness of the season. Snow was already falling, and the prospectors returned to Nome, the nearest recording place to this then unknown region, to register their claims and prepare for active work during the following season. Their reports on the region caused considerable excitement among the miners wintering in Nome, and some time in the early months of 1901 M.V. Perry crossed the country on the snow with a dog team and staked the creek now ^ ^ known by his name, Perry Creek.

^ " ^ With the opening of spring a considerable rush of prospectors to the new field took place, and a large number of claims were staked on nearly all the neighboring creeks, both to the west and to the east. The first locations on the Inmachuk proper were made by Messrs. Applegate and Perry on Discovery, at 'Hot Springs'... 2 1/2 miles above the mouth of the Hannum. Very little work aside from the location of claims was done in the Inmachuk Valley during 1901, for in the latter part of the season the news of very rich finds on Candle Creek drew many men away and notably retarded the development of the [: ] properties. This condition continued during the season of 1902,

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but the summer of 1903 witnessed a revival of interest in the Inmachuk and its tributaries, and a still further increase in the development in 1904 is certain.

"C ^ andle ^ Creek was staked about July 23, 1901, by Messrs. Enos Thomas, Alexander Patterson, Robert Schneider, and Blankenship, and up to the present time has produced a much greater amount of gold than any of the other streams of this field. Although Mr. Blankenship was probably the first miner to drive stakes on Candle Creek, Messrs. Thomas, Patterson, and Schneider were the first to enter the region and made the original discovery ^ ^ of gold on Jump Creek, a small tributary which comes in from the west and joins Candle Creek about 1 1/2 miles above Kiwalik River. These four men staked claims on the most promising portions of the main stream and one claim each on the lower ends of the ^ t ^ ributaries, thus acquiring right to a consider ^ a ^ ble amount of ground, part of which has proved to be of much value.

"News of the strike spread quicly and was followed by a stampede of miners in the late fall, so that the entire creek was soon taken up and scores of men with rockers busied themselves in cleaning out the richer and more readily worked portions of the gravels. As high as an ounce of gold per day was paid to shovelers on some ^ ^ claims...

"The total production of the Kotzebue gold field for the three years during which mining operations have been carried on is probably not far from $415,000. Of this amount Candle Creek alone has turned out over three-fourths."

Describing the mineraliza ^ t ^ ion of Hannum Creek region, Moffit writes: "Besides the gold, the heavy concentrates from the sluice boxes show a large number of

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rounded and polished pebbles of hematite or ^ ' ^ iron stones, ^ ' ^ some pyrite, and a small quantity of galena, which is probably derived from ^ ^ the limestone area west of Cunningham Creek, and will be referred to again. ^ B ^ lack sand is not found with the gold, since magnetite occurs in very small quantity; the magnet discovers only occasionally small pieces in the tailings from the sluice boxes. ^ ' ^ Gray sand ^ ' ^ or finely ground pyrite appears constantly in ^ ^ the pan. and larger pieces up to 2 or more inches in diamet i er are not infrequent. The best gold values are taken from the bed rock, which is usually a blue clay resulting from the decomposition of the underlying schists. The gold is heavy and black and is said to assay about $18 to the ounce when cleaned. Nuggets worth $2.50 are not uncommon, but no very large ones have yet been found."

One of the major hindrances to the mining development of this dis– trict has been the inadequacy of the water supply during the summer dry season, which is the only time of the year when placers can be worked in this section. Several ditches were constructed, the longest of which, Fairhaven Ditch, brought water from Lake Imuruk into the Inmachuk basin, a total distance of 35 or 40 miles.

By 1908 there was conside ^ r ^ able activity along the Inmachuk, some of it fruitful, and some of it fruitless. As Henshaw explains: "In the fall of 1908 water ri ^ g ^ hts were staked by two different parties at the springs of the upper Inmachuk. The first locator posted his notice late in September, and by an error in wording claimed 2,000 'cubic inches per second,' the water to be used on claims on the Inmachuk above and below Hannum Creek. Before an amended notice could be posted the water had been staked by others, who proposed to divert it around to tributaries of Old Glory Creek. Both parties took steps to start construction work, but the first actual diversion of water was made by the second locator. During 1909 work was being prosecuted on two ditches, located less than 10 feet apart in elevation, so close that the lower bank of the upper ditch was sloughing into the lower ditch. In

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September steps were being taken by the owners of the lower ditch to procure an injunction against the continuation of work by their rivals. This is a rather unusual instance of the contro ^ v ^ ersies arising over conflicting claims to water rights in the present unsatisfactory status of the law governing the appropriation of water for mining purposes."

Gold mining has continued in this region ever since this time, and the placers give no indication of failing. However, since World War II, gold mining in Alaska has been an unprofitable activity. For an explanation of this conditions see article on Nome, Alaska.

^ 90 wds ^

IPNOT, a small Eskimo ^ v ^ illage near Cape Thompson, on the shores of the Polar Sea, northwestern Alaska, had a population of 40 in Petrof's report of 1880. Since this settlement does not appear on the 1939 Census, it may be assumed that it has decreased in size since that time, although it continues to appear on recent maps of the [: ] region. The long winter trail [: ] which runs southward to Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula continues northward from Ipnot on its way to Point Barrow.

JACKSMITH BAY, ALASKA, is a large, open indentation of the mainland on the eastern side of Kuskokwim Bay, about 14 miles north of Carter Bay (q.v.). The section of shoreline between these two bays is marked by two spits each forming a tiny bay. Into the more northerly of these two bays flows Cripple Creek which ^ ^ rises in Twin Mountain, ^ c ^ urves southward and westward around Cone Mountain and thereafter follows a meandering northwesterly course to the bay. A few miles north of the spit which forms this small, unnamed bay is a third and larger spit forming the southern entrance point to Jacksmith Bay. This bay is shoal throughout and is entirely bare at low tide. Jacksmith Creek enters the bay from the south. Several creeks rising in Figure Four Mountain and in other heights of this section of the Ahklun Range join just north of Twin Mountain to form Jacksmith Creek which ^ ^ then follows a generally northwesterly course to the bay. The prominent heights in this part of the range are only a few miles inland, being considerably closer to the water than are the mountains associated with Carter Bay. From south to north, the named peaks grouped near Jacksmith Bay are Cone Mountain, Twin Mountain, Figure Four Mountain, Yoke Mountain, and Yukon Hill. These range from 800 to 2600 feet in [: ] height, These peaks ^ and ^ form a north-south chain which is cut from east to west only by Jacksmith Creek. The inland side of this chain is the western watershed for the headwaters of the Arolic River (q.v.), the first major stream north of Jacksmith Bay. Separated from this mountain chain by a valley from 4 to 8 miles wide lies Island Mountain, a [: ] cluster of peaks about 7 miles long and

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2 miles wide, which form the eastern watershed for another group of tributaries to the Arolic River. The valley between these peaks is cut by numberless creeks and streams flowing northeastward from the chain and northwestward from Island Mountain into an unnamed stream which trends northward along the valley floor to join the Arolic about 5 miles southeast of Yukon Hill.

A branch of the long winter trail which connects point ^ ^ son Kuskokwim Bay with others on Bristol Bay (q.v.) and Iliamna Lake (q.v.) leads from the north side of Goodnews Bay (q.v.) northward along this same valley to a placer ^ gold ^ mine a few miles east of the junction of this early tributary to the Arolic.

The territory between the mountains and the shores of Jack– smith Bay is low, treeless tundra which, in the summertime, is covered with moss and a variety of wild flowers.

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KANEKTOK RIVER, southwestern Alaska, enters Kuskokwim Bay about midway of its eastern side. The river drains from glacier-fed Lake Kagati in the Ahklun Mountains, follows a generally northwesterly course for a few miles and then turns west to run through a low ^ , ^ narrow valley bordered with peaks 2400 to 4100 feet high. For the duration of its 65 - 75-mile course the Kanektok carves a rapid and occasionally branched course through treeless, tundra country to Kuskokwim Bay.

The only settlement on the river is the Eskimo village of Kwinhagak (sometimes spelled Quinhagak or Kwinak) at the mouth of the river which had a population of 224 in 1947. Because of the wide mud flat bordering the shore in this vicnity the smallest craft some– times fail to reach the village at low tide and launches can enter only on the highest tides. Supplies are landed with great difficulty, although they may be obtained in limited quantities in the town which has, besides a native store, a Moravian Mission, [: ] a Government school, and a fourth class post office. Fresh, clear mountain water is available at all stages of the tide. Kwinhagak is on the long winter trail which runs from points on Bristol Bay and Iliamna Lake to Bethel and other Kuskokwim Bay villages.

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KASAAN, ALASKA (55° 33′ N.LAT.; 132° 24′ W.LONG.) is an Indian village and post office on the south shore of Kasaan Peninsula which pro– jects into Clarence Strait from the west coast of Prince of Wales Island. Since its establishment in December, 1899, it has grown to a population of 110, as reported in 1939.

The cannery and radio station in Kasaan are usually operated by the Pacific Alaska Fisheries, but are sometimes leased to other companies. There is fresh water on the wharf and fishing supplies are available [: ] from the general stores in the town. The cannery maintains a machine shop and its own supplies of oil and gasoline. The main wharf is 125 feet long with a low water depth of 32 feet.

Motor launches connect Kasaan with Ketchikan and Wrangel. In 1939, under the Indian Reorganization A r ct, the town was granted $12,000 for village improvements.

Kasaan is sometimes designated as New Kasaan to distinguish it from the original native village, Old Kasaan (q.v.) on another arm of the peninsula.

At the close of the short cannery season each summer, the natives of the village live by fishing and trapping in the mountainous interior. They have adopted a constitution and by-laws which were ratified on October 15, 1938.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

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KAVIRUK RIVER (Covearak, Ka-ooveren, Kvuveren) central Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rises south of Kougarok Mountain and [: ] follows a generally southwesterly course for about twenty miles to enter the head of Imuruk Basin near 65° 15′ N. Lat., 165° 20′ W.Long.

This stream, which lies between the Kuzitrin-Kougarok system and the Agiapuk River, was formerly called Mary's River by the Kougarok miners, but the orginal Eskimo name has since been reinstated. Variants of this name have been recorded by some of the Franklin search parties, l ^ i ^ n 1850, by Billings, in 1790, and by the Russians, in 1802.

The Kaviruk is joined early in its course by Johnston, and Winter Creeks, and, just above the present site of Davidson, by Hunter Creek.

The upper ^ K ^ aviruk is a mountain torrent, but, a few miles above Davidson, the river leaves the mountains and enters upon the lake-strewn marshland which encloses the eastern end of Imuruk Basin. Here the Kaviruk gradually widens out, until, [: ] by the time it reaches the Basin ^ , ^ it is almost two miles from shore to shore.

Davidson, formerly Davidson's Landing, at the head of light draft navigation on the Kaviruk, was established, in 1906, by J.M. Davidson, and Andrew J. Stone, both large-scale Kouga r ^ o ^ k gold mine operators, as a transshipping point for freight coming into the Kougarok District vi ^ a ^ Teller, on Port Clarence. Hoping to solve ^ for all time, ^ the harassing problem of [: ] transportation to the Koug ra ^ ar ^ ok for all time, they then built a road from Davidson ^ , ^ northward along the Kaviruk, over the divide, and then down Lincoln Creek to the mouth of Taylor River, an important tributary to the Kougarok. In this way, Davidson became a busy trading post and supply base for the entire Kougarok mining district.

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As long as the miners were prospering, so also did [: ] Davidson, but with the slump in Kougarok gold mining from about 1910 to 1930, the town dwindled. It was not reported in the U.S. Census for 1939, but it still appears on recent maps of Seward Peninsula. It is now connected [: ] by sled road with Taylor and by winter trail with Shelton, on the Kuzitrin River, and from there with Kotzebue Sound, Port Clarence, and Norton Sound points.

There are no other settlements on the Kaviruk.

Sources:

U.S. Geological Survey. Water Supply Paper. ^ Water Supply Paper. ^ Plate I.

Baker, Marcus. Geographical Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographical Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, D.C., 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin No.299)

Harrison, E.S. Nome and Seward Peninsula. ^ Nome and Seward Peninsula. ^ Seattle, Wash., 1905.

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KILIMAK (67° 17′ N.Lat., 163° 46′ W.Long.) is a small Eskimo village on the coast of the Polar Sea, northwestern Alaska.

The long winter trail which connects this part of Alaska with Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula ^ , ^ to the south, and with other coastal towns ^ , ^ to the north, passes through Kilimak.

^ Text - 145 wds. ^

KING ISLAND, Bering Sea, Alaska, lies just south of the junction of 65° N. Lat., and 168° W. Long.

This small island was discovered by Cook on August 6, 1778, who named it after Lieutenant James King, a member of the Cook expedition. The native name, which Nelson gives as Ukiwuk , has appeared in a great many variations, e.g. Okiben ^ Okiben ^ , Oo-ghe-book ^ Oo-ghe-book ^ , etc.

King Island is about 700 feet high and two miles square. The cliffs are nearly perpendicular and descend into deep water on all sides. The bottom is generally rocky, but, offshore from Ukivok, a small native village on the south side of the island, vessels will find anchor in about 90 feet, with muddy bottom, and good protection from northwest winds. The houses making up the village are built on the sides of the cliffs but well above high water. In clear weather this island makes a very good ^ ^ landfall for vessels northbound for Port Clarence (q.v.)

Sources:

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, 1906. VSGB

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KING SALMON RIVER, in the northwestern part of the ^ ^ Alaska Peninsula, rises in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (q.v.) in the Alaska Range and takes a generally westward course across the Alaska Peninsula to enter the mouth of the Egegik River (q.v.) from the north. Over 50 miles long, the King Salmon River drains the complex lake system of the coastal lowlands between Becharof and Naknek Lakes (q.v.). It was named by Osgood in 1902.

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KIVALINA, [: ] is a small village on the long sand spit forming the west side of Corwin Lagoon, an [: ] arm of the Polar Sea off the coast of northwestern Alaska.

Kivalina is the first town north of Kotzebue (q.v.) known to be the home of any white people. According to a 1930 report, the Bureau of Education had already established a school here, and the Eskimos operated a cooperative store in connection with their reindeer business. In addition, there was a branch of one of the Kotzebue stores, which also was in the charge o a ^ f ^ a native. At that time, the schoolhouse and the homes of a few of the native families were the only framed buildings in the town, all others being constructed either of driftwood or sod.

The old site of this settlement would seem to have been at the north end of the lagoon about ten miles away. The present site offers no particular natural advantages, although it is well-situated for getting back into the country by way of the Kivalina River (q.v.). It is also almost directly across country from Noatak (q.v.), on the river of the same name. It is approximately midway of the reindeer range used by the local herd, and fish are said to be particularly numerous near the mouth of the Kivalina River. Except for the occasional driftwood and scrub by willows that grow for about ten or twenty miles up the river, however, there is no fuel supply any– where in the vicinity.

In 1939, Kivalina had a population of 98 or more, a post office, an Alaska Native Service school, one general store (the Kotzebue branch

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store apparently having gone out of business), a Friends' Mission, and a 1500-foot landing strip. The store is ^ still ^ run by the Eskimos in connection with their reindeer business, so that fresh meat is almost always obtainable in the town. The Coast Pilot remarks that the red-roofed school house is visible five miles offshore, constituting a valuable landmark for pilots in these waters.

^ 26 ^

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KIVALINA RIVER, northwestern Alaska, debouches about midway between Cape Krusenstern and Point Hope (q.v.) into Corwin Lagoon, which is separated only by a long narrow sand spit from the Polar Sea.

The Kivalina rises in the vicinity of 1630-foot Mount Jarvis and follows a generally southwesterly course for about twenty miles before entering the lagoon.

Scrub willows, the tallest less than ten feet high, fringe the lowland sections of this stream but disappear from the early mountainous regions. This growth of willow has been found sufficient for ordinary camp needs, but not enough for many people or for long sojourns in one place.

The nearest settlement is Kivalina (q.v.), at the south end of the sand spit.

References

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, 1906.

Smith, P.S. Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ . Washington, 1930. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 815)

U.S.C.P.

V.S.G.B.

Text - 1,885 wds Bibl - 100 wds

KIWALIK RIVER, the largest river on the north side of Seward Peninsula, Ala [: ] ka, rises in a low ridge which separates it from the Koyuk (q.v.) drainage basin, and flows almost directly northward for about 70 miles to empty into Spafarief Bay, a southeasterly arm of Kotzebue Sound.

The ^ ^ first thirty miles of this river crosses a low, flat area which is several miles wide, but this valley narrows considerably in the vicinity of Candle, about four miles u ^ f ^ rom the mouth of the Ki ^ w ^ alik. Below Cand e ^ l ^ e the river widens into a lagoon, perhaps ten square miles in area, and covering a region of mud flats, most of which are exposed at low tide.

The early western tributaries to the Kiwalik drain long narrow basins, roughly parallel and separated by low ridges. The chief western tributaries are Canoe, Gold Run, Glacier, Dome, Bonanza, Eldorado, Candle, and Minnehaha Creeks. Kirk Creek enters the west side of the lagoon, a few miles below Minnehaha Creek.

Of these, Glacier Creek carries the most water. It rises in the eastern sope of Monument Mountain, the highest point in this part of Seward Peninsula, and flows to ^ into ^ the Kiwalik at a point about twenty-five miles from its mouth. During periods of low water this stream is fed by limestone springs and by the water from the melting ^ " ^ glacier ^ " ^ which forms below these [: ] springs during the winter months.

Gold Run, a few miles above Glacier Creek, also derives some of its water from springs, but it does not have as well-sustained a supply as Glacier Creek. All the other western streams in the Kiwalik system are reduced to mere trickles during the summer, while Candle Creek, which has a drainage area of sixty square miles at the mouth, frequently reaches a stage of zero flow.

Candle Creek, economically the most important stream in this system, receives a great many tributaries most of which flow in from the west. Reading downstream these are: Ptarmigan, Potato, Thomas, Willow, Patterson, and Jump Creeks. Gold placer operations began on Candle Creek in 1901 and have yielded a large percentage of the total production of the Fairhaven mining dis– trict ever since. The creek is about 18 miles long and is worked for the greater part of its length. Up until 1910, the principal produci o ng ground was between Patterson and Jump Creeks and extended to the third tier of benches on the left side of the valley. Subsequently, gold was found on the right side of the valley and farther upstream. Successful mining in this region has always been handicapped by lack of water and is [: ] sometimes for this reason stopped altogether.

The largest eastern tributaries to the Kiwalik are Quartz and Hunter Creeks, both of which rise in a mountainous mass separating the Kiwalik from the Buckland River (q.v.) system.

Quartz Creek joins the main stream about 60 miles above Glacier Creek and has a larger drainage area than any other tributary to the Kiwalik. The Quartz Creek valley is generally hilly and even mountainous along its eastern and southern borders. The slopes of the basin are steep and only thinly covered with moss ^ , ^ so that water derived from rain runs off quickly. In addition, the river bed is loose gravel which probably thaws considerably during the summer, so that there may well be an appreciable underflow.

Hunter Creek drains an area north of Quartz Creek and flows through a narrow, tortuous valley to the Kiwalik about 8 miles above Quartz Creek. Its basin resembles that of Quartz Creek but is not so mountainous. The water supply in Hunter is less, but more reliable than that in Quartz Creek.

Lava Creek, the only other named easter ^ n ^ tributary to the Kiwalik, drains a flat lava area north of Hunter Creek. It has a very small run-off

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except during the high water period in the spring and immediately after a rain at any time of the year.

As early as 1884 and 1885, Lieutenant C. Cantwell described the Eskimos of this region in his account of the cruise of the Corwin. In the spring, Eskimos come to the larger rivers in the vicnity to trade, hunt seals, and catch salmon. At that time, dried salmon was the most important article of food both in summer and in winter. Cantwell found several families at the present site of Ki q ^ w ^ alik, on the lagoon, and several more at Candle ^ . ^ a few miles upstream. Some of these natives had been employed by the white miners, b y ^ u ^ t the arrangement did not seem to work out very well, and only a few Eskimos returned the following summer for this kind of [: ] activity. The Eskimo preferred to remain dependent on the country for his food and clothing. In addition to caribou meat and hides, these were supplied in many ways. In winter, the Eskimo snared ptarmigan and arctic hare; in spring and summer he killed seals and walrus, and in the early fall he caught and dried fish and hunted geese and ducks.

Very soon after the arrival of the white man, however, the Eskimo learned new ways of living and new things to want. More and more he traded skins, fish, and handmade skin clothing for flour and other kinds of imported foods. In summer, the Eskimo began to wear the white man's clothing, although he returned wholly or in part to his native dress during the winter. The Eskimo also adopted the white man's tent as his summer home, but he continued to desert the coast during the winter for some inland region where game, especially ptarmigan, was plentiful.

Such were the beginnings of the present settlements, Candle and Kiwalik, which are described below in greater detail.

Timber & Vegetation A narrow band of spruce timber lines the Kiwalik and the banks of its larger tributaries, Hunter and Quartz Creeks. ^ Early ^ M ^ m ^ iners on

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Candle Creek cut this timber in early ^ the ^ spring and floated it downstream during the season of high water for use as [: ] building material and fuel in the Candle Creek camps. The exposure of large spruce logs in the muck and gravel of the valleys of this region suggests that the [: ] distribution of timber was once much greater than it is at present. The spruce line extends farther west on the south side of the Bendeleben Mountains than it does on the north and farther generally in the interior than it does anywhere along the coast.

Cottonwoods do not appear with any frequency in the Kiwalik River valley, but small willows, averaging six to eight feet in height are almost everywhere found close to the streams. These offer the only fuel supply for a great part of Seward Peninsula. During the summertime, surfaces everywhere, except in the tops of the higher hills and mountains, are covered with moss and grass, so that there is no difficulty in ^ ^ finding feed for horses. However, [: ] these grasses do not have time to mature because of the shortness of the season, so that they afford very little nourishment after being cured. In order to keep pack animals alive during the winter, it is therefore necessary to import feed for them. The marsh berry and salmon berry, which are indigenous to these regions, make an agreeable addition to the diet, but, to the Outsider, perhaps the most surprising characteristic of the flora of this region is the great variety and abundance of the flowers which flourish during the springtime. This, if nothing else, gives the lie to all preconceptions concerning the so-called "snow-swept, cold, barren wastes" of the Arctic.

Mining Placer gold was discovered on Jump Creek in July, 1901. By the following year the easily worked gravels had been exhausted so that the miners turned their attention ^ ^ elsewhere. Gold was ^ ^ ultimately discovered on practically every creek claim for over ten miles up Candle Creek, and, by 1908, a total of $2,245,400 had been removed from the region. This was a

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remarkable sum considering that the water supply to this entire region is notably unreliable and that for several of three years ^ in question ^ the summer season had been unusually dry. By 1930, one company had six camps and fifty men at work on Candle Creek, and mining was also going forward on Quartz and Gold Run Creeks. By 1940, both dredges and hydraulics were being used on Candle Creek by the Arctic Circle Exploration, Inc., which owned extensive tracts not only along the stream itself but also along the bench gravel high on the slopes of the valley. Work was still much ^ ^ handicapped because of the shortage of water, but the Candle district was still the chief producer of the Fairhaven [: ] precinct. With the inception of World War II and the subsequent labor shortage, plus the removal of gold from the essential metals list, gold mining became an unprofitable business, and mining declined to the vanishing point not only an Candle Creek but also throughout the Territory of Alaska. (For a more detailed explanation of this condition see article on Nome, Alaska.)

Settlements & Communication Aside from several roadhouses and shelter cabins, the only settlements along the Kiwalik are Candle, at the mouth of that stream, and Kiwalik, on the sandbar which extends eastward across the entrance to the lagoon, at the mouth of the Ki q ^ w ^ alik River.

Candle (65° 55′ N.Lat., 161° 55′ W.Long.) is the recording office for the Fairhaven mining precinct and had a reported 1939 population of 119. This sum is increased during the summer by the arrival of Eskimo and white temporary inhabitants. The town has a territorial school and a third class post office. In addition, there are two general stores, a hotel, a roadhouse, and a restaurant. A U.S. Commissioner ^ , ^ and the manager of a reindeer unit live in the town. Winter trails connect Candle with Nome, Solomon, Council, and Norton Bay points to the south, with Deering, to the west, and with all parts of Kotzebue Sound and the mainland coast to the north. There is a 1400-foot landing field, and mail comes in [: ] by boat twice a

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month from June to October, and is delivered once a week by dog-sled for the duration of each year.

Kiwalik is smaller than Candle, but it has a 1600-foot emergency landing field and is con ^ n ^ ected with other points on the Peninsula by the same trails which run through Candle.

A 1947 report mentions that George Hellerich, as successor to James S. Robins, has taken over the management of Arctic Circle Exploration, Inc. properties in the Candle area. He expects to use two dredges and one hundred men in the district starting in 1948. Along with the gold properties, he also acquired several barges for freight, lighterage, and transportation on the Kiwalik, jade and asbestos properties at Shungnak, on the Kobuk River, and the Arctic Air Service, which operates six planes. He does not intend to work the jade or asbestos properties, and may sell the barges and airplanes, since his principal interest is in the gold mining possibilities of the district.

From this forward-looking report, it may probably be assumed that the Candle, Creek placers may resume their place as the foremost gold producers of the Fairhaven district.

Read June, 1949 by O.R.W. & H.B. Corrected by RC 15 Je 49 Text - 6,030 words Bibl. - 150 words

THE KOBUK RIVER, which gives its name to a large ^ an extensive ^ area in northwestern Alaska, is one of the largest waterways in this part of the Territory. The Kobuk District lies west of the Koyukuk and Alatna Districts, in the Yukon River system, north of the Selawik District, and south of the Noatak District.

This great river, whose course ^ which ^ is over 400 miles long, rises in ^ in the vicinity of ^ Walker and Nutuvukti Lakes in the vicinity of ^ near ^ 67° N.Lat., 154° 30′ W.Long., and flows in a generally westerly direction to ^ enter ^ the east side of Hotham Inlet.

Lieutenants George M. Stoney and J.C. Cantwell, both of the U.S. Navy, ascended the Kobuk ^ du ^ ring the 1880's. Much of the following account is taken from their reports and findings, since the exhausting trip of ^ up ^ the Kobuk has not ^ having ^ been attempted in its entirety by very many ^ only a few ^ white men since their time. The airplane has opened all of the Kobuk to the Outside, [: ] obviating the necessity of travel l ing up from its mouth in order to reach the headwaters.

In such quotations as shall be given, it may be noticed that Stoney refers to the Kobuk as the "Putnam," the name which he assigned to it, while Cantwell calls it the "Kowak." It will be understood that they are both referring to the Kobuk, the name by which this major waterway is now generally known.

Walker Lake, which Stoney also calls Kal-lu-look-to-ark or Big Fish, from which one of the headwaters of the Kobuk drains, is a long , tapering ^ , ^ horn-shaped lake about fourteen miles long ^ , lying northwest-southeast, ^ but only about two miles wide at the greatest. It lies in a valley in the southeastern section of the Schwatka Mountains, and, except for its southern end, is completely surrounded by peaks ranging from 3,000 to 3,600 feet in height. ^24^

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KOBUK RIVER, ALASKA

The hills immediately bordering the lake are about 300 feet high. Cantwell found no shallow places ^ anywhere ^ in this lake anywhere except ^ in ^ at the mouth of the outlet at its southern end. Elsewhere he did not find bottom with a 40-fathom line.

Eskimo tales of the immense fish to be found in Walker Lake inspired one of Cantwell's party to ^ bait ^ bate the antlers of a reindeer with a goose in a semi-serious attempt to catch one of these mythical monsters. Although that attempt failed, more no ^ rmal ^ fishing methods produced trout over three feet in length. The natives assured Cantwell, however, that these were tiny in comparison with the boat-devouring ^ creatures living ^ fish that lived in the depths of the lake.

A short stream connects the southern end of Walker Lake with the Kobuk. A few miles above this junction, near the ^ mountain - ringed headwaters ^ source of the Kobuk, the Kichaiak enters from the east. This section of the Kobuk passes through a gorge. The river here is white with rapids, the bed bristling with boulders and drift-wood. Navigation of this part of the Kobuk is possible only with very small boats and a s ^ t ^ out tracking line, ^ but ^ and then only with the greatest diffi– culty and danger. [: ] This upper section of the Kobuk is ^ not more than ^ only about 20 or 25 miles west of the Alatna, in the Yukon River system, and there is a portage over the intervening mountains to that stream. It was by way of this portage from the Alatna (which he called the Allen), that Mendenhall reached the Kobuk i h n August of 1901.

Mendenhall found that the Kobuk was about 125 feet wide and 6 to 8 feet deep at the mouth of the Kichaiak and that it occupied a level valley about three miles wide.

For more than twenty miles below Walker Lake, the river ^ bends ^ veers to the southwest, thereafter keeping to ^ maintaining ^ its generally westerly direction. Its course is tortu r ous, passing through two more deep gorges. At a point between

^24^

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between these gorges the Kobuk receives a tributary from Nutuvukti Lake

^ N ^ utuvukti Lake is a little less than ^ ^ one-half as extensive as Walker Lake. It is roughly crescent-shaped and lies along a northwest-southeast axis. Its sides are formed by relatively high hills, but the valley in which it is situated extends far beyond the ends of the lake.

Norutak Lake, south of the Kobuk, between the lower gorge and the headwaters of the Hogatza River (q.v.), is visible from the hills bordering this part of the Kobuk. It is approximately oval in shape and drains southward into the Hogatza.

Below the lower gorge, the Kobuk valley is from ten to twenty miles wide. This width is maintained for ^ over a ^ hundred s of miles until just above the mouth of Squirrel River where a spur [: ] from the Baird Mountains on the north and a small group of scattered hills on the south suddenly contract the valley to a width of only a few miles. Below this point the valley gradually broadens again to the head of the delta, where it enters a great flat extending from near the mouth of the N ^ o ^ atak to south of Selawik Lake.

Tributaries All along its middle course the Kobuk receives many tributaries, the most importa ^ n ^ t of which flow out of the Schwatka and Baird Mountains north of the stream.

Travel l ing downstream from the point at which we have noted that the Kobuk turns westward, these tributaries are: Reed, Beaver, [: ] Sulukpowik, Mauneluk, Kogoluktuk, Dahl, Wesley, Cosmos, Shungnak, Ambler, Jade, Hunt, Kaliguricheark, Tutuksuk, Salmon, Kallarichuk, Trinity, and Squirrel (q.v.).

At the head of Reed River are the hot springs explored by Ensign Reed of the Stoney expedition, from which the upper Noatak may easily be reached in winter. Lake Selby, the source of the Sulukpowik, is about [: ]

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six or eight miles long ^ , ^ and ^ lies ^ only about five or six miles north of the Kobuk. High mountains fo ^ r ^ m the valley wall at the north end of the lake, and a short portage from its head leads to Avaterat Lake, the source of the Mauneluk. The Kogoluktuk enters the Kobuk a few miles east of 157° W.Long. The pass ^ ^ leading from the head of this river to the Noatak is one of the shortest and easiest routes to that river from the Kobuk.

The Ambler, one of the most important affluents ^ of ^ to the Kobuk, flows out of the Schwatka Mountains and diagonally a cross the broad east-west valley bordering the last twenty-five miles of its course ^ to enter ^ The Ambler enters the Kobuk near 158° W. Long. Its principal tributary, the Redstone, was so named by Stoney because of the color of the rock debris which it carries.

"The country on both sides ^ [ ^ of this section of the river ^ Kobuk ] ^ ," Cantwell wrote on July 25, 1884, "was, as usual, spongy tundra backed by rolling country to the mountains, sixteen to twenty miles distant. The banks of the river are moderately high, and composed of a dark-colored soil of a clayey nature, above which lies a thick layer of black earth in which the fiber of decayed vegetable matter can be seen in great quantities. The banks seem to be undergoing a continual change of form, as we frequently saw portions twenty-five to fifty feet square become detached and fall into the water. Sand-bars and shoals abound in many places, and the current re– mained about as usual...We chased a flock of geese into a small lake which has an outlet into the Kowak this afternoon and killed half a dozen, and as we had had no fresh meat of any kind for some time they proved a welcome addi– tion to our larder...Temperature, 90°."

On July 30, having decided ^ determined ^ to return to his supply [: ] launch before proceeding farther upstream, Cantwell repassed the mouth of the tributary flowing down from Jade Mountain, some twelve miles to the north. Since his boat was in need of a day's repair, Cantwell decided to

^ 27 ^

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walk to the moun ^ t ^ ain. The native shamans believed it to be the home of evil d a emons who destroyed all trespassers. Cantwell found trouble and d ^ an ^ ger not in the mountain itself but in its approach. "Our walk across to the mountains," he wrote, "was attended by excessive fatigue. Ou ^ r ^ way lay across the soft, yielding tundra through lagoons, around lakes and dense thickets of tangled willows and cottonwood, and long stretches of pine woods, where fallen trees caused us constantly to turn aside and travel by a circuitous route. At one moment exposed to the burning heat of the summer sun, and the next floundering, plunging, and struggling waist-deep in dark pools of stag– nant water where the light of day never penetrates, we reached at last the banks of a high rugged peak of the same range roaring torrent wh [: ] ch sweeps around the base of the Jade Mountain and separates it from a high rugged peak of the same range.

"The bed of the stream was filled with stones, and huge heaps of them had been piled up with human-like intention by the ice. André and I began at once our search for the green stone, but the heart of Natorak failed him here and he could not be induced to go any nearer to the supposed residence of his satanic majesty...Large quantities of green stone were found in the bed of the stream and scattered along its banks. The whole mountain seems to be composed of it, and the sides of the cliffs are like polished glass, so smooth have they been made by pressure or friction. Following the course of the str ^ e ^ am we collected a number of specimens of stone aggregating in [: ] weight about seventy-five or one hundred pounds and returned to the camp... Average temperature, 90°."

The next day, at 3:30 a.m., the small party started on the return journey. The cold early morning air invigorated them, and they fairly ran down the side of the mountain, despite their heavy loads of stone and camp equipment. After about five miles of easy walking, however, they came upon

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a dense pine forest. "Here," Cantwell wrote, "we were beset by myriads of mosquitoes and sand-flies, which attacked us with a persistence and violence utterly beyond description. Sometimes in crossing a morass I would be com– pelled to steady myself by holding on to the limbs of a fallen tree. At such times the horrible pests would attack my face, neck, and head with venomous force which no pen can describe. After about two hours of this kind of work we emerged upon the open tundra, and a fresh breeze springing up we threw ourselves down and buried our heads in the yielding moss and grass ^ ^ until the wind had blown the mosquitoes away. I can not tell how much I suffered dur– ing this day. I only know that when we reached the river at 5 p.m. I was almost insensible from pain and exhaustion."

From this account it will readily be understood that ^ , in the opinion of the first white men in this region, ^ whatever were the difficulties of summer river travel in this country , they were as nothing when compared with the horrors of summer overland travel. which, ^ At that time of ^ because of ^ year, ^ the nature of the terrain ^ , the complete lack of trails, and the then ^ had at that time to be slowly and laboriously on foot.

existing ignorance of the equipment and technique necessary for such tips, combined to discourage even the hardiest explorer.

Mendenhall reports that serpentines

The Squirrel River system is complicated and of sufficient economic importance to be written up separately. There are, of course, other unnamed northerly ^ ^ tributaries to ^ of ^ the Kobuk.

The southern tributaries to the Kobuk are much ^ f ^ ewer in number. Just south of the Sulkpowik River, which drains from Lake Selby, ^ T ^ he Lockwood Hills and a spur r from the Zane Hills approach the south side of the ^ upper ^ Kobuk. Between these two groups of hills [: ] the Pah River flows north– ward into the Kobuk, entering it a few miles below the mouth of the Sulukpowik. ^ No P ^ A few miles below Wesley Creek, the Kuikcherk and Pick Rivers flow in from the south, while and Black River enters a few miles below the Shungnak.

^ 25 ^

Cantwell's party ascended Black River, which Cantwell called the Umakalookta, on July 27, 1884. Its course they found to be tortu r ous and its banks covered with a "dense and impenetrable thicket of Arctic willow and rank grass." The lower section of the stream was between fifty and seventy– five yards wide, but, after a little over ^ ^ five hours of travel l ing upstream, it had turned into "a roaring mountain torrent of some twenty-five feet in width." With the help of some local natives, many of whom had never before seen a white man, Cantwell carried his boats and equipment over the portage leading northeastward from the head of Black River to the Kobuk, at a point about thirty-five miles above the mouth of the Black. This portage took the party directly across the marshlands, across two small lakes, and then across more marshland. "Over stumps and through mud and water sometimes knee deep we floundered," Cantwell ^ w ^ rote. It was with considerable joy and relief that the party finally achieved the Kobuk, "whose broad, unobstructed surface seemed to welcome us back," Cantwell adds, ascribing to the river his own feelings at seeing it again.

Between Ambler and Hunt River, Tunutuk Creek comes in from the ^ ^ south, and Kavet and Nigeruk Creeks enter a few miles farther downstream.

The Nigeruk is the last named southern tributary to the Kobuk, although, as with the streams coming in from the north, there are many more whose names have not yet found their way on to maps of the region.

Reed River, known ^ ^ to the Eskimos as the An-ne-lag-ag-ge-rack, was named by Stoney after a member of his expedition, Ensign M.L. Reed, who explored it in 1886.

^Omit^

Beaver Creek was so named by Stoney in 1885 apparently from the translation of the Eskimo name. Sulukpowik is an Anglicized version of the Eskimo name for a small fish. Both Stoney and Cantwell visited the Kogoluktuk during the summer of 1885. Cantwell recorded a variant of

^ 26 ^

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this name and reported that it was also known as Rocky River. Mendenhall named Cosmos Creek after Stoney's winter camp of 1885/86, Fort Cosmos, which was located at the mouth of this stream. Stoney also gave the name ^ Sh ^ ungnak to a stream known to the natives as Shingnek. Since Shungnak Creek enters the Kobuk many miles below the site of the town of S ^ h ^ ungnak, Stoney would seem to have confused the names. This mistake, however, has never been cor– rected. The present site of Shungnak would seem to be where Stoney located the village of Sulukpowik. Menden ^ ha ^ ll identified this stream as the Shingnek, but more recent maps have reinstated Stoney's possible error.

^ Omit ^

Stoney substituted Ambler for the native name of that river in mem ^ o ^ ry of Dr. James M. Ambler, U.S.N., surgeon on the ^ ill- ^ fated De Long arctic expedition (q.v.). Hunt River he named after one of his 1885 party. The Tutusuk he recorded as the Too-look-sook, or Labret River. Mendenhall changed this to Tootooksook, claiming that the name means "river of caribou pelts," from tutu or tootoo , "caribou."

Kallarichuk and Trinity Rivers appear as dotted, unsurve ^ y ^ ed streams on a U.S. Geological Survey reconnaissance map dated 1930. Stoney, Cantwell, and Mendenhall all agree on the name Squirrel for that northerly tributary to the Kobuk although they disagree with each other and with them– selves as to the Spelling of its Eskimo name.

^ Delta ^ Below Squirrel River the Kobuk separates into a number of channels, making a maze of sloughs of the lower section of its broad delta. Local pilots have favorites among the reported twenty-seven or twenty-eight channels and will use one or the other of these depending on the direction of the wind at the time of their approach from Hotham Inlet. Riley Channel, which appears on so many recent maps, was named after the S.S. John Riley , which used this particular approach to the Kobuk early in the twentieth century. This channel is still in use but would not seem to be any more popular than certain others.

Relief The most noticeable feature of the relief of the Kobuk dis– trict is the considerable height and almost unbroken contin– uity of the mountains north of the river and the relatively low and spotty character of the hills to the south of it.

The Endicott Mountains, which merge without a break into the Schwatka Mountains, enclose the headwaters of the Kobuk. They retreat from the river quickly enough, however, to leave the southern ends of Walker and Nutuvukti Lakes pretending projecting into the Kobuk valley, which here measures only a few miles in width. An 8,800-foot peak, the highest point in the Schwatka Mountains, lies ^ rises ^ only about eighteen miles northwestward from the upper end of Walker Lake.

For about one hundred ^ eighty-five ^ miles (airline) below the point at which the Kobuk turns westward, that is, from a few miles above Reed River to the mouth of the Ambler, a series of isolated groups of hills, known as the Cosmos Hills, separates the Kobuk from the Schwatka Mountains. These ^ hills, ^ hilly clumps , most of which rise to well over 2,000 feet, are completely sur– rounded by lowlands except in the two instances in which they are connected on the north with the Schwatka Mountains. The Reed, ^ Beaver, ^ Sulukpowik, Mauneluk, Kogoluktuk, Dahl, Wesley, Cosmos, and Shungnak Rivers work their way out of the Schwatka Mountains, and through the valleys segmenting the Cosmos Hills and so to the Kobuk. Lake Selby lies between two of the most easterly of this group of hills, and Avatarat Lake is only a few miles northwest of ^ Lake ^ Selby, between the hills and the Schwatka Mountains.

Just west of Ambler River, at about 158° W.Long., the Schwatka Mountains merge into ^ with ^ the lower chain known as the Baird Mountains. This system continues along an east-west axis in line with the general direction of the Kobuk but from ten to twenty miles distant from it, until just above the mouth of the Squirrel, ^ where ^ they send a ragged point of hills

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southwest southward to within a few miles of the river.

Westward from this point, however, the Baird Mountains veer northwestward away not only from the Kobuk but also from the Squirrel.

The only high land south of the Squirrel and north of the Kobuk is a narrow chain of hills containing ^ among which rises ^ 2,675-foot Deviation Peak. This small group runs along a southeast-northwest axis parallel to the Squirrel but several miles away from it, and ^ T ^ he lower ^ Southern ^ end of the group does not approach^es^ ^to within^ nearer than two or three miles of the Kobuk.

The relief of the southern half of the Kobuk valley presents a much different aspect from that to the north.

The hills separating the extreme upper course of the Kobuk from the Alatna ^ are ^ generally 1,000 feet or less in height and are marked only occasionally by isolated higher peaks. It is across this low sprawling range that Mendenhall reached the Kobuk from the Alatna early in this century, using the ancient and much trave l led portage discovered by the natives.

Southeast Southwest of this group of ^ there ^ hills lies Norutak Lake, which, as we have seen, drains southward into the Hogatza.

Westward of Norutak Lake scattered clumps of hills ^ , ^ usually not more than 2,000 feet high, but sometimes containing isolated peaks between 3,000 and 4,000 feet in height, continue ^ to skirt the Kobuk ^ along with, but at an ever-increasing distance from ^ it ^ the Kobuk. . As we have seen, Pah River finds an easy course between two of these groups, known as the Lockwood and Zane Hills. West of 158° W.Long., the terrain south of the Kobuk sinks into a stretch of lake-strewn marsh ^ land ^ stretching almost without interruption to the delta. The only break in this expanse is a straggling chain of isolated groups of hills known as the Waring Mountains. The easterly members of this chain lie ten or more miles from the Kobuk, but, opposite the spurr sent ^ hills jutting ^ down from the Baird Mountains north of the river, they approach to within a few miles of

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it, completing the constriction of the Kobuk valley ^ . ^ mentioned above. At a point approximately due south of the mouth of the Squirrel, the Waring Mountains give way to the conditions surrounding the delta, which reinstate the typical arctic marshy grassland, described by some writers as "tundra," except that in the case of the Kobuk a growth of spr ^ u ^ ce extends to the very shores of Hotham Inlet.

Climate Stoney describes the month of July on the Kobuk as "one of incessant rain," sometimes combined with a heavy fall of hailstones and violent thunder and lightning. During the day temperatures taken in the sun rose to between 80° and 100° F., with one record-breaking reading of 110°. At the same time it was between 60° and 70° in the shade. August, on the other hand, Stoney reports as being perfectly dry, so that the level of the water in the Kobuk and all its tributaries fe ^ l ^ l several feet, exposing bars and sand - banks where none had been before. During August and September temperatures fell markedly at night so that frost formed and a thin skin of ice covered small, still pools of water.

At Fort Cosmos, several hundred miles up the Kobuk, the river was clogged with ice on October 1. By November 1 this ice was everywhere at least sixteen inches thick. The lowest recorded temperature for the entire winter, ࢤ70° F., occurred during January, 1886. From then on, both extreme and mean temperatures gradually increased. Highest readings for April and m ^ M ^ ay were 49° and 65° respectively, the lowest ࢤ22° and 14° respectively.

On April 26, geese flew over Fort Cosmos and snow-buntings appeared. By April 30, the first signs of buds were noticed on the trees and bushes. On May 19, the river ice cracked along the edges, and a few days later the midstream masses began to break up and float down-river.

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By May 30, the entire body of ice was moving, and on that day an ice-jam somewhere below the Fort raised the water in the river five inches in fifteen minutes. The first mosquitoes, scourge of the arctic summer, appeared about this time, and the grass began to show green. By June 3, the river was practically clear of ice, and on June 8, Stoney started downstream in the Explorer , reaching the delta without mishap.

Fish and Game Throughout the late summer and fall great numbers of salmon throng the Kobuk. It is the women's work at this time of year to dry and store the fish for the winter. White fish, gr e ^ a ^ yling, and pike are also caught during the summer months.

Waterfowl breed in the numberless lakes and ponds dotting the marsh ^ land ^ on both sides of the river. Mendenhall found that these ducks and geese, although wary and difficult for any but the professional hunter to [: ] capture, existed in sufficient numbers to supply an agreeable variety to the bill of fare several times a week.

Just before their winter migration young fat ducks are much easier to catch. Other birds in this section are the widgeon, green wing teal, pintail, butterballs, and harlequins. The willow ptarmigan, most generally distributed of all the food birds, is abundant on the marshy grasslands, but somewhat less frequent in the mountainous sections. A smaller and less num erous ^ , smaller ^ ptarmigan inhabits the rocky heights and tops of the mounts, and a few Canada grouse live in the spruce forests bordering the middle and upper sections of the Kobuk.

At the time when Mendenhall visited this section the caribou were gradually working farther eastward and northward, away from the Kobuk, so that it was often necessary for the natives to cross over to the Noatak and ^ Wild ^ Rivers in order to get caribou skins for clothing. More recent reports seem to indicate that the caribou have increased since

^ 26 ^

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Mendenhall's time. Moose are scarce everywhere. A few white mountain sheep are to be found in the uplands surrounding the head of the Kobuk, and there are some black and brown bear in the region of the delta. Muskrat, which the Eskimos use as food, are very numerous in the delta. Their skins are also used for clothing when caribou hides are scarce. Some red and white foxes, marten, beaver, and mink are known to live in the district, but the Eskimos [: ] use these skins for trading rather than for their more immediate needs.

Vegetation As will be seen from comparing the Kobuk district with most of Seward Peninsula and the coastal regions to the north, it is extraordinary in having a growth of spruce all along its course, and for a good distance down the delta. This growth is ample for the building of cabins all along the river. ^ anywhere in the district. ^ The spruce These spruce trees average one foot in diameter, but Stoney found one tree with a base eighty inches in circum– ference, and a trunk ^ measuring ^ sixty-eight inches around ^ in circumference ^ six feet above the ground. ^ base. ^ This tree was about eighty feet tall, an unusual growth for the spruce of the Kobuk district. Birch trees also grow along the river but never reach the size sufficient for use in building. These spruce and birch trees will ^ are ^ be found only in the valleys. Because of the high northern latitude of the region, they do not extend very far up the sides of the mountains. However, since the Kobuk valley is from fifteen to twenty miles wide throughout most of its extent, timber is available in good supply to residents, miners, and prospectors.

Poplars, including balm of Gilead and the aspen, appear on gravel knolls and ridges in the lower regions. Scrub willows, varying in size from small trees to shrubs only two or three inches high, line the waterways, the larger varieties forming the typical willow thicket along the banks. Alders occur not only on the lower levels but also on the mountain slopes well above the timber line.

^ 26 ^

A wide variety and great abundance of grasses cover the lowland marshes. These grasses may be used as fodder for pack animals, but, because they seldom have time to mature during the short growing season, they furnish very little sustenance after being dried.

Myriads of several kinds of berries, including the salmon berry and bilberry grow everywhere in the lowlands. Mountain and high bush cranberries as well as the red currant will be ^ are also ^ found, but less frequently.

Mosses, particularly the white or cream-colored reindeer moss ^ , ^ combine with the dark green, red, and black of other varieties to form an unbroken ^ , ^ irregularly patterned covering over the lowlands, while the more hardy varieties of mosses and lichens continue up the slopes and to the very tops of the mountains, completing the blanket of vegetation which masks the entire region. Small, and often showy ^ , ^ and brightly-colored flowers ^ bloom ^ persist throughout the short summer, adding a gay note to an otherwise rather somber landscape.

Transportation As will be easily understood after reading Cantwell and Stoney, transportation on the Kobuk was difficult and primitive in the 1880's. Except for the portages mentioned above, trails were nonexistent and to step away from the river was to project oneself into the pathless marshes and forests bordering the river. Communities along the Kobuk developed slowly ^ , ^ so that for the first few years of this century travel summer travel kept to the waterways and winter travel was exclusively by dog tre team. By 1910, however, the demand for ready, year-round communica– tion between the several mining camps in the Shungnak area emphasized the need for a system of summer trails. Under the direction of the U.S. c ^ C ^ ommissioner for the district ^ , ^ a trail one trail was built from Shungnak to the placers on the upper Dahl Creek, another up Wesley Creek, and a third from Dahl to Wesley Creeks, along the southern slopes of the Cosmos h ^ H ^ ills. ^ 27 ^

These three trails improved the local conditions around Shungnak but hardly constituted a system for the entire Kobuk district. Despite this lack, the members of the Geological Survey expedition of 1910 found that it was possible for anyone familiar with the terrain and its conditions to take a group of men and pack animals practically at will wherever the work required them to go.

One cannot help but compare the assurance implicit in this statement with Cantwell's reports concerning his summer overland trips ^ . ^ in the Kobuk district. During the quarter of a century succeeding Cantwell's pioneer ventures, ^ the white ^ man's knowledge and understanding of actual conditions in this part of the Arctic had achieved a certain complacency. The emphasis, however, was clearly placed on conformity with these conditions rather than on stubborn, however brave, attempts to ignore them.

The introduction of air travel into Alaska has shifted attention somewhat away from the problems of overland transportation. As will be noticed below, even the smallest villages now have a landing strip or some area which may be used as one. Scheduled flights ^ are ^ or supplemented by the work of the expert and ingenious bush pilots, who more often than not succee ^ d ^ at assignments which official airlines might class as impossible.

Settlements Aside from the many shelter cabins and temporary native villages on the Kobuk, the chief settlements are Kalla and Kobuk, respectively a few miles east and west of the Kogoluktuk; Shungnak, at the mouth of Wesley Creek; Kiana, at the mouth of the Squirrel; and Noorvik, on what is known as Nazuruk Channel, one of the more southerly entrances to the Kobuk.

Kala does not appear on the 1939 census, but the other four villages are good-sized towns when one considers their distance from main transportation lines.

^ 25 ^

Kobuk , the smallest of the group, has a population of only about 31, but there are two general stores and a ^ 1,300-foot ^ landing strip in the town.

During the 1898 gold rush to the Kobuk there were several hundred persons in the Shungnak area, but, by 1910, only a dozen or so still lived there, although the village had a United States commissioner and a recorder for the Shungnak mining district, as well as a post office during the six winter months of each year. ^ No regularly scheduled boats came this far up the Kobuk, and ^ S ^ s ^ ummer overland transportation was still so [: ] difficult that mail could not reach the district during that season. There were also a Friend's Mission, a government school teacher, and a reindeer herd superintendent in the settlement. The small store had some supplies, but these were usually exhausted by or before the [: ] end of the winter.

^¶^ A group of native camps had grown up within a short distance of the white men's cabins, and these hundred or so natives remained in the vicinity except for their annual migration downstream during the summer fishing season. For the next twenty years Shungnak gradually developed into a permanent village, appearing on the 1939 census with a population of 19 ^ 3 ^ . By this time the town also had an Alaska Native Service school, a unit of the Alaska Radio Communication System, and a 1,500-foot landing strip. Shungnak is about 250 miles from the mouth of the Kobuk which is navigable throughout this distance for boats drawing up to three feet. Boats of much greater draft could be carried this distance except for the bars at the mouth of the river and the occasional ^ ^ shallowness of the channel. Kobuk and Shungnak are usually considered the head of navigation on the Kobuk, although small boats may be carried as far upstream as the first gorge.

Kiana has two general stores and an Alaska Native Service school for a population of 167. The main landing strip is 1,200 feet long, but there is another landing area in what is known as South Kiana. This town is the supply and transfer point for mining camps farther up the Kobuk and

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particularly for the mines on Klery Creek, a tributary to the Squirrel.

Noorvik, the largest of these towns, had a 1939 population of 211, an Alaska Native Service school, a cooperative general store, and a 1,500-foot landing strip. Noorvik also has a government hospital for natives. It is the home of Twok, the Eskimo artist, who turned a crippling accident of his youth into an opportunity to develop his talent for line drawings. He is probably the only professional artist in Alaska. He uses reindeer skins for canvas, incorporating such imperfections and discolorations as they may contain into the design of his pictures. One of his large drawings hangs in the lobby of the Hotel Anchorage and many others will be found in curio shops throughout the t ^ T ^ erritory.

Except for the few ^ miners, ^ teachers, missionaries, and white traders living in these villages, they are exclusively native settlements. During July and August, the majority of these natives travel down the Kobuk to a spot on Baldwin Peninsula between Kotzebue (q.v.) and Cape Blossom where they trade with other natives from as far north as Point Hope, on the arctic coast of Alaska, and as far west as Cape Prince of Wales and the Diomede Islands. These annual trading trips to this particular spot and from these same areas were already a long-established custom when the first white men visited Kotzebue Sound. They may date back to extremely ancient times.

Mining A sample of ore which a native gave to Captain B. Cogan caused the 1898 stampede to the Kobuk. Captain Cogan took the sample Outside where it was assayed at ^ the enormous valuation of ^ $4,700 to the ton. The native had told him that there was "a mountain" of this ore. Cogan died after several years of unsuccessful searching for this golden mountain, and, ^ but, ^ ^ 24 ^

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by the summer of 1898, about 1,200 other miners had stampeded to the Kobuk to join in the search. Only about 800 remained there over the winter of 1898/99, and the following summer most of these abandoned the district for the new fields at Nome and along the Koyukuk (q.v.).

The few who remained in the Kobuk District took out enough gold to support themselves year by year, so that, by 1910, between $50,000 and $75,000 had been removed from the area. Although most of this early mining took place in the Shungnak area, the most recent activity has been on the Squirrel and its tributaries, particularly Klery Creek.

An addition to gold, ^ Gold is not the only valuable deposit to be found in this region, ^ g ^ G ^ alena, vein quartz, magnetite, and some dolomite [: ] have been found ^ discovered ^ along the Kobuk. Certain non-metallic deposits, notably coal, asbestos, serpentine, and green quartzite are also known to exist. No jade of gem quality has ever been discovered there, although nephrite, a jade of poor quality, has recently been found on Jade Mountain and the Kobuk asbestos fields, where it may well become a by ^ - ^ product of the mining there. This nephrite occurs in ^ ^ the form of surface boulders and ^ h ^ as been found in the gravels of the streams flowing into the Kobuk as far east as Dahl Creek. It is now being recovered by the Arctic Circle Exploration Co. in connection with the mining of asbestos. Bain suggested, in 1946, that these deposits might develop into a native jade-cutting industry, but ^ , ^ since this is largely a matter of building up a demand where style is important, the value of these nephrite deposits has yet to be de– termined.

By 1946, there were five small-scale gold mining operations in the Shungnak area. At this same time one company constructed a dredge on Klery Creek where a hydraulic and a shovel-in operation ^ equipment ^ were also in operation ^ at work. ^

^ 25 ^

^ 150 wds ^

KOGGIUNG, ALASKA, is a village and post office on the south bank of the mouth of the Kvichak River (q.v.), Kvichak Bay, a northeastern arm of Bristol Bay. It was reported in 1940 that a new airline, to be called Naknek Airways, had been organized, which would base at Koggiung and serve Bristol Bay points. Such a project would require not only a landing field, but a commercial airways radio station in the town, since all passenger planes in Alaska are required to have two-way communication. The Alaska Packers Association and Libby, McNeill & Libby maintain canneries and company radio stations in Koggiung.

Two extensive winter trails meet near Koggiung. The more southerly of these trails leads from Portage Bay, Shelikof Strait, on the north– eastern side of the Alaska Peninsula, northwestward to Egegig (q.v.) and then northward to Naknek and Koggiung. Near Koggiung this trail crosses the head of Kvichak Bay to join the other more northerly trail which runs from Iliamna Lake down the Kvichak River and westward to Dillingham, Owens, Goodnews and other Bristol Bay points.

Text - 1,615 words Bibl - 75 words

KOTZEBUE (66° 53′ N.Lat., 162° 37′ W.Long.) on the northwestern tip of Baldwin Peninsula, Kotzebue Sound, lies on or very near to the site of one of the oldest native summer trading points on the northwestern coast of Alaska. Because of its position near the mouths of the Selawik, Kobuk, and Noatak Rivers, and its availability by water from the northern sections of Seward Peninsula, and the Diomede Islands, this town still retains its importance as a trading center.

In the report of his 1884 exploration of the Kobuk River, Cantwell gives the following description of the activities in this region on August 21 of that year: "From the middle of July to the latter part of August the natives of the Nöitoc ^ [ ^ Noatak ^ ] ^ , Kowak ^ [ ^ Kobuk ^ ] ^ , and Selawick Rivers meet those from Cape Prince of Wales, Diomedes, and Point Hope for the purpose of trade. The beginning of the season is celebrated by dancing, feasting, and story-telling, which occupy one day, and after that is accomplished the real business of the occasion is prosecuted with surprising tact and ability. In this community of uncivilized beings the same methods of business are adopted whereby prices and values are made to vary in proportion to the demand as are used by their more enlightened brothers in the civilized world. Rifles are always in demand, and next to whisky obtain the readiest sale. The chief of the Prince of Wales Eskimos is probably the most powerful magnate of this region, owing no doubt to the fact that his settlement is a convenient stopping place for vessels having these articles of contraband trade on board. His method of becoming rich is simple and effective. Upon the opening of business he offers the Indians whisky in exchange for rifles, and will not trade for anything else, and is generally successful in obtaining a 'corner' in rifles in ^ ^ this way. I was informed that it was not an unusual thing for an Indian to sell and buy his rifle twice or three times

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in this way during one season, or as long as the whisky lasted. It is gratifying to learn that whisky as an article of commerce is becoming scarcer every year. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain any reliable information as regards the number or amount of anything. Generally speaking, the native system of notation is limited to the fingers and toes, and any very large number is expressed by a handful of sand. The village consists of a straggl– ing line of tents along the beach. Some were composed of a number of poles arranged in a conical fashion and covered with deer-skins; others of blue, white, or red drilling were seen, and one more gaudy than the rest was covered with the remanants of a cheap bed-quilt ^ ... ^ on which was printed in glaring colors the picture of a man sitting up in bed with a [: ] candle in one hand and a fifteen puzzle in the other. The tents of the 'omaliks' are generally more imposing affairs, made in the United States and brought here by the traders."

Cantwell returned to the village the next day, adding: "I visited the village after dinner, and found the whole place in an uproar of excitement. Tents were being pitched, boats hauled out and converted into houses, skins and trade goods thrown together in large piles, and above all the noise and bus ^ tl ^ e the howling of three or four hundred dogs tended to increase the Babel-like confusion. When I arrived there was a momentary lull in the proceedings. Many of the natives had seen me on the Corwin and recognized me now. They crowded around me, and were evidently anxious to know the c ua ^ au ^ se of my presence. Upon being assured that I did not come with any malign intentions they welcomed me with every evidence of joy, and kept me hemmed in until one or two drunken Eskimos had been hustled out of sight, and then resumed their preparations for trade, allowing me to go wherever I pleased. I was followed by a mob of boys, who showed the same propensity for mischief as the small white boy does on similar occasions.

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After taking a rapid census of the population, which I estimate [: ] at about fourteen hundred, I returned to our camp."

Kotzebue acquired a post office in 1903, at which time it was also a headquarters for a reindeer station and for a Friends' Mission. These three attributes of the town have ^ have ^ never been lost, and it is good to report that the Friends have succeeded in their fight against the sale of hard liquor to the natives. In this, as well as other respects, Kotzebue is ^ now ^ one of the model settlements in all of northwestern Alaska.

By 1910, Kotzebue had become the major supply post for the mining then going forward on the Kobuk River. P.S. Smith visited this section in August of that year. He gives the following description of the town: "Kotzebue is the seaport of the entire Kobuk region and is nor [: ] ally the home of a missionary and family, three white traders, a few boatmen and mechanics, and a small settlement of natives. After the break up in the spring, however, missionaries, school-teachers, and prospectors, together with a great number of natives from all the neighboring rivers, con– gregate for the trading and fishing in preparation for the coming winter, so that during July and August there are 600 to 700 people living in the town, which then stretches for more than 3 miles along the coast. A ma ^ i ^ l-boat servi ^ c ^ e from Nome to this place is maintained every 10 days during the summer. The boats, however, are only 30 to 50 ton schooners with auxiliary gasoline power, and the passenger accommodations are cramped and inad ^ e ^ quate, although the food is good. The trip from Nome by one of these boats [: ] takes about three days, as stops are made at many way points, and the charges in 1910 were $25 apiece for passengers and about $20 a ton for freight. It is not possible to use boats drawing more than 5 to 6 feet of water, as the channel up to Kotzebue is narrow, crooked, and shallow. Some larger boats from Seattle enter Kotzebue Sound, but they can not approach nearer than

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Cape Blossom, which is 10 to 12 miles south of the town of Kotzebue. In the winter a mail service by dog sledge once a month is main ^ t ^ ained from Nome overland to ^ ^ Candle and Kiwalik and thence along the coast and on the sea ice to Kotzebue."

By 1945, Kotzebue was not only one of the oldest established settlements on the northwestern coast of Alaska, but it had become the largest as well. Its centralized position, so early recognized by the Eskimos, had raised its permanent population to an estimated 400. The Friends' Church and Mission, the Catholic Church, the ^ ^ Alaska Native Service School, and the ten-bed U.S. Government Hospital for natives were all housed in handsome substantial frame buildings.

By 1945 ^ this time ^ the post office had been advanced to second class rank; the U.S. Army maintained a telegraph and radiotelegraph station of the Alaska Communication System in the town; a Deputy Marshal and a U.S. Commissioner resided there; and the Territorial Weather Bureau maintained an office there. In addition to all this Kotzebue has several business establishments including a lighterage company, two river transportation companies, two restaurants, and a theater.

Most of the permanent Eskimo population themselves came ^ from the interior ^ or are descendants of the i ^ n ^ land natives along the Kobuk, Noatak, and Selawik Rivers, but Kotzebue is still the summer meeting place for natives from sections hundred of miles distant ^ in ^ and from all directions.

Despite its centralized position, the value and convenience of Kotzebue as a distribution point for the Kobuk mining district and for others points on the north side of Seward Peninsula and the mainland co ^ a ^ st to the north is qualified by the fact that seagoing vessels cannot approach close to the town. Freight must be transferred to lighterage vessels of six-foot draft or less. These boats can reach ^ ^ the town if

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their pilots know the channels. Channels into the Hotham Inlet are continuously changing and, although buoys are planted during the season of navigation ^ , ^ they are hard to pick up in the fall, and therefore cannot be relied upon. Pilots are available at Kotzebue.

There is a small wharf at the town and [: ] launches will find shelter nearby. Provisions of all kinds, as well as gasoline and oil are available at Kotzebue.

The general anchorage for ocean-going vessels is off Cape Blossom. Here five fathoms will be found with protection from northerly and easterly winds. This anchorage lies about fifteen miles from Kotzebue and the trip to that town is endangered by the possibility of sudden blows which are said to incr ^ e ^ ase within a few minutes to 25 or 30 miles an hour raising a choppy seas in the Sound. The trip is further endangered by the many sandbars and shoals which make off from the northwestern point of Baldwin Peninsula. These bars are constantly shifting, so that local help should be obtained before attempting a passage.

Because of the large ^ great ^ number of reindeer in this vicinity, large quantities of this meat are available in Kotzebue. In this particular section of Alaska, not lack of supply but transportation difficulties to the United States have hindered a full-scale development of the reindeer meat industry.

The accompanying chart for 1947 will give some idea of the weather at Kotzebue. The extremes of ࢤ48° F. in February and 79° F. in July would seem to represent a wide range until they are compared with readings for interior Alaska in the same latitude. On the upper Kobuk, for instance, winter temperatures sometimes fall to the -70°.s and the summer temperatures rise to the upper.

90's. The relatively low amount of precipitation is amply balanced by the high humidity, so that the over-all impression is one of considerable dampness

^ Kotzebue Weather Report – 1947^

^

Scroll Table to show more columns

	Temp. of the Air	Mean Relative Humidity	Total Precipitation in Inches	Wind	Clear Days	Cloudy and Partly Cloudy Days	Snow fall Total in Inches
Maximum Velocity	Average Hourly Velocity MPH	Prevailing Direction
Max.	Date	Min.	Date	MPH	Direction
Jan.	30°	4th	-43°	25th	62	0.51	-	-	-	NW	13	18	5.0
Feb.	35°	26	-48°	5	76	0.37	-	-	-	E	8	20	2.9
Mar.	27°	19	-37°	12	69	0.24	-	-	-	E	14	17	2.6
Apr.	35°	24	-15°	10	82	0.04	31	SE	11.4	NE	13	17	0.4
May	74°	29	5°	3	80	0.25	31	W	12.0	E	3	28	0.7
June	69°	20	35°	1	82	0.38	34	W	13.6	W	8	22	0.0
July	79°	22	46°	28	79	1.89	28	SE	11.4	SE	2	29	0.0
Aug.	67°	25	39°	16	83	1.98	36	SE	13.2	NW	1	30	0.0
Sept.	54°	7	22°	30	81	1.27	34	W	12.0	NW	6	24	0.2
Oct.	40°	7	1°	22	80	0.21	45	SE	12.0	NE	8	23	1.8
Nov.	35°	22	-13°	15	84	0.80	38	E	13.0	SE	7	23	7.6
Dec.	30°	6	-31°	26	82	0.40	38	E	31.1	NE	2	24	4.0

^

Kotzebue 5B

^ 1,790 words ^

KOTZEBUE SOUND, an arm of the Polar Sea, indents the northwestern coast of Alaska between 66° and 67° N.Lat., and 162° and 164° W. Long.

This Sound is bordered on the south by Seward Peninsula, on the east by Baldwin Peninsula, and on the north by the mainland of Alaska. The entrance is in the northwestern part of the Sound and lies between Cape Espen ^ b ^ erg, on Seward Peninsula, and Cape Krusenstern, on the mainland. The intervening distance between these two points is about forty-two miles. The Sound extends about forty-nine miles in a southeasterly direction and is continued in this direction by Spafarief Bay (q.v.), and Eschscholtz Bay (q.v.). Passing across the northern part of the Sound and through a two-mile entrance between Baldwin Peninsula and the mainland one passes into Hotham Inlet. By way of Hotham Inlet small boats may sail into Selawik Lake and Inland Lake (q.v.), or up the three major streams tributary to the Inlet: the Noatak, the Kobuk, or the Selawik (q.v.).

A shoal carrying from one to two and one-half fathom obstructs the entrance to Hotham Inlet and continues down the Sound side of the Peninsula as far as Cape Blossom. This shoal extends for several miles offshore at this point. Equally shallow water borders the west side of the Sound, south of Cape Espenberg to the mouth of the Goodhope River and then eastward for a few miles toward Cape Deceit. Elsewhere in Kotzebue Sound the soundings are uniform, varying from seven to nine fathoms.

A point just off Cape Blossom is the anchorage for ocean-going vessels with freight for the trading and supply center of Kotzebue, on the northwestern tip of Baldwin Peninsula. The anchorage with the finest pro– tection in all of this part of Alaska water lies between Chamisso Island and Choris Peninsula, in the entrance to Eschscholtz Bay. The best anchorage in this harbor is between Chamisso Island and Puffin Islet, just to the west. Here there is protection from all winds and easy access to land either on

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the Peninsula or on Chamisso Island. The water shoals close to shore very very rapidly close to shore along the south side of the Sound east of Cape Deceit, and it is recommended that vessels make constant use of the hand lead in all parts of the Sound so that as to avoid standing in too close to shore.

The major tributaries to Kotzebue Sound are the Nugnugaluktuk, Lane, Pish, Goodhope, and Cripple Rivers into ^ G ^ oodhope Bay in the southwestern part of the Sound; the Inmachuk, and the Kugruk, into the southeastern part, between Cape Deceit and Spafarief Bay; and the Kiwalik into Spafarief Bay itself.

Starting around the Sound from Cape Espenberg the chief settlements on or very near its shores are: Deering, at the mouth of the Kugruk; Candle, and Kiwalik, near the mouth of the Kiwalik; Kotzebue (q.v.), on Baldwin Peninsula; and Shesualek and Talikoff (q.v.), both mainland towns on the north side of the Sound, just below Cape Krusenstern. Of these, Kotzebue, which is the trading center and distribution point for much of the northern part of Seward Peninsula as well as for the interior of this part of Alaska, is by far the most important. Candle and Deering are the chief towns in the Fairhaven mining district, while Kotzebue is the ^ ^ supply center for the Kobuk district.

The winter trail which connects Deering with Nome mee ^ t ^ s, at Candle, the trails connecting that town with Council, Golovnin, and Koyuk in the southeastern part of Sewar ^ d ^ Peninsula. From Candle, this winter trail continues northward to Kotzebue, whence branches continue for hundreds of miles up the Kobuk and along the arctic coast of Alaska to Point Barrow.

Like other partially enclosed bays in this region, Kotzebue Sound is blocked by ice later than the ^ open ^ shoreline to the north. Its clearing depends upon the prevailing winds. Heavy drift ice maybe expected coming out of the Sound may be expected until the middle of July. The current between

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Cape Blossom and Point Hope is rapid and carries this ice along at a rate of about two or three knots. The Sound is closed to navigation by ordinary vessels about the middle of September.

Reports on the weather in this region are as yet incomplete. From October through April, northerly and northwesterly winds prevail at Candle. Between May and September there ^ they ^ are variable, although southeasterly winds are frequent. At Kotzebue, westerly winds prevail in May and June, and easterly winds prevail for the duration of the year. July temperatures above 80° are sometimes experienced throughout this region and extremes of 85° and 87° have been recorded in Kotzebue. The average daily maximum temperature at Candle is about 50° for June and July, while the mean monthly maximum exceeds at Kotzebue exceeds 50° during June, July, and August.

There is considerable fogginess over the area, with a maximum of dense fog with about 8% of all mid-summer observations and a minimum of about 2 ^ % ^ of the observations in the fall at Kotzebue.

Currents From Bering Strait to Point Barrow the current sets northward along the shore, being stronger inshore, and, when not stopped by the ice or affected by winds, has a velocity of one knot or more. The current in the Strait turns northeastward along the north shore of Seward Peninsula and is joined, north [: ] of Cape Krusenstern, by the current from Kotzebue Sound. On the eastern side of the Sound a northerly current from Eschscholtz Bay sets along shore. This current has a velocity of from one-half to one knot at Cape Blossom. The It continues past Cape Krusenstern, where, increased by the flow from Hotham Inlet, it reaches a velocity of one to two knots. Northward of the Cape it joins the current from Bering Strait, where in late July and in August its velocity is from one and one-half to two knots.

Otto von Kotzebue discovered this Sound on August 1, 1816.

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From his position off Cape Espenberg, he noticed that the land fell away to ^ ^ the ^ e ^ astward. Concerning his feelings at this discovery, Kotzebue wrote: "We perceived to-day, that the coast took a direction very much to the E.; the land continuing low. At eleven o'clock, we were at the entrance of a broad inlet: the coast vanished in the E., and high mountains showed themselves to the N. Here the wind suddenly abated, and we were obliged to cast anchor on a clayey bottom, in seven fathoms' water: the nearest land lay to the S.E., four miles distant from us, the current running strong into the entrance.

"I cannot describe the strange sensation which I now experienced, at the idea that I perhaps stood at the entrance of the so long sought N.E. passage and th [: ] t fate had chosen me to be the discoverer. I felt my heart oppressed; and, at the same time, an impatience, which would not let me rest, and was still increased by the perfect calm."

For the next two weeks, Kotzebue explored the various arms of the Sound, discovering Chamisso Anchorage and ascertaining that the tributaries to the Sound were much too shallow to give promise of the hoped-for northeast passage. He named many of the promontories in this area, including: Cape Espenberg, Cape Deceit, and Cape Krusenstern. He also named Goodhope, Spafarief, and Eschscholtz Bays, as well as Chamisso Island. Finally, just before leaving the Sound, he named that body of water after himself, but only after being requested to do so by his crew. His disappointment at having failed to discover the northeast passage was strong, but he mentions, in the following passage, his hope that Chamisso Anchorage will prove of help to future naviga– tors of these waters: "In compliance with the general wish of my companions, I called this newly-discovered sound by my own name, Kotzebue's Sound. Incon– siderable as the discovery of this sound may be, it is an acquisition to geography, and may serve the world as a proof of my zeal; for, in truth, even Cook has treated this coast rather negligently. I certainly hope that this sound may lead to important discoveries next year, and though a north-east passage, may

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not with certainty be depended upon, yet I believe I shall be able to penetrate much further to the east, as the land has very deep indentures. This sound must in time afford essential advantage to ^ ^ the trade in furs, as they are in abundance; we ou ^ r ^ selves should have returned home with a rich cargo, if trade had been part of our plan. In my opinion, our government might es– tablish several settlements on the coast of Beering's Straits to the north, like the English Hudson's ^ ^ Bay Company, which extends its trade far to the west of Hudson's Bay. It possesses colonies in the interior of the country, at a very little distance from the new-discovered sound, and will, ^ wi ^ thout doubt, take the advantage of trading there. The navigation of Beering's Straits has hitherto been dangerous, because ships, in case of a storm, or other accidents, knew of no port where they could find protection. This difficulty is now removed, and ships which in future intend to visit Beering's Straits, will find the essential benefit of this d ^ i ^ scovery. The inhabitants of this country, who have all a very healthy appearance, seem to subsist entirely on the flesh of marine animals, which they, for the most part, eat raw. We saw no fish on all the American coasts; we often threw out our lines, but all in vain; I believe, therefore, either that there are no fish here at all, or that they do not resort here at this time of year. These people are exceedingly fond of tobacco: they chew, snuff, smoke, and even swallow the smoke."

Ten years later, in 1826, Captain F.W. Beechey completed his mapping of this Sound. He named Puffin Islet and Cape Blossom on Baldwin Peninsula He also discovered and named the Buckland River, which enters the head of Eschscholtz Bay. Kotzebue had suspected the existence of this vier river, because of the freshness of the water in the bay and the strength and speed of the current at its entrance, but he had not been able to achieve its dis– covery.

Kotzebue was also the first white man to report the existence

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of high bluffs on Elephant Point, in Eschscholtz Bay. Although his explanation of the nature of these cliffs was later challenged by Beechey, they have continued to the present time to be a source of speculation and interest to geologists Kotzebue's trust that Chamisso Anchorage might prove of value to ships sailing these waters was well-founded. This anchorage is the only true harbor on the arctic coast of Alaska.

2,940 wds. - Text 200 wds - Bibl

KOUGAROK RIVER, (Koogrock, Kougrok, Kugrock, Kugruk, Coogrock), central Seward Peninsula, Alaska, the principle stream in the Kougarok Mining District, drains a large area between Imuruk Basin (q.v.) and Kotzebue Sound (q.v.), and empties into the Kuzitrin River (q.v.), about eight miles above Lands Landing, and about seventeen miles above Igloo, the head of steamboat navigation on the Kuzitrin. The Kougarok is about sixty airline miles long.

The Kougarok rises in the southeastern watershed of Kougarok Mountain and ^ ^ flows eastward for about ten miles to the mouth of Macklin Creek, where it makes a right-angle bend to the south, after which it flows in follows a southeasterly course to its mouth. ^ For ^ T ^ t ^ he first fifty miles of its extent, the Kougarok Valley is incised in the upland plateau, which here has an elevation of 1,000 to 1,500 feet above sea level. In its lower For its final ten miles, the Kougarok meanders across the Kuzitrin Flats.

The main tributaries are Taylor Creek ^ , ^ and North Fork from the east, and Henry, Coarse Gold, and Windy Creeks from the west.

Taylor Creek rises in the divide between the Kougarok system and that of the Goodhope River, a tributary to Kotzebue Sound to the north, and follows a fairly straight twenty-mile course to its mouth. North Fork rises in the divide between the Kougarok and the Noxapaga River (q.v.) at the junction of Alder and French Creeks, and is joined by Harris Creek about midway of its approximately eight-mile course.

The most complex of the western tributaries is Henry Creek, which rises receives the waters of Grant ^ , ^ and Lincoln Creeks from the south ^ , ^ about midway of its seven- or eight-mile course.

Travelling downstream, the less ^ er ^ important tributaries to the

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Kougarok are Washington, Columbia, Macklin, Homestake, Goose, California, Arctic, Arizona, Louisa, Galvin, and Dan Creeks, and Left Fork.

Quartz Creek, with its tributaries Coffee, Dahl, Checkers, Carrie, and Independence Creeks, which enters the Kougarok from the west less than five miles from its mouth, were, up to 1909, the most important gold producers of the entire Kougarok District.

General Description In his report "The Kougarok Region", Brooks gives a good description of the Kougarok. "Though the general trend of the different parts of the valley is in one direction, its course in detail is tortuous. Within the valley walls the river flows in a very irregular channel, and many of the meanders are separ– ated by well-defined benches whose flat surfaces mark former stages of water level. This is especially evident above Taylor Creek, where the river flows through a continuous series of oxbow curves, which are sep– arated by sloping benches.

"At the point where the Kougarok enters the Kuzitrin lowland both valley walls show well-marked benches. Two levels are here noticeable — one 50 feet and one 25 feet above the stream. These can be traced for several miles above Windy Creek; the walls then become steeper and the river occupies a canyon-like valley up to Left Fork. From this point to Washington Creek, 20 miles above, some evidence of benching can be observed in most places, though the benches are not continuous. The individual levels have not been traced, but in the part of the valley below Taylor Creek there are at least two high-level gravels and possibly three.

"Kougarok River is a swiftly flowing stream that carries at its

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mouth probably 5,000 to 8,000 miner's inches of water, and has an average gradient of about 20 feet to the mile. Most of the material trans– ported is coarse, ranging from fine gravel to coarse cobblestone.

"The most extensive deposits of auriferous alluvium yet discovered in the district are on the main Kougarok both in the present stream bed and in the benches. Gold has been found in the gravels of this stream for about 40 miles of its length. It is not known how much of this stretch carries commercial values, but it is probably not more than 50 per cent."

Mining Although prospectors may have visited the Kougarok District as early as 1899, the first locations were not made there until the winter of 1899-1900. There was a rush f rom Nome to Harris Creek in March of 1900, and another to Quartz Creek in July of the same year, and, by the end of that season considerabl ^ e ^ gold had been taken out of the shallow placers on these two streams. Gold was also found on ^ ^ the Kougarok itself during the summer of 1900, but no claims were opened up. Because of the shallowness of the deposits and the difficulty of getting supplies and machinery into the district, the 1901 season was a poor one. Although there were no bonanzas to give them impetus, small mining operations continued for several years, chiefly on Dahl Creek.

However ^ At this time ^ , mining along the Kougarok was possible only during periods of low water. The many mountain torrents entering the main stream were unreliable and extremely sensitive to precipitation anywhere along their course. A seemingly minor rainfall turned such tiny streams as Windy, Dahl, and Coffee Creeks into surging floods which destroyed equipment and carried it away. This condition discouraged large operators from developing the district.

The success of the Nome ditch system renewed interest in such out– lying districts as the Kougarok, where similar control methods were

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needed, and, in 1903, T.T. Lane, who had constructed some of the first ditches on Seward Peninsula, moved up to the Kougarok and built a ditch from the head of Coffee Creek to a bench at the mouth of Dahl Creek. Many more miners follows his example, so that, by 1906, upward of one hundred miles of ditch was planned, and about half of which was com– pleted.

Some of the most famous of these ^ ^ ditches were North Star Ditch, from Arctic Creek to the mouth of Taylor Creek, and ^ ^ up that stream about ten miles for a total length of 15.2 miles; Cascade Ditch, from about six miles up Taylor Creek to the mouth of that stream; and Homestake Ditch, from the Kougarok about three or four miles above Macklin Creek to the mouth of Homestake Creek.

The ^ s ^ e and many other ditches were constructed by T.T. Lane, by the Kougarok Mining and Ditch Company, the Irving Mining Company, and the Northwestern Mining Company.

The amount expended on ditches and the purchase of claims during 1905 and 1906 alone exceeded $1,000,000, whereas the total gold output for the entire region up to 1905 was estimated at about $600,000. The magnitude of this gamble can be equated only with the faith in the future of gold mining in Alaska ^ on the Kougarok ^ on the part of such men as J.M. Davidson, Albert Garvey, Joseph Turner, Nels Leding, E. Anderson, R. Anderson, and Andrew J. Stone, whose money it was that went into the improvements in the Kougarok District.

By 1906 the problem of transportation also seemed on the way to a solution. As Brooks explains: "The Kougarok district up to 1906 could be reached from Nome only by an overland journey of about 100 miles or by a very circuitous water route via Teller, Imuruk Basin, and Kuzitrin River. From Lanes Landing, ^ [the present Shelton] ^ at the head of scow navigation on ^ ^ the Kuzitrin,

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freighting by wagon ^ ^ to the creeks costs 6 to 15 cents a [: ] pound in summer, but the winter rates are much lower. J.M. Davidson and Andrew J. Stone, who are among the largest operators in the district, have es– tablished a transshipping point on Kaviruk (Marys) River called Davidson Landing and have built a road from that point to the upper Kougarok region, a distance of 40 miles. Small lighters can be towed directly from the ship's side at Port Clarence to Davidson Landing, so that at least one handling of freight is avoided.

"In 1906 the Seward Peninsula Railway was extended northward to the head of Nome River, and thence down the Kruzgamepa to Lanes Landing. Surveys have been made looking to an extension of this line farther up Kougarok Valley. This railway will bring the district into close com– munication with Nome and will do much to accelerate its development. Two telephone lines connect many of the camps with Nome. The recording office is at Lanes Landing."

Drift mining was successfully and profitably developed during 1909. The problem of a reasonably-priced coal supply for drifting was solved by laying down a shipment at Davidson's Landing, to which place freight charges were the same as to Nome, and then bringing this coal over– land to the Kougarok during the winter. Transported in this manner, coal sold for $60.00 per ton, whereas , brought extra freight charges had previously inflated the price to $80.00 ^ and ^ to $100.00 per ton.

The ditches previously described added little to the production of the region ^ ^ during the 1909 season, for, although the snowfall in the upper Kougarok was not excessive, the drifts were so deep that ^ ^ the ditches were not cleaned out and ready for a use until about June 20, and Homestake Ditch was clogged until July 9. By July 15 all the ditches were short of water and were very little use ^ d ^ after that date.

The Kougarok is not mentioned in the 1911 U.S. Bureau of Mines report, and, in 1913, is described as at a near standstill because of the exceptionally dry summer and the early freeze-up. In all, about 75 men worked the area, and the total gold produced was negligible.

1914 was a much better season. A total of thirty-four plants operated during the summer, employing about 130 men, and the total value of the gold produced was about $150,000. Hydraulicing had now been introduced, while drifting, sluicing, and dredging continued.

During 1917, two dredges were at work on the Kougarok, and the total output was estimated at about $55,000, as compared with $2,600,000 for all of Seward Peninsula. The big producers were still, of course, the Nome, Council, and Solomon Districts.

In the report for 1919, the problem of transportation to the Kougarok reappears. The thirty-six-inch guage Seward Peninsula Railroad had not been repaired for several years. Neither had the it been extended northward into the heart of the Kougarok and on to Kotzebue Sound. Indeed, it was no longer truly a railroad, but now carried flange-wheeled flat cars drawn by teams of dogs, because of which it became known as the "dogmobile." In later years, the line was even [: ] further demoted and became known as the "Pupmobile." (See Kuzitrin article.) Equally serious was the fact that the wagon road, which ^ ^ had formerly run northward from Shelton to Coffee Creek, Dahl, and Baldy Mountain, was now imp o assible. Only a few years later, the "Pupmobile" was purchased by the ^ ^ Territorial government and repaired by the Alaska Road Commission. Today it is still being used to transport machinery and supplies into the interior of the Peninsula. It operates not under railroad rulings, but rather as a highway. Although several companies have ^ ^ obtained permission from the Territory to transport freight over the line,

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individuals may also use it if they have the proper equipment ^ , ^ and if they comply with regulations as to size and weight of load, speed of travel, etc.

The 1920 placer gold production along the Kougarok and its tribu– taries was again $55,00 $55,000, and, in addition, two dredges, one on Taylor Creek operated by the Bering Dredging Co., and another on the Kougarok owned by the Kelliher Dredging Co., and one deep placer mine were in operation. Tom Ward worked three men for part of the summer on ^ ^ his copper property near Kougarok Mountain.

Transportation charges, particularly overland out of Nome, were again mentioned by the Bureau of Mines as being exhorbitant — $2.50 to $5.00 per mile per ton — to which the companies had to add the freight rates from Seattle to Nome or Teller, which came to ^ between ^ $19.00 and $23.50, and the lighterage charges at either place, amounting to between $7.50 and $10.00, for each ton of equipment or supplies received. One writer estimates that 29% of the value of the total gold produced on the Seward Peninsula ^ in 1920 ^ was eaten up by freight charge ^ s ^ in 1920 . This is, of course, [: ] an overall figure. The percentage would be higher for the Kougarok operators than for the miners at Nome.

During the 1920's, mining in the Kougarok District was at a low ebb. In 1927 there were two small camps of one man each on Dahl Creek, and only about ten other men were at work elsewhere in the area. No one outfit earned more than $1,000 during the entire season. Hydraulic and open-cut methods were the only techniques in use until about 1936 when two dredges, one under the management of C.B. White, of the Fox Bar Dredging Co., and the other under Carl Halberg, of the Kougarok Consolidated Placers, Inc., were in use. Halberg broke call records in the area with ^ T ^ t he speed with which he ^ Halberg ^ transported the two 68-horsepower

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Diesel engines and other equipment required for his dredges from Davidson Landing to the mouth of Henry Creek,

assembled his plant and put it to work broke all previous records.

By 1940 the Kougarok District was producing more gold than any other district except Nome. Smith adds: "Mining in the district has ^ s ^ hown a great increase and does not yet appear to have reached the expan– sion of which it is capable." Although the two dredges were responsible for some of this improvement, they by no means tell the whole story. Mining in the Kougarok District still ranged from camps with elaborate equipment, yielding thousands of dollars worth of gold, to one-man camps ^ outfits ^ employing only crude hand methods. The success of the Kougarok mining district must be attributed not to revolutionary methods, but entirely to the continuing faith, the experienced judgment, and the endless hard work of the miners themselves.

This upsurge in activity was brought to a sudden stop when, on October 8, 1942, gold mining throughout the United States and its territories was declared nonessential. Both men and ^ ^ materials were needed for wartime purposes, and much of the equipment and almost all of the personnel of Alaskan gold mines went to war. (See Bluff and Nome articles.) As of this writing (1948), gold mining has not recovered from this blow. Some men and much of the equipment has been released, of course, but the high cost of labor, taxes, and new equipment has discouraged the reopening of most Alaskan gold mines. The best ^ ^ that can now be said for gold mining in the ^ ^ Territory is that it is temporarily in abeyance [: ] awaiting the turn of national and international events.

Settlements Two early towns in this district, Checkers, at the mouth of that tributary, and Kougarok, or, as Gerdine recorded it in 1901, Kugruk City, which had a post office in 1905, have disappeared, although there may ^ are ^ now be mining camps on their former

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sites.

The only true settlements on the Kougarok at present are Taylor, at the mouth of Taylor Creek, and Dahl, at the junction of that stream with the Kougarok.

Taylor, with a reported summer population of 29 and a winter population of 4, is a mining camp and the headquarters for the Kougarok placer mining district. It has a post office, a roadhouse, a store, and a 1,800-foot landing strip. Dahl, [: ] although it was not reported in the 1939 Census, has a 1,500-foot landing strip.

There are, in addition, several mining camp landing fields throughout the Kougarok District. These are: Macklin Creek, 800 feet; Keenans, 1,500 feet; Harris Creek, 900 feet; Neva Creek, 800 feet; Kougarok, 1,200 feet; Fox Bar, 1,400 feet; Coffee Creek, 1,300 feet; and Quartz Creek, 800 feet.

Since the development of Alaska aviation, the circuitous, slow, and expensive water route into the Kougarok District by way of Port Clarence, Imuruk Basin, and the Kuzitrin River, has been little used. However, all parts of the area are connected by winter trail with Nome, and other Norton Sound points to the south, with Teller, to the west, and with the Kotzebue District to the north.

Climate & Vegetation The Kougarok District is only about seventy miles south of the Arctic Circle. Although the midnight sun is not visible, of course, the winters are long and dark and the summers short but light for twenty or so hours a day.

This area is also beyond the timber line, although small willow and alder will be found growing along the sides of the streams, par– ticularly in the more southerly section of the Kougarok Basin. This same section could be spoken of as 'tundra', but is more exactly des-

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cribed as grassland, since it is completely overgrown with grasses, mosses, and a variety of low shrubs and ^ ^ bushes. Lying entirely within the permafrost zone, the ground in the Kougarok District remains frozen completely or partially ^ ^ frozen the year around. Thawing never takes place along the upper Kougarok, but in the lowlands to the south, the ground thaws during the summer months for a distance of one or two feet below the surface. The resultant thick mat of muddy slush over everything makes ^ ^ summer overland ^ ^ travel across these grasslands next to impossible. The fact that the northern sections of the Kougarok District never thaw simplifies the travel and transportation problem, but adds to the mining difficulties in these areas.

SOURCES

Tewkesbury's Who's Who in Alaska ^ Tewkesbury's Who's Who in Alaska ^ . Juneau, Alaska, 1947.

Baker, Marucs. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, D.C., 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.229)

Brooks, A.H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula ^ , Alask a, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence ^ Alask a, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence ^ , and Goodhope Precincts ^ and Goodhope Precincts ^ . Washington, D.C., 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ , No.328)

Henshaw, F.F., and Parker, G.L. Surface Water Supply of Seward Peninsula ^ Surface Water Supply of Seward Peninsula ^ , Alaska ^ Alaska ^ . Washington, D.C., 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper ^ Water-Supply Paper ^ 314)

Bain, H. Foster. Alaska' Minerals as a Basis for Industry ^ Alaska' Minerals as a Basis for Industry ^ . Washington, D.C., 1946. (U.S. Bureau of Mines. Information Circular ^ Information Circular ^ 7379. December, 1946)

U.S. Bureau of Mines. Minerals Yearbook, ^ Minerals Yearbook, ^ 1945 ^ 1945 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1947.

U.S. Bureau of Mines. Minerals Resources of Alaska, 1909, 1911, 1913, ^ Minerals Resources of Alaska, 1909, 1911, 1913, ^ 1914, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1936, ^ 1914, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1936, ^ 1940 ^ 1940 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1910-1942.

Alaska Life ^ Alaska Life ^ , May, 1945.

Guide Book to Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska ^ Guide Book to Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska ^ .

^ 130 wds ^

KRUSENSTERN, CAPE (67° 08′ N.Lat., 163° 40′ W.Long.) a low promontory on the northwest ern coast of Alaska, projects westward into the Polar Sea forming the northern entrance point to Kotzebue Sound (q.v.).

Kotzebue named this point in August, 1816, after Admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern of the Russian navy.

The arch of land terminating in this point encloses a small, unnamed lake behind which runs a branch of the long winter trail connecting this part of Alaska with Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula, to the south, and with other coastal settlements to the north.

The Mulgrave Hills back of the Cape fall away in a series of cliffs terminating in a line of shingly beaches characteristic of this part of the arctic coast of Alaska.

1,870 -Text 60 - Bibl

KRUZGAMEPA RIVER, southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, formerly called Pilgrim River, rises in the Kigluaik Mountains south– east of Imuruk Basin, and, after sweeping around the eastern limit of the range ^ , ^ reaches the head of Imuruk Basin by a northwesterly course.

In general outline the course of the Kruzgamepa forms a U with its opening westward and its closed end facing the east. ^ I ^ t drains from Salmon Lake (64° 54′ N.Lat., 165° W. Long.), which lies in a broad valley at the southern base of the Kigluaik Mountains, and flows northeastward for about one-half of its forty-five mile course, crossing 65° N. Lat. After leaving the mountains at about 65° N. Lat., the Kruzgamepa enters upon a broad basin, which also contains, farther to the east, the headwaters of the Niukluk River (q.v.). After turning westward, the Kruzgamepa crosses the low flat at the head of Imuruk Basin.

Along the mountain section of its course, the Kruzag Kruzga– mepa receives Crater, Grouse, Big, and Homestake Creeks from the north, and ^ ^ Rock, and Slate Creeks from the south, as well as several unnamed streams. Just as it passes 65° N. Lat., the Kruzgamepa is joined by Iron Creek, which has for tributaries the famous gold streams, Eldorado, Discovery, and Canyon Creeks. The confusion as to the name and extent of Iron Creek was cleared up by Philip S. Smith, in 1907, when he wrote: "Although really continuous, Iron Creek bears three names in different parts of its valley; thus from its ^ ^ mouth to Left Fork, a distance of 7 miles, the stream is called Iron Creek; above Left Fork as far as Eldorado Creek to the divide it is called Telegram Creek. This confusion of names id

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Eldorado Creek, a distance of 1 mile, it is called Dome Creek, and from Eldorado Creek to the divide it is called Telegram Creek. This confusion of names is due to the interpretation of the mining laws which permits the staking of additional claims on different creeks — i.e., creeks having different names."

Above Iron Creek, the Kruzgamepa receives Sherrette (also known as Killkuhn), and Goldengate Creeks. As the river flows westward ^ , ^ north of the Kigluaik Mountains, the Kruzgamepa is joined by Pass, Smith, Grand Union, and Osborn Creeks, all of which flow down from the northern flanks of the mountains and so to the main river.

Geology & Mining The streams which rise in the mountains and enter the headwaters of the Kruzgamepa from the south and west flow through glacial ^ ^ valleys with steep roc ^ k ^ walls. Below Iron Creek the river flows through a rock canyon about 100 feet deep, and then enters the broad valley.

The tributaries from the north side of the Kigluaik Mountains all leave the range through narrow mountain valleys as mountain to o rrents and then meander sluggishly across the broad valley to the main river.

The be a d-rock geology of this region is massive granite, associ– ated with crystaline limestone and schists. These ^ ^ rocks have been called the Kigluaik Series. The so-called Kuzitrin Series of quartz-schists, graywacke, and clay slates is above the limestone. Above this Kuzitrin Series lies the Nome series, which here consists of flaggy limetones, and some calcareous schists.

In 1900, the year that gold was first discovered in this region, Brooks reported: "Of the gold resources of this region no very definite statements can be made, for there has been almost no attempt at develop-

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ment. The rocks are the same as those that in other areas produce placer gold and in many localities show evidence of mineralization. Large quartz veins seem to be more abundant than elsewhere, and some have been shown to contain gold, though none have been found which carry commercial values. Up to the time of our examination of this region no workable placers had been discovered, and, in fact, no real prospecting of the creeks had been attempted." Perhaps on a the basis of Brooks' words, considerable prospecting and mining was done in this district within the next few years. In 1905, a nugget valued at $650.00 was found near Iron Creek, and a system of four ditches was under contr construction.

Collier's report of 1908 was specific and ^ qualifiedly ^ optimistic: "Large quartz veins are abundant, and some of them carry gold, though probably none have been proved to contain commercial values. Two specimens taken from large veins near the east end of the Kigluaik Mountains were found on assay to contain traces of gold and silver, but a specimen from a la ^ r ^ ge mass of quartz near the mouth of Slat ^ e ^ Creek contained neither. A large ledge ^ ^ said to outcrop near the mouth of Iron Creek is heavily mineralized with ^ ^ iron and copper pyrites and specimens are reported to assay well in gold and silver." Later in the same report, the follow– ing statement appears: "Mining on Iron Creek has been much retarded by the inaccessibility of the region, but this obstacle is now disappearing with the building of railroads and wagon roads. Freight from Nome can no ^ w ^ be delivered by the Seward Peninsula Railways at the mouth of Iron Creek...It has already been noted that in winter supplies can be brought in by team at a cost of 2 cents a ponnd. The cost of summer hauling by team to Iron Creek is now, owing to the fair condition of the road to Nome, but little higher than the winter rate."

By 1909, the ditches built earlier in the decade had been allowed to fall into disrepair, but, as Brooks had hinted would ulti– mately be necessary, a systematic surveying of the entire area was underway. By 1913 the region was once again the site of considerable activity, with about 70 or 80 men at work sluicing and prospecting, but, by 1919, with the Seward Peninsula Railroad in a hazardous con– dition and already demoted to a "dogmobile", and with the former wagon road almost impassible, gold mining on Iron Creek declined. During the next year, however, copper deposits were found in this region, and, although they were not of commercial value, they aroused considerable interest. The [: ] production of gold continued although the deposits were not rich.

From 1920 to about 1930 there was very little activity on Iron Creek, or on any of the tributaries to the Kruzgamepa. This is not surprising, since mining throughout the Territory suffered a general decline during these particular years. Gold mining picked up everywhere with the reduction in the gold content of the doll ^ a ^ r, in 1933, which had the effect of increasing the value of gold on the market. Because of the ne ^ w ^ dredge erected by Tolbert Scott in 1939, the 1940 season on Iron Creek was a good one. However, with the coming of World War II, and the declaring of gold non-essential, gold mining along the Kruzgamepa and a n ^ ll ^ other auriferous Alaska streams received a low from which it has never recovered. The mining activity along Iron Creek today is negligible and mostly of a maintenance nature. (See Nome and Bluff articles.)

Settlements Except for several roadhouses alo [: ] ng its course the only settlements on the Kruzgamepa are Iron Creek and Pilgrim Springs.

Iron Creek, at the mouth of the stream of the same name, and at the junction of several winter trails from Nome, Solomon, and Golovnin to the south, and Teller to the northwest, is a small mining settlement with an 800-foot landing strip.

Pilgrim Springs, also known as Pilgrim Hot Springs and, more briefly, as Hot Springs, is located near the site of natural ^ , ^ saline ^ , ^ hydrogen sul– phide springs. Gerald A. Waring, of the U.S. Geological Survey, was one of the first scientists to give an official description of these springs. In 1917, he wrote: "Kruzgamepa Hot Springs ... are 70 miles north of Nome, in ^ ^ the wide flat valley of Kruzgamepa River, one-third of a mile south of the stream. The property ... was homesteaded a number of years ago and has produced considerable amounts of potatoes, cabbages, turnips, and other vegetables, which have found ready sale in Nome, where they have been sent by the trains of the Seward Peninsula Railway, which passes within 8 miles of the springs, and, since the discontinuation of train service, by light cars pulled by dogs ...

^ ¶ ^ ^ " ^ Several years ago the property was kept up as a resort, and was often visited by parties from Nome and other mining [: ] centers of the region; but the roadhouse and saloon building was burned in 1908 and since that date the bath ^ h ^ ouse has not been kept in repair...An area perhaps 100 yards wide and half a mile long, bordering a small creek that is at times a flood-water channel of Kruzgamepa River, appears to be permanently thawed by the hot water, and as this ground is loose and sandy, not dense and peaty, as are the moss-covered hillsides of the region, it has been especially adapted to growing vegetables.

"Hot water is visible only in small quantities, as it tends to seep off below the surface through the loose alluvial valley materials. In the fall of 1915 the total visible discharge of hot water at the springs was only about 8 gallons a minute. The hottest spring, which has a temperature

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of 156° F., issues in a small curbed pit in a greenhouse near the bathhouse. The water was carried in a box flume through a sweat chamber to two bathing pools in a bathhouse, one pool for men and the other for women. A stand box in the flume afforded a place to dip out water for drinking and was known as the 'medicine chest.'

"The water is clear, has only a slight odor of hydrogen sulphide, and tastes distinctly salty. It deposits small amounts of rust-colored iron oxide. A slight deposit of alum was seen at the principal spring. An analysis of the water ... shows that its content of solids is high. It is a sodium chloride water that is practically a weak brine. Although the springs are not very far above tide limit, the ratio of sulphate to chlor di ^ id ^ e in the spring water is so low that the high salinity seems not to be due to an admixture with sea water...The two bathing pools have been escavated in the alluvium beside the small creek, and some hot water probably rises in ^ ^ them. The temperature in these pools was only 110° F., however, a comfortable temperature for bathing."

In 1918, the Roman Catholic Church bought these springs and established a mission there to care for the children orphaned by the great influenza epidemic of that year. According to a 1938 report, as many as seventy children [: as ] ^ are ^ now being resident at the mission.

By 1939, Pilgrim Springs had a population of about sixty, a post office, and a 1,200-foot landing strip.

Lester Brown, a Nome councilman and business man, leased the springs from the Church in 1948. He hopes to develop the truck-garden possibilities of the surrounding acres, which are considered the best garden and farming lands in this part of Seward Peninsula. Just as was done in 1917, he will sell his produce in Nome. Locally grown fresh vegetables would still find an e ^ n ^ t ^ h ^ usiastic market there, not only because they had been grown "Inside," but also because they could be priced far below the exhorbitant air-freighted

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produce from "Outside." Brown also plans to open the hot springs once again to tourists.

SOURCES

Guide Book for Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska. ^ Guide Book for Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska. ^

U.S.C.P. Alaska. Part II, 1947 ^ Alaska. Part II, 1947 ^

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others). Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome ^ and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1901.

Collier, Arthur J. Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washing ^ Washing ^ ton, 1908. (U.S. Geolo ^ g ^ ical Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.328.)

Alaska Weekly ^ Alaska Weekly ^ . November 5, 1948

Alaska Li v ^ f ^ e ^ Alaska Li v ^ f ^ e ^ May, 1945

Tewkesbury's Who's Who in Alaska ^ Tewkesbury's Who's Who in Alaska ^ .

U.S. Bureau of Mines. Mineral Resources of Alaska ^ Mineral Resources of Alaska ^ . 1905, 1909, 1913, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1930, 1936, 1940. Washington, D.C., 1906-42.

Waring, Gerald A. Mineral Springs of Alaska . Washington, D.C., 1917. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper ^ Water-Supply Paper ^ 418)

^ Text-290 words ^

KUGRUK RIVER, northern Seward Peninsula, rises in Imuruk Lake (q.v.) and ^ ^ flows in a northeasterly and northerly direction for about sixty miles to Kotzebue Sound near Deering.

The name Kugruk was first reported by Brooks, in 1900. It has been written Koogroog and translated as Swan River .

The entire area in which this river rises is covered with a thin layer of lava. The river ^ bed ^ is comparatively flat for a few miles below the lake, but thereafter the stream cuts a canyon about two miles long and from 300 to 1,000 feet deep. At the end of this canyon, the river i ^ s ^ 550 feet below the river at the lake.

Lava Creek, one of the principal tributaries to the Kugruk, enters from the south in the canyon, while Holtz, Mina, Montana, Reindeer, and Chicago Creeks enter from the east. From the west, Ruby, Gold Bug, and Wade (or Burnt) Creeks join the Kugruk.

Coal mines have been in operation on Chicago and Reindeer Creeks for a great many years. Some gold has also been mined on Spruce, Mine, and Chicago Cre ^ e ^ ks, but the total production has been small. There is some spruce timber in the northern part of the Kugruk basin, but it is ^ ^ too far fr ^ o ^ m the mining area to be of much value as building material or as fuel. However, the coal in this region has served very well for as a cheap source of fuel.

Chicago Greek, a small mining camp near the mouth of that stream, is the only named settlement in the Kugruk basin, but this and other sections of the valley are connected ^ with Deering and Candle ^ by a maze of winter trails. These latter are in turn connected with most other parts of Seward Peninsula. Mail is brought ^ from Deering ^ to this lower part of the Kugruk twice a month.

KUGRUPAGA RIVER, northwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, was first reported by Gerdine in 1901 as the Kugruk, but is now generally known as the Kugrupaga. Two other Alaska rivers have been called the Kugruk: one, an important tributary to Kotzebue Sound, which retains this name to the present time, and ^ while ^ the Kougarok, ^ (q.v.) ^ another important Seward Peninsula river, which was ^ formerly ^ known as the Kugruk ^ . ^ at one time.

The Kugrupaga rises only about twenty-five miles from the sea, but it receives a great many affluents particularly from the east so that it ^ d ^ rains a considerable area to the south and west of Ear Mountain.

The only name ^ d ^ western tributaries are Maria and Deep Creeks, but the eastern tributaries are much more numerous. Including the subsidiary streams, these are: Idaho, Gulch, Wilkins, Mason, Deer, Willow, Dinsmore, Crosby, Gay, Tuttle, and California Creeks. All but the last of these enter the Kugrupaga about midway of its course, but California Creek debouches only a few miles from the mouth of the Kugrupaga.

The Kugrupaga empties into a shallow lagoon which, although it is nameless on recent maps, appears on early ones as Arctic Lagoon. The mouth of the Kugrupaga is about 45 miles northeast of Cape Prince of Wales.

Like the other streams of this area, the Kugrupaga has cut a canyon from 200 to 400 feet deep in the bed rock limestone of the first half of its course. Collier reported, in 1901, that this river seemed promising for placer gold and that many claims had been staked along it and its tributaries. There was a minor gold rush to Tuttle Creek during the summer of 1901, colors of gold and small nuggests having been found in the gravels there, but the excitement was short-lived and the deposits soon depleted.

^ 180 wds ^

KUGURUROK RIVER, northwestern Alaska, enters the Noatak (q.v.) from the north at about ^ 68° N. Lat., ^ 162° W.Long. [: ] 68° N. Lat.,

The Kugururok rises in a mountain divide amidst the De Long Mountains and the Brooks Range. About forty miles above the Noatak it takes a generally southwesterly direction to join that great waterway.

The first half of this river's course finds its way through a rugged mountainous section containing peaks up to 5,000 feet high. Misheguk Mountain, 4,800 feet, looks down from a point about five miles east of the mid-section of the stream.

For the final half of its course the mountains recede from the Kugururok leaving an ever-widening valley on both sides.

Very little exact information ^ i ^ s obtainable on the Kugururok, but it is known that a short pass leads over the divide to the headwaters of the ^ ^ Utukok River (q.v.) whic ^ h ^ swings westward to empty into the Polar Sea about twenty miles south of Icy Cape (q.v.).

References

Smith, P.S. Noatak-Kobuk Region, Alaska. ^ Noatak-Kobuk Region, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 536)

Smith, P.S. Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ Geology and Mineral Resources of Northwestern Alaska ^ . Washington, 1930. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 815)

^ 100 wds ^

KUKAKLEK, LAKE, ALASKA, in ^ ^ the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, exten ^ ds ^ due east and west at about 59° 10′ N. Lat. between Iliamna and Nanwhyenuk Lakes (q.v.). Its general shape is that of an inverted sauce pan with the bowl extending northward to within nine miles of Iliamna Lake and the handle extending eastward. The main body of the lake is about 13 miles long and about 7 miles wide at the greatest point. The handle adds ^ a ^ bout 5 miles in length but is only 1 to 2 miles wide. The lake is fed by streams rising in the mountains to the east and itself is one ^ ^ of the sources for the Alagnak River (q.v.) which drains from its southwestern tip. The native name was first recorded by Tebenkof in 1849.

^ 195 wds ^

KUKPUK RIVER, a tributary to Marryatt Inlet, Point Hope, in northwestern Alaska, rises south of 2800-foot Mount Kelly in the DeLong Moun– tains and follows a generally westerly course to the Inlet.

For its first thirty miles, the Kukpuk works its way southward out of the mountains and then across a low inland plain to the Lisburne Hills. Just above these hills, the Kukpuk receives its only large tributary, the Ipewik, which comes in from the north. The Kukpuk traverses the hills in a deep canyon perhaps ten miles [: ] long, escaping onto the coastal plain for a final twenty miles of its course. This river is perhaps one hundred miles long overall.

The [: ] Ipewik River is said to rise in one large lake or a series of small lakes about sixty miles east of Cape Lisburne. Thereafter it flows southwestward to the Lisburne Hills, where it meets the Kukpuk. In addition to many smaller streams, recent maps show the Ipewik being joined by one large tributary from the east, which would seem to rise in the vicinity of Mount Kelly, thereafter flowing westward to the Ipewik.

^ 15 ^

KULUKAK BAY, ALASKA, a small northern extension of Bristol Bay, lies on an indents an unsurveyed section of the southern coast of Alaska between Cape Constantine and Cape Newenham. The bay, which is about 7 miles long by 6 miles wide at the greatest points, is reported to have shoal water at its entrance and a depth of only 18 feet just inside the entrance. Kulukak Point, on Nushagak Peninsula, is the eastern entrance point to this b y ^ a ^ , and the small settlement of Kulukak lies on the western side near its head Th k ^ i ^ village had a population of 55 in 1939 and is the site of an Eskimo school maintained by the Office of Indian Affairs. The bay receives several tributaries from the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains to the north, the largest of which rises in Ualik Lake. A strem connects Ualik Lake with Amanka Lake, the source of the Igushik River, one of the main tributaries to Nushagak Bay. Right Hand Point, the western ^ ^ entrance point to Kulukak Bay, lies at the tip of an unnamed ^ p ^ eninsula separating Kulukak from Togiak Bay which stretches into Bristol Bay for about 10 miles southwestward from Kulukak. Tebenkof named this point Pravoi, right hand , in 1849. Mountains from which several tribu– taries flow into both bays dot the central porti n ^ o ^ n of th ^ is ^ peninsula and push, in some cases, quite close to the western side. This side is indented by several small bays and extends northwestward for about 22 miles (airline) to Togiak at the head of Togiak Bay. The shoreline from Kulukak to Togiak is a continuous bluff of b l ^ o ^ ulders and solid rock rising 10 to 100 feet above the water and topped with level tundra. Owens, a small settlement about midway of this i ^ s ^ ide of the peninsula, is on the long winter trail which connects points on Iliamna Lake (q.v.), the Alaska Peninsula, and Nushagak Bay (q.v.) with Togiak, Goodnews, and other settlements to the west.

KUSKOKWIM BAY, southwestern Alaska, opens into Bering Sea. Cape Newenham (q.v.), the southern entrance point to Kuskokwim Bay, separates it from Bristol Bay, Cape Newenham ^ and ^ can be approached close-to with deep water, ^ although ^ but heavy seas and rip tides sweep the point in southerly weather. The latest complete survey of Kuskokwim Bay was made in 1911 and 1915 followed by a partial examination of the channels in 1924. This examination showed that the courses laid ^ ^ down on the existing charts were good to the entrance to Eek Channel, at the head of the bay, but that above this point changes in the channels and the mud flats had been made by the sea, the currents, and the ice. Since 1924 it has been reported that the channels in the bay shift every year with the movement of the sand bars and that the 40-mile approach up the bay to the mouth of the Kuskokwim River must be made behind a small pilot boat to feel out the channels and to take continual soundings. Sometimes a whole day is lost when a channel ends abruptly requiring both vessels to turn about, retrace the channel ^ , ^ and start up another. Running aground is a constant threat, and, since no assistance of any kind is available, all vessels procede at the very slowest speed and with the greatest caution. Pilot boats must also be used from the entrance to the river to Bethel, 65 miles upstream, although the currents have carved fairly reliable channels in the river and a little better speed is possible. With the discharge of cargoes at ^ and ^ the list lightening of the ship, return journeys are safer, easier, and faster.

Security Cove, just east of Cape Newenham, offers a fair haven for small boats in all except northwest winds. Chagvan and Good– news Bays (q.v.), farther north, are obstructed by shoals and bars, and

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are themselves so shallow as to offer little ^ ^ protection in stormy weather. Carter Bay (q.v.), above Goodnews Bay, provides anchorage for small craft just inside the head of Carter Spit, but Jacksmith Bay (q.v.), the next most northerly bay on the eastern side of Kuskokwim Bay, is bare at low tide and too shallow at high tide to offer protection even to launches. Small boats navigate the mouths of the Arolic and Kanektok Rivers (q.v.) which open into Kuskokwim Bay north of Jacksmith Bay, only with the greatest difficulty, and only at high tide. The waters north of the Kanektok are shoal, and the coastal plain a morass of tiny lakes and their connecting streams. Warehouse Bluff, about 12 miles above the mouth of the Kanektok, is an important ^ ^ landmark, since it is the first land to be sighted on the east when ascending Eek Channel. Warehouse Creek, a few miles above the bluff, is deep but the approach is obstructed by mud flats, although small craft can reach shelter here even at low tide. Warehouse Creek was the terminal port for early trading vessels. Natives and traders assembled here from many miles around to await the arrival of the schooners. No traces remain of the warehouse which once stood here. Kuskokwak Creek enter ^ s ^ the east side of Kuskokwim Bay ab l ^ o ^ ut 10 miles north of Warehouse Bluff. Once again mud flats obstruct the entrance, but small craft can follow the channel to a good shelter inside. Beacon Point, a few miles farther north, is low and flat, hardly above storm water, and the beacon which once marked it has disappeared. A line from Beacon Point to the former large native village of Popokamute on the west side of the bay is con– sidered to divide Kuskokwim Bay from Kuskokwim River. Popokamute, however, has disappeared. Natives from the surrounding areas once swarmed to this point to catch and dry their winter's supply of salmon. Since the survey in 1915 the point has washed away somewhat, and natives no longer gather here for any purpose.

A few miles below the site of Popokamute is the small Eskimo village of Kulvagavik. Nelson visited this village in January, 1879, after a stay in December, 1878, at Kongiganak, the next most southerly village on the western side of the bay. Kongiganak had a population of 175 in 1939. Kwigillingok, a few miles below Kongiganak, lies across the bay and a little south of Kwinhagak on the eastern side of the bay. West of Kwigillingok is Anogok, where Nelson also visited in December, 1878, and which really lies on the shore of Bering Sea ^ beyond ^ around the southwestern entrance point to Kuskokwim Bay.

The western side of Kuskokwim Bay below the former site of Popokamute is represented on some charts by a dotted line and very little is known about it. The only settlement is the small native village of Kwigillinak. This town lies across the bay, a distance of about 45 miles at this point, and a little south of Kwinhagak, at the mouth of the Kanektok River.

^¶^ The eastern side of the bay has many more villages than the western, two of which boast populations of more than 200, which, in this part ^ ^ of Alaska, constitutes a substantial community. Kwinhagak , itself , has a population of 224, attracted perhaps by the Moravian Mission and by the abundance of clear mountain water in the Kanektok River. Arolic is a tiny village at the mouth of the Arolic River, a few miles south of Kwinhagak, and the settlement of Carter, on Carter Bay, south of Jacksmith Bay, is merely a group of cabins currently reported to be abandoned. Around Goodnews Bay, however, are several settlements: on ^ ^ the north side, Goodnews and Goodnews Bay, with a population of 48, and, on the ^ ^ south side, the thriving mining community of Platinum. Since the discovery of platinum and its allied metals in this vicinity in 1926 this village has grown from a few shelter cabins to a village of an estimated summer population of 600. Most of the mining company personnel spends the winters Outside after shutting down the placers in December, but their presence for about half of every year makes Platinum the largest and most active community on the shores of Kuskokwim Bay.

It is generally agreed that the best weather comes to the Kukokwim Bay area in March and April. Storms from the southwest lasting 2 to 5 days are frequent during the summer months but are usually followed by a few days of fair weather. Northerly winds accompanied by clear skies are frequent in the early fall, but after the middle of September strong and prolonged gales may be expected.^→^

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From April to September the maximum temperatures recorded in the Platinum area ran from a low of 45° in April to a high of 78° in June after which came a gradual drop to 59° in September. Only a trace of snow fell during this period.

Neither trees nor bushes grow along any part of the shores of Kuskokwim Bay although elders and willows appear on the banks of its tributaries in ever-increasing numbers and size as one leaves the coast. Thirty miles up the Goodnews River the willows are 10 to 15 feet high. Farther from the bay ^ poplars locally called ^ ^ " ^ cottonwoods ^ ," ^ begin to appear. Wood for ^ ^ fuel is particularly scarce along the Kanektok River because there are very few trees in the mountainous regions ^ ^ bordering the early part of its course, and because, even along the lower river, the growth of willow and poplar is much more sparse than along the corresponding section of the Goodnews River to the south.

Back from the water of both the rivers and the bay the terrain is swampy. Although game is scarce, fish is plentiful and several species of ducks and geese breed along the streams and in the marshes.

................

Revised 13 Oct 48 Text - 7,370 wds. Bibl. - 50 wds.

THE KUSKOKWIM RIVER, ALASKA, is about 550 miles long and second only to the Yukon in length, volume, and navigability. The Eskimo name, Kuskokwim, was apparently first obtained by Ustiugof in 1818, and it appeared in Sarichef's atlas of 1826. The old Indian name for this river is China-ana, and the Indians called the tributary to the Kuskokwim now known as South Fork, the Echitna. It was this tributary to the main ^ r ^ iver which Josiah E. Spurr and William S. Post considered the Kuskokwim proper in their U.S. Geological Survey Report of 1899.

The following description is based, in part, upon this report.

The Kuskokwim Valley, which lies north of the Iliamna Region, north and west of the Nushagak-Togiak Region, and south of the Yukon Valley, may be divided into three natural geographic provinces. These are: an extensive interior basin southeast of the inland section of the Kuskokwim Mountains and no ^ r ^ thwest of the Alaska Range, which contains the branching headwaters and the upper course of the main river; a deeply-cut central section about 150 miles long from east to west which passes diagonally across the entire width of the Kuskokwim Mountains; and a lowland section through which the river flows in a generally southwester– ly direction from the northwestern flanks of the Kuskokwim Mountains across 300 miles of swamp and granssland to the head of Kuskokwim Bay. The 100 miles of these lowlands farthest from the sea are true valleys of the Kuskokwim Mountains and are bounded by sloping highland on either side. The remaining 200 miles of lowland are coastal in nature and in this part of its course the Kuskokwim is affected by ^ ^ the tides of Bering Sea. For this last 200 miles the Kuskokwim runs approximately parallel to the Kilbuck Mountains, lying to the southeast, and all the tributaries to this section of the river drain from these mountains. The lowlands north

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of this stretch of the river merge with similar lowlands which border the lower Yukon so that between the mouths of these two great rivers extends an enormous, triangular coastal plain whose area is about 30,000 square miles.

This coastal section of the Kuskokwim is tundra, or grasslands, and remains treeless for about 150 miles, or as far as Aniak, at which point the river swings into the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains where ^ ^ trees of various kinds begin to appear. The most common tree in this region is the spruce. Some poplar, commonly called "cottonwoods," grow along the valley floor and the lower slopes, some birches and a few tamarack. Willow and alder grow along the banks of the stre ^ a ^ ms and upland gulches and, in great profusion, in the damp places near the timber line. Dwarf black-birch brush is common above the timber line, and, in the Nixon Fork District, about 250 miles above Aniak, spruce grow well above altitudes of 2,000 feet. The stand of timber in this area is not heavy and has been depleted, particularly in recent years, by use as fuel and by great forest fires. During the summer of 1933 fires swept much of the Nixon Fork area, so that since that ti ^ m ^ e the large r mining camps and many p i ^ r ^ ivate individuals have had to depend on kerosene and gasoline from Outside for fuel. Above Nixon Fork the Kuskokwim is reported to be largely untimbered. Forage for stock is fairly plentiful in the valley floors, but on the upland slopes grass is scarce.

Caribou herds exist in the higher mountains which border part of the river course, and some of these herds, as will be indicated later, have been assembled and protected by private her ^ d ^ smen. Bear and moose are not numerous, but smaller game such as rabbit, ptarmigan, and

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grouse are relatively plentiful. The enormous triangle of tundra between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon is one of the major breeding grounds for game fowl not only for Alaska but also for all of western Canada and the United States. Salmon run up the Kuskokwim. It is also well supplied with whitefish and pike, and enormous numbers of grayling are to be found in the smaller streams which feed this great river.

The ice usually leaves the Kuskokwim open to navigation by June 1, although the breakup comes at different times each year. In 1924, the river ice broke up on May 23, and went out at Eek Island on May 29, although large pieces of ice were still partially obstructing the channel past the island on June 5. However, this was the latest breakup in [: ] fifteen years. The mean range of the tide is about 9 1/2 feet at the mouth of the river, but drops to about 2 feet 65 miles up the river at Bethel (q.v.)

Generally speaking, Bering Sea tides extend up the Kuskokwim for about 100 miles, and for approximately another 100 the river currents increase and decrease wit ^ h ^ the ebb and flow of the tides. Currents in the bay also have their effect on the river. Currents as strong as 3 1/2 knots have been observed in the vicinity of Apokak at the mouth, and the flood current is felt about as far as Bethel. Ocean-going vessels can ascend the river to Bethel where lighters and river steamboats transfer cargo and passengers to McGrath (q.v.) , 500 miles upstream. In the spring of 1948, the Santa Ana Steamship Company's Coastal Rider made her last round trip between Seattle and Bethel, and in the fall of that year the Alaska Steamship Company's Reef Knot took over this service. Pilot boats meet these steamships at the mouth of Kuskokwim Bay (q.v.)

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and assist them up the intricate maze of bay and river channels to their destination.

As has been implied previously, the Kuskokwim ^ ^ makes several changes in direction. Its eastern headwaters rise in the glacier-clad Alaska Range, flow northwestward to the valley which separates this range from the Kuskokwim Mountains, then ^ ^ northward across this wide valley to about 63° N. Lat. Here the Kuskokwim turns due westward for about 30 miles (airline) to McGrath. At McGrath it veers abruptly west of south and, with many large-scale bends, continues in this direction to its con– fluence with the Holitna, an airline distance of over 120 miles. From this point, although bending once to the north and once to the south, it turns in a generally ^ ^ westerly direction for about 80 miles (airline) to Aniak, at which point the Kuskokwim is a mere 25 or 30 miles from the Yukon. The Kuskokwim then turns southwestward and follows a fairly direct [: ] course to Kuskokwim Bay.

The headwaters of the Kuskokwim rise in two different mountain chains, the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north and northwest, and the Alaska Range to the south and southeast. The chief upper tributaries for the Kuskokwim are North, East, South, Middle, and West Forks.

North Fork is fed by streams rising in the Kuskokwim Mountains north and northwest of Lake Minchumina and flows in a southwesterly direction for about 100 miles (airline) to its junction with East Fork, a few miles above Medfra, known also as Berry ^ s ^ Landing. North Fork re– ceives several tributaries from the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north of its course, but its main tributary, Swift River, enters from the south. Swift River, a glacier-fed stream rising in the Alaska Range in the vicinity of Mount Russell, flows in a no t ^ r ^ thwesterly direction for about

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65 miles 'airline) to enter North Fork about midway of its course. Mount Russell is an 11,500-foot peak about 35 miles southwest of Mount McKinley.

East Fork is formed by several streams rising in the foothills of the Alaska Range just south of Swift River and flows in a generally south– westerly direction to join North Fork a few miles above Medfra. East Fork receives the waters of Chedotlothna and Ekolina Rivers. The Kuskokwim proper may be said to begin with the junction of these forks, or perhaps, a few miles farther downstream at the confluence of South Fork.

South Fork, the most important upper tributary, rises farther south in the Alaska Range, and takes a northwesterly course to enter the Kuskokwim near Medfra. South Fork receives the Tatina, Jones, Dillinger, and Tonzona Rivers, as well as several unnamed tributaries. The Tonzona, largest of these tributaries, is a glacier-fed stream ^ ^ rising in the vicinity of Mount Dall, a 9,000-foot peak about 45 miles southwest of Mt. Mckinley. The Tonzona flows in a generally northwesterly direction from the foothills of the Range and across about 55 miles of the broad Kuskokwim Valley before joining South Fork.

About 10 miles ^ ^ below [: ] the South Fork confluence, the Kus– kokwim receives the waters of another southern tributary, one that is formed a few miles above its mouth by the union of three streams . ^ which follow almost parallel courses. ^ On some maps the final three or four miles of this tributary are identified as Big River. Middle Fork, which, as its ^ ^ name indicates, is the middle branch of this tributary, originates in the Alaska Range near 62° N. Lat., 154° W. Long., in the midst of mountains rising to over 7,000 feet, works its way northwestward for about 35 miles (airline) to the valley, and then

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crosses another 35 miles of lowland to its junction with Pitka, the most northerly of these branches. West Fork, the southwestern branch, has its source in glacier-fed streams rising in the Alaska Range, w ^ s ^ omewhat south of the headwaters of Middle Fork, where the Range reaches heights of 9,000 feet. This stream trends northward for about 80 miles (airline) to join the Middle Fork-Pitka branch a few miles below their confluence; thence the combined waters flow westward three or four miles to enter the south– ern side of the Kuskokwim.

Medfra, at the confluence of South Fork and the Kuskokwim, is the farthest upstream of the Kuskokwim settlements and is the supply point for the Nixon Fork District. From this point the Kuskokwim trends south– westward 8 or 10 miles to the junction with Big River, and thence follows a tortuous course westward for 25 or 30 miles to its junction with Nixon Fork, where McGrath settlement is located. Big River Roadhouse is located 2 or 3 miles downstream from the mouth of the river from which it takes its name.

Nixon Fork has its source 50 or 60 miles northeastward of McGrath in stream ^ s ^ rising in the Von Frank Mountain area of the Kuskokwim Mountains and follows a generally southwesterly course to enter the Kuskokwim from the north. Nixon Fork is joined early in its course by Cottonwood, Boulder, Jones, Submarine, Mystery, Ruby, and Hidden Creeks, and by West Fork about midway of its course.

Takotna River, the largest tributary to Nixon Fork, enters Nixon from the west a few miles above its mouth. The Takotna, which has a length of perhaps 50 miles, is formed by the confluence of Waldren and Moore Creeks and takes a generally northward and then eastward course,

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being joined by Fourth of July, Big, Gold, Bun, and Galickson Creeks, to its junction with Nixon Fork. This junction is called The Forks. The village of Ta c ^ k ^ otna lies about 13 miles above The Forks.

Tat la ^ al ^ ina River enters Nixon Fork from the west a little over one mile s above its junction with the Kuskokwim. The Tat ^ a ^ lina rises in the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains, which, in this vicinity, form a divide between the Kuskokwim and the Tatalina, and flows northeastward to Nixon Fork. It is joined from the south by Rex, Candle, and Cash Creeks.

At its confluence with Nixon Fork, the Kuskokwim turns southward and continues in this direction for about 100 miles (airline) to Sleitmut where it [: ] again turns westward. ^ F ^ or about 25 miles south of McGrath the river follows a twisting course, and along this stretch are, from north to south, the three villages, Candle Landing, Wilson's, and Vinasale. About 10 miles below Vinasale the Kuskokwim passes between an irregular group of highlands from 1,400 to 2,200 feet high. The slopes to the west appear to belong to the Kuskokwim Mountains and those on the east to the Alaska Range. Several tributaries enter this section of the Kuskokwim, most of them from the east. These are: the Tatlawiksuk, the Swift (on some maps called the Chagavenapuk), and the Stony. All these rivers rise in the Alaska Range; the Tatlawiksuk flows in a westerly direction, and the other two in a northwesterly direction across the wide Kuskokwim Valley to the main river. Stony River, the longest of these three tributaries, rises in the vicinity of Snow Cap Mountain, flows southwestward through a narrow valley in the Alaska Range, and then, west of Telquana Lake, from which it receives a tributary stream, turns sharply northwestward to pass north of Carin Cairn Mountain and through

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the Lime Hills to the Kuskokwim. The mountains through which the upper course of the Stony runs are perpetually snow-covered, and the river-bed is strewn with huge boulders. Although rapids are frequent in th k ^ i ^ section, the stream is reported to be easily ascended with poling boats. Stink River enters the Stony about 25 miles (airline) from its mouth. On a tiny island in the midst of the confluence of the Stony and the Kuskokwim is the village and post office of Stony River.

From th ^ is ^ e point the Kuskokwim more and more loses its connection with the Alaska Range which continues southward into the Iliamna Region whereas the river veers westward through the ^ high ^ southern fringes of the Kuskokwim Mountains and so to the broad coastal section of the Kuskokwim Basin.

About 18 miles southwest of Stony River the

About 18 miles below the mouth of Stony River, the Holitna, one of the major tributaries to the Kuskokwim enters from the south. The

dark-colored

Holitna, with its principal tributary the Hoholitna, drains the area north of the headwaters of the Nushagak and Mulchatna Rivers (q.v.). Very little is known about this section of Alaska, a ^ A ^ lmost the only source of informa– tion being the manuscript map made by the prospector, W. R. Buckman, who wintered in this vicinity in 1902-1903. The Holitna was one of the first inland Alaskan streams known to the early Russian explorers in this region and was descended by Ivan Simonson Lukeen in 1832. The Indians ^ Natives ^ call this stream the Chulitna, but it is now generally known as the Holitna, a transliteration of the Russian form of the Eskimo name. The Holitna has its source in stream ^ s ^ rising northeast of Nishlik e Lake, the most northerly of the Tikchik Lakes (q.v.), and flows in a generally northeasterly direction

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to the Kuskokwim. The middle branch of these headwaters, the Kogrukluk, joins the Holitna in the vicinity of Kashegelok, a small Eskimo village about 150 miles from the mouth of the Holitna. The river then swings north– west of the Taylor Mountains past the Eskimo village of Nogamut, across a broad flood plain to its junction with Titnuk Creek near the village of Itulilik. Titnuk Creek rises east of the Nushagak Hills and Finn Mountain, which form part of the divide between the Nushagak and the Holitna systems, and flows in a northerly direction east of the Taylor Mountains to join the Holitna about 70 miles from its mouth. The Holitna receives many unnamed tributaries from the Kiokluk and Chuilnuk Mountains which lie west of the middle section of its course.

The Hoholitna, as it is now generally called, in its upper reaches receives the waters of a fan-shaped system of unnamed streams rising in the vicinity of Halfway Mountain and Cairn Mountain, in the Alaska Range, which here separates this section of the Holitna watershed from that of the Mulchatna. The main headwater of the Hoholitna drains from Whitefish Lake, a lake about 8 miles long by one to two miles wide, lying just south of 61° N. Lat. and just east of 155° W. Long. in a broad lowland surrounded by the discontinuous ridges and knobs of the foothills of the Alaska Range. ^←^From Whit ^ e ^ fish Lake the river follows a westerly course for about 35 miles, and throughout this stretch is joined from both north and south by its numerous upper tributaries. The river then flows in a northwesterly direction for about 50 or 60 miles 'airline) to i n ts confluence with the Holitna at a point about 15 miles above its junction with the Kuskokwim. Sleitmut (Sleetmute) lies on the north bank of the Kuskokwim just opposite the mouth of the Holitna.

From Moose village, about 15 (airline) miles upstream from Sleitmut, the Kuskokwim follows a twisting but generally southwesterly

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course to within three or four [: ] miles of the mouth of the Holitna, where it turns sharply northwestward. Then the Kuskokwim continues in a generally northwesterly direction for about 30 miles (airline) to its confluence with George River. This river drains a dissected plateau, marked with ridges and knobs about 2,000 feet high, which characterize this south– western fringe of the Kuskokwim Mountains.

George River flows in a generally southwesterly direction from its northeasterly divide, which separates it from the Takotna system, past the divides separating it from the [: ] ditarod to the northwest and from the Kuskokwim itself to the southeast. North For , ^ k ^ , its first ^ ^ named tributary, flows down from the vicinity of Lookout Mountain in the Iditarod Divide to enter the George from the west. East and South Forks, rising in the highlands separating the George from the Kuskokwim, join and enter the George from the east. The George drains an area about 50 miles from north– east to southwest and about 35 miles from east to west. Although strong currents sweep this river during flood seasons, at all other times, starting at Georgetown at the mouth, it may easily be ascended in poling boats for 25 or 30 miles.

At Georgetown, the Kuskokwim turns southwest, and, a few miles below this point, is joined by Steamboat Creek from the north. The stream rises in Twin Buttes in the divide between its waters and those of North Fork.

Below Steamboat Creek the Kuskokwim forms an S, veering first south, then north, then ^ ^ south again. This second turn is called Great Bend, and receives Crooked Creek from the north. Crooked Creek rises west of Lookout Mountain and flows in a southerly direction to the Kuskokwim. Its main tributaries are Donlin Creek, early in its course, and Bell Creek a few miles above its mouth. At Crooked Creek the Kuskokwim twists southward and

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flows between Horn Mountain and an unnamed group of hills to the southeast, for about 30 miles (airline) past the two abandoned villages, Canoe Village and Oskawalit, past Horn Village and Little Mountain Village, to Napaimiut.

At Napaimiut the Kuskokwim swings westward and continues in this general direction for about 30 airline miles to Aniak, at the mouth of the river of the same name. Below Napaimiut the river passes Chuckwak and the abandoned village of Ko ^ l ^ makof, continues south of Russian Mountains and on to the small native village of Russian Mission, about 8 miles east of Aniak.

The Aniak River rises in the northern park of the Kilbuck Mountains, north of the Tikchik Lakes, and flows in a generally northerly direction for about 75 airline miles to the Kuskokwim. Salmon River is its main tribu– tary, although it receives many unnamed streams from the vicinity of Fisher Dome and Mount Plummer in the more northerly reaches of the Kilbuck Mountains.

Below Aniak the Kuskokwim flows westward about 15 miles and then takes a southwesterly, often multiple, course across the lake-studded swamp and tundra of the coastal plain. The plain is bounded on the north by the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim Mountains and on the south and easty by the Kilbuck Mountains. At the point where the river turns southwest, only 20 or 25 miles of ^ lake-studded ^ grassland separate the Kuskokwim from a southerly bend of the Yukon River. Crow Village and Oknagamut lie on this stretch of the Kuskokwim, followed by Kalska^g^ (Kaltshak), a settlement about 27 miles below Aniak, at about the point where the river passes between Kukaklik and White– fish Lakes. (The latter is not to be confused with the lake of the same name previously mentioned as the headwaters of the Hoholitna River.)

About 36 airline miles below Kalskag, the Tuluksak River enters the Kuskokwim. This river rises to the east between Mount Hamilton and Mount Plummer, flow s ^ ing ^ southward and then westward to join the Kukokwim. from the east. The Kiselalik River rises in the Kilbuck Mountains across the ^ 28 [: ls ] ^

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divide from the Salmon River, the main tributary to the Aniak, and takes a generally northwesterly course to join the Kuskokwim just south of Akiak. Just below Akiak, the Kuskokwim divides and follows two meandering courses for about 10 airline miles, after which it joins again and flows on past Bethel, the largest town on the Kuskokwim.

For the remaining 65 miles of its course, the Kuskokwim gradually broadens out until it is ten miles wide in the vicinity of [: ] Eek Island. Some maps show the Lomavik River and the [: ] undra River entering the Kuskokwim from the east and west respectively a few miles below Bethel, and Johnson River, with a main tribu [: ] ry, the Pimichtaluk, flowing in from the west in the vicinity of the settlement of Kinak. On other maps the course of Johnson River is identified as the Kinak. The main eastern tributary to the Kuskokwim south of this point is Eek River which drains from Eek Lake in the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains and flows in a westerly direction past 2,000-foot Tiokpit Mountain across 60 miles of tundra to enter the Kuskokwim just north of Eek Island. Eek River, although muddy and full of silt, is navigable for 15 or 20 miles from its mouth.

Eek Island is a grass-covered mud flat in the mouth of the Kuskokwim just south of the mouth of Eek River. The higher tides completely cover this island. It is cut by deep sloughs and affords an ideal feeding ground for the thousands of ducks and geese which breed in the swamps and marshes between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon.

^ Settlements ^ ^ 2 Trails ^ An intricate system of winter trails connects the settlements and roadhouses along the Kuskokwim and its tributaries. From Medfra and McGrath, the two most northerly Kuskokwim settlements, these trails run in several directions; northeastward to Lake Minchumina and beyond, southeast– ward across the Alaska Range to Cook Inlet, northwestward into the Innoko District, and southwestward along the Kuskokwim itself to The Portage and on ^ 27 [: ls ] ^

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to the mouth of the Kuskokwim.

Me ^ d ^ fra, ^ (63°07′ N.Lat., 154°43′ W.Long.) ^ 35 miles upstream from McGrath, had a population of 24 in 1939. It has, as well, a post office, a general store, and a 2,000-foot landing strip. The chief occupations are mink and marten farming. From June 1 to O ^ c ^ tober 5 air mail service runs every two weeks from Fairbanks and Anchorage. A $36,000 road connects Med ^ f ^ ra with Nixon Peak Mine on Rub b y Creek, twelve miles to the north.

On the Takotna River, west of McGrath ^ (q.v.) ^ and about 13 miles (airline) above The Forks, is Takotna, a mining community with a post office and a 1939 population of 70. Takotna is the head of launch navigation on that river, and is connected by an intricate maze of roads and trails with Flat, Ophir, Holy Cross, and other Yukon points to the southwest, and with McGrath, Candle Landing, Berry Medfra, and other villages to the northeast and the southeast on the Kuskokwim. Takotna has a landing strip on a mountain-top above the town ^ , ^ with a road leading to it. Although this strip is 1,700 feet long, it appears to be much shorter because each end drops a considerable distance downhill. In 1942, a herd of 2,000 reindeer was reported by its owners to be grazing on Beaver Mountain several miles west of Takotna.

Candle Landing and Vinasale are the main Ku ^ s ^ kokwim settlements immediately below McGrath. New Candle Landing, a few miles west of Candle, is a gold mining community with an 1,800-foot landing strip. As the Kuskokwim continues to work its way through the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains, there are no settleme ^ n ^ ts ^ along it ^ for over 100 [: ] airline miles.

Stony River, at the mouth of the river by ^ of ^ the same name, has two warehouses, and is a trading post and outfitting point for trappers and prospectors, although the 1939 census gives the population as only seven. Referring to the native population in this area ^ in 1930 ^ , Hrdlic^č^ka writes: "People

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of Stony River, according to Sergei, speak a language of their own, called 'Nunamute.' Twenty-eight natives in all between Stony River and McGrath, and of these twenty or twenty-one children and undergrown."

Sleitmut, about 18 miles below Stony River, is a post office and settlement which had a population of 86 in 1939. The village has a Territorial School, a 2,000-foot landing strip, and air mail service from June 1 to October 5 each year. Across the river from Sleitmut is Smeaton's Trading Post. Parks, a settlement with a population of 11 in 1939, also lies on the north side of the Kuskokwim a few miles below Sleitmut. The cinnibar lode mine, mentioned above ^ below ^ , is in this vicinity and was being worked, as Hrdlicka reports in 1930, by Parks himself. "Parks is an old man," Hrdlicka writes, "over 70, visionary, alone, working mercury mine with the help of three native boys of from about 10 to 15."

Georgetown, a small native settlement, lies on the north side of the Kuskokwim at the mouth of the George River about 19 miles below Parks. A winter trail, known as the Iditarod and Georgetown Trail, connects Georget ^ o ^ w o n with Flat, which itself is connected by trail with Holy Cross, on the Yukon River, and with various points in the Iditarod and Innoko Districts to the north.

Crooked Creek, about 11 airline miles below Georgetown, is a native settlement and post office at the mouth of the stream of the same name, which had a 1939 population of 48. At low tide the natural river bars near Crooked Creek afford summer landing fields, and planes equipped with skis can land on the frozen river in winter. Crooked Creek is one of the southern terminals of a network of winter trails converging at Flat.

Napaimiut, about 30 airline miles below Crooked Creek, is a post office and settlement with a 1939 population of about 75. This village has a 2,000-foot landing area and receives air mail service from Fairbanks and Anchorage.

^ 27 [: ls ] ^

The village of Kolmakof, now abandoned, was first the site of a fort built by the Russian trader Lukeen, who discovered gold in this vicinity about 1832. He built a fort about 25 miles above the mouth of the Aniak River, and called it Lukeen's Fort. In 1 ^ 8 ^ 41, after being partly burned by the Indians, it was rebuilt by Alexander Kolmakof, who gave it his name.

Aniak, with a 1939 population of 122, is a settlement and post office on the Kuskokwim ^ ^ near the mouth of the Aniak River. It has a U.S. Commissioner in residence, and a 5,000-foot landing area. A reindeer herd numbering 12,000 head is reported in this vicinity. Aniak has one of the finest, most modern, and best-equipped roadhouses in all of interior Alaska.

Kalska ^ g,(Kaltshak), ^ over 25 airline miles below Aniak, has summer air mail service between June 1 and October 5 and was reported in 1939 to be one of the winter air mail stops between Fairbanks and Bethel. k ^ K ^ alskag is the Kuskokwim terminal of the two [: ] trails which connect this part of that river with the Yukon. The more northerly of these trails runs from Kalska ^ g ^ to Paimiut, and the other, generally known as The Portage, runs to Russian Mission (Ikagmut), 38 miles down the Yukon from Paimiut. The Portage passes Kulik Lake, one of the numberless lakes in this area which happens to be named, and through the native village of Kichlulik on its way to Russian Mission.

Ogalvik is the only village between altshak ^ Kalskag ^ and Tuluksak. ^ Tuluksak, ^ at the confluence of the Tuluksak River and the Kuskokwim, Tuluksak had a 1939 population of 88, and is connected by road or trail with Bethel, Aniak, and Nyac.

Nyac, just north of 61°N. Lat. and just east of 160° W. Long., is a mining community and post office on the ^ T ^ uluksak River in the vicinity

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of Mount Plummer, a 4,800-foot peak in the Kilbuck Mountains south of Whitefish Lake. Nyac had a 1939 population of 33, and now has a 2,500-foot landing strip. The Territorial Department of Mines chose Nyac as an experimental site for the combining of aerial photographs with geological investigations on the ground. Recent maps show several placer mines and some buildings along the Tuluksak below Nyac all of which are connected by road.

Akiak lies on the east side of the Ku ^ s ^ kokwim about 15 miles south of Tuluksak. Petrof, in 1880, and Spurr and Post, in 1898, recorded this town with variants of its present name. By 1939 Akiak had a population of 209. It is connected by trail with Russian Mission on the Yukon and with Bethel about 22 miles down the Kuskokwim. Kuskokwim river boats from Bethel serve Akiak regularly, and there is air mail service for the usual period each year. Reindeer herds in the vicinity of Akiak totaling 81,278 head, were reported by five private owners in 1940.

Akiakchak (Akachagamut), a native village with a population of 156 in 1939, a few miles below Akiak, is connected by trail with Ohogamute on the Yukon and with Bethel, fifteen miles down the Kuskokwim. Of the people of Akiakchak Hrdlicka wrote: "The largest and best Eskimo village yet seen ... (He was traveling upstream.) ... Really a small town. Yet no school structure here yet, just a native church. People more orderly than elsewhere and sturdier, better off economically."

Below Bethel ^ (for a description of which see separate article) ^ , along the ever-widening Kuskokwim, there are several small villages: Napaskiak (population 67), Lomavik, Napakiak (population 113), and Akulurak (population 162), all on the east bank, and Kinak (population 36) on the west bank opposite Akulurak at the point at which the Kuskokwim veers from its southwesterly course to flow due south into Kuskokwim Bay.

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Hrdlicka reports: "Large tides here, they tell, up to and at times over sixteen feet. At low tide great mud flats everywhere, with small channels like glancing streaks between ... Boat travel — no other possible — must regulate itself by tides and the depth of the water. To some places it is impossible to get except at high tide." From Akulurak he wrote: "In nice weather and before the mosquitoes come, the life in the Eskimo fish camps is agreeable. There are many dusky red-cheeked chubby children, not seldom decidedly good-looking. Here and there a woman doing a little cooking or bread-toasting outdoors, over a little fire. Men fish, hunt waterfowl, gather driftwood, construct, make boats — women prepare the caught fish for drying, skin birds, do housework, cook and sew. Children wanted and loved, and there are plenty of them."

Eek, a native village a few miles up the Eek River, had a 1939 population of 170. West Point, Kuskovak, and the abandoned Popocamiut are native settlements on the west bank of the Kuskokwim opposite Eek Island. Apokak, also opposite Eek Island but on the east side of the Kusko– kwim, lies at the mouth of the Apokak River. Nelson recorded this name as Apokagamute, Apokak people , in 1878-79. A line from Beacon Point, just south of Apokak, to the site of the former native village of Popocamiut ^ ( see Kuskokwim Bay) ^ is considered to separate Kuskokwim River from Kuskokwim Bay.

^ Mining ^

Although much of it is on a small scale, there is considerable mining activity along the Kuskokwim. Placer gold is mined near Nixon Fork, McGrath, and Georgetown, and lode gold is produced in the Nixon Fork District. Tin, tungsten, lead, mercury, antimony, and bismuth have also been found in various places, but not in commercial quantity. Cinnabar lode was discovered about 15 miles above Georgetown in 1906, near the present site of Parks, and, as has been indicated, had been worked in a small way but steadily ever since.

^ 26 [: ls ] ^

F.E. Matthew discovered gold placers on Hidden Creek in June, 1917. Further prospecting revealed more placers on the other upper tributaries to Nixon Fork, and in all cases the gold continued to the extreme headwaters of these streams. In 1918 Pearson and Strand discovered the Crystal lode at the head of Ruby Creek. Nixon Peak Mine now works this gold lode as well as gold placers near Hidden Creek, which have proved to be the most productive of all the placers in the area.

^¶^ In 1947 several companies were carrying on gold lode and placer operations in ^ the Takotna section ^ this section : Jackson Nels, placer, on Fourth of July Creek, with a crew of 5; Nixon Fork Mine, lode, on Nixon Fork near Medfra; and Yukon Placer Mining Co., placer, bulldozer, and hydraulic, on Fourth of July Creek.

Gold placers were discovered on Candle Creek by Louis Blackburn and Bert Eldridge in 1913. Mining was started in 1915 and has continued to the present time.

Gold placer mines have been reported on ^ D ^ onlin Creek, a tributary to Crooked Creek. The discovery of placer gold in Rainy, Kapon, and Cabine Creeks in the Eek River system, was given some publicity in 1936, although there was no stampede, and operation of these mines has been continuous since 1940.

^ First Descent ^

In his Reconnaissance in Southwestern Alaska in 1898, ^ Reconnaissance in Southwestern Alaska in 1898, ^ Spurr gives a first-hand account of his descent of South Fork and of the Kuskokwim itself from its union with South Fork to Kuskokwim Bay.

Starting up the Sushitna River, Cook Inlet, on May 20, 1898, he and his companions paddled into the Yentna and from it into the Skwentna to a point where it became necessary to carry the two remaining canoes and all equipment and supplies over the divide of the Alaska Range. "We were now," he writes, "in an extremely picturesque and rugged region, with high mountains, deep valleys, and beautiful glaciers." They were, as present maps show us,

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about midway between Mount Dall and Snow Cap Mountain in the Alaska Range, on what is now called Rainy Pass.

^¶^ Spurr continues: "To get our boats and outfit over the pass was, however, slower and more difficult, but was finally accomplished, and we camped by a foaming stream on the other side. The pass itself is about 4,400 feet above sea l level, and is guarded on both sides by mountains rising to 8,000 feet." This "foaming stream" was one of the headwaters of South Fork, but, since no white man had previously made this trip, it is not surprising that Spurr mistook it for the Kuskokwim.

^¶^ "The fall of the river was very great, and rapids were continuous," he re– marks," and in this down-stream traveling our progress was as rapid as it had before been slow. Much to our surp ^ rise ^ , the river turned and began to run persistently towar ^ d ^ the north between two parallel mountain ridges." This refers to the section of South Fork above Lake Farewell. "On the 25th of July we emerged from the mountains into a bro ^ a ^ d, flat, gravelly plateau, and for nearly 100 miles thereafter went through snag flats similar to those we had ascended on the Sushitna, presenting, if possible, even a more formidable aspect to the explorer." Spurr and his companions were now passing across the broad Kuskokwim Valley and approaching the Kuskokwim itself.

^¶^ "About this time the prolonged rainy season set in, which lasted six weeks or so, and was perhaps the most disagreeable feature of the trip, the rain falling almost continuously night and day with short intervals.

^"¶"^on the 29th of July the streams joined another of nearly equal size ^ [ ^ the Kuskokwim proper ^ ] ^ , these two streams together making up the main Kuskokwim River ... Below the junction the current was still slack, and the course of the river was extremely tortuous as it meandered through a broad flat made up of finely stratified silts ... On the 1st of August we came to an old trading post known as Vinasale."

^¶^ Only a day below Vinasale [: ]

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however, they reached the southern fringes of the Kuskokwim Mountains, through which the river passes on its way to Napaimiut and Kolmakof. "On the 2d of August we left the broad flats of the upper river and entered a definite valley lying between picturesque timbered mountains, in appearance suggesting the Lower Ramparts of the Yukon. The river continued to run through these mountains for several hundred miles. On the [: ] 4th of August, two days after entering the range, the peaks grew higher and bolder and some of them bore patches of snow, while the river flowed past high, per– pendicular, rocky bluffs.

^"¶"^Just before entering these higher ramparts the largest stream which we had yet observed entering the Kuskokwim came in on the left. It is a wide river of dark-colored water, contrasting in this with the muddy current of the Kuskokwim, and at the time of our passing the water was alive with leaping salmon. The native name of this stream we afterward found out to be Holiknuk ^ [ ^ the present Holitna ^ ] ^ , and that it heads in the Nushagak divide."

^¶^ The party was now running short of supplies ^ , ^ and they were eager to reach Kolmakof. "On the 6th of August, when we had already passed the astronomical position in which Kolmakof was indicated on the Russian charts, we unexpectedly reached the post, which consists of an old hexagonal log blockhouse with several other log buildings which were built by the Russians long ago. We ^ ^ found no one here, however, except some natives and one half-breed, from whom we obtained some tea, which was the only article left, the supplies for this year not yet having come up the river.

^"¶"^ The next ^ d ^ ay we reached the native village of Oknagamut, where there were several hundred Eskimos ... After leaving Kolmakof the river rapidly left the mountains behind and flowed through a perfectly level country, very sparsely timbered, and always growing broader. The channel bro ^ a ^ dened out in places to a veritable sea, with many large islands, we estimated the distance as 9 miles. The land on both sides grew more and more swampy and treeless

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until it developed into the typical dreary tundra. Eskimo villages grew more numerous, and at one, Oknavigamut, we found a vacant mission building and schoolroom, welcome signs of civilized man.

^"¶"^ On the 10th of August we arrived at the native village of Memtrelegamut ^ [ ^ the present Bethel ^ ] ^ , where the natives had informed us that provisions could be obtained, and here we were surprised and delighted to find, not only a trading post, but a mission supported by the Moravians. These people made us very welcome, as we were the first white people they had seen that year, and we stopped several days making preparations for our future work."

^¶^ At this point Spurr sent some of his group back to The Portage to map th is ^ at ^ ancient route between the Kuskokwim and the Yukon and to continue on down the Yukon. He himself went down the Kuskokwim with John H. Kilbuck, a Moravian missionary, and one of the founders of Bethel.

^¶^ Spurr describes this part of the journey in these words: "Below this mission the Kuskokwim grows very large and begins to be affected by the tides, and so gradually passes into the broad Kuskokwim Bay. The shores are barren, swampy, and flat, and with no firewood except scattered drift– wood ... We left the mission on the 19th of August and reached our destina– tion ^ ^ at the mouth of the river — Kwinhagamut ^ [ ^ the present Kwinhagak ^ ] ^ — on the 25th, our progress having been slow on account of the extreme width and shallowness of the river and the difficulty in finding the proper channel. The tides too, were so high and the bottom was so flat that when we were not in the deepest channel the receding tide left us dry, out of sight of water, while the flood tide lifted us upon a broad sea out of sight of shore."

This description shows how little the Kuskokwim itself has changed in the past 50 yars, but how very different were the isolated settlements along it then from the busy mining, fur farming, and fishing villages of today.

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Summer and winter air service, and regular ^ frequent ^ ligh ^ t ^ erage ^ service ^ up and down the river during the season of navigation are the two brightest hopes for the development of the Kuskokwim Basin.

^ 2 [: ] ^

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mertie, J.B., Jr. Mineral Deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim Region ^ Mineral Deposits of the Ruby-Kuskokwim Region ^ , Alaska. ^ Alaska. ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1936. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 864 - C ^ Bulletin 864 - C ^ )

Spurr, J.E. A Reconnaissance in southwestern Alaska in 1898 ^ A Reconnaissance in southwestern Alaska in 1898 ^ . (Contained in: U.S. Geological Survey. 20th Annual ^ 20th Annual ^ Report. Part VII. Explorations in Alaska in 1898. ^ Report. Part VII. Explorations in Alaska in 1898. ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1900. pp.31-264)

Annabel, Russell. Hunting and fishing in Alaska. ^ Hunting and fishing in Alaska. ^ N.Y., Knopf, 1948.

Hrdlic^č^ka, Ales^š^. Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. ^ Alaska Diary, 1926-1931. ^ Lancaster, Pa., Jacques Cattell Press, 1943.

General References;

VSGB

USCP & Supplement

Colby. Alaska. ^ Alaska. ^

Sundborg. Opporunity in Alaska ^ Opporunity in Alaska ^ .

Tuttle, CharlesR. Alaska: its meaning to the world, its resources ^ Alaska: its meaning to the world, its resources ^ its opportunities. ^ its opportunities. ^ Seattle, Wash., Shuey, 1914.

^ 1,550 - Text ^ ^ 100 - Bibl. ^

KUZITRIN RIVER. ALASKA, rises in a broad lowland ^ ^ measuring about twenty miles wide and lying northeast-southwest across 164° W. Long., in the heart of Seward Peninsula. The Kuzitrin and its tributaries drain an area aggregating about 1,890 square miles.

North and South Forks, the two branches at the head of the main stream, rise in the lava beds just north of the Bendeleben Mountains. After their junction, the Kuzitrin continues southwestward across the interior basin, and is joined by a large number of tributaries, includ– ing, Noxapaga (q.v.), Garfield, and the famous gold stream, the Kou– garok (q.v.), from the north, and by Minnie, Ella, Bonanza, Birch, and Belt Creeks from the south. Just below the mouth of Belt Creek the Kuzitrin passes through a narrow, twenty-mile valley, guarded on the north by Bunker Hill, after which it debouches on the plain at the head of Imuruk Basin (q.v.). The river follows a meandering and generally westerly course across this plain to its junction with the Kruzgamepa (q.v.) to form the Kaviruk, which flows directly into Imuruk Basin.

^ Geography ^

Both topographically and geologically, the Kuzitrin drainage basin is diversified. To the south of the upper river lie the Ben– deleben Mountains, a rugged range of sharp peaks with glaciated valleys. The large lowland basin through which this part of the river [: ] flows is known as the Kuzitrin Flats. The Kougarok Region, which, as the name implies, includes not only the drainage basin of the ^ that ^ river itself but also the adjoining territory, lies ^ ^ north of these Flats. This

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KUZITRIN RIVER, ALASKA

region is a high plateau characterized by rounded summits with elevations varying from 1,200 feet just north of the Flats to 1,600 feet at the divide separating the Kougarok drainage from that of the streams flowing northward into the Arctic Ocean.

The many lakes along the Kuzitrin are of two kinds. Those dotting the Flats section of the river are ^ were ^ produced by lava flows, but those on the Imuruk Plain are mainly lagoons or old cut-off meanders of the river.

There is no timber anywhere in the drainage basin, except for a few cottonwoods along the lower river. Small willow and alder, good for fuel but of no use in building, are well distributed throught the basin. The entire area is within the permafrost line. Even dur– ing the summer, the ground is , for the most part, frozen ^ a few feet below the surface ^ and covered with a mantle of ice and mud. In the northern part of the basin such partial thawing of the ground does not take place at any time of year. ^ Insert from Collier, Aithur J. Becon. [: ] Portion Seward P [: ] . 1902 P.9 ^

Late in May ^ , ^ the Kuzitrin usually break ^ s ^ up at ^ ^ Shelton (formerly Lanes Landing) (q.v.) and runs clear of ice early in June. It freezes over at the same point in September. ^ Insert Collier NW p. 11 - "Suice ^ During the season of navigation, the river is safe for flat-bottomed boats and scows for about sixty miles from the mouth, and for horse boats upstream from this point. Up to the completion of the Seward Peninsula Railroad to Shelton, during the first decade of this century, and still some– what thereafter, supplies were brought into the Kougraok and Noxapaga Regions via Port Clarence, Grantley Harbor, Imuruk Basin, and the Kuzitrin River.

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Settlements The only settlements on the Kuzitrin are Igloo, about ten miles from the mouth, ^ New Igloo, ^ and Shelton , about fifteen miles farther upstream.

Igloo (65° 10′ N.Lat., 165° 04′ W.Long.), which the prospectors called Mary's Igloo, because this structure was originally the largest in ^ ^ the settlement, was established in 1901 and given a post office that same year.

Collier visited this settlement in 1901. He writes: "Marys Igloo was reached on September 3. This place, the former winter ^ ^ home of a well– known Eskimo woman, is at the head of steamboat navigation on the Kuzitrin River, and has within a year or two become a settlement of some importance. Here the stock of provisions was replen [: ] hed from supplies shipped to this point from Nome and kept in storage by Mr. A. D. Nash, who was doing a general freighting business on the Kuzitrin River. The horses here rapidly recuperated from the privations of the long trip, as forage was abundant."

As the head of light-draft steam-boat navigation, Igloo was an impor– tant freight ransfer point on the Kuzitrin, for, with the discovery of gold on the Kougarok in 1900, a great many tons of supplies and machinery were needed in the interior. Most of this was brought up the Kuzitrin and so to the Kougarok for several years after the first strike. After the completion, in 1906, of the Seward Peninsula Railroad to Shelton, farther upstream, some supplies still continued to be brought in by boat rather than by rail.

In 1947, Igloo had a population of about 182, making it one of the largest towns in this part of Seward Peninsula. The school-teacher, a mission– ary, and the manager of the trading post are about the only white inhabitants of the town. Igloo is a fox-raising center, and several reindeer herds have been reported in the vicinity. Igloo was the first recording office for the Kougarok District, but this has subsequently been removed to Teller.

^ New Igloo, a few miles down-river from Igloo, has a government school ^ Shelton (65° 12′ N.Lat., 164° 50′ W.Long.), about ninety miles north of Nome, ^ and fifteen miles upstream fro Igloo, ^ was originally called Lane's Landing, probably after T.T. Lane, who built the first ditches and did much to develop the mineral wealth of this part of Alaska. As the northern terminal of the ^ Seward Peninsula Railroad, now known as the ^ Kougarok Limited, Shelton is now a busy freight-transfer point, and has a roadhouse equipped to accomodate fifteen or more persons.

The building of the 36-inch guage line, formerly called the Seward Peninsula Railroad, but now known as the Kougarok Limited, or the "Pupmobile", across ninety miles of unsurveyed marsh [: ] and grass– land, which was subject to the all the vagaries of permafrost soil, was one of the major engineering feats of the early part of this cen– tury. Like ^ so ^ much in the Seward Peninsula of those ^ ^ days, the idea and the need for this railroad grew out of the discovery of gold, first at Nome and then farther and farther into the interior. With the need of for supplies farther inland, the railroad progressed north– ward up the Nome river, then eastward down the Kruzgamepa, and finally northward again to the Kuzitrin. The original goal had been to con– tinue the line into the heart of the Kougarok District and even north to Kotzebue Sound, by [: ] , by 1906, when the road had been extended to Shelton, the gold in the Kougarok and other outlying areas had been too thoroughly worked out to justify any further addition to the line.

During the particularly poor gold mining years of 1912 to 1917, the railroad was relatively little used and almost forgotten. In 1922 the Territory bought the line from its private owners for $24,000. It had for several years previous become known as a 'tramcar' or 'pupmobile' line, and had functioned, not as a railroad, but as a highway with regulations governing weight of loads, speed, class of equipment, etc. The Alaska Road Commission now keeps the line in re– pair, ^ and two companies have the right to send fieight shipments over it, ^ but ^ individuals ^ can, if they wish, supply their own means of transportation. These include, flange-wheeled automobiles, handcars, or the unique 'pupmobiles' (small push cars drawn by twelve or more dogs). Although there has been considerable talk about continu– ing the road into the Kotzebue country, it has never progressed be– yong Shelton. Shelton, itself, has remained what it always was,

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a town given over entirely to the needs and demands of miners and mining, to the exclusion of almost every other consideration.

Mining A reconnaissance map of the U.S. Geological Survey, dated 1913, shows no gold placers on the Kuzitrin itself, but it indicates a great many on the tributaries to that river, including Garfield Creek ^ , and, of course, ^ in addition to the Kougarok. It was, there– fore, as a navigable waterway into the interior, rathern than as a producing stream, that ^ ^ the Kuzitrin was important to the development of gold mining on Seward Peninsula. Remembering that ^ it ^ the Kuzitrin is joined to Port Clarence, the only deep water harbor anywhere on the Peninsula, it will be realized that the role of the Kuzitrin was far from a minor one.

SOURCES

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ 2d ed. Washington, D.C., 1906. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.299)

Colby, Merle. A Guide to Alaska. ^ A Guide to Alaska. ^ N.Y., 1942.

Sundborg, George. Opportunity in Alaska ^ Opportunity in Alaska ^ . N.Y., 1946.

Greely, A.W. Handbook of Alaska. ^ Handbook of Alaska. ^ 3d ed. N.Y., 1925.

^ * ^ Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome ^ and Norton Bay Regions, in Alaska, in 1900. ^ and Norton Bay Regions, in Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

^ * ^ Henshaw, F.F., and Parker, G.L. Surface Water Supply of Seward Pen- ^ Surface Water Supply of Seward Pen- ^ insula, Alaska. ^ insula, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1913. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper 3 ^ Water-Supply Paper 3 ^ 14)

^ * ^ Collier, Arthur J. (and others) Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Pen- ^ Gold Placers of Parts of Seward Pen- ^ insula, Alaska, including the Nome, Co ^ u ^ ncil, Kougarok, Port ^ insula, Alaska, including the Nome, Co ^ u ^ ncil, Kougarok, Port ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts. ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts. ^ Washington, D.C., 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin, ^ Bulletin, ^ No.328)

Pilgrim, Mariette Shaw. Alaska, its History, Resources, Geography ^ Alaska, its History, Resources, Geography ^ , and Government. ^ and Government. ^ Caldwell, Idaho, 1939.

Alaska Weekly. ^ Alaska Weekly. ^ August 1, 1947

Collier, Arthur J. Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Washington, D.C., 1902 (U.S. Geological Survey. Professional Paper No.2)

^ * = Principal References. ^

^ 650 wds ^

KVICHAK BAY, ALASKA, a large northeastern arm of Bristol Bay, is bounded on the south by an arbitrary line extending from the south entrance point of Egegik River (q.v.), Alaska Peninsula, northwestward to Etolin Point (q.v.) on the mainland. Kvichak Bay is funnel-shaped and bounded on the east and west by ^ the ^ low, lake-studded coastal strip of the peninsula and the mainland. Numberless minor tributaries flow into Kvichak Bay from these small lakes, but five larger lakes contribute the four major tributaries to the bay. These are: the Egegik River, rising in Becharof Lake; the Naknek River, draining from Naknek Lake; the Alagnak River, fed by Kukaklek and Nanwhyenuk Lakes; and the Kvichak River, flowing out of Iliamna Lake.

The tidal rise is extreme throughout the bay and its rivers, varying from 24 to 28 feet. Low water exposes dangerous shoals and flats for 4 to 6 miles off the coasts at the mouth of the bay and across its entire width at the head. The remaining channel is extremely shallow and navigable only by small vessels specially constructed to withstand repeated groundings. Because of the extreme range of tide, currents are strong and [: ] swift, resulting in shifts of the channel from year to hear.

Most settlements are on ^ ^ the eastern side of Kvichak Bay, and the inhabitants here as elsewhere in this area are engaged almost entirely in catching, packing, and shipping the red salmon for which the entire Bristol Bay area is famous. During the cannery season, mid-June to late July, everyone in these villages turns fisherman, but for the duration of the year the chief activities are hunting and trapping.

The first point of interest north of the Egegik River (q.v.) along the eastern shore of Kvichak Bay is Cape Chichagof, the northern entrance point of the Egegik. This cape was named by Lütke in 1828 in honor of Admiral Chichagof of the Russian navy. A few miles north of this cape lie Halfway, a salmon cannery, and Hennings Cabin. Still farther northward a great many canneries are grouped around the mouth of the Naknek River (q.v.), where the settlements of Naknek, South Nak ^ nek ^ , North Naknek (q.v.), Pawik (q.v.), Suwarof, and Libbyville are also located. Cape Suworof, on the north side of the mouth of the Naknek, was named by Staniukovich, who ended his reconnaissance of Alaska here in 1828. From this point northward to Koggiung (q.v.), and Levelock (q.v.) (sometimes called Kvichak) the number of canneries increases markedly, so that both sides of the head of Kvichak Bay are dotted with them. Beyond Cape Suworof, however, Kvichak Bay is shoal and the channel narrow and tortuous. It is here, at the head of the bay, that the exaggerated tidal range most strongly effects navigation. Vessels of greater than 3 feet draft cannot navigate beyond Cape Suworof at low tide, and vessels of greater than 12 feet draft have difficulty at high tide. Strangers to these waters are well advised to ask for help from the pilots of cannery vessels anchored in the area.

All these points on the eastern side of the bay are connected by the winter trail which runs from Portage Bay, Shelikof Strait, on the eastern side of the Alaska Peninsula, northwestward along the southern shore of Becharof Lake, down the Egegik River, and then northward to Naknek and Koggiung. At about Koggiung the trail turns westward, crosses the head of Kvichak Bay, and joins the trail which connects points on Iliamna Lake (q.v.) and the Kvichak River (q.v.) with Dillingham, Owens, Goodnews (q.v.) and other Bristol Bay points to the west.

On a recent map only one cabin is indicated for the entire western side of Kvichak Bay between Etolin Point [: ] and the territory opposite Koggiung. This lack of habitation is probably due to the fact that the western side of the bay is blocked by higher and wider bars and shoals than the eastern side, making it virtually impossible to effect a safe landing except at the height of the tide.

^ 500 wds ^

KVICHAK RIVER, ALASKA (Kvitchak; Koichak), in the northwestern part of the Alaska Peninsula, drains from Iliamna Lake (q.v.) and runs a winding, generally southwesterly course for about 62 miles to the head of Kvichak Bay (q.v.). The Kvichak Basin is a long, narrow strip of territory containing Iliamna Lake and Lake Clark (q.v.) lying northeast- southwest between 153° and 157° W. Long. and about 59° and 60° 3 ^ 0 ^ ′ N. Lat. The eastern [: ] divide is near the coast of Cook Inlet, northeast of Iliamna Lake, and the western divide is close to the northwestern shores of that lake but west of Lake Clark. Just below its head the Kvichak River weaves a swift, netlike, westward course for about 6 miles, but thereafter turns somewhat southward and follows a deep, well-defined channel to its mouth. Its main tributaries flow from the north where a system of innumerable small lakes and creeks dot the broad coastal strip of this part of the Kvichak Basin. The Alagnak River (q.v.), largest tributary to the Kvichak, enters from the east near its mouth.

When assisted by strong winds, launches and Columbia River boa [: ] s can navigate the entire length of the Kvichak River, despite bars, islands, narrow channels, and currents of 6 miles an hour near its head. At high tide cannery vessels drawing 12 feet or less can navigate the 22 miles of deep channel above Koggiung (q.v.). As in other Bristol Bay rivers, however, navigation is dangerous or entirely impossible at low tide. The rise and fall of the tide at the mouth of the Kvichak varies from 24 to 28 feet. Low water exposes a network of bars and flats at the head of Kvichak Bay and for some distance up the river. Channels often drop to 3 feet in depth. Such an extreme range of tide presents problems not only of navigation but also of anchorage. Tidewater extends about 32 miles up the river.

The chief activity on and along the Kvichak, as on most Bristol Bay rivers, is the red salmon canning industry for which the entire area

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KVICHAK RIVER, ALASKA

is famous. The Alaska Salmon Company, the Alaska Packers Association, the Nakat Packing Corporation, and the Libby, McNeill & Libby Company maintain canneries and radio stations on the mouth of the river and the head of Kvichak Bay near Koggiung. The wharves maintained by these companies are all dry at low water, all have fresh water connections, and some have company machine shops which will take on occasional small outside jobs. These wharves are usually fitted with either a crane or a marine railway. Because of the many hazards to navigation in Kvichak Bay and River, strangers are well advised to radio for the assistance of a cannery pilot familiar with local waters.

The largest settlements along the Kvichak are Igiugig, at its head, Levelock (on some maps, Kvichak) (q.v.), on the west bank about 8 miles north of the junction of the Alagnak River (q.v.), and Koggiung (q.v.), on the east bank of the mouth. In addition there are several canneries along the river, some of which have local names. These include: Squaw Creek, which the Nakat Packing Corporation operated in 1939: Libbyville, a cannery and radio station operated by Libby, McNeill & Libby the same year; Halle ^ r ^ sville, shown on some maps on the east bank just north of the junction of the Alagnak River; Graveyard Creek, another Libby, McNeill & Libby cannery operating in 1939: and Coffee Creek, operated by the Alaska Packers Association in 1939 but inactive in 1940.

The Kvichak River was reported by early Russians and by Lütke in 1828 as the Kvitchak.

^ 100 wds ^

LEVELOCK, ALASKA, sometimes called Kvichak, is a settlement and post office ^ just northwest of the Alaska Peninsula, ^ on the west bank of the Kvichak River (q.v.), about 7 miles north of the mouth of the Alagnak River (q.v.). Levelock was founded in 1938 as a community of homes, so that the children of the area might be given proper schooling and be removed from the influence of the canneries which throng the area. $20,000 were appropriated in May, 1940, for the construction of a new school to replace the rented building previously used and no longer available. The winter trail from Iliamna Lake (q.v.) passes through Levelock on its way westward to Dillingham, Owens, Goodnews, and other Bristol Bay points.

LOPP LAGOON, just northeast of Cape Prince of Wales, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, was named by A.H. Brooks ^ , ^ in 1900 ^ , ^ after Reverend William Thomas Lopp, and a late nineteenth century missionary to the Cape Eskimos.

Lopp Lagoon is about 14 miles long and about 3 1/2 miles wide at the wi greatest. It is separated from the Polar Sea by a narrow sand spit which reaches northeastward from Cape Prince of Wales (q.v.). This spit widens about midway of its length sending a point of land into the lagoon. The ocean side of the spit remains ^ regular ^ even throughout its length. The spit is interrupted in two places where are found the small Eskimo villages of Mugisitokiwik and Mitletukeruk.

Although Brooks found the sands around this lagoon to be barren of gold, several of its tributaries rising in Cape and Potato Mountain and in the York Mountains have proved to contain stream tin. (See York Mountains article.)

In addition [: ] to several unnamed streams, the Cape Mountain tribu– taries are Village and Prince of Wales Creeks. Those flowing down from the general vicinity of Potato Mountain are Manna, Potato, Dry, and Oakland Creeks. Mint River, the largest tributary to the lagoon, enters its northeast end. ^ Yankee River, ^ M ^ m ^ ain affluent to the Mint, Yankee River, drains the northern flanks of Brooks Mountain, and is joined about midway of its course by Clara Creek. Other tributaries to the Mint are Grouse, and its affluent Buck Creek, both of which are tin-bearing streams. Other ^ streams ^ creeks in ^ ^ this system are South Fork, Montana, Gold, Sutter, East Fork, Skookum, Sterling, Tapioca, and White Horse Creeks.

Lopp Lagoon is extremely shoal throughout its entire length [: ] and is navigable only to light-draft vessels.

^ 25 wds - Bibl ^

LOST RIVER, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rises in the York Mountains and empties into Bering Sea about ten miles east of Cape York (q.v.). Early maps show a river by this name emptying into the lagoon on the north side of Port Clarence, just east of the Don River.

The major tributary to the Lost River comes in from the west and is variously designated as Rapid, or Rand River. Eastern tributaries to Lost River are Cassiterite, and Tin Creeks.

Lost River s , istelf, rises just south of 2,918-foot Brooks Mountain and flows almost directly south to Bering Sea. Since the mountains here crowd very close to the shore, the river runs w wiftly and for almost its entire length. There is now a 1,500-foot landing strip at its mouth.

Casserite Creek was the location of the first official tin lode discovery in the York District. Steidtmann writes that in 1903 A.J. Collier and Frank L. Hess "were engaged in a study of the geology and mineral resources of the southern part of Seward Peninsula. In the course of this work they reached Teller, on Port Clarence, and here met Crum, Randt, and O'Brien, three prospectors who had been searching for tin. They had about a bushel of samples of supposed tin ore. This material was examined by Collier, who found only one piece of rock that looked as if it might contain cassiter– ite. With an improvised blow pie and pipe and candle Collier determined the mineral as cassiterite. It came from an angular fragment of float rock. Collier decided that the occurrence was important enough to warrant a [: ] pecial [: ] examination of the locality. He therefore accompanied the three prospectors to Lost River, where they pointed out the locality from which

^ 23 ^

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LOST RIVER, ALASKA

the specimen had been derived. Collier discovered the tin-bearing ledge, which the three prospectors staked under the name Cassiterite Lode. Collier was therefore the discoverer of lode tin in the York district, though prior to this time some alleged tin ore had been found at Cape Mountain, most of which on test proved to be a tourmaline granite. Later some lode tin was found at Cape Mountain."

Despite early efforts to mine tin in this area, these deposits have remained relatively uncommercialized. (For a general discussion of the ^history of^ the Seward Peninsula tin mining see Tin City article) Still, in 1946, after two world wars had emphasized the need of the United States for a reliable tin supply, Bain again mentions the Lost River deposits. "It is estimated that at Lost River approximately 4,000,000 tons of low-grade lode tin is available, averaging 0.336 percent of tin plus 0.061 of tungsten cal– culated as WO 3 . Although this is not rich ore when account is taken of the isolation of the district and the many difficulties of mining in the Arctic, the combination of high- and low-grade ore would seem distinctly to warrant an attempt at commercial production in the district." (For a general discussion of the history of tin mining in Seward Peninsula see ^ York Mountains ^ Tin City article.)

^ 15 ^

^ 480 wds ^

MCGRATH, ALASKA (62° 57′ N.Lat.; 156° 26′ W.Long.) is a town and post office at the junction of the Kuskokwim and Takotna Rivers in southwestern Alaska about 325 miles up-river from Bethel. The town was founded by Abe Appel who chose it for a trading site in 1905. The population, estimated at 175 in 1939, is still largely supported by trade since McGrath is the freight transfer point for shipments to the upper Kuskokwim. Steamboats from Bethel ^ make three round- tips every summer ^ bring ^ ing ^ passen b ^ g ^ ers and freight up the Kuskokwim as far as McGrath, where they are ^ both must be ^ transferred to launches for points up the Takotna or up the Kuskokwim to Berrys Landing. In addition most freight and passen b ^ g ^ er planes leaving Anchorage or Fairbanks for Bristol Bay, the Kuskokwim or the lower Yukon stop at McGrath. When regular freighting is delayed by low water in the Kuskokwim, a great deal of air-freight is flown from McGrath to Takotna, Flat, and other towns on the Kuskokwim and the Yukon. ^ The east-west runway of the hard-surfaced 5600-foot landing strip is the main street of the town. ^ Although the airport itself is small, A bar in the Kuskokwim can be used as a summer landing-field, and the frozen Takotna has been used for the same purpose in winter. In summer the quiet water at the mouth of the Takotna affor ^ d ^ s an ideal landing place for hydroplanes.

The post office, U.S. Commissioner's office, and the Radio Communications Center are contained in one building which has, as well, an up-to-date airplane passenger waiting-room. There is a restaurant near the field for the use of passen b ^ g ^ ers and personnel. The U.S. Weather Bureau maintains a station in McGrath.

The town is connected by road or trail to Takotna, and Candle Creek. It has five general stores, a cold storage plant, a school, a sawmill, and a roadhouse. The largest local manufacturing

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MCGRATH, ALASKA

establishment ^ , ^ is ^ Lou Laska's Fur Factory, maks ^ a mukluk ^ s ^ (skin boot ^ s ^ ) factory, ^ and is ^ equipped with modern fur-sewing machines and other labor-saving devices. ^ At least half of the resident population works in the CAA or the U.S. Weather Bureau offices in the Town. Their families live in the ten ^modern, two-story^ Government.Built houses facing the north-south runway. ^ Other activities are mining and trapping. There is a permanent game warden stationed in a fine building in the town. The remains of an old Indian village lie nearby, but there are no longer any native inhabi– tants ^ there ^ of the town . The Kuskokwim River floods the Takotna side of town almost every year. In October, 1938, this part of town was being moved across the river to escape the devastation of the spring and fall floods. About one-third of the population spends only the spring and summer months in town; the rest of the year they spend ^ these residents ^ trap ping in an area ^ extending ^ from twenty to two hundred miles around McGrath.

The weather is typically sub-arctic, reaching a low in the -60's in winter and a high in the 80's in summer and maintaining a relatively high humidity the year around. The following chart reproduces in part the 1947 U.S. Weather Bureau report for McGrath:

Fonts, Helen L, "Summer at McGrath," (ALASKA SPORTSMAN, Aug. 1948, pp. 6-9,2 6-29)

^ McGrath Weather Report-1947 T= Trace^

^

Scroll Table to show more columns

	Temp. of the Air	Mean Relative Humidity	Total Precipitation in Inches	Wind	Clear Days	Cloudy and Partly Cloudy Days	Snow fall Total in Inches
Maximum Velocity	Average Hourly Velocity MPH	Prevailing Direction.
Max.	Date	Min.	Date	MPH	Direct.
Jan.	37°	5th	-64°	25th	94	1.98	-	-	-	S	12	19	24.4
Feb.	47°	16	ࢤ64°	3	83	1.26	-	-	-	N	5	23	15.3
Mar.	50°	19	ࢤ32°	14	83	1.35	-	-	-	NW	9	22	31.6
Apr.	42°	22	ࢤ20°	2	72	0.30	-	-	-	N	10	20	2.0
May	80°	28	9°	3	68	0.53	24	S	-	S	1	30	1.0
June	79°	9	37°	6	66	3.63	-	-	-	S	1	29	0.0
July	85°	21	40°	1	72	3.03	-	-	-	S	3	28	0.0
Aug.	77°	7	29°	30	76	2.11	28	S	-	W	4	27	0.0
Sept.	56°	1	19°	20	78	2.79	35	S	-	W	1	29	T
Oct.	48°	7	ࢤ3°	25	80	0.53	17	N	-	NW	3	28	4.7
Nov.	41°	22	ࢤ27°	17	89	1.46	22	NE	-	NW	1	29	19.7
Dec.	33°	6	ࢤ27°	25	90	1.86	16	N	-	W	0	31	23.9

^

^ 450 wds ^

MULCHATNA RIVER (Molchatna, Malchatna, Mulchutna), in southeastern Alaska, the largest eastern tributary to the Nushagak River (q.v.), rises in the Bonanza Hills, foothills of the Alaska Range (q.v.), at the confluence of three streams known as the Big, the Middle, and the Small Mulchatna. It follows a meandering, south– westerly course for about 145 miles to join the Nushagak from the east at about 59° 39′ N. Lat, 156° 06′ W. Long. For over 50 miles of its early course, the Mulchatna flows through a broad basin, in places 40 miles wide, which extends northeast-southwest between the Bonanza Hills and Mesa Mountain to the southeast ^ , ^ and Halfway Moun– tain and the more spotty highlands to the northwest.

The largest tributary to the Mulchatna along this section of its course is the Chilikandrotna River, which is formed by two streams rising in the mountains south of the Bonanza Hills. The Chilikandrotna is about 18 miles long and enters the Mulchatna from the east at about 60° 37′ N. Lat., 155° 23′ W. Lat. The Chilchitna River enters the Mulchatna from the east a little over ten miles south of the Chil ^ ch ^ itna, drains from Tutna Lake, a small lake covering about 4 square miles, lying about 10 miles southwest of Mesa Mountain. Other tributaries to the Mulchatna along this section of its course drain the lake-dotted area between the river itself and Tutna Lake.

Soon after these junctions, the Mulchatna turns more directly southward, crosses 60° N. Lat. and then bends southwestward again. The Kakhtul River enters the Mulchatna from the east a few miles south of 60° N. Lat. The Kakhtul rises in the highlands northwest of Iliamna Lake (q.v.) ^ This river ^ and has appeared with many variants of its

Unpaginated

MULCHATNA RIVER, ALASKA

present name (Kokhtuli, Kakhtut, Kakhtul) ever since Schanz first recorded it in 1890. All these names, however, would appear to be based on the Indian word meaning forest . From its junction with the Kakhtul to its own confluence with the Nushagak, many small streams, draining the countless lakes to the north and the south, are shown entering the Mulchatna from both sides.

On a map dated November, 1946, the only habitations indicated along the Mulchatna are one unnamed village about 15 miles from its mouth and a cabin several miles farther upstream. Some mine prospecting has been carried on here in the past. In 1912 the U. S. Geological Survey reported the findings of several prospectors who had spent the summers of 1909 and 1910 in this region. Fine flour gold had been found on all bars along the gravel bed of the river above 60° N. Lat., and course gold and pay were found near the head.

Petrof recorded this river as the Molchatna in 1880. Baker listed it, in 1906, as the Mulchatna in agreement with local pronunciation of the name.

^ Text - 7,370 wds. ^ ^ Bibl- 50 wds ^

Ruby Collins July, 1948 KUSKOKWIM RIVER

^ Connected 13 Oct 48 ^

THE KUSKOKWIM RIVER, ALASKA, is about 550 miles long and second only to the Yukon in length, volume, and navigability. The Eskimo name, Kuskokwim, was apparently first obtained by Ustiugof in 1818, and it appeared in Sarichef's atlas of 1826. The old Indian name for this river is China-ana, and the Indians called the tributary to the Kuskokwim now known as South Fork, the Echitna. It was this tributary to the main ^ r ^ iver which Josiah E. Spurr and William S. Post considered the Kuskokwim proper in their U.S. Geological Survey Report of 1899. ^ The following description ^ ^ is based, in part, upon this report. ^

The Kuskokwim Valley, which lies north of the Iliamna Region, north and west of the Nushagak-Togiak Region, and south of the Yukon valley, may be divided into three natural geographic provinces. These are: an extensive interior basin southeast of the inland section of the Kuskokwim Mountains and no ^ r ^ thwest of the Alaska Range, which contains the branching headwaters and the upper course of the main river; a deeply-cut central section about 150 miles long from east to west which passes diagonally across the entire width of the Kuskokwim Mountains; and a lowland section through which the river flows in a generally southwester– ly direction from the northwestern flanks of the Kuskokwim Mountains across 300 miles of swamp and granssland to the head of Kuskokwim Bay. The 100 miles of these lowlands farthest from the sea are true valleys of the Kuskokwim Mountains and are bounded by sloping highland on either side. The remaining 200 miles of lowland are coastal in nature and in this part of its course the Kuskokwim is affected by ^ ^ the tides of Bering Sea. For this last 200 miles the Kuskokwim runs approximately parallel to the Kilbuck Mountains, lying to the southeast, and all the tributaries to this section of the river drain from these mountains. The lowlands north

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KUSKOKWIM RIVER

of this stretch of the river merge with similar lowlands which border the lower Yukon so that between the mouths of these two great rivers extends an enormous, triangular coastal plain whose area is about 30,000 square miles.

This coastal section of the Kuskokwim is tundra, or grasslands, and remains treeless for about 150 miles, or as far as Aniak, at which point the river swings into the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains where ^ ^ trees of various kinds begin to appear. The most common tree in this region is the spruce. Some popular, commonly called "cottonwoods," grow along the valley floor and the lower slopes, some birches and a few tamarack. Willow and alder grow along the banks of the stre ^ a ^ ms and upland gulches and, in great profusion, in the damp places near the timber line. Dwarf black-birch brush is common above the timber line, and, in the Nixon Fork District, about 250 miles above Aniak, spruce grow well above altitudes of 2,000 feet. The stand of timber in this area is not heavy and has been depleted, particularly in recent years, by use as fuel and by great forest fires. During the summer of 1933 fires swept much of the Nixon Fork area, so that since that ti ^ m ^ e the large r mining camps and many private individuals have had to depend on kerosene and gasoline from Outside for fuel. Above Nixon Fork the Kuskokwim is reported to be largely untimbered. Forage for stock is fairly plentiful in the valley floors, but on the upland slopes grass is scarce.

Caribou herds exist in the higher mountains which border part of the river course, and some of these herds, as will be indicated later, have been assembled and protected by private her ^ d ^ smen. Bear and moose are not numerous, but smaller game such as rabbit, ptarmigan, and

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KUSKOKWIM RIVER

grouse are relatively plentiful. The enormous triangle of tundra between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon is one of the major breeding grounds for game fowl not only for Alaska but also for all of western Canada and the United States. Salmon run up the Kuskokwim. It is also well supplied with whitefish and pike, and enormous numbers of grayling are to be found in the smaller streams which feed this great river.

The ice usually leaves the Kuskokwim open to navigation by June 1, although the breakup comes at different times each year. In 1924, the river ice broke up on May 23, and went out at Eek Island on May 29, although large pieces of ice were still partially obstructing the channel past the island on June 5. However, this was the latest breakup in 15 fifteen years. The mean range of the tide is about 9 1/2 feet at the mouth of the river, but drops to about 2 feet 65 miles up the river at Bethel (q.v.)

Generally speaking, Bering Sea tides extend up the Kuskokwim for about 100 miles, and for approximately another 100 the river currents increase and decrease wit ^ h ^ the ebb and flow of the tides. Currents in the bay also have their effect on the river. Currents as strong as 3 1/2 knots have been observed in the vicinity of Apokak at the mouth, and the flood current is felt about as far as Bethel. Ocean-going vessels can ascend the river to Bethel where lighters and river steamboats transfer cargo and passengers to McGrath (q.v.) , 500 miles upstream. In the spring of 1948, the Santa Ana Steamship Company's Coastal Rider made her last round trip between Seattle and Bethel, and in the fall of that year the Alaska Steamship Company's Reef Knot took over this service. Pilot boats meet these steamships at the mouth of Kuskokwim Bay (q.v.)

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KUSKOKWIM RIVER

and assist them up the intricate maze of bay and river channels to their destination.

As has been implied previously, the Kuskokwim ^ ^ makes several changes in direction. Its eastern headwaters rise in the glacier-clad Alaska Range, flow northwestward to the valley which separates this range from the Kuskokwim Mountains, then ^ ^ northward across this wide valley to about 63° N. Lat. Here the Kuskokwim turns due westward for about 30 miles (airline) to McGrath. At McGrath it veers abruptly west of south and, with many large-scale bends, continues in this direction to its con– fluence with the Holitna, an airline distance of over 120 miles. From this point, although bending once to the north and once to the south, it turns in a generally ^ ^ westerly direction for about 80 miles (airline) to Aniak, at which point the Kuskokwim is a mere 25 or 30 miles from the Yukon. The Kuskokwim then turns southwestward and follows a fairly direct [: ] course to Kuskokwim Bay.

The headwaters of the Kuskokwim rise in two different mountain chains, the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north and northwest, and the Alaska Range to the south and southeast. The chief upper tributaries for the Kuskokwim are North, East, South, Middle, and West Forks.

North Fork is fed by streams rising in the Kuskokwim Mountains north and northwest of Lake Minchumina and flows in a southwesterly direction for about 100 miles (airline) to its junction with East Fork, a few miles above Medfra, known also as Berry Landing. North Fork re– ceives sever ^ a ^ l tributaries from the Kuskokwim Mountains to the north of its course, but its main tributary, Swift River, enters from the south. Swift River, a glacier-fed stream rising in the Alaska Range in the vicinity of Mount Russell, flows in a northwesterly direction for about

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KUSKOKWIM RIVER

65 miles (airline) to enter North Fork about midway of its course. Mount Russell is an 11,500-foot peak abo [: ] t 35 miles southwest of Mount McKinley.

East Fork is formed by several streams rising in the foothills of the Alaska Range just south of Swift River and flows in a generally south– wester ^ l ^ y direction to join North Fork a few miles above Medfra. East Fork receives the waters of Chedotlothna and Ekolina Rivers. The Kuskokwim proper may be said to begin with the junction of these forks, or perhaps, a few miles farther downstream at the confluence of South Fork.

South Fork, the most important upper tributary, rises farther south in the Alaska Range, and takes a northwesterly course to enter the Kuskokwim near Medfra. South Fork receives the Tatina, Jones, Dillinger, and Tonzona Rivers, as well as several unnamed tributaries. The Tonzona, largest of these tributaries, is a glacier-fed stream ^ ^ rising in the vicinity of Mount Dall, a 9,000-foot peak about 45 miles southwest of Mt. McKinley. The Tonzona flows in a generally northwesterly direction from the foothills of the Range and across about 55 miles of the broad Kuskokwim Valley before joining South Fork.

About 10 miles ^ ^ below [: ] the South Fork confluence, the Kus– kokwim receives the waters of another southern tributary, one that is formed a few miles above its mouth by the union of three streams ^ which follow almost parallel courses ^ . On some maps the final three or four miles of this tributary are identified as Big River. Middle Fork, which, as its ^ ^ name indicates, is the middle branch of this tributary, originates in the Alaska Range near 62° N.Lat., 154° W. Long., in the midst of mountains rising to over 7,000 feet, works its way northwestward for about 35 miles (airline) to the valley, and then

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crosses another 35 miles of lowland to its junction with Pitka, the most northerly of these branches. West Fork, the southwestern branch, has its source in glacier-fed streams rising in the Alaska Range, somewhat south of the headwaters of Middle Fork, where the Range reaches heights of 9,000 feet. This stream trends northward for about 80 miles (airline) to join the Middle-Fork-Pitka branch a few miles below their confluence; thence the combined waters flow westward three or four miles to enter the south– ern side of the Kuskokwim.

Medfra, at the confluence of South Fork and the Kuskokwim, is the farthest upstream of the Kuskokwim settlements and is the supply point for the Nixon Fork District. From this point the Kuskokwim trends south– westward 8 or 10 miles to the junction with Big River, and thence follows a tortuous course westward for 25 or 30 miles to its junction with Nixon Fork, where McGrath settlement is located. Big River Roadhouse is located 2 or 3 miles downstream from the mouth of the river from which it takes its name.

Nixon Fork has its source 50 or 60 miles northweastward of McGrath in stream ^ s ^ rising in the Von Frank Mountain area of the Kuskokwim Mountains and follows a generally southwesterly course to enter the Kuskokwim from the north. Nixon Fork is joined early in its course by Cottonwood, Boulder, Jones, Submarine, Mystery, Ruby, and Hidden Creeks, and by West Fork about midway of its course.

Takotna River, the largest tributary to Nixon Fork, enters Nixon from the west a few miles above its mouth. The Takotna, which has a length of perhaps 50 miles, is formed by the confluence of Waldren and Moore Creeks and takes a generally northward and then eastward course,

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being joined by Fourth of July, Big, Gold, Bun, and Gal ickson Creeks, to its junction with Nixon Fork. This junction is called The Forks. The village of Ta ^ k ^ otna lies about 13 miles above The Forks.

Tat la ^ al ^ ina River enters Nixon Fork from the west a little over one mile s above its junction with the Kuskokwim. The Tat ^ a ^ lina rises in the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains, which, in this vicinity, form a divide between the Kuskokwim and the Tatalina, and flows northeastward to Nixon Fork. It is joined from the south by Rex, Candle, and Cash Creeks.

At its confluence with Nixon Fork, the Kuskokwim turns southward and continues in this direction for about 100 miles (airline) to Sleitmut where it [: ] again turns westward. ^ F ^ or about 25 miles south of McGrath the river follows a twisting course, and along this stretch are, from north to south, the three villages, Candle Landing, Wilson's, and Vinasale. About 10 miles below Vinasale the Kuskokwim passes between an irregular group of highlands from 1,400 to 2,200 feet high. The slopes to the west appear to belong to the Kuskokwim Moutains and those on the east to the Alaska Range. Several tributaries enter this section of the Kuskokwim, most of them from the east. These are: the Tatlawiksuk, the Swift (on some maps called the Chagavenapuk), and the Stony. All these rivers rise in the Alaska Range; the Tatlawiksuk flows in a westerly direction, and the other two in northwesterly direction across the wide Kuskokwim Valley to the main river. Stony River, the longest of these three tributaries, rises in the vicinity of Snow Cap Mountain, flows southwestward through a narrow valley in the Alaska Range, and then, west of Telquana Lake, from which it receives a tributary stream, turns sharply northwestward to pass no ^ r ^ th of Carin Cairn Mountain and through

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the Lime Hills to the Kuskokwim. The mountains through which the upper course of the Stony runs are perpetually snow-covered, and the river-bed is strewn with huge boulders. Although rapids are frequent in this section, the stream is reported to be easily ascended with poling boats. Stink River enters the Stony about 25 miles (airline) from its mouth. On a tiny island in the midst of the confluence of the Stony and the Kuskokwim is the village and post office of Stony River.

From th [: e] ^ is ^ point the Kuskokwim more and more loses its connection with the Alaska Range which continues southward into the Illiamna Region whereas the river veers westward through the ^ high ^ southern fringes of the Kuskokwim Mountains and so to the broad coastal section of the Kuskokwim Basin.

About 18 miles southwest of Stony River the

About 18 miles below the mouth of Stony River, the Holitna, one of the major tributaries to the Kuskokwim enters from the south. The ^ dark-colored ^ Holitna, with its principal tributary the Hoholitna, drains the area north of the headwaters of the Nushagak and Mulchatna Rivers (q.v.). Very little is known about this section of Alaska, almost the only source of informa– tion being the manuscript map made by the prospector, W.R. Buckman, who wintered in this vicinity in 1902-1903. The Holitna was one of the first inland Alaskan streams known to the early Russian explorers in this region and was descended by Ivan Simonson Lukeen in 1832. The Indians ^ Natives ^ call this stream the Chulitna, but it is now generally known as the Holitna, a transiliteration of the Russisn form of the Eskimo name. The Holitna has its source in stre ^ a ^ m ^ s, ^ rising northeast of Nishilik [: ] Lake, the most northerly of the Tikchik Lakes (q.v.), and flows in a generally northeasterly direction

Page 009

to the Kuskokwim. The middle branch of these headwaters, the Kogrukluk, joins the Holitna in the vicinity of Kashegelok, a small Eskimo village about 150 miles from the mouth of the Holitna. The river then swings north– west of the Taylor Mountains past Eskimo village of Nogamut, across a broad flood plain to its junction with Titnuk Creek near the village of Itulilik. Titnuk Creek rises east of the Nushagak Hills and Finn Mountain, which form part of the divide between the Nushagak and the Holitna systems, and flows in a northerly direction east of the Taylor Mountains to join the Holitna about 70 miles from its mouth. The Holitna receives many unnamed tributaries from the Kiokluk and Chuilnuk Mountains which lie west of the middle section of its course.

The Hoholitna, as it is now generally called, in its upper reaches receives the waters of a fan-shaped system of unnamed streams rising in the vicinity of Halfway Mountain and Cairn Mountain, in the Alaska Range, which here separates this section of the Holitna watershed from that of the Mulchatna. The main headwater of the Hoholitna drains from Whitefish Lake, a lake about 8 miles long by one to two miles wide, lying just south of 61° N. Lat. and just east of 155° W. Long. in a broad lowland surrounded by the di continuous ridges and knobs of the foothills of the Alaska Range. ^←^ From Whit ^ e ^ fish Lake the river follows a westerly course for about 35 miles, and throughout this stretch is joined from both north and south by its numerous upper tributaries. The river then flows in a northwesterly direction for about 50 or 60 miles airline) to i n ts confluence with the Holitna at a point about 15 miles above its junction with the Kuskokwim. Sleitmut (Sleetmute) lies on the north bank of the Kuskokwim just opposite the mouth of the Holitna.

From Moose Village, about 15 (airline) miles upstream from Sleitmut, the Kuskokwim follows a twisting but generally southwesterly

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course to within three or four [: ] miles of the mouth of the Holitna, where it turns sharply northwestward. Then the Kuskokwim continues in a generally northwesterly direction for about 30 miles (airline) to its confluence with George River. This river drains a dissected plateau, marked with ridges and knobs about 2,000 feet high, which characterize this south– western fringe of the Kuskokwim Mountains.

George River flows in a generally southwesterly direction from its northeasterly divide, which separates it from the Takotna system, past the divides separating it from the [: ] ditarod to the northwest and from the Kuskokwim itself to the southeast. North Fork, its first ^ ^ named tributary, flows down from the vicinity of Lookout Mountain in the Iditarod Divide to enter the George from the west. East and South Forks, rising in the highlands separating the George from the Kuskokwim, join and enter the George from the east. The George drains an area about 50 miles from north– east to southwest and about 35 miles from east to west. Although strong currents sweep this river during flood seasons, at all other times, starting at Georgetown at the mouth, it may easily be ascended in poling boats for 25 or 30 miles.

At Georgetown, the Kuskokwim turns southwest, and, a few miles below this point, is joined by Steamboat Creek from the north. The stream rises in Twin Buttes in the divide between its waters and those of North Fork.

Below Steamboat Creek the Kuskokwim forms an S. veering first south, then north, then ^ ^ south again. This second turn is called Great Bend, and receives Crooked Creek from the north. Crooked Creek rises west of Lookout Mountain and flows in a southerly direction to the Kuskokwim. Its main tributaries are Donlin Creek, early in its course, and Bell Creek a few miles above its mouth. At Crooked Creek the Kuskokwim twists southward and

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flows between Horn Mountain and an unnamed group of hills to the southeast, for about 30 miles (airline) past the two abandoned villages, Canoe Village and Oskawalit, past Horn Village and Little Mountain Village, to Napaimiut.

At Napaimiut the Kuskokwim swings westward and continues in this general direction for about 30 airline miles to Aniak, at the mouth of the river of the same name. Below Napaimiut the river passes Chuckwak and the abandoned village of Ko ^ l ^ makof, continues south of Russian Mountains and on to the small native village of Russian Mission, about 8 miles east of Aniak.

The Aniak River rises in the northern park of the Kilbuck Mountains, north of the Tikchik Lakes, and flows in a generally northerly direction for about 75 airline miles to the Kuskokwim. Salmon River is its main tribu– tary, although it receives many unnamed streams from the vicinity of Fisher Dome and Mount Plummer in the more northerly reaches of the Kilbuck Mountains.

Below Aniak the Kuskokwim flows westward about 15 miles and then takes a southwesterly, often multiple, course across the lake-studded swamp and tundra of the coastal plain. The plain is bounded on the north by the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim Mountains and on the south and east [: ] by the Kilbuck Mountains. At the point where the river turns southwest, only 20 or 25 miles of ^ lake-studded ^ grassland separate the Kuskokwim from a southerly bend of the Yukon River. Crow village and Oknagamut lie on this stretch of the Kuskokwim, followed by Kalska ^ g ^ (Kaltshak), a settlement about 27 miles below Aniak, at about the point where the river passes between Kukaklik and White– fish Lakes. (The latter is not to be confused with the lake of the same name previously mentioned as the headwaters of the Hoholitna River.)

About 36 airline miles below Kalskag, the Tuluksak River enters the Kuskokwim. This river rises to the east between Mount Hamilton and Mount Plummer, flow s ^ ing ^ southward and then westward to join the Kukokwim. from the east. The Kiselalik River rises in the Kilbuck Mountains across the

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divide from the Salmon River, the main tributary to the Aniak, and takes a generally northwesterly course to join the Kuskokwim just south of Akiak. Just below Akiak, the Kuskokwim divides and follows two meandering courses for about 10 airline miles, after which it joins again and flows on past Bethel, the largest town on the Kuskokwim.

For the remaining 65 miles of its course, the Kuskokwim gradually broadens out until it is ten miles wide in the vicinity of [: ] Eek Island. Some maps show the Lomavik River and the Tundra River entering the Kuskokwim from the east and west respectively a few miles below Bethel, and Johnson River, with a main tribu [: ] ry, the Pimichtaluk, flowing in from the west in the vicinity of the settlement of Kinak. On other maps the course of Johnson River is identified as the Kinak. The main eastern tributary to the Kuskokwim south of this point is Eek River which drains from Eek Lake in the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains and flows in a westerly direction past 2,000-foot Tiokpit Mountain across 60 miles of tundra to enter the Kuskokwim just north of Eek Island. Eek River, although muddy and full of silt, is navigable for 15 or 20 miles from its mouth.

Eek Island is a grass-covered mud flat in the mouth of the Kuskokwim just south of the mouth of Eek River. The higher tides completely cover this island. It is cut by deep sloughs and affords an ideal feeding ground for the thousands of ducks and geese which breed in the swamps and marshes between the mouths of the Kuskokwim and the Yukon.

^ Settlements & Trails ^ An intricate system of winter trails connects the settlements and roadhouses along the Kuskokwim and its tributaries. From Medfra and McGrath, the two most northerly Kuskokwim settlements, these trails run in several directions; northeastward to Lake Minchumina and beyond, southeast– ward across the Alaska Range to Cook Inlet, northwestward into the Innoko District, and southwestward along the Kuskokwim itself to The Portage and on

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to the mouth of the Kuskokwim.

Me ^ d ^ fra. ^ (63° 07′ N.Lat., 154° 43′ W. Long.) ^ 35 miles upstream from McGrath, had a population of 24 in 1939. It has, as well, a post office, a general store, and a 2,000-foot landing strip. The chief occ ^ u ^ pations are mink and marten farming. From June 1 to October 5 air mail service runs every two weeks from Fairbanks and Anchorage. A $36,000 road connects Med ^ f ^ ra with Nixon Peak Mine on Rub b y Creek, twelve miles to the north.

On the Takotna River, west of McGrath ^ (q.v.) ^ and about 13 miles (airline) above The Forks, is Takotna, a mining community with a post office and a 1939 population of 70. Takotna is the head of launch navigation on that river, and is connected by an intricate maze of roads and trails with Flat, Ophir, Holy Cross, and other Yukon points to the southwest, and with McGrath, Candle Landing, Berry Medfra, and other villages to the northeast and the southeast on the Kuskokwim. Takotna has a landing strip on a mountain-top above the town^,^ with a road leading to it. Although this strip is 1,700 feet long, it appears to be much shorter because each end drops a considerable distance downhill. In 1942, a herd of 2,000 reindeer was reported by its owners to be grazing on Beaver Mountain several miles west of Takotna.

Candle Landing and Vinasale are the main Ku ^ s ^ kokwim settlements immediately below McGrath. New Candle Landing, a few miles west of Candle, is a gold mining community with an 1,800-foot landing strip. As the Kuskokwim continues to work its way through the foothills of the Kuskokwim Mountains, there are no settleme ^ n ^ ts ^ along it ^ for over 100 airline miles.

Stony River, at the mouth of the river ^ of ^ by the same name, has two warehouses, and is a trading post and outfitting point for trappers and prospectors, although the 1939 census gives the population as only seven. Referring to the native population in this area, Hrdlicka writes: "People

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of Stony River, according to Sergei, speak a language of their own, called 'Nunamute.' Twenty-eight natives in all between Stony River and McGrath, and of these twenty or twenty-one children and undergrown."

Sleitmut, about 18 miles below Stony River, is a post office and settlement which had a population of 86 in 1939. The village has a Territorial School,a 2,000-foot landing strip, and air mail service from June 1 to October 5 each year. Across the river from Sleitmut is Smeato's Trading Post. Parks, a settlement with a population of 11 in 1939, also lies on the north side of the Kuskokwim a few miles below Sleitmut. The cinnibar lode mine, mentioned above ^ below ^ , is in this vicinity and was being worked, as Hrdlicka reports in 1930, by Parks himself. "Parks is an old man," Hrdlicka writes, "over 70, visionary, alone, working mercury mine with the help of three native boys of from about 10 to 15."

Georgetown, a small native settlement, lies on the north side of the Kuskokwim at the mouth of the George River about 19 miles below Parks. A winter trail, known as the Iditarod and Georgetown Trail, connects Georget wo ^ ow ^ n with Flat, which itself is connected by trial with Holy Cross, on the Yukon River, and with various points in the Iditarod and Inniko Districts to the north.

Crooked Creek, about ll airline miles below Georgetown, is a native settlement and post office at the mouth of the stream of the same name, which has a 1939 population of 48. At low tide the natural river bars near Crooked Creek afford summer landing fields, and planes equipped with skis can land on the frozen river in winter. Crooked Creek is one of the southern terminals of a network of winter trails coverging at Flat.

Napaimiut, about 30 airline mile below Crooked Creek, is a post office and settlement with a 1939 population of about 75. This village has a 2,000-foot landing area and receives air mail service from Fairbanks and Anchorage.

The village of Kolmakof, now abandoned, was first the site of a fort built by the Russian trader Lukeen, who discovered gold in this vicinity about 1832. He built a fort about 25 miles above the mouth of the Aniak River, and called it Lukeen's Fort. In 1841, after being partly burned by the Indians, it was rebuilt by Alexander Kolmakof, who gave it his name.

Aniak, with a 1939 population of 122, is a settlement and post office on the Kuskokwim ^ ^ near the mouth of the Aniak River. It has a U.S. Commissioner in residence, and a 5,000-foot landing area. A reindeer herd numbering 12,000 head is reported in this vicinity. Aniak has one of the finest, most modern, and best-equipped roadhouses in all of interior Alaska.

Kalska ^ g ^ , over 25 airline miles below Aniak, has summer air mail service between June 1 and October 5 and was reported in 1939 to be one of the winter air mail stops between Fairbanks and Bethel. ^ K ^ alskag is the Kuskokwim terminal of the two [: ] trails which connect this part of that river with the Yukon. The more northerly of these trails runs from Kalska ^ g ^ to Paimiut, and the other, generally known as The Portage, runs to Russian Mission (Ikagmut), 38 miles down the Yukon from Paimiut. The Portage passes Kulik Lake, one of the numberless lakes in this area which happens to be named, and through the native village of Kichlulik on its way to Russian Mission.

Ogalvik is the only village between altshak ^ kalskag ^ and Tuluksak , ^ Taluksak ^ at the confluence of the Tuluksak River and the Kuskokwim ^ , ^ Tuluksak had a 1939 population of 88, and is connected by road or trail with Bethel, Aniak, and Nyac.

Nyac, just north of 61° N. Lat. and just east of 160° W. Long., is a mining community and post office on the ^ T ^ uluksak River in the vicinity

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of Mount Plummer, a 4,800-foot peak in the Kilbuck Mountains south of Whitefish Lake. Nyac had a 1939 population of 33, and now has a 2,500-foot landing strip. The Territorial Department of Mines chose Nyac as an experimental site for the combining of aerial photographs with geological investigations on the ground. Recent maps show several placer mines and some buildings along the Tuluksak below Nyac all of which are connected by road.

Akiak lies on the east side of the Ku ^ s ^ kokwim about 15 miles south of Tuluksak. Petrof, in 1880, and Spurr and Post, in 1898, recorded this town with variants of its present name. By 1939 Akiak had a population of 209. It is connected by trail with Russian Mission on the Yukon and with Bethel about 22 miles down the Kuskokwim. Kuskokwim river boats from Bethel serve Akiak regularly, and there is air mail service for the usual period each year. Reindeer herds in the vicinity of Akiak totaling 81, 278 head, were reported by five private owners in 1940.

Akiakchak (Akachagamut), a native village with a population of 156 in 1939, a few miles below Akiak, is connected by trail with Ohogamute on the Yukon and with Bethel, fifteen miles down the Kuskokwim. Of the people of Akiakchak Hrdlicka wrote: "The largest and best Eskimo village yet seen ... (He was traveling upstream.) ... Really a small town. Yet no school structure here yet, just a native church. People more orderly than elsewhere and sturdier, better off economically."

Below Bethel ^ (for a description of which see separate article) ^ , along the ever-widening Kuskokwim, there are several small villages: Napaskiak (population 67), Lomavik, Napakiak (population 113), and Akulurak (population 162), all on the east bank, and Kinak (population 36) on the west bank opposite Akulurak at the point at which the Kuskokwim veers from its southwesterly course of flow due south into Kuskokwim Bay.

[: ] Hrdlicka reports:"Large tides here, they tell, up to and at times over sixteen feet. At low tide great mud flats eve [: ] ywhere, with small channels like glancing streaks between ... Boat travel ... no other possible ... must regulate itself by tides and the depth of the water. To some places it is impossible to get except at high tide." From Akulurak he wrote: "In nice weather and before the mosquitoes come, the life in the Eskimo fish camps is agreeable. There are many dusky red-cheeked chubb ^ y ^ children, not seldom decidedly good-looking. Here and there a woman doing a little cooking or bread-toasting outdoors, over a little fire. Men fish, hunt waterfowl, gather driftwood, construct, make boats — women prepare the caught fish for drying, skin birds, do housework, cook and sew. Children wanted and loved, and there are plenty of the [: ] ."

Eek, a native village a few miles up the Eek River, had a 1939 population of 170. West Point, Kuskovak, and the abandoned Popocamiut are native settlements on the west bank of the Kuskokwim opposite Eek Island. Apokak, also opposite Eek Island but on the east side of the Kusko– kwim, lies at the mouth of the Apokak River. Nelson recorded this name as Apokagamute, Apokak people , in 1878-79. A line from Beacon Point, just south of Apokak, to the site of the former native village of Popocamiut ^ (See Kuskokwim Bay) ^ is considered to separate Kuskokwim River from Kuskokwim Bay.

^ Mining ^ Although much of it is on a small scale, there is considerable mining activity along the Kuskokwim. Placer gold is mined near Nixon Fork, McGrath, and Georgetown, and lode gold is produced in the Nixon Fork District. Tin, tungsten, lead, mercury, antimony, and bismuth have also been found in various places, but not in commercial quantity. Cinnabar lode was discovered about 15 miles above Georgetown in 1906, near the present site of Parks, and, as has been indicated, had been worked in a small way but steadily ever since.

F.E. Matthew discovered gold placers on Hidden Creek in June, 1917. Further prospecting revealed more placers on the other upper tributaries to Nixon Fork, and in all cases the gold continued to the extreme headwaters of these streams. In 1918 Pearson and Strand discovered the Crystal lode at the head of Ruby Creek. Nixon Peak Mine now works this gold lode as well as gold placers near Hidden Creek, which have proved to be the most productive of all the placers in the area.

^ ¶ ^ In 1947 several companies were carrying on gold lode and placer operations in ^ the Takotna section ^ this section : Jackson [: N]els, placer, on Fourth of July Creek, with a crew of 5; Nixon Fork Mine, lode, on Nixon Fork near Medfra; and Yukon Placer Mining Co., placer, bulldozer, and hydraulic, on Fourth of July Creek.

Gold placers were discovered on Candle Creek by Louis Blackburn and Bert Eldridge in 1913. Mining was started in 1915 and has continued to the present time.

Gold placer mines have been reported on ^ D ^ C onlin Creek, a tributary to Crooked Creek. The discovery of placer gold in Rainy, Kapon, and Cabine Creeks in the Eek River system, was given some publicity in 1936, although there was no stampede, and operation of these mines has been continuous since 1940.

^ First Descent ^ In his Reconnaissance in Southwestern Alaska in 1898, ^ Reconnaissance in Southwestern Alaska in 1898, ^ , Spurr gives a first-hand account of his descent of South Fork and of the Kuskokwim itself from its union with South Fork to Kuskokwim Bay.

Starting up the Sushitna River, Cook Inlet, on May 20, 1898, he and his companions paddled into the Yentna and from it into the Skwentna to a point where it became necessary to carry the two remaining canoes and all equipment and supplies over the divide of the Alaska Range. "We were now," he writes, "in an extremely picturesque and rugged region, with high mountains, deep valleys, and beautiful glaciers." They were, as present maps show us,

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about midway between Mount Dall and Snow Cap Mountain in the Alaska Range, on what is now called Rainy Pass.

^ ¶ ^ Spurr continues: "To get our boats and outfit over the pass was, however, slower and more difficult, but was finally accomp [: ] ished, and we camped by a foaming stream on the other side. The pass itself is about 4,400 feet above sea l level, and is guarded on both sides by mountains rising to 8,000 feet." Th [: ] s "foaming stream" was one of the headwaters of South Fork, but, since no white man had previously made this trip, it is not surprising that Spurr mistook it for the Kuskokwim.

^ ¶ ^ "The fall of the river was very great, and rapids were continuous," he re– marks," and in this down-stream traveling our progress was as rapid as it had before been slow. Much to our surprise, the river turned and began to run persistently towar ^ d ^ the north between two parallel mountain ridges." This refers to the section of South Fork above Lake Farewell. "On the 25th of July we emerged from the mountains into a bro ^ a ^ d, flat, gravelly plateau, and for nearly 100 miles thereafter went through snag flats similar to those we had ascended on the Sushitna, presenting, if possible, even a more formidable aspect to the explorer." Spurr and his companions were now passing across the broad Kuskokwim Valley and approaching the Kuskokwim itself.

^ ¶ ^ "About this time the prolonged rainy season set in, which lasted six weeks or so, and was perhaps the most disagreeable feature of the trip, the rain falling almost continuously night and day with short intervals.

^ "¶" ^ On the 29th of July the stream joined another of nearly equal size ^ [ ^ the Kuskokwim proper ^ ] ^ , these two streams together making up the main Kuskokwim River ... Below the junction the current was still slack, and the course of the river was extremely tortuous as it meandered through a broad flat made up of finely stratified silts ... On the 1st of August we came to an old trading post known as Vinasale."

^ ¶ ^ Only a day below Vinasale . ^ , ^

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however, they reached the southern fringes of the Kuskokwim Mountains, through which the river passes on its way to Napaimiut and Kolmakof. "On the 2d of August we left the broad flats of the upper river and entered a definite valley lying between picturesque timbered mountains, in appearance suggesting the Lower Ramparts of the Yukon. The river continued to run through these mountains for several hundred miles. On the [: ] 4th of August, two days after entering the range, the peaks grew higher and bolder and some of them bore patches of snow, while the river flowed past high, per– pendicular, rocky bluffs.

^ "¶" ^ Just before entering these higher ramparts the largest stream which we had yet observed entering the Kuskokwim came in on the left. It is a wide river of dark-colored water, contrasting in this with the muddy current of the Kuskokwim, and at the time of our passing the water was alive with leaping salmon. The native name of this stream we afterward found out to be Holiknuk ^ [ ^ the present Holitna ^ ] ^ , and that it heads in the Nushagak divide."

^ ¶ ^ The party was now running short of supplies and they were eager to reach Kolmakof. "On the 6th of August, when we had already passed the astronomical position in which Kolmakof was indicated on the Russian charts, we unexpectedly reached the post, which consists of an old hexagonal log blockhouse with several other log buildings which were built by the Russians long ago. We ^ ^ found no one here, however, except some natives and one half-breed, from whom we obtained some tea, which was the only article left, the supplies for this year not yet having come up the river.

^ "¶" ^ The next ^d^ay we reached the native village of Oknagamut, where there were several hundred Eskimos ... After leaving Kolmakof the river rapidly left the mountains behind and flowed through a perfectly level country, very sparsely timbered, and always growing broader. The channel bro^a^dened out in places to a veritable sea, with many large islands, we estimated the distance as 9 miles. The land on both sides grew more and more swampy and treeless

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until it developed into the typical dreary tundra. Eskimo villages grew more numerous, and at one, Oknavigamut, we found a vacant mission building and schoolroom, welcome signs of civilized man.

^ "¶" ^ On the 10th of August we arrived at the native village of Memtrelegamut ^ [ ^ the present Bethel ^ ] ^ , where the natives had informed us that provisions could be obtained, and here we were surprised and delighted to find, not only a trading post, but a mission supported by the Moravians. These people made us very welcome, as we were the first white people they had seen that year, and we stopped several days making preparations for our future work."

^ ¶ ^ At this point Spurr sent some of his group back to The Portage to map this ancient route between the Kuskokwim and the Yukon and to continue on down the Yukon. He himself went down the Kuskokwim with John H. Kilbuck, a Moravian missionary, and one of the founders of Bethel.

^ ¶ ^ Spurr describes this part of the journey in these words: "Below this mission the Kuskokwim grows very large and begins to be affected by the tides, and so gradually passes into the broad Kuskokwim Bay. The shores are barren, swampy, and flat, and with no firewood except scattered drift– wood ... We left the mission on the 19th of August and reached our destina– tion ^ ^ at the mouth of the river — Kwinhagamut ^ [ ^ the present Kwinhagak ^ ] ^ — on the 25th, our progress having been slow on account of the extreme width and shallowness of the river and the difficulty in finding the proper channel. The tides too, were so high and the bottom was so flat that when we were not in the deepest channel the receding tide left us dry, out of sight of water, while the flood tide lifted us upon a broad sea out of sight of shore."

This description shows how little the Kuskokwim itself has changed in the past 50 yars, but how very different were the isolated settlements along it then from the busy mining, fur farming, and fishing villages of today.

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Summer and winter air service, and regular ^ frequent ^ ligh ^ t ^ erage ^ service ^ up and down the river during the season of navigation are the two brightest hopes for the development of the Kuskokwim Basin.

General References;

VSGB

USCP & Supplement

Colby. Alaska ^ Alaska ^ .

Sundborg. Opporunity in Alaska ^ Opporunity in Alaska ^ .

Tuttle, CharlesR. Alaska: its meaning to the world, its resources its opportunities

Alaska: its meaning to the world, its resources its opportunities

. Seattle, Wash., Shuey, 1914.

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NAKNEK, NORTH NAKNEK, and SOUTH NAKNEK, ALASKA, are villages and post offices at the mouth ^ ^ of the Naknek River, Kvichak Bay, a north– eastern arm of Bristol Bay. Naknek, a modern ^ ^ community with a population of about 152 in 1939, has medical facilities, a new hotel, a cold storage plant and branches of several large canneries including the Red Salmon Canning Co., Alaska Packers Association, Libby, McNeill & Libby, and Pacific American Fisheries, Inc. Each of these companies operates its own radio station. Coal, gasoline, and fuel oil are obtainable from supplies in the village. Naknek has a 200-ton marine railway and is connected by trail with Egegik, Koggiung, Dillingham (q.v.), and other Bristol Bay villages. Unlike most of the fishing communities in the area, Naknek is inhabited the year around. A ^ U.S.Army ^ weather station was established here in 1939, a commercial airways radio station at North Naknek, and a Department of the Interior Station at South Naknek. There is regular air service from Anchorage (q.v.) and Koggiung, a village 15 miles up the east side of Kvichak Bay.

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NAKNEK LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, extends east and west across 156° W. Long. about midway between 58° and59° N. Lat. It is 40 or 50 miles long and varies in width from about 5 to 10 miles. The shores are irregular and steep. The western end of the lake is split in half by a mountain and its surrounding fringe of lower land into the Bay of Islands and Iliuk Arm. Iliuk Arm is over 300 feet deep everywhere except close to shore. Here and elsewhere throughout the lake there are many rocky and picturesque islands. The north shore of Naknek Lake is marked by a large, narrow-necked hook of ^ ^ land reaching southward into the lake, and, a little to the west of this hook, by a smaller spit which bends eastward toward the outer curve of the hook.

The lake is fed by many rivers and creeks flowing down to it from all directions, but particularly by glacier-fed streams rising in the volcanic mountains of Katmai National Monument (q.v.) in the Alaska Range to the southeast. The head of Naknek Lake, which lies just inside the western boundary of the Monument, teems with trout, 24 to 32 inches long. Naknek River (q.v.) drains from the western end of the lake.

Savonoski, the only settlement on the lake, lies on the eastern shore of Iliuk Arm at the mouth of the Savonoski River. It was reported to have a population of 20, in 1939, although some recent maps show it as abandoned. Savonoski is on the winter trail which runs from Katmai, Shelikof Strait, on the northeastern side of the Alaska Peninsula, northwestward across Katmai National Monument, down the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes to Ukak and on to Savonoski. The mountains near

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this trail rise from 4000 to 7585 feet and are partially glacier-covered. The National Geographic Society travelled along this trail in 1915, three years after the eruption of Katmai Volcano on June 6, 1912. They found the trail covered with ash and pumice, the floor of the valley broken by millions of fumaroles, or little vol [: ] anoes, belching steam, and the entire area covered with brightly colored mud. Recent visitors to the region report that the fumaroles, which in time will develop into geysers similar to those in Yellowstone National Park, are less active than formerly, but the district is still unsafe for all except hardy and well trained explorers.

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NAKNEK RIVER, ALASKA, northwestern section of the Alaska Peninsula, flows from the western end of Naknek Lake into Kvichak Bay (q.v.), a northeastern extension of Bristol Bay, at a point about 18 miles south of Koggiung (q.v.). The river is fed from the north and south by numerous creeks draining a complex system of lakes which dot the coastal lowlands on this side of the peninsula. For the first few miles of its approximately 25-mile course the Naknek is rapid and rocky, but its lower portion is slow and sluggish. Ascent of the river is difficult because of the rapids at its head, although the trip can be made without portages. The Naknek, like so many other rivers on the Alaska Peninsula, originates in a lake, making it an ideal habitat for the red salmon.

Several large salmon canneries and their radio stations, including the Alaska Packers Association, operate in or near Naknek (q.v.) at the mouth of the river. Although the Naknek has been called the head of deep water navigation in Bristol Bay, ^ even here ^ the movement of cannery vessels here is made difficult by the regular appearance at low tide of banks and flats not only in the river, but for 3 or 4 miles off-shore. All cannery wharves are dry at low water. Only small vessels drawing about 10 feet can go to the upper canneries, and they only at hightide. Larger vessels, drawing up to 24 feet, must anchor off the mouth of the river. The tidal rise at the mouth is over 20 feet, and tide water is reported to extend several miles up-river.

Besides Naknek proper the settlements of North Naknek, South Naknek, and Pawik are grouped around the mouth of the river. Pawik

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is a small native village and cannery on the north side of the river a few miles up from its mouth. The village has a government school and a United States deputy marshal. Spurr and Post recorded the name in 1898, although Pawik is probably the same as the settle– ment, Pakwik, which appeared in the Eleventh Census of 1890. Early Russian explorers reported a village of Suworof, on Cape Suworof which forms the north shore of the mouth of the Naknek River, but this site is probably now occupied by Naknek, although some maps still show a town of Suworof just south of Naknek.

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NANWHYENUK, LAKE, ALASKA, in the northern part of the Alaska Peninsula, lies northwest-southeast across 59° N. Lat. between 155° and 156° W. Long. It ^ ^ is about 17 miles long and from 2 to 7 miles wide. It is one of the sources for the Alagnak River (q.v.), which drains from its western end, and is connected by a small stream with Lake Kulik lying immediately to the east. Accord– ing to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey map of November, 1946, Nanwhyenuk Lake has no tributaries other than the stream connecting it with Lake Kulik.

Lake Kulik lies northwest-southeast across 155° W. Long. just east of Nanwhyenuk Lake. Kulik is a small lake about 11 miles long and only 1 to 2 miles wide. It is surrounded on all sides by the foothills of the ^ ^ Alaska Range which rise to 2,000 and 3,000 feet and from which many small streams flow down to feed the lake. In 1947 no settlement was reported on the banks of Lake Kulik. Tikhmenief reported this lake as the Kullik, in 1861, and Raymong called it the Koulakh in 1869.

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NEWENHAM, CAPE, southern Alaska, the extreme tip of an unnamed peninsula which separates Bristol Bay from Kuskokwim Bay, is the landfall for this region. It is a level plateau backed by the rough, sawtooth mountains of the Ahklun Range, which extend along the peninsula and then northeastward up the coast toward ^ G ^ oodnews Bay. Cape Newenham, which is both the northern entrance point to Kuskokwim Bay Bristol Bay and the southern entrance point to Bristol Bay Kuskokwim Bay, was named by Cook, July 16, 1778, although the natives still call it Cape Black, because of its color. Seal Rock, a few miles northeastward from Cape Newenham, was named by the U.S. Fish Commission in 1890. Castle Rock, the western entrance point to Security Cove, which lies about 9 miles eastward from Cape Newenham, is the tip of a high narrow– necked spit which forms the eastern side of the Cove. Security Cove is about 5 miles wide and offers good anchorage in all except a northwest wind. Chagvan Mountain separates Security Cove from Chagvan Bay. This bay has a narrow, shoal entrance, shoal water inside, and is veined with bars which are bare at low tide. Sarichef first published this name in 1826. The south shore of the bay is bordered with moderate heights of the Ahklun Range which stretches northeastward from ^ ^ the head of the bay leaving a wide, lake-studded region south of the Unaluk River, which joins the Kinegnak River, a tributary to Chagvan Bay, a few miles from above its mouth. The Kinegnak River rises in Crater Hill about 14 miles (airline) northeast of Chagvan Bay, receives several unnamed tribu– taries from the south, Wind, Fog, Shaw, and Koekukluk Creeks from the north , and west, and takes a meandering, generally southwesterly

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course to Chagvan Bay. Kinegnak, a small native settlement with a population of about 20 in 1939, lies at the junction of the Unaluk and Kinegnak Rivers. The area between Chagvan Bay and Goodnews Bay (q.v.), where platinum deposits were discovered in 1927, is mountainous and threaded with tiny streams and creeks.

USCP & Suppl.

VS GB

Baker

U.S. Dept. of Mines. Mineral Resources, 1945.

Colby - Tewkesbury - Sundborg

NIUKLUK RIVER ^ Alaska, in southeastern Seward Peninsula, ^ the largest western tributary to the Fish River ^ ,(See Golovnin Bay Region) ^ in southeastern Seward Peninsula, drains an area of 825 square miles ^ , ^ which nearly equals the size of the Fish River basin above its junction with the Niukluk.

^ ¶ ^ Niukluk is the Eskimo name for this stream and has been variously written Nea-kluk, Neukluk, etc., whereas the Western Union [: ] Telegraph Expedition map of 1867 identified it as the Icathluik. The members of this expedition were the first white men to explore the Niukluk, and they reported, upon their return, the existence of gold in the area, but it was not until 25 years later, after this same gold had been redis– covered ^ several times ^ without being worked ^ , ^ that Daniel B. Libby and his party established the Eldorado Mining District in the vicinity of Ophir Creek, an eastern tributary to the Niukluk, thereby founding Council and opening up one of the richest gold-mining areas on Seward Peninsula. To add to the confusion concerning the name of this river, Dall called it the Fish River in 1869, which identification it kept for over 30 years, when it was finally and properly designated as the Niukluk.

Like the Fish, although farther west, the Niukluk rises in ^ ^ an extremely mountainous area, carves a course through glaciated valleys, then passes across a mountain-locked valley, once again enters a mountainous region, and finally emerges on the coastal tundra to jo ^ i ^ n the Fish River from the west.

^ ¶ ^ The headwaters of the Niukluk drain from the southeastern watersheds of 3,760-foot Mount Bendeleben. The main river trends south– westward for about 13 miles, then veers abruptly southeastward, which direction it maintains for the duration of its course. At this turn the Niukluk is joined by the Libby River from the west, which flows down from the western watersheds of Mount Bendeleben and which receives West Fork a few miles above its junction with the Niukluk. Farther down this early lowland section ^ , ^ of the Niukluk receives American Creek and its

^ 27 [: ls] ^

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largest tributary, Casadepaga River, from the west, and Post Creek from the east. The Casadapega rises in the mountains to the southwest and flows in a generally northeasterly direction ^ , ^ just north of the divide separating it from the Solomon River (q.v.) system ^ , ^ for about 27 miles to the Niukluk.

^ ¶ ^ The Casadepaga receives the waters of many short tributaries some of which have proven to be important gold streams. These are: Lower Willow, and its tributary Wilson Creek, Canyon, with its tributary Texas Creek; Goose, with its tributary Quartz Creek; Dixon and Bonanza Creeks, from the west, and Willow, Johnson, Curtis, Ruby, Banner, Penelope, Spence, Big Four, and No Man Creeks from the east.

^ ¶ ^ In the mountainous section below the Casadepaga, the Niukluk is joined from the north by Goldbottom, Sweetcake, Ophir, and Melsing Creeks. Warm Creek runs into Goldbottom; North Branch, Oxide, Snowball, and Dutch Creeks contribute to the Ophir system; and Melsing receives Eclipse and Basin Creeks, from the east . Along this same mountain section, the Niukluk receives the waters of Elkhorn, Foster, Camp, Bennett, Richter, and Holyoke Creeks. During the last 10 miles of its course, again in the lowlands, it is joined by Bear River, from the west, with Trout Creek as an early tributary, and by Mystery Creek from the east.

Council, formerly dignified with the name Council City, is the distribution center of one of the richest mining communities in Seward Peninsula. The town is situated at the mouth of Melsing Creek, which enters the Niukluk a few miles below Ophir Creek. Council City was founded in the late fall of 1897 by Daniel P. Libby and his three companions,Louis Melsing, Harry L. Blake, and A. P. Mordaunt. Libby had been with the party of the Western Union Telegraph Company Expedition of 1865-66 which, under the

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leadership of Baron Otto von Bendeleben, traveled up Golovnin Bay, the Fish, and Niukluk Rivers and so across the divide to the Kruzgamepa River, in search of a good route for the proposed United States-to-Europe telegraph line. The plan had been to run the line across Canada, Alaska, Bering Sea, and Siberia to Europe. The successful laying of the second Atlantic cable voided this plan ^ , ^ and the Western Union Expedition members were recalled ^—^ but Libby never forgot the colors and the likely-looking gravel banks of the Fish River country. Over 25 years later, despite his age, ^ and ^ inspired by the recent Klondike strikes on the Yukon, he returned to Golovnin Bay with his three partners, and, guided by the Eskimo, Tom Guarick, he repeated his journey up the Fish and Niukluk Rivers to the mouth of the stream which he named Melsing Creek.

^ ¶ ^ Between here and Ophir Creek the Libby party spent the winter of 1897-98. By spring they had thoroughly prospected the entire area and had discovered and staked all the richest claims on both streams. They built the first white man's residence on the site of the present town of Council, patterning it after an Eskimo snowhouse, and registered the Eldorado Mining District (now Council District), which proved to be one of the richest gold mining sections of all Seward Peninsula. Libby and his companions were already working their claims when the Anvil Creek strike, in the Nome District, was made late in 1898. Because of its in accessibility from Seattle, Nome burst from a collection of native huts into a roaring tent city of 18,000 people [: ] n two years, but Council, because of its inaceessibility during the summer months, when mining is possible but overland travel almost impossible, grew at a more reasonable and healthy rate.

^ ¶ ^ Writing in 1905, E.S. Harrison says: "Council District is unlike the Nome country in that it is forested. In the entire Nome District there is not a tree, nor a shrub other than willow. In the Council District there is plenty of spruce timber for domestic use. The mines of Ophir

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Creek are among the most valuable in Northwestern Alaska. There are places where ^ ^ the pay-streak is 700 feet wide, and the gravel de [: ] posit twenty feet deep. Ophir Creek and its tributaries have produced a total of about $4,500,000 of gold. Although this creek contains very rich mineral deposits mining operations by crude methods were not successful. The early conditions with which the miner had to cope made it impossible for him to conduct his business so as to obtain the profits that should come from ground containing such high values. He found it necessary to dig ditches so as to provide water supply, to use machinery and entail expenses not h within the mea ^ n ^ s of the ordinary prospector. The first operations on Ophir Creek were not profit– able and claims containing vast values were sold at moderate prices. Most of this creek is owned by the Wild Goose Mining and Trading Co. This company acquired the property by purchase paying a large sum for it. But the company has extracted from one mine, No. 15 Ophir, a sum more than twice as large as it paid for its entire holdings on the creek. The company has con structed near forty miles of ditches to bring water with which to wash the gravels of its Ophir Creek property. The main ditch is the largest in Seward Peninsula and is big enough to float a small river steamboat.

"Besides Ophir Creek the other gold bearing streams of this region are Dutch, Snowball, Albion, Crooked, Sweetcake, Warm, E o lkhorn, Goldbottom, Richter, Neukluk, Melsing, Mystery, Oxide, I & L. Big Four, Willow, Ruby, Goose, Quartz, Canyon, Boulder, Dixon, Dry, Damson, Banner, Johnson, Sunshine, Curtiss, Kingsley and Camp. So far as has been discovered Ophir Creek has the distinction of having the largest pay streak of any stream in Alaska."

^ 24 [: ls ] ^

.In 1900, having left the confusion and disappointment of Nome behind them, Lanier McKee and his companions arrived at Council City on July 19. McKee wrote: "At last ... on rounding one of the many curves of the river, Council City, in the bright evening sunlight, burst upon the view, the prettiest, best sight that we had seen in Alaska. The peculiar light seemed to magnify it, to make it stand out

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very clear and distinct. There is a sudden high plateau, terminating abrupt and sheer at the stream in a rocky cliff some thirty or forty feet high, bare for the most part, but covered here and there with a growth of moss and sh [: r ] ubbery. This elevation tapers down to the level of the stream, where the little camp of miners marks, at the east, the point where Melsing Creek flows into the Neukluk, and also falls off at the west, where the large camp or general reservation is found, free ground for all. Along the plateau and beyond — a sprawling, scattered collection of log cabins, saloons, and dance-halls, with here and there a sod house or tent — is Council city. Back of it, to the north and west, along the foot of a bleak mountain which seems to shelter the camp, is the narrow belt of invaluable timber. The river-bed here is perhaps a hundred yards wide, but at that time the greater part of it was visible, the stream breaking above and coming down in two rapid, narrow forks touching each side of the shore. Across the river and the bar, and following its course, is a long stretch of tundra reaching out for several miles to low and barren mountains in the south and west. In a straight line southwest, over the tundra and moun– tains, it is said to be eighty or a hundred miles to Nome." But McKee had come by the only possible summer route — by steamer from Nome to Golovnin, by lighter up the Fish River to White Mountain,and then by poling and towing the last 25 or 30 miles upstream to Council. ^ Despite the fact that the first and richest gold depositsin all Seward Peninsula were discovered at Council in 1868, its ^ This ex–treme inaccessibility Of Council was one of the reasons for its 'safe and sane' development as contrasted with the stampede to the seacost town of Nome where gold was discovered in the fall of 1868. Harrison gives a good description of Council as it appeared in 1905. "Council City," he writes, "is second in importance of the towns of the peninsula, and is the seat of the recorder's office for the Council District. It is

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on the northern side of the Neukluk River about ten miles from its confluence with Fish River, and inland from Cheenik about sixty miles. It has been built on a bench of 'the stream which forms a natural townsite, furnishing splendid drainage and being of such elevation as to secure safety in case of high water and ice gorges for which the Neukluk is noted. When the town was first established it was in the midst of a spruce forest, but construction of buildings and the need [: ] of fuel have caused the destruction of the surrounding timber, until the clearing in which Council City is situated has become so large that available timber is no longer near at hand.

"The population of Council City in the winter time is about 600. The town has two churches, a Presbyterian and a Catholic; a public school, and Camp No. 11 of the Arctic Brotherhood, a Northland fraternal order. The business establishments during the winter of 1903-04, consisted of seven stores, two hotels, two hospitals, one drug store, one lumber yard and eleven saloons."

One of the most difficult mining problems at that time was getting mining equipment to the gold. A river bed was the nearest approach to a road anywhere in Alaska, ^ and ^ M ^ m ^ iners were paying $200 to $300 a ton for the transporting of supplies overland by teams and wagons. In the summer– time, wagon wheels and horses both sank feet deep into the bog-like tundra, and teamsters were happiest when wading along streams or lifting their wagons over huge boulders in the bed of a creek which promised to lead them where they wanted to go. Because of these conditions early demands were made for railroads, and many narrow-gage roads were built, but one of the first standard gage lines was the Council City and Solomon River Railroad which, in 1905, already had 16 miles of track laid and in use. operation. ^←^ Before the Federal tax of $100 per mile, the coast of fuel, and the reduction in mine output combined to discourage further railroad

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construction, this line ran for 33 miles, the Golovnin Bay Railroad for 7 miles, and the Seward Peninsula Railroad for 97 miles. However, all these efforts were ^ a ^ bandoned, and as late as 1942 there were still only two railroads in operation in all of Alaska, the Alaska Railroad with 470.3 miles of main line, and the White Pass & Yukon, with 20.4 miles of track. Neither of these serves Seward Peninsula. By 1925, on the other hand, A.W. Greely reported the existence of 16 roads aggregating 50 miles in length for all of Seward Peninsula, and the flagging, with sturdy pieces of red flannel on sticks, of 500 miles of winter trails. "The flagging of winter trails," he remarks, "in this bleak and treeless tundra country has rendered travel in the winter darkness, during periods of storm, much less hazardous. The difficulties of safe travel on Seward Peninsula are very gre ^ a ^ t during the period of winter and almost sunless days over a gently rolling, unbroken tundra, where there is no tree, bush, or even stone to mark the trail or relieve the unvarying monotony. In earlier years scores of bewildered travellers have wondered from the dim, snow-covered trail and miserably perished in the winter blizzards."

The exhaustion of the easily reclaimed placer gold in the Council area, as everywhere else, the inaccessiblity of the district both by land and water, the necessity of diverting vast quantities of water into intricate systems of ditches in order to get sufficient elevation to run hydraulic mining machinery, the placing of gold on the "non-essential" list during World War II, and the ever-rising cost of labor have combined over the years to reduce mining activity in the Council area. The Wild Goose Mining Company, famous throughout the peninsula for pioneering ^ work ^ in the building of ditches to supply hydraulics with a reliable, all-season water-supply, was one of the 8 dredges still in operation in 1919, but in 1946 only four companies were working the area.

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The reported ^ 1939 ^ population of Council was only 48, but the town had certain facilities such as a Territorial school, post-office, general store, roadhouse, and fish saltery. The modern answer to the transportation problem is a 1,200-foot wheeled p o ^ l ^ ane landing strip at Council with another of equal size a few miles up Melsing Creek. A net work of winter trails from Golovnin and Norton Bays to the southeast, Bluff, Solomon, and Nome to the southwest, and Kotzebue Sound to the north converge at Council.

The future of the Council District is far from hopeless. In addition to the coming of the airplane, Philip Smith, dean of Alaskan geologists, states that not half the gold in Alaska has yet been dis– covered and that much less than that has been taken out of the ground. Many large large areas of known mineralization on Seward Peninsula, particularly around Council, have not been worked because of the still troublesome transportation difficulties. Frank Whaley, one of the most famous and reliable of Alaska's aviators, and a miner in his own right, thinks he has the final solution to ^ g ^ etting the gold out of the tundra of Seward Peninsula . ^ with a technique which, ^ H ^ h ^ e calls this technique 'Operation Helicopter.' Whaley defines the problem as a race against time. The Seward Peninsula miner has about 100 days out of the year when the partial thawing of the permafrost layer s makes it possible for him to dig the ground. During these 100 days the miner must travel into the wilds, decide on a particular creek, haul supplies to the spot, and dig as many test holes as time allows. As soon as the ground freezes again in the fall, the miner is through work until next year's season. 'Operation Helicopter' would bring a team of prospectors, geologists, and mining engineers to a previously air-surveyed likely stretch of tundra, supply them with walkie-talkies, pick up and carry geologists and engineers to sites which any of the pros–

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pectors reported as promising, and in this way complete a detailed examina– tion of a large area in one working season. Any company planning to mane gold in this manner would naturally need considerable capital as well as a group of picked prospectors and scientists well-grounded in Alaskan mining problems, additional camp personnel to free these men from all time-consuming chores in camp, at least two helicopters, and a supply [: ] and spare-part base not more than 200 miles (ideally considerably less) from the main prospecting activities. Whaley believes that this is the mining technique of the future. If it succeeds, it will, of course, be in the hands of large, already well-established companies, and the day of the solitary prospector who packed his own supplies over the bog-like tundra, panned a stream, perhaps made a strike, staked claims for himself, his parents, sisters, brothers, and assorted relatives at home (for every miner had power of attorney in the early days), and returned to civilization over the refrozen tundra a rich man — those days will have disappeared permanently into the pages of the history books on ^ about ^ Seward Peninsula.

Sources:

Tewkesbury

V.S.G.B.

Colby

Sundborg

Hilseher, Herbert H. Alaska Now. ^ Alaska Now. ^ Boston, Little,Brown, 1948

Greely, A.W. Handbook of Alaska. ^ Handbook of Alaska. ^ 3d ed. N.Y., Scribner, 1925.

McKee, Lanier. Land of Nome ^ Land of Nome ^ . N.Y., Grafton (c1902)

Harrison, E.S. Nome and Seward Peninsula: a book of information ^ Nome and Seward Peninsula: a book of information ^ [: ] about Northwestern Alaska. ^ about Northwestern Alaska. ^ Seattle, Wash., Metropolitan Press, c1905.

Tompkins, Stuart Ramsay. Alaska, Promyshlennik & Sourdough ^ Alaska, Promyshlennik & Sourdough ^ . Norman, Oklahoma, Univ. of Oklahoma press, 1945.

French, L.H. Seward's Land of Gold. ^ Seward's Land of Gold. ^ N.Y., Montross, Clarke & Emmons (n.d.)

French, L.H. Nome Nuggets. ^ Nome Nuggets. ^ N.Y., Montross, 1901.

4,862 words Text 100 words, Bibl.

THE NOATAK RIVER, tributary to the northern end of Hotham Inlet, which measures ^ with an airline length of ^ 220 airline miles from head to mouth, but whose ^ an ^ actual course has been estimated at over 500 miles, is, next to the Kobuk, one of the most extensive rivers in northwestern Alaska.

In the main the river trends westward from a valley divide in the midst of the Endicott and Schwatka Mountains at about 155° W. Long. to about 162° W. Long. where it bends sharply southward to Hotham Inlet. Relief One of the notable features of the Noatak is the variability of the terrain through which it travels, the basin allowing of division into six topographically distinct regions. These are: the headwater mountains; the Aniuk Lowland; the second highland; the Mission Lowland; the Igichuk Hills, and the coastal lowland.

The mountains overlooking the first sixty or seventy miles of the river rise to over 8,000 feet, with a peak 8,800 feet high only about five miles south of its headwaters. From a stee ^ p ^ -sided cut in the mountains, the river pushes northwestward until the valley is perhaps two or three miles wide, the course of the stream meandering, and its bed increased to a width of about three hundred feet. Some small glaciers, none more than one or two miles long, are known to exist in this part of the Schwatka Mountains, but never below an elevation of 5,000 feet.

There are several passes from the Alatna to this headwater section of the Noatak, one by Lucky ^ Six ^ Pass, and another by Gull Pass. The pass used by the 1911 Geological Survey expedition is about 1,000 feet above the Noatak and only about eight or nine miles long (airline). The total distance between boatin ^ g ^ water on the Alatna and the head of canoe navigation on the Noatak by way of this pass is only about eleven and one-half miles, so that this route is particularly suitable for a canoe portage. Gull pass is

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at least 1,000 feet higher and much longer.

Opposite the mouth of Lucky ^ Six ^ Creek there is a pass into Reed River, a tributary to the Kobuk. This pass is steep and difficult, but horses may be taken over it.

For the next seventy or more miles the mountains recede from the river leaving a valley ten to thirty-five miles wide known as the Aniuk Low– land. The river here turns more nearly westward and attains a width of one– eighth of a mile, all the while sweeping around large angular bends and twisting through numberless smaller meanders at a velocity of two to three miles per hour. an hour.

Small boats may navigate this section of the river without difficulty except during periods of very low water, when exposed boulders in the river bed cause dangerous rapids, or ^ when ^ [: ] periods of high water transform this section into a swift torrent.

McLenegan gives a remarkable description of his one-day descent of 150 miles of this Aniak Lowland section in a frantic but finally successful effort to reach a cache of food ^ , ^ left far downstream on the river bank ^ , ^ before the water should have risen and carried it away.

"Rocks which before were plainly visible," he wrote, "were now partly hidden by the flood, and every faculty was required to avert con– stantly impending destruction. In places of this kind the speed at which we traveled left no time for debate; an obstruction was no sooner sighted than we were upon it. Now resting on our paddles while borne swiftly along, the next moment we were straining every muscle to avoid the rocks which suddenly loomed up ahead and towards which we were dashing with locomotive speed. In places where the rocks were entirely submerged, the canoe seemed to be drawn toward them by some irresistible force, and before we learned to detect these places we had more than one escape from disaster. My fears in regard to the

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cache were greatly increased by finding those of the natives in very precarious situations, a fact which proved the flood to be almost unprecedented in extent... The rain continued at intervals during the day, and from the appearance of the banks it was evident the river had not reached the high-water mark...The long twilight of the Arctic summer fell upon us we entered the flats through which the Noatak flows before entering the Mountains beyond.

"To my dismay, however, the river was found to spread over the entire section...The main channel, on [: ] the banks of which the cache lay, could not be distinguished...Thus we drifted onward, tired and despondent, when, about a half mile below, a clump of willows was seen, around ^and^ through which the waters of the swollen river were washing...As we were borne swiftly by I recognized the spot, and with an exclamation of joy we dropped our paddled and grasped the overhanging boughs to check the mad career of the canoe. A moment later ^ ^ the precious burden was lashed to the bidarka, and we determined to seek the first suitable place for camping."

Under normal conditions, the river, having incised its bed, lies below the general level of the flat valley bottom and is hammed in by steep gravel walls from fifty to two hundred feet high. Even so, it floods out over the plain in some places and^,^ in others^,^ abandoned courses are preserved as lakes.

Still farther downstream the Baird Mountains on the south and the Brooks and De Long Mountains on the north constrict the river valley to only a few miles in width. This mountainous topography, which rises to heights of two and three thousand feet, extends along the river for another six ^ ty ^ or more miles forming the second highland district of the Noatak.

This part of the river is form one-eighth to one-quarter of a mile wide and, although it bends abruptly in several places, there are no well-developed meanders since the stream here is in a comparatively youthful

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NOATAK RIVER, ALASKA

stage. Gravel terraces from fifty to one hundred feet high overlook the river, and higher terraces also occur although they are not so noticeable. A narrow canyon, perhaps six hundred to eight hundred feet deep, with rocky walls on both sides, constricts the western end of this part of the river. Currents in the canyon are swift, and the water deep. During heavy rains, the water level rises rapidly above the canyon but falls again quickly, the differential sometimes being as great as eight feet in a single day. It was such a partially-dammed flood as this which swept McLenegan down-river at such speed in August of 1885.

Below the canyon, which is only a few miles from 162° W.Long., the Noatak bends southward and enters another lowland area about fifty miles long and from twenty to thirty miles wide. This is the Mission Lowland. The Baird Mountains bound this region on the north, and the Igichuk Hills inter– rupt it on the south. The braided and meandering river bed is here surrounded by a lake-strewn exp ^ a ^ n ^ se ^ at the most only a few hundred feet above the level of the river.

"The river now widened," wrote McLenegan,"into a stream of twice its ordinary breadth, dotted with islands, and covering a vast tract of plains...The banks are very low, and the river presented a perfect maze of channels, none ^ ^ of which are well defined or apparently of permanent character... At this time ^ [ ^ July ^ ] ^ the river was at a very high stage. Later, however, many of these channels become dry and the Noatak is confined to a definite bed."

The Igichuk Hills, trending east and west athwart the direc– tion of the river, attain heights of from 1500 to 2000 feet and persist for between fi^v^e and fifteen miles. On the east these hills join those south of the Squirrel River (q.v.), in the Kobuk system, which in turn are part of the Baird Mountains. To the west the Igichuk Hills dwindle to nothing in the vicinity of Cape Krusenstern. Above one thousand feet they are bare

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NOATAK RIVER, ALASKA

rock, affording a great choice of landmarks for travellers to the region.

The Noatak cuts this range in another narrow gorge between 400 and 600 feet deep, where the rough bedrock projects into and above the river in fantastic forms and pinnacles.

Escaping from the hills, the Noatak makes a wide meander across the low coastal plain before entering the northern end of ^ H ^ otham Inlet. This plain is hardly more than 200 feet above sea level and is often submerged by the waters of Kotzebue Sound during periods of high water.

With the exception of the last two miles of the river, this plain retains its truly coastal nature and does not assume that of a delta. For its final two miles, however, the Noatak splits up into distributaries, although it may not in any sense be said to have developed a delta comparable to that of the Kobuk (q.v.). Lakes and marshes, both delta characteristics, do occur in great numbers on both sides of the river for ten miles above its mouth, but, on the other hand, the braided and meandering river bed is here surrounded by a lake-strewn expanse gravel benches fifty or more feet in height appear as far downstream as the first distributary. This plain is of marine origin, having been laid down under water, uplifted, and later partly dissected.

Near the river the plain is fairly well drained, but farther away from the stream the thawing of the surface during the summer makes of it an almost impassable morass. As would be ^ expe ^ cted, the entire Noatak region is within the permafrost zone (q.v.).

Throughout this coastal section, the Noatak is about one mile wide, with a gentle current, and very few islands or sand bars. Although it is nowhere remarkably deep, it carries a depth of from twe n ^ l ^ ve to fifteen feet in the channel.

With careful navigation of the channels at its entrance, where the Noatak is extremely shallow, the river will carry launches drawing three feet or a little more as far upstream as Noatak settlement, but above this point the stream is particularly blocked by boulders, although small [: ] launches have ascended to a point just above the upper canyon, and canoes may complete the ascent of the river. Because of the strength of the current everywhere except for a few miles above the mouth, very little progress can be made upstream by rowing or sailing, but the trip is possible [: if ] tracking is frequently resorted to by tracking. Tributaries Lucky S^ix^ Creek, one of the earliest tributaries to the Noatak, heads near Gu^ll^ pass, the name for the above-mentioned portage to ^ ^ the Alatna. Portage Creek also flows in from the east a few ^ ^ miles below Lucky S^ix^. About twenty-five miles (airline) below this point, the Ipmiluik enters from the south, and, a little over ten miles farther downstream, Midas Creek comes in from the north. A great many other tributaries join the Noatak throughout this first mountainous stretch of its course, , but their names do not appear on recent maps.

Aniuk River (q.v.), the first major affluent to the Noatak, enters that stream from the north a few miles east of 15^8^° W.Long., 68° N.Lat., and gives its name to the first lowland section of the main river. Cutler River flows in from the south a little over ten miles below the Aniuk, and the Nimiuk, sometime called Indian River, enters some forty or fift^y^ miles downstream near the eastern en ^ d ^ of the first lowland section. The mouth of the ^ N ^ imiuk lies on 160° W.Long. It is reported that for more than five miles above its junction with the Noatak, the Nimiuk splits up into a maze of channels separated by low sandy islands.

Stoney called the Cutler, Caribou River, but this name was not published until after the other had already been adopted. The Cutler carries

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NOATAK RIVER, ALASKA

at least half as much water as ^ does ^ the Noatak above its junction with the Cutler ^ this confluence, ^ and drains an extensive region between the Noatak and the Kobuk.

Between this point and the canyon at the end of this second mountainous section of the Noatak, a great many small mountain torrents enter both from the north and the south, but they are still nameless on modern maps. ^←^ Just east of 162° W.Long., the Kugururok (q.v.) comes in from the north. The valley of this river would seem to be the dividing line between the Brooks and De Long Mountains .

The only named tributaries to the Mission Lowland section of the Noatak are Kelly River from the north, some ten miles below the mouth of the Kugururok, and the Agashashok from the east, just above the Igichuk Hills.

The Agashashok heads far back in the Baird Mountains and probably receives some water from the western side of these hills as well. For a considerable distance across the Mission Lowlands, it flows almost parallel with the Noatak, until that stream suddenly swings eastward just above the Igichuk Hills to meet the [: ] Agashashok.

There are relatively few affluents to the Noatak throughout in the Mission Lowland district because the pox of lakes and marshes throughout the area so effectively drains the surrounding countryside as to make the formation of a stream almost impossible.

The Igichuk Hills are so narrow and low that they afford only a small run-off, with the consequence that streams tributary to this part of the Noatak are short and small. The only named affluent is the Igichuk River, which enters the Noatak from the east. The Igichuk has an over-all length of only fifteen or twenty miles. At the point at which it enters the Noatak, that river is so sluggish that the Igichuk has built up a small delta.

There is one fairly large tributary coming in from the east below the Igichuk Hills, but it is not named. Whatever other tiny tributaries

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there may be to ^may join^ this coastal section of the Noatak are un ^ charted on recent ^ maps.

Vegetation and Animal Life The vegetation in the Noatak basin is typically arctic and sub-arctic.

Entering the Noatak from Hotham Inlet, McLenegan, of the Corwin expedition of 1885, noticed "a scattered growth of Arctic willows extending to the water's edge, and an occasional spruce." A scant four miles farther upstream, where the banks become higher and therefore better drained, timber became more prevelent, although it was still stunded.

Willow, alder, and poplar bushes are common in the lowland sections bordering the river, but, as the elevation increases, vegetation decreases until even the hardiest grasses disappear from the steepest slopes and from the peaks of the mountains. The natives use the scrubby bushes fringing the lowland waterways to make ^ the ^ frameworks for their huts.

Spruce, averaging about eight inches in diameter, appears for the first time along the Noatak ^ j ^ ust a few miles east of the canyon in the ^v^icinity of 162° W.Long. This growth of timber ^ ^ continues downstream as a narrow fringe on the banks of the river to a point about half way between the Igichuk Hills and the mouth of the river. Throughout the remainder of the Noatak valley, spruce is completely absent. This is in marked contrast to ^ ^ the Kobuk region, immediately to the south, which has a growth of spruce along its entire length. The absence of timber on the Noatak is a handicap to the development of the mineral resources of the region, since all building material must be brought in from Outside. Smith remarks that the existence of permafrost throughout this area is not a dominating influence on the growth or lack of timber, since "spruce may be seen growing almost immediately on top of clear ice."

The valley grass down does not supply as much nourishment

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NOATAK RIVER, ALASKA

as that of the lower hill slopes and is not suitable for the permanent pasturage of pack animals. Like much of the grass along the Squirrel (q.v.), to the south, it is heavily weighted with water and supplies only a small percentage of food value in comparison with its bulk.

In 1911, the United States government introduced a herd of reindeer between the mouth of the Noatak and Cape Krusenstern, the northern entrance point to Kotzebue Sound. This herd found the supply [: ] of reindeer moss in this locality sufficient for survival.

Blueberries, cranberries, currants, and salmon berries are most plentiful in the lowlands, and furnish an important part of the local food supply to whites and natives alike. The natives are particularly apt to freeze great quantities of these berries for use during the winter, and they sometimes allow them to freeze on the bushes, after which they can be knocked off with clubs and more easily cleaned of leaves and twigs.

From his observations on the 1911 Geological Survey expedition, Smith concluded that game was, on the whole, more abundant in the Noatak than in the Alantna region.

Sheep are so numerous in the headwater mountains that natives from as far away as the Kobuk travel over the mountains to this region every year for their winter meat supply. The name Ipmiluik, which identifies one of the rivers of this region ^ section ^ , is said to mean "sheep." On their annual hunting trips, many natives use this river in order to reach the Noatak from the Kobuk. Smith also reports seeing some wolverine as well as fox, mink, and squirrel in these mountains.

Kobuk natives also come to the Anuik Lowland to hunt caribou. Fox, marten, and wolves also inhabit this part of the river valley. Although Smith himself did not see any game birds there, he noticed great piles of ptarmigan bones around the many hawks' nests which he examined, proving that

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they did exist in the neighborhood.

Downstream from the second highland, the caribou and sheep disappear, but bear become fairly numerous. Great numbers of game birds, such as ptarmigan, ducks, geese, and cranes, are obvious even to the human predator in this Mission Lowland section. Smith also reports seeing crowds of seal in the shallow waters of this part of the Noatak, "looking at a distance," he adds, "like masses of sand."

Salmon, grayling, and trout are found in the Noatak but not in as great numbers as exist in the Kobuk. Most of the Noatak natives go down to Kotzebue (q.v.) during the salmon run in order to lay in a supply of fish for the winter.

Climate Temperatures on the Noatak do not differ appreciably from those on the Kobuk (q.v.), except in so far as they may be a few degrees cooler the year around.

No complete records have been kept on the climate of the Noatak region, since the Weather Bureau has never opened a station there, but it would appear that the highest readings occur during June, July, and August, and may reach the mid-eighties, while the most extreme low temperatures occur during January and ^ F ^ ebruary, when the mercury has been known to fall to ࢤ50° F. or even somewhat lower.

McLenegan has much more to say about the cold from which he suffered during August of 1885 than from any extraordinary heat, but it would appear that that particular summer was unusually rainy and windy. These two circumstances, combined with the fact that he and his companion spent a large amount of time wading in the icy waters of the river itself, might explain his [: ] giving such a wintry description of the Noatak summer.

Without any dou ^ b ^ t temperatures in different parts of the Noatak basin would differ greately at all times of year. Those at Noatak,

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NOATAK RIVER, ALASKA

for instance, since they would be steadied by the large bodies of water relatively nearby, would have a smaller range than those in the upper moun– tainous section hundreds of miles inland. Extremely high or low temperatures always occur in the interior of a country protected either by distance o ^ r ^ an intervening mountain chain from the regulatory effect of some large body of water, be it gulf, lake, or ocean.

The precipitation curve on the Noatak is similar to that on the Kobuk. Summer precipitation in the form of rain is heaviest during July and August, dropping off sharply in September. Smith estimated that of the sixty-four days which he spent in the Alatna-Noatak district, rain fell during thirty-seven of them.

Precipitation in the form of snow begins in September and continues into June, the largest amount falling in November and December, with a considerably lighter but persistent fall throughout the next six months. McLenegan noted that snow remained on some of the higher peaks the year around.

Total precipitation for the year averages between fifteen and seventeen inches, but the countryside is exactly the opposite of the aid waste such a low record would seem to imply. Smith explains this circumstance in the following words: "A region of small precipitation is usually picture^d^ as devoid of water, but in northern Alaska water is almost everywhere. The sur– face of the country during the summer is commonly wet and swampy, and water stands on the surface in ponds and lakes. The streams, unless they traverse a broad belt of limestone, show no marked diminution of volume but constantly increase in size toward their lower courses. All these features are due in large measure to the permanently frozen condition of the subsoil, which makes removal ^ ^ of surface water by percolation and by underground migration impossible.

"Furthermore, the low elevation of the sun, even during the summer, prevents rapid evaporation. The rainfall or snowfall thus stands on the

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sur ^ f ^ ace or collects in the low areas where the slope is not sufficient to induce surface run-off. Then again, the upper 6 to 18 inches of the frozen zone melts during the summer ^ ^ and thus produces wet, soggy footing that is most unlike any preconceived idea of a dry country. Furthermore, the precipation does not come in deluging cloud-bursts, separated by long intervals of low precipitation as in the countries more often referred to as arid, but comes in numerous light showers or heavy mists. As illustrative of this condition may be cited the experience of travelers in this general region."

The conditions here described pertain not only to the Noatak, but to great stretches of Alaska where permafrost ^(q.v.)^ exists but becomes partially thawed during the summer.

Settlements Although certain of the tributaries to the Noatak have settle– ments on their banks, there are none on the main river above Noatak (67° 34′ N.Lat., 163° W.Long.), a little over fifty miles (airline) up from the mouth.

As late as 1911, this settlement was known as Noatak Mission, because of the establishment of a Friends' mission there. The two town was located on a gravel terrace on the west bank and consisted of a church, a school– house, a ^ nd ^ several sturdily built cabins. Most of the inhabitants, both white and Eskimo, spent the summer months trading and fishing in the vicinity of Kotzebue, or fishing farther up the Naotak itself, but the population resumed residence of the village for the rest of the year. Smith estimated in 1911 that less than one hundred white people lived in the basin of the Noatak, even after including the large town of Kotzebue, and that not over 250 natives lived along the Noatak and Alatna river the ^c^ombine^d^ native population of the Noatak and Alatna basins did not exceed 250. This indicated a population of one person for every fifty square miles of territory.

By 1930, Noatak had dropped the word "Mission" from its name

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and had assumed some of the characteristics of a permane ^ nt ^ village. It was by this time a strictly Eskimo settlement, with a population of several hundred. The school, supported by the U.S. Bureau of Education, was run by two very competent Eskimos and had an attendance of about forty pupils. The reindeer herd still existed in the neighborhood and was cared for by several native herders. The little town had two stores carrying a small stock of supplies, one a so-called "native" store operating in Connection with the reindeer business, and the other a branch of a Kotzebue store.

Smith, writing in 1930, remarks that the Noatak basin contains very few signs of abandoned town sites. One such would seem to have been Anuik, at the mouth of the strems of that name, another Shotkoaluk, about ten miles above Aniuk, and another Nimiuk, near the stream leading to Riley Pass.

According to the 1939 Census, Noatak had a population of 336, an Alaska Native Service school, the Friends' Mission, which has been there so long,a post office, a general store, and a 1500-foot landing strip.

Mining As late as 1911, gold had been found only in the headwater region of the Noatak and there only in two small areas. One placer was then at work on Lucky ^ Six ^ Creek.

Gold ^ had ^ first ^ been ^ discovered there in 1898, and many small parties had visited the region from that time forward, but the extreme inaccessibility of the region, the briefness of the summer, and the lack of timber restricted its development, by combining to reduce the working season to only a few days.

One early party had logs whipsawed by hand on Reed River and hauled by dogs and men the thirty miles over the divide to Lucky S^ix^ Creek. Spruce ^ could ^ can also be brought into this area from the Alatna valley twelve (airline) miles away, but the time and labor involved in transporting such heavy loads over the 1,000-foot divide greatly reduced the attraction this region might have had for gold miners.

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Exploration Although both kotzebue (q.v.), who discovered the Sound which bears his ^ ^ name, and Beechey (q.v.),who continued the inves– tigation of the Kotzebue area, sailed past or very close to the mouth of the Noatak, neither mentions this important tributary to Hotham Inlet.

John Simpson, surgeon for the Plover , during his search for the Franklin party, explored Hotham Inlet and made ^ ^ the first map which con- known to contain any indication of the Noatak. Simpson called this stream the Nunalak or Inland River and charted only its lower section, although he reports "on native authority" that it continues far inland.

Dall, who accompanied the Western Union Telegraph Expedition of the mid-186′s, made a map of ^ the ^ northwestern part of Alaska showing the lower Noatak (which he also called Inland River), but identified it as a described it as one of the "small, unexplored stream^s^" of the region. "They are prolonged," he added, "to fill up the unexplored spaces on most maps." This quotation is intended not to disparage Dall but merely to indicate the extent and duration of the lack of knowledge of this part of Alaska.

No white ^ ^ man is known to have visited the Noatak after Dall until S.B. McLenegan was detailed to explore it in 1885. With a seaman named Nelson, he started the ascent on July 2 in a 27-foot boat. McLenegan's report was practically the only source of information about the Noatak until the U.S. Geological Survey expedition of 1911. McLenegan plotted the course of the river about sixty miles too far east and made very few observations except along his immediate route, but his general mapped form of the course was excellent and the amount of data obtained truly remarkable considering the difficulty of the trip and the bad weather he encountered.

During the winter of 1885/86, W.L. Howard, of the Stoney expedition to the Kobuk, reached the Noatak by way of the Ambler, continued up the Noatak and over the divide to the Colville. After traveling down that river for some time, he crossed the portage to the Chipp and form there attained Point Barrow.

The original of Stoney's report was lost, and we have only his resumé published ten years later which barely mentions this side trip of Howard's. Stoney does say, however that Ensign Reed visited the Notak during July of 1886, remaining away for ten days. Since no mention is made of Noatak Canyon, it may safely be assumed that this expedition did not con– tinue downstream as far as 162° W.Long. Stoney's map contains a good rep– presentation of the lower Noatak, but the middle and upper ^ remainder of the ^ course is unrecognizable

The U.S. Geological survey party of 1911 reached the Naotak by way of the [: ] a portage from the Alatna. They then descended the Noatak to its mouth. Between the time of their arrival at the mouth of the Alatna on July 1 and at Kotzebue, on August 27, the party completed a ^ ge ^ elogical and topographical survey of nearly 10,000 square miles of territory, three quarters of which was within the Noatak basin. Much of the information given above was obtained from the official report of this expedition which appeared as Bulletin 536 of the U.S. Geological Survey.

^ Text - 13,780 wds ^ ^ Bibl - 700 wds ^

NOME

NOME (64° 30′ N.Lat., 165° 23′ W. Long.), ^ Norton Sound, Alaska, ^ ^[: Read partly around Oct 10, rest Oct 27/48 Excellent. Reindeer and former sections should perhaps be shortened a little, because handled elsewhere. JS]^ the largest city on Seaward Peninsula, and the site of the gold rush of 1900 which lured thousands of men away from their homes in the States, ^ for homes or gold fields of newote countries like SouthAfrica and Australia, ^ and even from the promise of riches in the Klondike, lies on the beach at the mouth of the Snake River in the southern part of Seward Peninsula.

The establishment of a U.S. Weather Bureau station there [: ] has dispelled the notion that Nome is one of the coldest spots in "Uncle Sam's Icebox." As shown by the following chart (See below) ^ the ^ temperature [: ] sometimes drops to the -40′s in winter but rises to the mid-70's in summer. The average winter temperature is - ^ + ^ 10°F. These ^ winter ^ readings could be matched in many mid– western communities in the States.

Contrary to most popular notions concerning the weather of the Nome area, the most dangerous storms blow up not from the north, for broad Seward Peninsula itself protects Norton Sound from northerly winds, but rather from the south. As will be seen from the chart, these winds prevail during July and August, although they occur at other times of the year as well, and have the effect of raising the water on the Nome beach, whereas northerly winds lower it. Since this section of Norton Sound is relatively shallow, ^[: Some long pgfs should be broken up wherein a logical subject division is found.]^ these southerly storms have an almost instantaneous effect on the level of the water and, with little or no warning, begin to send huge breakers up the Nome beach. In such weather, deep-draft vessels, which must, in any case, anchor at least a mile off the coast, are forced either to put out to sea or to seek the protection of tiny Sledge Island, about 5 miles offshore and 25 miles west of Nome. Similarly, before the fury of one of these southerly storms, the situation of the lighters and barges^,^ by which ^ ^ all freight is beached at Nome^,^ is precarious. A landing of any kind is impossible, and these ^ 25[: ls] ^

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NOME

smaller vessels, lacking the power necessary to achieve Sledge Island, must sometimes ride out the storm, although, in the controlled language of the ^ U.S. Coast ^ Pilot Guide , "the anchorage is unsafe." Neither this anchorage nor the mouth of the Snake River has ever been dredged out so as to provide protection from these vicious storms. On November 1, 1946, three weeks after a similar storm had taken two lives, a freezing gale hurled towering waves bearing huge, jagged pieces of sea ice up the beach and against the business structures along Front Street, innundating warehouses, demolish– ing a bar, a theater, a bakery, a fire station, two restaurants, and the City Hall. The Alaska Committee of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, ^ then ^ recommended that the business district be relocated and a permanent breakwater, at an estimated cost of $150.00 per linear foot, be built along 2,500 feet of the Nome Beach. At the present writing, no ^ ^ such protective measures have been taken, and Nome continues to suffer from these southerly storms much as we shall see she has in the past.

The seasons make more differen ^ ce ^ to the citizens of Nome than they do to the inhabitants of lands farther south. The freezing over of Norton Sound closes Nome to navigation from about the end of October to mid-May or early June, and the sun is not as reliable as it is in the Temperate Zone more southerly latitudes. On the shortest winter day the sun is up not quite 4 hours, while it is out of sight only about 2 hours on the longest day of summer. Starting about the first of May and continuing until the middle of August there is never the complete dark– ness which is generally associated with night. However, because the southern part of Seward Peninsula is below the Arctic Circle, the midnight sun is never visible from Nome.

^ See table with page (temporarly with carbon) ^

^ Nome Weather Report - 1947 T= Trace^

^

Scroll Table to show more columns

	Temp. of the Air	Mean Relative Humidity	Total Precipitation in Inches	Wind	Clear Days	Cloudy and Partly Cloudy Days	Snow fall Total in Inches
Maximum Velocity	Average Hourly Velocity MPH	Prevailing Direction.
Max.	Date	Min.	Date	MPH	Direct.
Jan.	32°	3°	ࢤ37°	15th-	96	1.29	66	E	12.0	E	12	19	13.1
Feb.	47°	8	ࢤ42°	5	86	0.65	56	E	17.3	E	7	21	4.1
Mar.	33°	18	ࢤ38	13	82	0.10	43	NE	9.4	N	18	13	1.5
Apr.	40°	21	ࢤ4°	1	82	0.15	37	NE	11.6	E	8	22	1.6
May	68°	30	10°	1	81	0.66	36	E	13.5	E	2	29	1.4
June	73°	18	34°	6	76	0.46	34	W	11.9	W	7	23	0.0
July	75°	21	40°	9	88	3.79	36	SE	12.1	SE	2	29	0.0
Aug.	65°	6	32°	29	86	3.10	47	SE	11.8	SW	2	29	T
Sept.	56°	8	23°	30	84	1.78	36	N	13.0	N	4	26	0.7
Oct.	50°	7	ࢤ2°	30	81	1.00	39	E	14.0	N	7	24	8.1
Nov.	44°	23	ࢤ12°	11	90	1.49	45	NE	14.0	E	8	22	10.1
Dec.	33°	5	ࢤ28°	29	92	0.77	45	N	11.9	N	6	25	8.0

^

Nome is built on ground which is perpetually frozen below a depth of from 1 to 2 1/2 feet. This natural phenomenon is called permafrost and creates certain engineering problems well known to the contractors and the ^ h ^ ome owners in Nome. All structures, big and little, heave and settle with the vagaries of the frost in the ground, and, if one wants to keep his house on a level foundation, it is necessary to prop it up at different points every one or two years. The beach, which still displays some of the litter left over from the gold rush days, rises gradually around and behind the town and becomes the treeless , ^ grassland ^ moss- and sedge-grown tundra, characteristic of all the surrounding countryside. Small willows and alder may grow along the creeks, but there is no timber large enough for the building of even a one-room cabin. However, because of the frequency and turbulence of the ^ southerly ^ storms in this section of Norton sound, driftwood ^ , from the Yukon rivers and farther south, ^ is relatively plentiful. Excepting what could be brought in from Outside, this driftwood was the material from which, the ^ in 1899, the more substantial structures in the ^ young town of Nome ^ were ^ was built. in 1899.

Founding of Nome In 1870, Dall estimated the population of the entire coast of Norton Sound at about 10 Russians, 10 Creoles, and 1,000 Natives. He added that these figures were "if anything, above rather than below the actual number." In 1898, the year the Nome story opens, no whites and less than a dozen ^ N ^ atives were reported for the Cape Rodney to Cape Nome section of this coast. No one could have guessed that a town of 18,000 people would spring up at the mouth of the Snake River within the next two years.

In July, 1898, a party, said to include H.L. Blake, N.C. Hultberg, J.J. Brynteson, and J.L Haggalin, sailed westward from Golovnin Bay (q.v.) in search of gold. Their destination was the Sinuk River, just below Cape Rodney, but a strom drove them to shore near the mouth of the Snake River. While stormbound, they prospected along the Snake and up the future Anvil Creek, and, although they found fine gold colors on the first and coarser gold on the second stream, they did not consider them encourage– ing. With the subsiding of the storm, they continued on to the Sinuk, where they found nothing. Disappointed, and without realizing that they had walked over the richest beach deposits in all of Seward Peninsula, they returned to Golovnin Bay.

Meanwhile, Jafet Lindeberg, an unemployed reindeer herder (q.v.), John Brynteson, a Michigan coal miner (q.v.), and Erik O. Lindblom, an adventurous tailor (q.v.) were converging on Council City. It may cer– tainly be assumed that these three men all heard of Blake's July trip upon their arrival at Golovnin Bay, and that they discussed it after they met in Council, in August. Finding Council "staked to the mountain tops", they formed a prospecting partnership, returned together to Golovnin Bay, and, on September 11, 1898, set out in a large open boat to examine the coast as far as west as Cape Rodney. Prospecting as they went, they finally arrived at the mouth of the Snake River. "From there we proceeded up Snake River, which we named," Lindeberg writes, "and camped at the mouth of Glacier Creek [: ] . . . After locating our camp . . . we pro– ceeded to prospect along the tributaries of Snake River, which tributaries we named as follows: Anvil Creek (taking the name from an anvil-shaped rock which stands on the mountain on the east side of the creek), Snow Gulch, Glacier Creek, Rock Creek, and Dry Creek, in all of which we found gold in

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paying quantities, and proceeded to locate claims, first on Anvil Creek, because we found better prospects in that creek than in the others, and where we located the "discovery claim" in the name of us three jointly. In addition to this, each man staked a separate claim in his own name on the creek . . . the universal custom in Alaska, as it was conceded that the discoverer was entitled to a discovery claim and one other. After locating on Anvil Creek, claims were staked on Snow Gulch, Dry Creek, and Rock Creek, after which we returned to Golofnin Bay and reported the discovery."

Lindeberg, Brynteson, and Lindblom, having decided to form a mining district in the Snake River [: ] area, immediately organized a larger party, ^ which included ^ including Dr. A. N. Kittleson, G.W. Price, and P.H. Anderson, returned to the Snake River, elected Kittleson recorder for the district, formulated rules for the staking of the creeks, prospected and staked some more claims and finally returned to Golovnin Bay for winter quarters. The news spread to Council City, St. Micheal, and even the Yukon country, and soon the wild stampede ^ began, ^ which was to continue all winter, began .

"At this period," continues Lindeberg, "very few mining men were in the country, the newcomers in many instances being from every trade known. The consequence of this was soon well known; a few men with a smattering of education gave their own interpretation to the mining laws, hence jumping mining claims soon became an active industry. Especially from Council City came the jumpers , who were the . . .They were angry to think that they had not been taken in at the beginning, so a few of them promptly jumped nearly every claim on Anvil Crook, although there was an abundance of vacant and unlocated ground left which has since proved to be more valuable than the original claims . . . This jumping . . . poisoned the minds of all the newcomers against every original locator of mining claims,

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and as a consequence every original claim was relocated by from one to a dozen different parties." The most troublesome of these "Council City jumpers" was H.L. Blake, of the July, 1898, party, who considered that ^ ^ the had a right to the Anvil Creek claims through having prospected them before Lindeberg and his group had heard of the district, this despite the fact a ^ t ^ hat he, Blake, had pronounced the area relatively worthless. In the face of such thorough-going opposition Lindeberg and his ^ ^ partners, with legal support from Judge L. B. Shepard, the United States commissioner at St. Michael, hauled supplies in to Snow Gulch and Anvil Creek early in 1899 and began active mining. Every day, however, added to the crowd of "lawless men" in Anvil City, as the town was then called, who joined forces with the Council City jumpers and continued to cause trouble. One of the reasons for this "trouble" was that by the end of 1898 the right of staking by power of attorney had been so overworked that abou 40 men held 7,000 acres in claims. It was, of course, impossible that ^ for ^ so few men [: ] actually to work this number of claims, a condition which constituted an open invitation to the jumpers.

Meanwhile, news of the finds reached St. Michael, 100 miles away, and even traveled the 900 miles up the Yukon to Dawson. The stampede of miners from Dawson, Fortymile, Circle, and Rampart down ^ ^ the Yukon to Kaltag and from there overland to Anvil City was immediate and torrential. Formerly a faint and little used winter trail, the route turned into a broad, hard-packed snow highway. Late in the spring ^ winter ^ some even made the trip on bicycles. Roadhouses sprange up every 20 or 25 miles along the way, and the value of dogs, mules, and horses all along the Yukon tripled over– night, so eager were these miners to stake their c ^ la ^ ims on Anvil Creek before the inevitable, rush from Outside could begin.

By May, 1899, the new town had an estimated population of 250. With the breakup of the ice in June several vessels from Puget Sound put in at Anvil City and found a population of about 400 living in tents and a few driftwood cabins. Mining had begun on June 20. The reports brought back by these ^ ^ veseels on their return trip were the first reliable confirma– tion of the many wild speculations Outside as to what was going on at ^ ^ Anvil City. In the course of the summer several more ships put in there, and, by the late fall of 1899, the exodus from the Yukon had swelled the population to 3,000.

Meanwhile relatively little actual mining, as compared with the number of claims staked, was under way. Gold had actually been found only on a small section of Anvil Creek, but almost all the ground on this and other streams had been staked by power of attorney without any prospecting having been done. The holders of these claims hoped to profit from new discoveries made by others, but in the letter of the law such staking of unprospected ground was illegal. During the summer of 1899 probably only six or seven hundred men were actually engaged in mining, and over, whereas over 1,000 were idle and unable either to find employment or, they insisted, new ground to work. It is only to be expected that the claim jumping grew to such proportions as to threaten the development of the entire district. There was, of course, no civil government in the new town. Appeals could be sent to Judge Shepard, at St. Michael, was ^ but ^ his response was necessarily delayed. In an effort to correct this condition and "for the protection of property," Kittleson asked that Captain E.S. Walker, of the U.S. Army, and a few ^ ^ soldiers be sent up from St. [: ] Michael. Their arrival did not add to Kittleson's popularity in Anvil City. In 1905 he told Hess that during that summer of 1899 "the original stakers on Anvil Creek who were then attempting to work ^ ^ their claims practically had to stand over them with

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guns all the time to keep from being [: ] overrun by parties of gamblers, professional jumpers, and other riffraff." One is tempted to agree with Alfred H. Brooks when he says: "Had these discontented men spent less time in protesting and airing their grievances and more in prospecting they would have been better off, as subsequent operations have shown that there remained much valuable placer ground which had not then been preempted."

On July 10, the unemployed malcontents called what they defined as a "miner's meeting," although none of the actual claim holders was present. It was decided in advance that at this meeting all existing claims should be declared null and void. Informed of th a ^ i ^ s plan, Kittleson reported it to the military authorities who detailed several soldiers to attend the meeting. In his statement to Hess, [: ] ittleson continues: "When the resolution was introduced, declaring all the locations void and the land open for relocation, the lieutenant ordered that the resolution be withdrawn within two minutes, stating that he considered it not for the good of the community, and that if it was not withdrawn he would clear the hall. The men tried to argue with the lieutenant, but he was firm and at the end of the two minutes ordered the sergeant ... to clear the hall, which was done." Well in advance of this meeting, confederates had been stationed in the hills to await the passing of this resolution and the setting off of bonfires in Anvil City as a signal for them to descen ^ d ^ upon Anvil Creek and restake all the claims. The failure of the resolution also spoiled this part of the plan.

On July 13, the military, obviously confused by the conditions in the town, posted an order which read in part: "All disputed titles, whether to mining claims or town lots, shall at once be brought before the civil authorities for settlement. So long as the civil authorities can handle such matters the military authorities will take no action. In case

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it becomes necessary for the military authorities to act, the claim or lot will be held in its condition at the time, neither party being allowed to do any work to change the conditi l ^ o ^ n of the same." Taken literally this order made all mining activity illegal, for every claim in the area was disputed. It was not very many days, therefore, before a modification was posted which read as follows: "The instructions contained in the order of July 13, 1899, posted at Anvil City, will be amended so as to permit original locators at work on their claims to continue their work in the event that anyone jumps the claim. The matter can afterward be settled by the civil authorities." The need was for a solution now, not "afterwards," and the appeal to "civil authorities" was a cry in the void, but, quite suddenly, the immediate problems of the new mining town were solved by the discovery of what proved to be the richest beach placers, or "poor-man's diggings ^ , ^ " ever found.

John Hummel, an old ^ ^ prospector from Idaho, went down to the beach. A great many reasons have been given for his going there, and all of ^ or ^ none of them may be true. Too weakened by scurvy to get to the gulches along Anvil Creek, he is said to have wandered down to the shore for lack of anything better to do. It may be that he planned to "avail himself of the old time whaleman's cure of sand and salt water." Hummel would never have found a cure for his scurvy in this treatment, but he did find gold in the sands of the beach. Within a few days the news spread throughout the area, and the unemployed miners, as well as some who were already profitably at work on the creeks, flocked to the shore. Only the simplest equipment was needed — a shovel, a wheelbarrow, a bucket on a long handle for dipping up sea water, and the material for making a rocker or a long tom. With this equipment a man could earn $20 to $100 a day on the beach. 2,000 men were very soon thus employed, and, it is estimated that $1,000,000

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was removed with such primitive hand-powered equipment in the next two months.

But even this relatively harmless activity was not allowed to proceed without interruption. One company, which had previously staked a great many so-called "tundra" claims running inland from the water, [: beach, ] protested that it owned these strips of beach and must be ^ ^ paid a royalty of 50¢ a day for the right to mine them. The miners maintained that a 60-foot band above high water was public property, and went on with their work. The company then asked help from the military, whose commander warned that all trespassers on the beach would be arrested. This order was ignored, and the commander arrested 300 men. But there was no civil court or magistrate to hear the charge against them, no jailhouse, and no money for their support while they awaited trial. The prisoners were all perforce allowed to go free, and they all returned to the beach. Sometime within the next few years this claim that a 60-foot strip of any beach was public property and open ^ ^ to all comers was upheld by the Land Office.

The pressure at Nome (the name was changed during the summer of 1899) forced some miners to look for their fortune elsewhere. These excursions resulted in the finding of gold on the Bonanza and Solomon Rivers (See Solomon Region) to the east, although it was not proved to exist in commercial quantities at this time, and on Cripple and Penny Creeks to the west, which were named and staked during the summer. At about the same time gold was found near Cape York, and the York Mining District organized.

The Nome of the fall of 1899 housed about 3,000 men in hundreds of tents, in a few frame and galvanized-iron buildings, and an an even smaller number of tiny driftwood cabins. As a result of the

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beach placers, a boom struck Nome. Wages rose from $10.00 a day to $2.00 an hour, and much of this money was spent every night in the saloons and gambling houses which mushroomed all over town. Prices were high, but almost everyone could afford them. Lumber at $100 to $150 a thousand, and coal at $50 to $100 a ton found ready buyers, as did eggs at $3.00 a doz [: ] en and fresh reindeer meat imported from Siberia at $1.00 a pound. One-room cabins with uncertain squatter's titles sold for $600 to $700, and corner lots on main streets brought $10,000. By the fall of 1899 Nome had elected a fire department, a police force, a mayor, and a town council, which wrote and enforced city ordinances by common ^ c ^ onsent, the NOME NEWS [: ] had put out its first issue, and the Federal government had established a post office and appointed a United States commissioner for the new district.

^¶^ After the confusion and trouble of mid-summer the town settled down to a rea [: ] onable amount of orderliness, for these first comers were mostly serious-minded men — men dreaming of a fortune, perhaps, but still willing to work for it. The migration of professional criminals, Lindeberg's report notwithstanding, waited for the season of 1900. The fall of 1899 was marked by an epidemic of typhoid which resulted from the total lack of sanitary precautions and the use of tundra surface waters for drinking. The only hospital, a small army establish– ment, was unequal to the burden of 200 cases of typhoid at a time, so that the mortality from this epidemic was very high.

Brooks summarizes the results of this first mining sea– son as follows : "Up to January 10, 1900, about 4,500 claims were recorded in the Cape Nome district, but probably not more than 50 claims were developed and not more than 100 even prospected. These ^ 26 [: ls] ^

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50 claims probably yielded over $1,500,000 in gold. The beach-mining operations described above were more of a dramatic incident in the history of the region than of permanent commercial significance, for the richest part of the None beach was worked out the first year ... A result of far greater importance than the actual mining was that some knowledge of the character of the deposits and the condition of operations had been gained. Although this information availed little to the more inexperienced men who were to invade the peninsula during the following year, yet it was of great practical benefit to those who did the actual mining in 1900."

Season of 1900 The last steamers out of Nome in the fall of 1899 brought ^ took ^ away an estimated ^ ^ 1,000 people whose reports about the prospects of that fabulous country spread far and wide, not only throughout Alaska, but also up and down the west coast of the United States. During the winter of 1899-1900 a gold rush comparable to the great Klondike stampede gathered steam. Several factors contributed to the failure of this rush and to the growth, within the next year, of the generally held conviction that Nome was a fake in the hands of swindlers and that there was no gold anywhere in the district.

In the first place, the most popular expectations were also the farthest from the truth. The majority of the 1900 stampeders, not realizing that the beach had already been well worked out, planned to arrive at Nome, to make a quick haul on the beach, and leave by the next boat. They brought with them but ^ very ^ little money, no supplies, hardly any mining equipment, and no knowledge of the industry. Their hopes were naturally doomed to failure.

^¶^ Another popular belief was that the beach deposits were constantly being renewed by the action ^ 26 [: ls] ^

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of the water, from which premise it was argued that if a man could earn $20.00 a day with one long tom or rocker, he needed only larger and more equipment to earn $200.00 a day. Converts to this line of reasoning invested in complicated, costly, and hopelessly useless machinery with which to work the beach sands and the supposedly rich but, of course, nonexistant underwater deposits along the Nome beach.

^¶^ Another cause for failure was the appearance of an unprecedented number of gamblers, professional promoters and shysters ^ who ^ chose this opportunity to form ^ illusory ^ gold mining companies, for which they sold blocks of sto ^ c ^ k and made extravagant promises. Numberless individuals lost everything they had without their money ever leaving the States. Even the mining companies with honest intentions failed in almost every case through ignorance of fundamental mining methods and of the true conditions in the Nome district.

^¶^ ^ Still ^ Another very unfortunate circumstance for the new city was that it could be reached so easily from Seattle and other west coast ports. There was no Chilkoot Pass along the way to weed out the weak, the lazy, and the indecisive from the able and desirable citizens. The voyage up the coast was a pleasant one except for the crowding on board ship to which most of the stampeders had resigned themselves before sailing. Passengers whiled away the ten-day trip by estimating the size of their fortune future fortune ^ , gambling it away, ^ and taking pictures by the light of the late setting sun.

^¶^ By July 1, 1900, more than 50 ships had left over 20,000 people plus their loads of freight on the Nome beach. "The scene on the beach," French writes, "was absolutely chaotic. Thousands of tons of freight of every conceivable description were piled high from the water's edge far up the beach and for two miles along the water front. Everything was ^ <formula> 30 - 2 ﹍ 28 6 </formula> ^ ^28 [: ls]^

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in an appalling state of confusion. Machinery, all sorts of supplies, hay, grain, lumber, hardware, provisions, liquor, tents, stoves, pianos, sewing machines, mirrors, bar fixtures — everything that one may imagine was there. The delivery of goods to their rightful owners was next to impossible. In many instances steamship companies claimed that their responsibility for goods ceased when the goods went over the ship's side. As this performance took place about a mile out to sea, a very risky and expensive trip on lighters had still to be made before the landing, through the surf, was accomplished... Goods once on the beach were still far from their destination, even though the actual distance to be covered was not great. Trans– portation along the beach was either by wagon, at $10 an hour — and a wagon could only haul ^ haul only ^ a few hundred pounds and move at a snail's pace — or goods could be moved on lighters, which were towed by steam or gasoline launches. The charges made by these launches for such towing were frequently as high as $500 a day... Hauling anything on the tundra was next to impossible. Dog teams abounded. Six to twelve dogs, harnessed tandem fashion, could pull a small wagon carrying not to exceed two hundred pounds."

The line of tents housing the 'established' citizens stretched for over 5 miles along the beach, but newcomers were lucky to arrive on shore with their hand luggage. Tents, machinery, and other hold freight awaited the convenience of the lighters, and was in most cases dumped without ceremony on the beach where it lay a prey to the looters who nightly 'worked' the beach for whatever they could carry away. Nome had one ^ <formula> 27 - 2 ﹍ 25 6 </formula> ^ ^25 [: ls]^

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or two frame lodging houses, but no hotels, and a bunk cost $2 or $3 a night, if one were available. Every night a small army of men slept out of doors on the boxes and bales which littered the beach. Food was ex orbitantly high. Three eggs cost $1.00; bread, butter, and coffee, $1.50. The fortune– hunters^,^ who had come with very little money intending to live on their earnings on the beach, discovered that those who had stayed on during the winter of 1899-1900 had completed the staking of the entire area, and that a man could travel for days in any direction without seeing any unclaimed ground. The beach itself was a solid mass of extraordinary appliances designed to recover gold from above and below the waterline, for, despite the advice of experts, almost all newcomers continued to believe that the sea swept gold onto the beach with every lap of a wave. As Brooks says, "There was a flood of gold-saving devices, varying from a patent gold pan hung on a pivot and turned by a crank to complex aggregates of wheels, pumps, sieves, and belts, which required a 100-horsepower engine for their operation." The most successful beach equipment was still the light, simpole, portable rocker or long tom which could be carried at a trot to any part of the beach where gold had been found. Such finds were ^ became ^ daily less frequent, and were, in every case, worked out in a few hours. The rumor was born that there was no gold at Nome. A single, well-equipped company could have made a fortune on the beach in 1900, but with so many individuals pushing each other aside, no one ^ few ^ even made a living.

Other kinds of misfortune struck Nome during that summer of 1900. A smallpox epidemic was controlled only by the ^ <formula> 28 - 2 ﹍ 266 </formula> ^

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prompt action of Captain D. H. Jarvis, of the Revenue Cutter Service. On August 9, a southwesterly storm ripped up the beach, destroyed all the more elaborate 'permanent' appliances, smashed the piles of freight and baggage, demolished most of the buildings al l ^ o ^ ng Front Street, Nome's main thoroughfare which ran along the beach, and left behind a mass of wreckage and debris. This storm put an end to beach placer mining for the season, except by the owners of the few rockers and long toms which had been saved from the debacle.

The next chapter of the Nome story took place ^ was written ^ in Washington. Up to this time, by the Act of 1884, Alaska had been governed according to the laws pertaining in Oregon, that act having read in part: "The general laws of the State of Oregon now in force are hereby declared to be law in said district (Alaska^)^." Legally speaking, Alaska was an extension of Oregon. The Oregon civil code contained two sections legalizing the acquisition and holding of land and the title thereto by aliens. In 1899, under the protection of this law, Lindeberg and his partners had, for a considerable sum, conveyed all their holdings on Anvil Creek to the Pioneer Mining Company of California, formed by the locators and friendly California capitalists. Charles D. Lane and his partners had done the same with the Wild Goose Mining Company in respect to their holdings in the Nome and Council City Districts. The locators and present partners in both these companies included some aliens and some citizens. There were a great many at Nome who felt that aliens should not be allowed to hold land titles, and this feeling had been one of the causes for the attempted July 10, 1899, seizure of all claims on Anvil Creek. A group of shrewd lawyers, later incorporated as Hubbard, Beeman & Hume, took up the cause of the ^26 [: ls]^

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jumpers, and, late in 1899, sent a representative to Washington with the one purpose of enlisting the aid of certain powerful politicians and affecting a change in the United States mining laws. One of these politicians was Alexander McKenzie. The Nome lawyers and McKenzie were given the opportunity they needed on March 1, 1900, when Senator Carter introducted Bill 3919 ^ , ^ making provision for a civil government for Alaska ^ , was introduced ^ This bill included the Oregon regulations protecting aliens. Upon the reading of these particular sections, a North Dakota Senator proposed the substitution of the "Hansbrough amendment" which would have, under certain conditions, validated any claims the Anvil Creek jumpers might already have made. Not only did this am l ^ e ^ nd– ment arous ^ e ^ the instant opposition of the Senators from Nevada, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Colorado, but , also ^ , ^ closer study, that of McKenzie and his supporters as well, since this amendment was not strong enough to give them a clear claim to all Anvil Creek holdings. On April 4, the Senator from North Dakota (fittingly enough, McKenzie's home state) introduced a modified amendment which, although it categorically barred non-citizens from locating, holding, or convey– ing mining claims, likewise put an end to staking through power of attorney, and declared further that those claims already staked through power of attorney upon which $100.00 worth of labor or improvement had not been made within 90 days of staking were null and void. From the point of view of the claim jumpers and their representatives, this proposal started out well and ended very badly. McKenzie and his block opposed it, the original Hansborough amendment, and the Oregon stipula– tions through almost a month of angry, stubborn, bitter, and extremely personal argument on the floor of the Senate. On May 1, fearing that ^ 27 [: ls] ^

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Alaska would lose her code of laws entirely if the controversy continued, a group of disinterested Senators affected a compromise, and the bill was passed denuded of all three of these [: ] controversial sections. Although McKenzie had lost his fight for a positive legal basis for his intended raid on Anvil Creek, he had succeeded in Killing the Oregon provisions, which left the two questions — title holding by aliens and staking by power of attorney — in a kind of legal limbo.

The new Alaska Code divided the Territory into three judicial divisions, the secon ^ d ^ [: ] of which was to have headquarters at Nome. Strongly influenced by McKenzie, President McKinley not only appointed Arthur H. Noyes Judge for the new district, but also named C.L. Vawter United States Marshal, Joseph K. Wood District Attorney, and several more of McKenzie's friends and supporters to lesser positions in the new court to be set up at Nome. Before leaving Washington, McKenzie put a few more bricks into the foundation of his plan. Under the laws of Arizon ^ a ^ he organized the Alaska Gold Mining Company, with offices in New York City, and with an authorized capital stock of $15,000,000, named himself president and general manger of this company, arranged with Hubbard, senior partner of Hubbard, Beeman & Hume and the only partner then in Washington, to buy from the jumpers all their "titles" on Anvil Creek and to pay for these titles with Alaska Gold Mining Company stock. McKenzie, therefore, not only bought a pig in a poke, but he promised to pay for it with the same pig in the same peke.

^¶^ McKenzie, Noyes and "the court" sailed out of Seattle together. On the way they put the finishing touches on a scheme of confiscation which, as McKee remarks, they were able temporarily to bring to "a prosperous state of realization." On July 19, 1900, their ^25 [: ls]^

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steamer put in at Nome. While Noyes remained on board, McKenzie hurried ashore. Within two days, by threatening to boycott their cases out of court and by convincing them that Hubbard had already done business with him, he had induced Beeman and Hume to hand over to him [: ] , in exchange for stock in the Alaska Gold Mining Company, the contingent interest (amounting to 50%) which their firm had in all the jumper Anvil Creek claims, had demanded and received a one-fourth interest in the business of Hubbard, Beeman & Hume for himself and another one– fourth for Joseph K. Wood, and had made Hume deputy district attorney. On July 20th these negotiations were legalized. McKenzie still held more than 50% of the stock in his own company. He had bought half a big and paid for it with considerably ^ ^ less than half of the same pig.

On July 21, Noyes stepped ashore, and, without waiting for the organization of the court.

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appointed McKcnzie receiver of at least four of the richest claims in the Nome District. As has already been pointed out, every claim for miles around was in dispute. McKenzie and Neyes put this confusion to their own use. Without notifying the claimants, Noyes directed McKenzie to take immediate possession of these mines, to manage and work them, and to preserve the gold and "dispose of it subject to the further orders of the court." Noyes particularly enjoined the original claimants from interfering with the mining activities of the receiver, and, in a further order, directed McKenzie to take possession of, and to deliver to him, all personal property on one of these claims. The receiver's bond in all cases was fixed at $5,000 despite the fact that one of the commandeered claims was then yielding $15,000 ^ a ^ day. Petitions to the court for an appeal from its orders were refused, and Noyes announced, in effect, that the orders of his court were not appealable, that its jurisdiction was exclusive. Tompkins remarks: "The ease with which apparent success was obtained in this case suggested the same course regarding approximately twenty other valuable claims. The owners were impotent to protect their own interests. Mining activity on the Seward Peninsula practically ceased. To develop a claim and prove its value was to risk losing it. Even prospecting came to a standstill."

Fortunately for the miners, one of the first victims [: ] of Neyes perfidy ^ of the receivership plan ^ was Charles D. Lane, manager of the Wild Goose Mining Company, who held valuable claims both at Nome and at Council City. Lane knew his rights and was not intimidated by Noyes or de ^ t ^ erred by the difficulties of the situation. He sent papers with sworn affidavits and instructions to his

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lawyers in San Francisco, dispatching them secretly on a fast vessel out of Nome. Judge Morrow, of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals ^ , ^ made orders allowing appeals in all five cases reported, and commanding Noyes to halt all proceedings in his court. McKenzie, who, meanwhile, had become known far and wide as the "King of Receivers" and "The Big One," was ordered to "cease all action in the suits pending and to turn back to the defendants all the property seized." This news reached Nome on September 14 and its three daily newspapers printed the writ in full under headlines reading: "McKenzie Thrown out of His Job," "Death-blow to the New York Ring," etc.

^¶^ By no means defeated by this turn of events, and despite having been served with all the requisite papers, McKenzie maintained 'upon advice of his lawyers' that the write were irregular and void. He refused to return the gold-dust he had already mined, while Noyes merely stayed all proceedings in his court and neglected to issue orders which would have forced McKenzie to obey the writs.

^¶^ At about this time ^ Meanwhile ^ the 'great' storm of Sept. 12 hit ^ was attacking ^ the Nome beach. McKenzie attempted to withdraw the gold-dust from the vaults of the Alaska Banking and Safe Deposit Company, but was stopped by a detachment of troops and several claimants together with their lawyers. "All this happened," continues Mc– ^ K ^ ee, "when the storm was at its height, the miserable streets of the city hybrid 'city' knee-deep in mud, and when, without the semblance of a harbor, and open to the clear sweep and fierce attack of the Arctic gale, entire sections of the place were under water, and houses and wreckage generally drifting about. It was an excellent background for a dramatic incident."

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^¶^ Since the only 'court' in Nome was temporarily in abeyance and of no use in any case, a second report had of necessity to be delivered to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. It lacked only a month to the winter freeze-up, and it was feared, for a time, that the storm would conspire with the lateness of the season to hold up proceedings for that year. However, on September 17, the storm blew out and Mc ^ K ^ ee, making last-minute preparations to sail for Seattle on the Tacoma, received a visit from Samuel Knight. On behalf of the Wild Goose Company, Knight had been fighting the receiver– ship ring all summer. He gave Mc ^ K ^ ee papers addressed to the proper officials in San Francisco on which could be based proceedings against McKenzie for contempt of court and ^ that would lead to his ^ arrest.

^¶^ Ten days later the Tacoma put in at Seattle. Mc ^ K ^ ee delivered the papers and, as McFee ^ he ^ , a lawyer himself and restrained in his language, says: "The day following, the Circuit Court of Appeals, with great astonishment, learned in what respect its mandates had been held; and, shortly afterward, two deputy United States marshals were despatched to Nome on one of the last vessels sailing for that port. Thwarting the ring by reaching Nome before the ice had closed communication with the outside world, they duly arrested the receiver (McKenzie) and brought him before the court in San Francisco whose orders he had deliberately defied." It was not until the following spring that Noyes was brought to California. These two men ( S ^ s ^ ee their Biographies) were tried and found guilty, but their punishment can in no manner be equated with the amount of damage they did ^ in ^ Nome.

The fall of 1900 brought a lull in the local ^ <formula> 28 - 2 ﹍ 26 6 </formula> ^

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excitement and a general accounting was possible. The big September storm had destroyed all the buildings on the south side of Front Street, left hundreds of people homeless and wrecked on the beach or swept out to sea over $1,000,000 worth of property. Typhoid, pneumonia, and small-pox had taken a toll o f the population, but the threat of the freeze-up removed a great many more than any disease although ^ still ^ it is estimated that 10,000 people remained at Nome during the winter of 1900-1901.

^¶^ French describes the Nome of ^ camp as of ^ October, 1900: "The buildings of Nome were, many of them, highly creditable and were sufficient in number to accom ^ m ^ odate the people who would remain there all winter. Several well built hotels existed, and a large theatre in which a typical western variety show could be seen, as well as weekly prize fights... Front Street was lined with shops, saloons, dance halls, gambling houses and restaurants of all sizes and shapes, open for business day and night. Late in August the United States military barracks were completed."

^¶^ Front Street, early in the season, had billowed with dust, while all other streets in the town were practically impassable because of the tundra mud; but with the rains which started in August and continued until the freeze-up, even Front Street turned into a mud lane. Stedman Avenue, also known as "Hogan's Alley," had been planked over during the summer, and in the next few years several other streets were similarly distinguished. After the last indigents had been shipped home through public or private charity ^ , ^ an estimate of placer mining activity for the 1900 season could be taken, and, considering the amount of trouble and confusion which the summer had seen, the accounting was remarkably g^oo^d. Value estimates ^ <formula> 29 - 2 ﹍ 276 </formula> ^

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for the Nome area appeared as follow ^ were ^ :

Final estimates set the total ^ 1900 ^ placer gold output for all of Seward Peninsula at $4,750,000. Nome vindicated herself in ^ these ^ figures although she was to suffer for several years from the name Noyes and McKenzie had given her civil administration.

Season of 1901 ^¶^ The rush of 1900 was never repeated. Disappointed and despairing individuals ^ men [: ] ^ enlarged upon the conditions pertaining at Nome during ^ difficulties of ^ the summer of 1900; ^ they ^ complained that the sea had not renewed the beach placer deposits ^ and ^ des– c ^ r ^ ibed the town as a nest of thieves and ruffians ^ [: ] by ^ in the hands of corrupt and unscrupulous officials. Large, established mining enterprises in the States which might , had they been ^ known ^ apprised of the true situation at Nome , ^ might ^ have invested magnificent sums toward the ^ its ^ development of the country , withdrew to a safe distance from what they considered a foolish and dangerous situation.

^¶^ The 10,000 who stayed at Nome put a particularly ^ long and ^ cold and extended winter to good use. When Mc ^ K ^ ee returned on June 24, 1901 he was able to report that not only had Nome acquired a "new and well-appointed post-office," but also that the town "seemed very orderly, much improved, and more sub– stantial in general appearance," and added: "It had been duly incorporated as a city. About a mile of the principal streets had been boarded over... The banner sign, 'City Morgue,' had ^ <formula> 26 - 2 ﹍ 246 </formula> ^

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now assumed more modest proportions; ^ pe ^ ople who had wintered at Nome looked strong and well; and the doctors somewhat pla ^ in ^ tively said that the camp had been' disgustingly healthy.' ... The average individual who had spent the winter there had lived very comfortably, with plenty of good things to eat and drink, and I was informed that the place had been very gay 'socially.' Some were in fine feather, others hopeful, and but few dis– couraged."

^¶^ Seen in perspective it can be understood that the summer of 1900 was the 'Chilkoot Pass' to Nome. The men who had remained at Nome were either already miners or in experienced men ^ or ^ willing and able to learn the ^ mining ^ business. They all looked for– ward confidently to the new season, but the weather conspired against them. The thaw was late and the summer dry, yet $3,000,000 was removed from creek placers around Nome that year, and $20,000 from the beach. However, the most intensive effort went into the improvement of mining methods so as to reduce mining costs. Experimental steam pumping plants were installed on Anvil Creek, but the cost of fuel ruled them out. During the winter some of the high-bench and tundra ^ inland ^ placers were successfully exploited by drifting. Although their production was small, the feasibility of winter mining had been proved.

^¶^ Prospecting in outlying districts increased. Gold was discovered in the northeastern part of Seward Peninsula, and the development of the Kotzebue District began. Ditch construction on Ophir Creek under the direction of Charles D. Lane progressed, and a dredge started operation on Solomon River. During the winter of 1901-1902 drift mining increased in the high benches near Anvil Creek and in the tundra which served partially to solve the seasonal employment problem, to stabilize the economy of ^ <formula> 29 - 2 ﹍ 276 </formula> ^

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the new district, and to reduce the size of the migratory population.

Seasons of 1902-1904 ^¶^ The arrival of a new judge, Hon. James Wickersham (q.v.), had ^ in September, 1901, ^ faith in the administration at Nome, but too late to improve that mining season. During the 1902 season the gold in the bed of Anvil Creek was practically exhausted, but parallel channels in the valley were discovered and mining, with water supplied by two pumping plants and a system of ditches, continued on Anvil, Glacier and Dexter Creeks. Despite these improvements the production of the Nome District decreased to $2,800,000 in 1902.

^¶^ The winter of 1902– 1903 saw a remarkable increase in drift mining with an estimated $500,000 removed by this method from the bench es ^ lowland back of it ^ and the tundra. The Peninsula, and particularly Nome, was prosperous. Twenty– seven steam and seven sailing vessels brought 75,000 tons of cargo to the peninsula, and most of these shipments were for Nome. The Seward Peninsula, Railway (formerly called the Nome Arctic Railway) was extended from Nome to the head of Dexter Creek. Ditch construction flourished; the Miocene ditch now extended to the head of Nome River and sent a branch to the Snake River.

^¶^ In 1903 hydraulic lifts appeared on Glacier and Anvil creeks, and prospecting with churn drills covered the tundra ^ prairie ^ belt between Nome and the mountains. The major part of the season was spent in unproductive or 'dead' work; and yet, despite the exhausting of some of the shallower placers, the production for the Nome District in 1903 is estimated at $2,400,000 — a decrease of only $400,000 over ^ from ^ the previous year.

^¶^ The winter of 1903-1904 witnessed ^ saw ^ the removal of $1,000,000 by drift mining from the high bench and tundra ^ lowland ^ deposits in the ^ <formula> 28 - 2 ﹍ 26 </formula> ^

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Nome area, and some low-lying gravels and ancient beach placer in the tundra ^ prairie ^ were explored. Up to July 10 , 1904 the season remained dry and more than half the mines in the Nome district were idle because of lack of water. Then came heavy rains and mining began, but the season had been [: ] seriously abbreviated. More ditches were built; a steam shovel operated successfully on Anvil Creek and hydraulic elevators were at work on Glacier and adjacent creeks.

^¶^ The most startling development of the ^ 1904 ^ season was the discovery of rich placers on Little Creek, a few miles north of Nome, which served to prove the contention of the experts that there was still the possibility of signi– ficant finds in the area. However, although the legal compli– cations were gradually dwindling and disappearing, the miners in the Nome area had still to learn that large enterprises must be put in the hands of experts. Brooks ^ , ^ writing only a few years later, remarks, "Probably two-thirds of the incorporated com– panies have made failures or achieved only partial success because of poor management." The greatest increase in production during this season was that of the high-bench placers, while the creek placers showed a considerable decrease.

Seasons of 1905-1906 ^¶^ Mining along the "second beach line", as it was called, marked the winter of 1904-1905, and an extension of this same line, long predicted by the geologists, was discovered running from Hastings to Bourbon Creek and at Jess Creek, 10 miles west of Nome. $1,500,000 was recovered from Little Creek within 12 months of the first discoveries there.

^¶^ The summer of 1905 was remarkable for a very late spring and a freeze-up starting around September 18, or about one month ahead of shedulew schedule. The emphasis was again ^ <formula> 29 - 2 - ﹍ 276 </formula> ^

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on ditch construction throughout this summer. Seward ditch ^ now ^ ran for 37 miles from the head of Nome River to the southern slopes of Anvil Mountain; Cedric ditch ran for 24 miles to Arctic Creek west of Nome. Despite all this unproductive work $3,400,000 worth of gold was removed. from the Nome District.

^¶^ During the winter of 1905-1906 the Little Creek discoveries sent many prospectors out on the tundra ^ prairie ^ and a "third beach line" was discovered. This line had been predicted by the Geological Survey in 1899. So much work was done with steam thawers and hoists out on the frozen tundra that Nome ^ suffered ^ was threatened with a coal shortage which had to be alleviated by drawing on Government coal stored at Fort Davis. By the end of that winter $2,500,000 had been recovered from the tundra gravels. This remarkable success drew attention away from the creek placers, whose production had gradually been dwindling, and work on the tundra ^ prairie ^ was continued throughout the summer.

^¶^ This was just as well, for the summer of 1906 was unusually dry, so that work on the creeks would have been difficult ^ , ^ if possible at all. Under new management the narrow-ga ^ u ^ ge Seward Peninsula Railway was extended over the pass above the head of Nome River to Salmon Lake and from there ^ t ^ o Lanes Landing, on the Kuzitrin. Steamboat connections with Puget Sound were improved, and the city of Nome began to show the effects of several years of prosperity. Many substantial buildings appeared, and the town began to lose the transient, flimsy look of its early years.

^¶^ Brooks, writing in 1908, while mentioning these improvements , and reaffirming his faith in the value of the deposits in the area, repeats a warning. "The necessity of intrusting the management of large enterprises," he writes, "only to men of technical training, experience, and proved ability has not ^ <formula> 30 - 2 ﹍ 296 </formula> ^

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by any means been fully realized. It is common knowledge that the failures of mining companies are in a large measure charge– able solely to the ignorance of the men responsible for their management. This is because the public has not been educated to the point of regarding mining as anything but a gamble, and holds in small esteem those who would put i ^ t ^ on a sound business basis."

1910 to 1948 As early as ^ By ^ 1910 Nome was already turning to other sources of income than the mining of gold, a tendency which has increased with the years.

One of these new 'industries' was the tourist trade. In March, 1909, Dan Dix wrote a glowing report of Nome ^ , ^ "the metropolis of Northwestern Alaska." Here was "a well-governed municipality," he wrote, with "splendidly equipped modern schools, numerous religious and social organizations," electricity, the purest drinking water in the world, local and long-distance telephone service, substantial business structures, warehouses and well-built homes, flowers, "hill-sides green with grass," and "attractive vegetable gardens on the outskirts of town." The article reads not so much like a modern travel folder as like the text of a sermon dedicated to correcting certain cruel misap ^ p ^ rehensions. Nome was growing up, developing a pride. Her citizens resented the shadow of the past and began to emphasize the fact that the villains had all come from Outside, that the heroes had all belonged to the town itself.

A second important source of income was the transfer of freight and passengers bound for other parts of the peninsula. Despite the fact that ^ T ^ he harbor had never been dredged out and ^ <formula> 27 - 7 ﹍ 256 </formula> ^

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ships still anchored one or two miles offshore, delivering cargoes by lighter or barge; ^ but ^ Nome soon ^ was ^ developed ^ grew nevertheless ^ into the ^ a ^ commercial center for the southern part of Seward Peninsula.

^¶^ One writer who visited Nome in 1919 mentions that in rough weather freight and passengers could not be landed on the warehouse wharves, but were rather loaded into "a sort of mammoth basket or cage" suspended from a staging anchored in the sea, "and swung by cable high over the waves ... on to the dock." Nasty weather was as frequent as ever and the harbor ^ water front ^ as unprotected. There was much talk [: ]

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of dredging out the mouth of the Snake River, but this has not been done even to this day.

Meanwhile the production of gold continued, although not at the fabulous rate of the early days, the heavily mineralized deposits having been depleted. Still, Nome remained the leading gold district on the peninsula. There was a gradual absorption of the smaller outfits by the larger, until, in 1934, it was possible for C.W. Henderson, of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, to write: "Gold production in Alaska has become stabilized. Excepting the Kennecott copper mine (now idle) and small placers the production of gold for several years past has come chiefly from the low-grade Alaska Juneau lode mine ... the Fairbanks Exploration Co. in the Yukon district and the three modern dredges of the Hammon Consolidated Gold Fields at Nome, both subsidiaries of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co." Brooks' lesson had been learned and applied.

^ ¶ ^ In the very same paragraph, however, Henderson felt it necessary to add: "Operations (of placers) begin in May, unless delayed by a late spring, and close in October, unless stopped by an early winter." Nome placer miners, who continue to the present day to produce the major part of Alaska's gold output, were still working a short season which was as unpredictable as ever. The Nome district suffere [: ] for many years from the lack of a year-round source of employ– ment. This lack was later solved in part by the development of methods by which the deep layers of permafrost could be thawed by steam piped underground under pressure. As a result of this technique dredges were able to work the year around.

Agnes Burr, who visited Nome in 1919, writes of a modern,

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prosperous city with telephone and wireless service, several ^ a choice of ^ hotels, numberless stores, ^ and ^ churches, a good school, and a fine hospital. She, too, mentions the vegetable gardens where she noticed lettuce, rad d ishes, cabbage, and turnips flourishing, but she makes more of the Eskimo village on the sandspit between Snake River and the ocean, and of the rich variety of native handiwork — carved ivory, baskets, beadwork, moccasins — available in the shops of Nome. By 1920 the population had shrunk from the 2,610 of 1910 to only 852.

^ ¶ After the 1906 peak of $7,500,000 ^ , Gold production rose gradually up to about 1920 and then ^ in dollar values gradually dropped to the $1,533,000 ^ began to fall off. ^ of 1932. ^ In 1933 ^ ,however, ^ the reduction in the gold content of the dollar had the effect of raising the price of gold from $20.67 to $35.00 per fine ounce, a boost of 69%. Gold mining revived. The United States Smelting Refining & Mining Co. in its report for 1933 was looking forward to developing certain low-grade mines in the Nome area which it had not paid to work under the old statutory price. New mining methods came into use and the production of gold, in ^ ^ dollar values, began to rise.

^¶^ In addition to gigant ^ i ^ c dredges, hydraulics and other electrical machinery, the larger companies were now thawing the deep permafrost layers by driving pipes to the desired level and forcing steam under pressure against the most heavily mineralized layers. Thawed in this manner, the lower levels never froze again, while the surface, which did refreeze thawed with the coming of summer. In 1937 the United States Smelting Refining & Mining Co. using this method operated its three dredges in the Nome district for ^ a total of ^ 510 days out of the year , while prospecting, thawing, and development work continued throughout the year. Here was the answer to the seasonal employment problem of the area. Companies set up ^ per ^ manent mining camps ^ on the tundra prairie ^ , outside of Nome itself on the tundra ^ prairie ^ , with ^37 [: ls]^

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well-built bunkhouses, recreation halls, family units, and surroundings sufficiently attractive to influence ^ encourage ^ the ^ em ^ ployees to bring their families and settle permanently. In this way a great deal of expense entailed in recruiting men for summer work, in transporting them to and from Seattle, and other west ^ ^ coast ports, was avoided.

^¶^ The amount of gold produced as well as the value of the product continued to increase right up to the beginning of the second World War. Then, practically over-night, the men and most of the machinery used in the mines was ^ were ^ taken over by the U.S. Army which needed both manpower and equipment for the building of innumerable bases and airstrips throughout the Territory. Finally, after gold was declared nonessential on October 8, 1942, gold mining could be carried on by only by special permit and only by overage workmen using nonessential materials. By the end of 1944, only 86 operators (42 of which had crews of less than 5 men) employing a total of 669 men were mining gold in Alaska. In 1941, 554 placer operations had employed 4,921 men.

^¶^ Nome ming ^ mining ^ , indeed, gold mining throughout the Territory, has not yet recovered from the effects of World War II. (See Bluff Region) The price of gold remains fixed at $35.00 but the cost of labor, supplies, and taxes has jumped out of all proportion to anything the Territory has ever known before. Military construction employing civilian labor goes forward on a wage scale the mining companies cannot match. As of this writing, ^ (1948) ^ , very few companies have reopened their mines. Even the giant Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Co., famous for applying mass production methods to the mining of low-grade ores, has not reopened since it shut down in 1944 as a result of the War Labor Board decree increasing wages and ^ ^ authorizing retroactive payment. In 1945 ^26 [: ls]^

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Bain writes: "The ending of the war found most of the gold mines closed, stripped of tools and equipment, and with their former working forces widely scattered."

However, some progress has been made. In 1945 the United States Smelting Refining & Mining Co. repurchased the bunkhouses and other property at Nome which had been taken over by the Army, but the release of this property came too late in the year for much con– structive work to be done that season. Lee Brothers operated a dredge, and Herbert Engstrom a dragline in the Nome area in 1945.

^¶^ The future holds several possibilities. Many Canadian companies, having profited from gold mining during the last few years, are beginning to show an interest in investing their surplus in Alaska mines. United States construction companies, which handled enormous military installations in all parts of the Territory ^ during the war ^ , are working their way into the mining busi– ness. Mining is, after all, largely a matter of moving vast quantities of dirt from one place to another. If directed by mining experts, these companies should be able to make a success of gold mining, since, as Bain says, "they are well-financed, are experienced in moving dirt and other operations common in mining, and are controlled by men accustomed to taking risks."

^¶^ Prospecting continued throught the war, and the Army Air Forces are now completing a set of maps for the entire Territory, compiled by trimetrogon photography on the scale of 1:500,000. Both of these activities will help to take the guess-work out of Alaskan mining. However, the best that can be said for gold mining there today is that it lies in temporary partial abeyance awaiting the turn of economic and political events. No one can be ^ ^ sure of what will happen ^ to the industry ^ in the next ten years ^ to the industry upon which Nome mainly depends. ^

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Meanwhile the city of Nome was undergoing various changes. In 1920, Billy Mitchell, then Brigadier General Mitchell, Assistant Chief of the United States Air Force, sent a group of Army planes to fly from New York to Nome and return. This maneuver, which was successfully accomplished, was the first of a series of long– distance flights to ^ include ^ Nome. ^ (See Wiley Post; James Mattern; Hans Mirow; Sigismund Levanarsky) ^ By the early 1920's, the old narrow-gauge Seward Peninsula [: ]

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Railroad line had been bought by the Alaska Railroad Co. and demoted. It was now known as the Pupmobile Railroad, or the "Kougarok Limited." and ^ It ^ consisted of a fleet of flat cars or truck bodies ^ , ^ fitted with railroad wheels ^ , ^ and ^ was ^ used for carrying freight and supplies out to the tundra mines. Lined with benches, the Pupmobile was and still is used to show tourists the sights out on the tundra. Sheldon, 90 miles from Nome, is the end of the line.

^¶^ This period also saw the beginnings of the now world-famous Nome to Candle and return dog race, or, Alaska Derby, as it came to be called, which roused the pioneer gambling spirit of the town. The total purse on the race runs to thousands of dollars every year.

In 1934 most of the business and re [: ] i– dential sections were destroyed by fire. With special attention to making the streets both wide and straight, characteristics of which the old town could not boast, the entire city was subsequently rebuilt.

Aside from the gold mining, the greatest 'rise and fall' story of the Nome District during the last forty years has been that of the reindeer industry ^ , ^ It is interesting to note, that just as this industry ^ which ^ has helped toward the growth of the area ^ and which contributed ^ so did it help toward its dis– covery ^ , ^ -- for [: ] ^ one of the men ^ the man Dr. Sheldon Jackson brought from Norway in 1898 to help him get reindeer from Siberia was none other than Jafet Lindeberg. ^¶^ Starting with the original tiny herd ^ band ^ which Jackson obtained ^ from Siberia ^ in 1891, the herds grew to about 1,200 in 1900, 50,000 in 1914, and 650,000 in 1932. ^¶^ After Jackson, Lomen is the name most generally associated with the Alaska reindeer industry. From the arrival at Nome, early in the century, first of Judge Gudbrand G. Lomen (q.v.) and his son Carl, and then of the other four sons, Alfred, Ralph, George, and Harry (See Lomen Brothers), this name became associated, not only with reindeer but also with a wide range of legal, legislative, mining, and commercial enterprises ^ activities ^ in the Nome District.

^¶^ Because of his own Norwegian ancestry, ^ however, ^ Judge Lomen took a particular interest in and was in turn trusted by the ^ Norwegian-speaking ^ Lapp herders who were struggling

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with the legal intricacies of the reindeer industry in Alaska. The elder Lomen's interest spread to his sons, and, although Carl is usually spoken of as the "Reindeer King," the Lomen family worked together toward the development of their several business enterprises, and especially their reindeer holdings.

^¶^ By 1910 the Seward Peninsula herds had increased beyond the local demand for reindeer meat as food and the hides for boots, ^ coats ^ parkas , mittens, leggings, socks, trousers, and sleeping bags. The Lomens believed there was a tremendous potential market for reindeer meat in the States, and the hides were already in great demand for the manufacture of fine gloves and leather jackets. By 1930 the Lomen Reindeer and Transpor– tation Corporation ^ of Nome ^ managed the largest white-controlled reindeer herds in Alaska, maintained cold storage plants at Teller and Golovnin, and a cannery and by-products plant at Golovnin. ^ Meanwhile, ^ Nome had come to be considered the capital of the reindeer industry and which had long since proved itself to be a fine year-round source of employment and of community as well as private income.

^¶^ It is impossible to trace here the hectic, contradictory history of this industry from its peak in the early ^ ^ 1930's to its present disintegra– tion. (See Reindeer Industry of Alaska) The U.S. Government, which finally passed the Reindeer a ^ A ^ ct, transferring all white-owned herds to federal ownership, was only the last of many agencies which finally forced the Lomens ^ and most other whites ^ out of the reindeer business. But they retained their position as the first family of Nome. The present Lomen Commercial Company with Alfred Lomen, President, and Carl and Ralph, Vice-Presidents, continues to serve the community and, through it, all of Seward Peninsula.

^¶^ Starting with Judge Lomen, the efforts of this remarkable family to improve their adopted town have drawn them into public life as well as into business. Judge Lomen was Mayor of Nome from 1917-1919, U.S. Attorney for the Second Division, 1918-1921, and U.S. District Judge for the Second Division in 1921

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and 1925. Carl Lomen was Chief Clerk of the U.S. District Court at Nome several times between the years 1901 and 1908. Alfred Lomen was a member of the Senate Territorial Legislature in 1929, 1931, and 1933, and Ralph Lomen was a member of the Nome City Council in 1915 and a Representative to the Territorial Legislature in 1927. Other Alaska communities may well envy Nome the concentration of public-spirited ability, energy, and resourcefulness represented by the Lomen family.

The Nome of the last decade bears little resemblance to the city of 20 or 30 years ago. The 1939 population figure appears as 1,559 although the actual population is estimated at 2,800 in winter and 4,000 in summer, with a ratio of two-thirds white and one-third Native. Sidewa k ^ l ^ ks are all planked and streets either planked or graveled. Although there is still no harbor, boats out of Seattle and from other parts of Alaska make ^ eight or ten ^ 8 or 10 round trips a y a ear. Commerce from Nome rose to 21,265 tons, with a total valuation of $4,796,000, in 1936. In addition to the U.S. Army post office, there is a second-class Federal post office, and three airplane companies maintain year-round passenger, mail, and freight service with other parts of Alaska and Outside. The municipal landing field ^ has a strip ^ is 3,200 feet long, and well-lighted, hard-surfaced Mark Field is 6,000 feet long. The U.S. Army maintains a telegraph and radiotelephone unit of the Alaska Communication System at Nome.

Among the recent improvements are a new Federal Building, which houses the main offices for the Second Judicial Division, and the post office building, both built in 1938. A municipal building houses the police department, a central pumping system, and a fire department with modern motor equipment. Nome has six churches, a ^ Roman ^ Catholic Mission, and a fine school system. The public school, which has an attendance of about 200, employs 8 teachers and a school nurse, and is housed in a new, modern building with a gymnasium and a well-stocked library. Nome also has a

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the only high school in the Second Judicial District. Since this school is accredited, its graduates may enter college without special examination. The graded Alaska Native Service School, with an attendance of about 160, ^ in 1939 ^ emphasizes vocational activities such as boat and sled building, skin sewing, and ivory carving.

^¶^ Since Nome is the headquarters for all government activities in Northwestern Alaska, several representatives, both official and private, are stationed there — 2 ^ two ^ for the Alaska Road Commission, and one each for the Bering Reindeer Unit, Office of Indian Affairs, and the ^ ^ U.S. Weather Bureau. There are, in addition, a Deputy Marshall and U.S. Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Justice, an Assayer and Field Engineer for the Alaska Department of Mines, and a Liquor License Officer, and a Land Registration Clerk from the Alaska Department of the Treasury.

^¶^ In 1946, eight Nome citizens had seats in the Territorial Legislature: 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat ^ four ^ in the House, and 2 ^ four ^ Republicans and 2 Democrats in the Senate. The American Red Cross has a Field Director, the Alaska Steamship Company an agent, and the Standard Oil Company of California a distributor at Nome. One of the lighterage companies and one of the light and power companies are run by the United States Smelting, Mining and Refining Co., but, in addition, one of each of these services is privately ^ separately ^ owned. Several [: ] services of a kind relatively rare in Alaska are available in Nome: 2 laundries, a Railway Express agency, 3 transfer and storage companies, 2 fuel and 2 ice and water dealers, a dairy, a garbage collection ^ , ^ (delicately named the Nome Sanitary Service), a bakery, bank, barber, public bath, beauty shop, candy store, and dry cleaner. ^ Perhaps omit? ^ Offering a sharp contrast to the more lurid names ^ names like the "Malemate Saloon," so characteristic ^ of the Stampedez town, one of the ^ four ^ restaurants is called the [: ] "Snack Shack." Two private physicians, an osteopath, and an optician

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practice at Nome, and, until ^ recently, ^ 1948 there was a modern 23-bed hospital operated by the Methodist Church. This hospital burned early in 1948 and patients were transferred to the Air Base hospital. Plans for the building of a fire-resistant 35-bed hospital with a 10-bed tuberculosis ward are now in progress. The famous ^ newspaper, the ^ NOME NUGGET ^ NOME NUGGET ^ ^ , ^ is now being published ^lc^ three times a week. ^¶^ The fact that there are ^ four ^ 4 curio and gift shops, [: ] 3 ^ three ^ licensed fur dealers, and 1 ^ one ^ retail fur dealer shows how much the ^Cap or small?^ handicraft and fur-farming industries contribute to the community.

^¶^ In the summer the arrival of the N ^ n ^ atives from King Island and Little Diomede Island to fish and to barter their beautiful hand-made articles for winter supplies makes of Nome one of the few predominantly white towns in Alaska where Eskimos may still be seen in their native, everyday dress, living their lives relatively untouched by the troubles and taints of civilization. The demand for native-made products grew steadily with the tourist trade during the 1920's and 1930's and, with the influx of civilians and U.S. Army personnel during and after World War II, it gained an unprecedented lead over the supply. It is estimated that the arts and crafts industry brings more than $500,000 a year into the Nome area. A ^ . ^ Polet, famous pioneer merchant, who set up his first store in Nome in 1900, features and encourages all native arts and crafts. ^¶^ Fur farming is already well on its way to becoming a full-scale industry. The long, relatively cold winter months are ideal for the raising of fur-bearing animals, and the Nome district is particu– larly well known for [: ] mink and its white, blue, and silver foxes. We have already discussed the development of the [: ] reindeer industry.

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For the future one of the most promising industries would seem to be ^ commercial ^ fishing in Bering Sea where king crab, shrimp, cod, halibut, herring, and salmon abound. In addition to contributing directly to the economy of the district, the development of this potential fishing industry would serve to reduce freight rates between Seattle and Nome by giving vessels a return cargo.

The annual Northwestern Alaska Fair which ^ ^ is held at Nome late in March or sometime in April lasts for four days and is attended by visitors from all over the Territory and from Outside. Most of the fair-goers arrive by air, since, in honor of the occasion, many airplane companies sell special round-trip tickets at one-way rates. Indoor exhibits are set up in the Territorial School auditorium and include ^ n ^ N ative handicrafts, ^?^ furs, art work, flowers and vegetables, curios, relics, and mining products, and ^ there ^ [: ] is a variety of outdoor events as well. The ^ ninth ^ 9th such Fair ^ , ^ was held in 1947 ^ , ^ and included two complete reindeer camps where Eskimo families demonstrated all aspects of the life of a native herder — methods of butchering, preparing, and preserving the meat for food, and the manner in which the by-products are fashioned into wearing apparel or used in the making of sleds and harnesses. Outdoor events included reindeer racing and dog racing, and the Fair ended with a skit entitled "Days of ′99" which all attended in "Gay 90's" costumes, or hopeful fascimiles thereof. Fair week is also the date of the Farthest North Bench Show for Malemute and Siberian ^ sled ^ D ^ d ^ ogs and of the All-Alaska Championship Dog Race (158 miles), Nome to Golovnin and back.

Big game hunters come to Seward Peninsula in July to hunt walrus and in April and May to hunt polar bear. With the help of the

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competent guides available at Nome ^ , ^ large r herds of walrus can ^ usually ^ be found within 2 or 3 days' travel from Nome, and the haunts of the enormous white bear are only 5 or 6 hours distant by plane. Sport fishermen also come to the area for the trout, salmon, whitefish, pike, and grayling in near-by streams.

More than $103,000,000 in placer gold has been recovered on Seward Peninsula since 1900 ^ , of which ^ 85% of this came from the Nome area. Nome citizens have not forgotten this fact, but they are looking to other less freakish, however less ^ s ^ pectacular industries to carry them into a prosperous future. ^ 9 [: ls] ^

^ 300 wds ^

NOME, CAPE, southern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, near 64° 21′ N.Lat., 165° W. Long., is a rounded bluff about 300 feet high. A border of low land runs around the edge of this cape, but behind this beach the land rises to an 820-foot summit about one mile inland from the point. The water off this cape is farly deep, and the dirunal rise and fall of the tides is about two feet. About one mile to the west of the point, Hastings Creek, with its main tributary, Saunders Creek, flows into Norton Sound.

The matter of the name of this cape, and, resultantly, of the city of Nome itself, has been the subject of considerable speculation. In 1833, Tebenkof called this cape Tolstoi (broad or blunt) Cape, and it appeared as such on most maps, until Kellett, in 1849, identified it on certain British Admiralty Charts, made after the Franklin Search expedi– tions, as Cape Nome. In April, 1901, Sir William Wharton, hydrographer to the British Admiralty, went on record as not knowing the source of the name 'Nome' on Kellett's chart. Professor George Davidson, of the U.S. Coast Survey of 1867 and 1869, is the originator of the most [: ] generally held current opinion that the name " Nome " resulted from a mistake on the part of a draftsman while copying an original of Kellett's chart. Davidson believes that Kellett's original chart read "? Name" opposite the cape in question, which notation the draftsman cop e ^ i ^ ed as "C. Nome." In any case, subsequent to the 1849 Admiralty charts, this cape appeared consistently as Cape Nome, and, as a result, Anvil City, about twelve miles west of the cape at the mouth of the Snake River, was rechristened "Nome" during the summer of 1899.

^ 700 wds. ^

NOME RIVER, southern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rises in the untimbered Kigluaik Mountains and flows almost directly south for about thirty miles into Norton Sound. Fort Davis, lies at the mouth of the Nome River, three miles east of the city of Nome (q.v.).

Buffalo and Divide Creeks, uppermost tributaries to the Nome River, rise south of Mount Osborn and enter the Nome from the west. For ten miles below the mouth of Divide Creek, the Nome Basin is narrowly constric– ted on both sides by heights of 2,000 feet or more. For this reason, the tributaries to this section i of its course are torrential, as is the Nome itself, and are all relatively short strems. From north to south these tributaries are: Dickens, David, Dorothy, Alfield, Clara, Hobson, Manila, and Sampson Creeks.

During the remaining twenty or so miles of its extent, the Nome basin gradually widens, merging finally with the coastal plain. The tributaries to this section, therefore, tend to be longer as one travels south, and, at the same time, the gradient of the Nome River drops from fifty to ten feet to the mile as one approaches the mouth. Again from north to south the tributaries to this section of the Nome are: Basin, Banner, Dewey, Dexter, Buster (with its affluent Lillian Creek), Extra Dry, Hazel, Osborn, McDonald, and Otter Creeks.

Although Otter and McDonald are short streams, Osborn Creek, as might be expected, is one of the longest affluents to the Nome River. It is formed by the junction of New Eldorado Creek and several unnamed streams, and flows first south and then southwest to join the Nome only a few miles above Fort Davis.

The entrance to Nome River is obstructed by shifting bars, but there is usually enough water in the channels to allow the passage of

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light draft vessels. However, southwesterly storms, which occur frequently late in the summer and on into the fall, endanger the anchorage in this part of Norton Sound. The only protection from these storms is behind Sledge Island (q.v.), a few miles offshore and about twenty-eight miles west of the mouth of the Nome River.

Fort Davis was established as a military post in 1899, and is now a military reserve.

Colors of gold were found on the Nome River and all its tribu– taries subsequent to the great strike on Anvil Creek, in the Snake River system. (See Nome article.) Throughout this area, paying placers were worked for about a decade after the turn of the century, when all gold mining on Seward Peninsula, as elsewhere in Alaska, entered a period of gradual decline.

^ By 1900, ^ T ^ t ^ he Seward Peninsula Railroad, a narrow-guage line, constructed by the Wild Goose Mining & Trading Co., Charles D. Lane, President, ran from Nome to Anvil Creek and from there ^ ^ to Dexter Creek. Thereafter it was extended up the Nome Basin to the headwaters of that river. At about 64° 57′ N. Lat., it veered northeastward, past Salmon Lake, and down the Kruzgamepa River, and then ran northward to Shelton, on the Kuzitrin River, for a total distance of 70 miles. This railroad was one of the great engineering feats of the early years of the Nome District. At first, no filling of the marshy, summer tundra was done. The tracks were laid on wooden ties lying loose on the ground. Very often the weight of ^ the ^ cars ^ , ^ loaded with machinery intended for the mines in the interior of the peninsula ^ , ^ would press these ties down into the mud so that tracks and wheels alike disappeared. Still the line was kept running. Although considerably rebuilt, it is still running, having been taken over by the Alaska Ra ^ i ^ lroad and rechristened "The Pupmobile", or the "Kougarok

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Limited." Truck bodies, fitted with railroad wheels, and a variety of flat cars are now being dra ^ w ^ n by dog teams over this same line which serves as a supply route to the Kougarok District and as one of the favorite tourist side-trips in the Nome area.

Sources:

VSGB: USCP & Supplement; Baker

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others). Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

Collier, Arthur J. (and others). Gold Placers of parts of Seward ^ Gold Placers of parts of Seward ^ Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port ^ Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts ^ . Washington, D.C., 1908.

1,056 . wds – 25 . wds. - Bibl.

NORTON BAY, a northern arm of Norton Sound, reaches northeastward into the western coast of Alaska. The bay extend ^ s ^ from Cape Denbigh, its eastern entrance point, northward to Point Dexter, then eastward, northward, and westward to Bald Head and Moses Point, and so southwestward to Cape Darby, the western entrance point.

About midway between Point Dexter and Bald Head there is a de e pth of 36 feet and the water shoals gradually from this point as the shores of the head of the bay are approached from any direction. The rim of extremely shoal water, 4 1/2 to 9 feet in depth, is several miles wide, however, in the northeastern part of the bay. Sailing southwestward toward Cape Darby the water gradually becomes deeper, maintaining 24 feet close to shore for about 20 miles, and then dropping off sharply to 90 feet directly off the eastern side of that cape.

Eastward from Point Dexter, along Reindeer Cove, the shores of Norton Bay are low and marshy for about 12 miles to the mouth of the Ungalik River. The Ungalik rises in the highlands northeast of the bay in the divide d ^ s ^ eparating the coastal waterways of this part of Alaska from the inland headwaters ^ ^ of the Kateel and Gisasa r ^ R ^ ivers in the Koyukuk section of the Yukon system. The Ungalik flows in a generally southwesterly direction ^ for ^ from about 65 miles t ^ o ^ enter t j ^ h ^ e east side of Norton Bay.

^¶^ The small native village of Ungalik, near the river mouth, is the point at which the long winter trail along the shores of Norton Sound divides, one branch striking northward for Candle and Kotzebue Sound ^ across the neck of Seward Peninsula, ^ and the other trending westward along the north shore s of Norton Sound and ^ for ^ the coastal points on Seward ^ the ^ P ^ p ^ eninsula. Ungalik has a ^ 1,700-foot ^ landing area for wheeled planes 1,700 feet long .

^ 26 [: ls] ^

Beyond the Ungalik River the shore s of Norton Bay bends northward to the mouth of the Inglutalik River, which flows down from the same mountains which feed the Ungalik , southwestward into the bay. The region bordering the lower Inglutalik is swampy ^ , ^ and the mouth is obstructed by bars and mud flats. It is from this point westward that the waters of Norton Bay are so exceedingly shallow.

Koyuk River, the major tributary to Norton Bay, enters from the north a few miles above the mouth of the Inglutalik. The headwaters of this river rise in the Bendeleben Mountains northwest of the bay, and in a segregated group of hills containing 2,610-foot Mount Monument, several miles to the northeast. The Koyuk flows southeastward for 60 or 70 miles ^ , is joined by ^ receiving several unnamed tributaries ^ , ^ and then, along the last 10 miles of this stretch, receives Peace River from the north and Kenwood Creek from the south. A few miles below Kenwood Creek, the Koyuk twists abruptly southward, flows in this direction for about 15 more miles, and then veers westward to empty into Norton Bay.

Haycock (population 81 in 1939), about 10 miles up from the junction of the Peace and Koyuk; Dime Landing, a few miles upstream from the mouth of Kenwood Creek; and Koyuk at the mouth of ^ the main ^ that river are the only settlements in this area. All these villages are on the northern branch of the winter trail which crosses the base of Seward Peninsula on its way to Kotzebue Sound. Dime Landing was not reported in the 1939 Census, but Koyuk had a population of 100 at that time, a post office, a Native Cooperative Store, and an Alaska Native Service School. There is also a 1,500-foot landing strip near the town. Haycock is a gold mining community which ^ ^ has a Territorial school, a general store, a post office, and a 1,400-foot civilian airfield. In 1947 four companies, Coplin & Hamm, Dime Creek Dredging Co., Rylander

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Johnson & Hagberg, and Swanson Bros. were working placer mines in the Haycock area. Most of this activity is on Dime Creek, [: ] with crews ranging from one man to 7.

Around the head of ^ Norton B ^ ay the from Koyuk, the shoreline dips southwestward to Bald Head, on which is located Isaac's Roadhouse, and then retreat ^ s ^ northwestward again to the mouth of the Kwik River.

Kwik River rises about 18 miles inland in a lake-studded area east of the Darby Mountains and flows, despite several meanderings, almost due southward into Norton Bay. The Tubutulik River enters the bay a few miles west of the Kwik. The Tubutulik heads against streams rising in the Darby Mountains, and in Death Valley, and all running southward to form the main stream, which flows southeastward from the main– land, which partially cuts the mouth of the Tubutulik off from the bay. There is a 5,000-foot landing strip just south of this spit. The Kwiniuk River enters Norton Bay near the site of this landing strip. Elm Mission Roadhouse and Walla Walla Shelter cabin are a few miles down the we t ^ s ^ t side of the bay. All these points are connected by the winter trail which continues on around the edge of Seward Peninsula. Since there are no more towns on Norton Bay be e ^ l ^ ow the shelter cabin mentioned above, the trail veers westward and ^ ^ crosses directly over to Golovin Bay (q.v.). Cape Darby is about 20 miles southwest of Walla Walla.

According to the report of Ellis, assistant surgeon to the expedition, Captain James Cook explored a great many of these points on Norton Bay in September, 1778. After sailing eastward from Sledge Island and "seeing many white porpusses," he cleared Cape Darby and entered the bay, keeping well to the north shore. "This part of the coast was high, "Ellis wrote, "though not remarkably so; that next the sea was in

^ 27 [: ls] ^

some places very rocky, in others, low and level, and well covered with verdure, but there was no appearance of wood." Cook must at this time have been offshore ^ somewhere between ^ from Cape Darby and Moses Point. The next day he sailed farther north, but when the soundings showed only four fathom, he hauled off to the SSE. "A remarkable smooth, but rocky hummock bore N. 13 deg. W. four or five miles distant," the report continues, "this hummock captain Cook ^ c ^ alled Bald Head." That night they anchored off Cape Denbigh and thereafter continued down the ^ mainland ^ coast toward St. Michael Island (q.v.)

^ 8 [: ls] ^

U.S. C.P. & Suppl; Tewkesbury; Baker;

Ellis, W. Authentic nar ^ r ^ ative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and ^ Authentic nar ^ r ^ ative of a voyage performed by Captain Cook and ^ Captain Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ Captain Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ and 1780; in search of a North-We t ^ s ^ t Passage. ^ and 1780; in search of a North-We t ^ s ^ t Passage. ^ London, Robinson, 1782

2500 wds - Text 50 wds - Bibl.

NORTON SOUND, an important arm of Bering Sea, deeply indenting the west coast of Alaska, may be said to have an entrance extending from Cape Romanzof on the south ( See Hazen Bay Area) to Cape Rodney on the north, an airline distance of between 160 and 170 miles. If Norton Bay, a northeasterly arm of the Sound is included, Norton Sound extends over 360 miles inland from an imaginary line drawn between its two entrance points.

But not only its size makes Norton Sound such an impor– tant extension of Bering Sea. Much of the south shore of the Sound is formed by the fan-shaped Yukon Delta, through which, despite the ever– increasing use of air-freight, supplies are shipped up the Yukon. These supplies usually come by way of St. Michael Island, farther up the Sound. Economically speaking, however, the north shore of the Sound is by far the most important, for it is here that the famous gold mining districts of Bluff, Solomon, and Nome (q.v.) are located.

Coastal Outline The various arms reaching off and points extending into Norton Sound are so large and well-defined that they have been separately named. (For many of these see individual articles.)

Just above the Yukon Delta is Pascol Bay, which leads northward into shoal-locked Stephens Pass. This pass separates Stuart Island from St. Michael Island, which itself is cut off from the mainland only by a tidal slough called St. Michael Canal.

Above St. Michael Island, Norton Sound indents the coast and receives, along with many lesser known streams, the ^ ^ Unalakleet River. This shallow bay extends northward to a rectangular neck of land with Cape Denbigh as its southern and Point Dexter as its northern points.

Norton Bay extends eastward and northward from Point Dexter,

and receives the Ungalik, Inglutalik, Koyuk, and Kwik Rivers. From east to west, Bald Head, Moses Point, and Cape Darby are the prominent points on the north shore of Norton Bay.

Continuing westward, Cape Darby and Rocky Point mark the entrance to Golovnin Bay, which in turns leads northward into a smaller, shallow arm known as Golovnin Sound. Fish River, famous as the main route to the Niukluk and thence to the rich Council gold mining dis– trict, empties into Golovnin Sound.

From Rocky Point westward to Cape Nome, Norton Sound again shallowly indents the mainland, this time bordering the Bluff and Solomon gold mining districts. From Cape Nome to Cape Rodney, the shoreline is relatively straight. Nome, at the mouth of the Snake River, about twelve miles west of Cape Nome, is one of the most famous gold mining towns in all of Alaska.

West of Nome, Norton Sound receives the lesser gold streams, Penny, Cripple, and Sinuk. About six miles south and slightly east of the mouth of the Sinuk ^ , ^ is tiny Sledge Island.

Navigation From a navigational point of view Norton Sound presents certain problems. The Yukon Delta section is fringed for five to thirty miles offshore by a shoal which is impassable to deep-water vessels. This shoal, although varying in width, continues around the entire coast of Norton Sound, cutting off most of the coastal settlements from direct service by ocean-going vessels. Off the Unalakleet A ^ a ^ rea (q.v.), this shoal is several miles wide. Shoal water surrounds Cape Denbigh and Point Dexter, and completely fills in the head of Norton Bay.

Golovnin Bay is extremely shallow, but westward from Rocky Point to Cape Nome, the fringe of shoal water narrows considerably so that deep water vessels can approach within a mile of Bluff and Solomon. From Cape Nome westward to just beyond Nome, however, this shoal widens again,

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so that all shipments to Nome must be lightered ashore. Since Nome is the central freight transfer point for much of southern Seward Peninsula, the lack of a deep channel and docking facilities there is particularly awkward.

Westward from Snake River to Cape Rodney, although the water is shallow very close to shore, greater depths exist than elsewhere in the Sound. The deep water anchorage between Sledge Island and the mainland offers ocean going vessels their only protection from the southerly storms which rage against this section of the coast of Norton Sound in the late summer and fall.

Outside these coastwise shoals depths in Norton Sound range from forty-eight to seventy-two feet. Through ^ out ^ the bottom of the Sound is remarkably even, the depths decreasing toward shore with unusual regularity.

Weather Seward Peninsula [: ] itself protects ^ N ^ orton Sound from northerly weather, but the Sound is only partially pro– tected by the Yukon Delta from southerly winds, and is completely open to the full force of southwesterly s o ^ t ^ orms.

The north side of the Sound is, of course, particularly affected by these southwesterly winds, since their effect is to raise the level of the water all along that side of the Sound. Northerly winds, on the contrary, tend to lower the water along the north [: ] ide of the Sound. Because of the fringe of shoal water previously described, the effect o ^ f ^ a southwesterly wind on the level of the water is almost instantaneous. These southerly storms, which blow up quickly and frequently during August and September and occasionally during other months of the year, are very dangerous and have written a history of destruction and loss of life in the towns all along the coast from Rocky Point to Cape Rodney. During

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such a storm no landing of any kind can be j ^ m ^ ade through the breakers, and deep-draft vessels ^ , ^ lying at anchor in the various roadstead ^ s ^ , must w ^ e ^ ither put out to sea or seek shelter behind Sledge Island.

Ice ^ ^A^lthough it reforms as young ice every year, ^ T ^ t ^ he ice in Norton Sound, as in all parts of Bering Sea, ^A^lthough it reforms as young ice every year, may be divided into two kinds: 1) that forming late in the year, which, in the course of the winter is piled up into heavy masses by the force of the winds, and 2) that forming late in the winter or early in the spring in the spaces left by the movement of the old ice.

The use of the beaches and bays of Norton Sound for the dis– charge of cargoes is governed, of course, by ice conditions. Ice closes the Sound to all navigation sometime between mid-October and early November and does not usually break up before the middle of June.

For & Precipitation West of Cape Nome, Norton Sound is subject to the same fog conditions as Bering Sea. Late spring and early summer bring much fog and considerabl ^ e ^ rain. In early fall the fog de– creases, but the strength of the gales increases, and snow is likely any time after mid-September. Strong winds from any direction usually bring precipitation of some kind with them, but this may be only showers or snow squalls with westerly or northerly winds, whereas the precipitation with easterly or southerly winds usually lasts until the wind shifts.

Northerly and northeasterly winds prevail in this western part of Norton Sound from about October to May, and are more likely to blow from directions in the southern half of the compass from June to September. The spring and summer fogs, although dense, are often less than 100 feet deep, so that it is sometimes possible to direct a ship through a fog by sending a man aloft [: ] where he will be above ^ the fog ^ it and able

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to see prominent landmarks. Although there is much cloudiness in this western section of Norton Sound, an average of sixty to eighty percent of the sky being covered all year, this condition is more prevalent in mid-summer than in any of the winter months.

East of Cape Nome, the weather in general is better than in the previously described parts of Norton Sound. Fogs are rare at St. Michael, and will amost always clear away as one proceeds up the Sound.

The only abnormal phenomena in this part of the Sound is the southern mirage in the vicinity of St. Michael (q.v.). This mirage is also sometimes apparent in Norton Bay.

Trails From the time of the freeze-up in mid-October or early November to about the middle of June, the uniformly low shoreline of Norton Sound, which in summer is an impassable stretch of mud, is turned into a fine winter trail. A well-established dog-team trail runs all around Norton Sound sending many branches inland, up the important rivers such as the Yukon, Unalakleet, Fish, Nome, and Snake, and cross-country to the innumerably mining camps in the interior. One main branch cuts northward across the head of Norton Bay and the neck of Seward Peninsula to the Kotzebue region.

^¶^ The ^ ^ freeze-up is so complete that tractors, and possibly trucks, could be used along these same trails, since all rivers, lakes and well-protected bays are frozen solid enough to support very heavy weights. Airplanes equipped with skis can also operate from most coastal and inland points during the winter.

Vegetation Although generally spoken of as "barren tundra", the shores of Norton Sound support a variety of vegetation. Along the streams which enter the Sound, small willows and alder are abundant. These trees are seldom over twenty feet high, and, because of the extreme dampness of the terrain in summer, are usually rotten at

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the heart, but they are useful as firewood. They are not large enough, however, for use as building material. The native women use willow and alder bark to color dressed rain deers reindeer skins a beautiful red– brown.

In the spring the coastal plain is covered with a luxuriant growth of grasses and flowers. Kentucky blue grass is indigenous to the region, and wood meadow-grass and blue joint grass thrive. The latter averages three feet in ^ ^ height, but, under favorable conditions, attains four and even five feet.

In the gardens of Nome, probably the most northerly town on the coast of Norton Sound, lettuce, radishes, cabbage, and turnips, as well as a great variety of flowers ^ , ^ flourish. It must be remembered that, although the winters are long and cold, the summer days, throughout this area, are relatively warm and abnormally long. The vegetation of the Nome District, for instance, has the advantage of twenty-two hours of sunlight on the longest summer day.

Maximum July temperatures at Nome read in the mid-seventies, and this reading is decreased by only a few degrees in June and August. With the thawing of the upper ^ ^ permafrost layers in this particular area, the terrain around Nome is transformed from the snow-highway, described above, to an endless stretch of mud. With the rise of air temperatures in June, July, and August, and the gradually lengthening of the days, all vegetation finds itself in an approximation of hot-house conditions. It is hardly surprising that growth occurs and is occasionally phenomenal.

All the early explorers of Norton Sound make particular mention of the profusion of small fruits and berries available on the shores of the Sound. These include: red and black currant ^ s ^ , gooseberries, cran– berries, raspberries, bearberries, twinberries, dewberries, mossberries, and rose berries.

^¶^ Until very recent time ^ s ^ ailors have depended largely

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upon supplies of this ^ k ^ ind of fresh fruit to prevent scurvy. Captain James Cook made a landfall in the Unalakleet area south of Cape Denbigh on September 11, 1778. "At two in the afternoon," writes Ellis, assis– tant surgeon to the voyage, "boats well manned were sent on shore, for the purpose of getting wood, of which we saw great plenty upon the beach. The sides of the hills ... were well clothe ^ d ^ with birch and willows, but they were of small size; among these were great numbers of red and black currant trees, with plenty of fruit. The higher parts and summits of the hills wer ^ e ^ almost entirely covered with crow and whortle-berries, which afforded a most pleasing and salutary repast to everyone on board...The boats were soon loaded, but we found great difficulty in getting them off, on account of the little depth of water, which obliged us to heave a good deal of our cargoes overboard." Considering the fact that Cook and his two crews aboard the Resolution and the Discovery had been sailing since July 12, 1776, when they put out from Plymouth, England, and that they were destined to continue their voyage well into 1779, it can well be imagined how ^ ^ hard was the loss of this boatload of fresh fruit from the shores of Norton Sound.

Names Cook was the first white man to sail through this Sound. He discovered it during the voyage in September, 1778, during the voyage mentioned above, and named it Norton "in honour of Sir Fletcher Norton (afterwards Lord Frantley), speaker of the House of Commons." Cook likewise named various prominent features of the Sound and its coast, including Stuart Island, Shaktolik, just below Cape Den– bigh, Cape Denbigh itself, Cape Darby, across the entrance to Norton Bay, and Cape Rodney, northern entrance t ^ p ^ oint to Norton Sound.

Other early arrivals to this part of Bering Sea were the Russian fur-traders. St. Michael Bay and Island were discovered and

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named by Captain Michael Tebenkof in 1833. The Russians also explored the [: ] lower Yukon in 1837 and 1838. They named, or were the first to record, Pastol Bay, Tolstoi Point, Egg Island, just off this point, the Unalakleet River, Rocky Point, and Cape Topkok, in the Bluff District.

Dr. William Healey Dall, who went to Alaska in 1865 in the employment of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and who returned several times subsequently as a member of the U.S. Coast Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey, is responsible for recording many of the names all along the coast of Norton Sound. Alfred Hulse Brooks, and Edward Chester Barnard, both of the U.S. Geological Survey, are responsible for many others. (For the story of the name "Nome" see the article, Cape Nome.)

Occupations The chief occupations of the Native inhabitants, who comprise the majority of the population of these shores, are trapping, hunting, fishing, fur farming, ^ and ^ reindeer herding, in addition to such typically Native industries as ivory carving, sled, [: ] harness ^ , ^ and boat making, etc. With the exception of these latter occupations and reindeer herding, the white inhabitants are similarly employed. In addition, there are certain generally white occupations. The most important of these, of course, is gold mining. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the commercial development of the king crab, shrimp, cod, halibut, herring, and salmon fishing in the Sound.

Nome, with an estimated 1939 popu a ^ l ^ ation of 1,500, gives employment to a wider variety of workers than its size would imply. As the headquarters for the Se d ^ c ^ ond Judicial District of Alaska, it is the residence of many Territorial and Federal officials. As the freight transfer point to other parts of southern Seward Peninsula, it needs crews for its lighterage services and workers for its warehouses and storage establishments. As the educational, religious, medical, cultural,

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and business center for northwestern Alaska, it employs a great variety of people. (See Nome article.)

With the discovery of pitchblende only one hundred miles from Nome, in October, 1948, it is reasonable to assume that the future of that particular section of the coast of Norton Sound may hold as exciting and unpredictable developments as took place in the same area at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Sources: Baker; Twekesbury; USCP, 1947 ed.; VSGB

Ellis, W. Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Capt. Cook and ^ Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Capt. Cook and ^ Capt. Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ Capt. Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, ^ and 1780 in search of a North West Passage ^ and 1780 in search of a North West Passage ^ . London, Robinson, 1782. Vol.II, pp.9-13.

Dall, William H. Alaska and its resources ^ Alaska and its resources ^ . Boston, 1870.

600 - Text 75 - Bibl

NOXAPAGA RIVER, central Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is a ^ northern ^ tribu– tary to the Kuzitrin River (q.v.) in the vicinity of 164° W. Long.

Brooks reported this river as the Kugrukruk or Kugirukuk in 1900, but Gerdine obtained the Eskimo name by which it is now known in 1901.

The Noxapaga is formed by the junction of Berry and Eldorado Creeks at about 65° 40′ N.Lat., 164° W. Long. It rises in the divide separating the Noxapaga watershed from the Goodhope River system to the north. The Noxapaga continues almost directly south down an ever– widening valley which merges, after eight or ten miles, with the interior basin known as the Kuzitrin Flats. After bending westward about midway of its course, the Noxapaga ^ continues ^ returns to its southward trend and enters the Kuzitrin.

Considering that the Noxapaga is only about twenty or twenty– five miles long, it receives a great many tributaries. Travelling downstream ^ , ^ the western affluents are: Aurora (with its own tributary, Money Creek), Goose, Turner (which is joined by Boulder Creek), Little Garfield, and Mascot (which receives Tina Creek. East Fork, which rises south of Imuruk Lake, is the longest and the only eastern tribu– tary to the Noxapaga.

Mining Consequent upon the Kougarok gold rush of 1900, gold was discovered on several of the streams in the Noxapaga system. A U.S. Geological Survey map ^ , ^ dated 1913 ^ , ^ shows gold placers on Goose, Boulder, and Garfield Creeks.

In 1901, the placers on Boulder Creek yielded $7,000, but,

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although large nuggets were fairly common and the gold [: ] throughout the area was coarse, subsequent years were not as produc– tive.

Placers on Garfield Creek were all confined to the ^ ^ upland parts of its valley, a few miles south of Baldy Mountain, which ^ could ^ can be reached by trail from the Kougarok River. However, the expense of getting supplies to Garfield Creek, combined with the shallowness of the pay streak to reduce activity along it from the six operators ^ in ^ of 1900 to only one in 1908.

Up until 1940 ^ , ^ very little work was done in the Noxapaga area, but, starting with the ^ U.S. Bureau of Mines ^ Mineral Industries U.S. Bureau of Mines report for that year, the Fox Bar Dredging Co. is mentioned as [: ] having been active in the southern part of the Kougarok Valley and in "scattered camps on streams tributary to Noxapaga River," and that new dredges seem "to have re ^ s ^ ulted in a larger output of gold than heretofore." It is unfortunate that the wartime regulation making gold "nonessential" followed so shortly upon this revival of interest in the Noxapaga river system. (See Nome and Bluff articles.) As of this writing (1948), gold mining in Alaska has not recovered from the effect of this ruling and from the war generally, neither along the Noxapaga nor anywhere else in the Territory.

There are no true settlements on the Noxapaga or its ^ ^ tributaries, although there is a 1,400-foot landing strip in ^ ^ the ^ v ^ icinity of East Fork. Several winter trails connect this strip with Nome, Solomon, and other Norton Sound points, with Teller, on Port Clarence, and with points in the Kougarok and Kotzebue distric ^ t ^ s to the north.

SOURCES

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Wash., D.C., 1906.

U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper 314 ^ Water-Supply Paper 314 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1913.

Guide Book of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska ^ Guide Book of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Alaska ^ .

Brooks, Alfred H. Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay ^ Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay ^ Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Regions, Alaska, in 1900. ^ Washington, D.C., 1901.

Smith, Philip S. Mineral Industry of Alaska, in 1940 ^ Mineral Industry of Alaska, in 1940 ^ . Washington, D.C., 1942. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 753-A)

U.S.C.P. Alaska. Part II. 1947. ^ U.S.C.P. Alaska. Part II. 1947. ^ Colby, Merle. Guide to Alaska, Last American Frontier ^ Guide to Alaska, Last American Frontier ^ . N.Y., 1942.

^ 300 wds ^

NUSHAGAK, ALASKA (Meshagak) is a native settlement and post office on Nushagak Point, eastern side of Nushagak Bay (q.v.), 7 or 8 miles north of Clark Point (q.v.). It was established in August, 1899, and had a population of 41 in 1939. The settlement has a store, a school, and a Russian church. Like the inhabitants of other Bristol Bay villages in this area most of the people of Nushagak turn fisherman during the brief salmon canning season from mid-June to late July. For the remainder of the year the chief activities are hunting and trapping. Clothing, general provisions, and trapping supplies are available from the store in the village, and, although other game is scarce, reindeer meat is usually available. In addition, most of the salmon canneries operating in the settlement maintain stores during the canning season and operate repair shops which will sometimes take on outside work. During the season the canneries maintain their own radio stations, and the mail steamer from Seward makes monthly calls from May to August each year.

Nushagak has no wharf so that landing cargo at low water is difficult. Vessels must approach the shore as close as their draft permit and then use small boats or barges to complete the landing. The mud at low tide is deep and sticky, but, because of the extreme range of the tide, an easy boat ^ ^ landing may be made at high water.

The present site of Nushagak is probably the same as that of a trading post established by the Russians in 1818 or 1819 and called Alexandrovsk, perhaps in honor of Alexander Baranov, who ordered the post established. It has been variously reported since then as Alexander, Alexandrovski, and erroneously as Alexandra.

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It is now generally known as Nushagak. About 1 1/2 miles to the north of the settlement is Kanulik, where the Moravian Mission, Carmel, was established in 1899.

^ 1500 wds ^

NUSHAGAK BAY, ALASKA, a northern arm of Bristol Bay, is one of the centers of the red salmon canning industry for which this entire region is famous. The bay is about 15 miles wide at the entrance between Etolin Point, the eastern entrance point on the mainland, and Protection Point, the western entrance point on Nushagak Peninsula. The bay extends northwestward for about 12 miles to Ekuk Bluff, where it is 7 or 8 miles wide, and then turns northward for about 9 miles to Nushagak where it is about 3 miles wide. The bay extends for a few more miles in a northeasterly direction to a point into which the Nushagak River (q.v.) flows from the east and Wood River (q.v.) flows from the northwest. Besides these two major tributaries, Nushagak Bay receives Clark Slough, about midway on the eastern side, and the Snake and Igushik Rivers [: ] on the western side. Two islands, one unnamed and the other called Williams Island partially obstruct the head of Nushagak Bay. The extreme northwestern tip of the larger, unnamed island is called Picnic Point.

Nushagak Bay is one of the many Bristol Bay tributaries reported in 1938 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to be incompletely surveyed and dangerous to navigate. The tidal range in this area runs from 15 to 24 feet. Because of the funnel-shaped configuration of the mouths of these rivers and bays, tidal currents are extremely strong and can attain a velocity of 6 knots. The depths in these bays and rivers are never very great, even at high water, so that vast areas of shoals and mud flats are uncovered at low tide. The shores of Nushagak Bay are obstructed by shoals and bars, [: ] and rip tides are a good indication of shoal water at all times.

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NUSHAGAK BAY, ALASKA

Strangers to this bay should attempt its ascent only in the daytime on a rising tide, and they would be well advised to radio ahead for a pilot from one ^ ^ of the many canner^y^ ^ vessels ^ which operate in the bay. Nushagak Bay has not been surveyed since 1909 or 1910, and it is suspected that considerable change in the channels has taken place since that time. Of the two possible channels only the eastern, beyond Etolin Point, is currently in use.

Etolin Point is the southern extrem[: e]ity of a blunt peninsula which separates Nushagak Bay from Kvichak Bay (q.v.). The point is com– prised of three bluffs, the middle and highest measuring about 90 feet. A 150-foot hill a little over a mile s northeast of the point is the first summit to show when approaching from seaward. Etolin Point was named by Lütke in 1830 for the Russian explorer Etolin, at one time governor of the Russian American Company, and, from about 1821 to 1882, surveyor of the Alaska coast from Bristol Bay to Cape Newenham. For eighty years Etolin's charts were the only ones covering this area.

Ekuk Bluff, about 13 miles north of Etolin Point, is a ridge about 150 feet high, which ^ It ^ carries a light structure marking the channel over a bar which lies off the bluff. This light structure should not be confused with the church steeple which is the first mark to appear on Ekuk Bluff. Although most of the channels in Nushagak Bay change somewhat from year to year, the channel off Ekuk Bluff, as marked by this lighted range, was reported in 1938 to have remained constant for 9 years. The only change noted in that time was that depths over the bar increased from 17 to 21 feet.

The small native settlement of Ekuk lies on the spit north of the bluff. The water inside this spit drains completely off at low tide. During the canning season ^ , ^ which runs from mid-June to

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NUSHGAK BAY, ALASKA

late July, Libby, McNeill and Libby maintain a cannery and radio station at Ekuk. The company wharf is 150 feet long and is fitted with a marine railway. Fresh water is available on the wharf, but the supplies of gasoline,diesel ^ , ^ and fuel oils are for company use only. This wharf has a depth along side of 7 feet at high tide. An Eskimo settlement called Ekuk was recorded by Baker in 1906 as "near the mouth of Nushagak River." This may be the same as the present t wo ^ ow ^ n of Ekuk. The name was first assigned by Lütke in 1828, who wrote it Ekouk. It has also been called Yekuk.

Clark Point, a few miles north of Ekuk Bluff, is a post office and settlement with a population estimated at 22 in 1939. The village has a high water tank and two salmon canneries. The Alaska Packers Association cannery has a wharf 70 feet long fitted with a 12-ton crane and a marine railway. Freshwater is available on the wharf. Since the wharf is dry at low water, supplies must then be brought by lighters to vessels offshore. The U.S. Fish Commission named Clark Point in 1890, perhaps in honor of Prof. Samuel Fessenden Clark, of William ^ s ^ College.

Nushagak (q.v.), one of the larger settlements on the bay, is about 6 or 7 miles northward from Clark Point.

Snag Point is a small settlement near the mouth of Wood River (q.v.) on the west side of Nushagak Bay. There is a cannery about two miles north of Snag Point, and the Alaska Salmon Co. operates radio station KZV in this vicinity. The Choggiung Public Utility District, organized in 1939, proposes to establish a modern sanitary water supply for the settlement. The same year funds were raised to build a new church. Snag Point is on the long winter trail running from Lewis Point, on the mouth of the Nushagak River, and points on the Kvichak River (q.v.) to Dilling– ham, Owens, Togiak, and other villages to the west.

Dillingham (q.v.), a few miles southward from Snag Point, is the largest settlement on Nushagak Bay.

Kanakanak, a few miles south of Dillingham, is a post office and settlement which had a population of 177 in 1940. Like the inhabitants of other Bristol Bay villages in this area, the people of Kanakanak turn ^←^ fishermen during the brief salmon canning season from mid-June to late July. For the remainder of the year the chief activities are hunting and trapping. The village is on the winter trail connecting with Dilling– ham and points to the eastward and westward. The hospital, which burned in 1932, was being rebuilt in 1940. The U.S. Signal Corps operates radiotelegraph station WXK in Kanakanak, and planes from Anchorage stop here. In 1938 a United States Deputy Marshal andCommissioner was stationed in the village. Moser reported this town in approximately its present position in 1897. The Eleventh Census of 1890 gave the population as 53, making Kanakanak one of the older substantial settlements of the area.

Daly, a few miles south of Kanakanak, is a settlement and cannery which, in 1939, was operated by the Pacific American Fisheries, Inc.

Coffee Point, a few miles south of Daly, was so named by traders in this area and was recorded by the U.S. Fish Commission in 1891. Several salteries are grouped around the mouth of the Snake River which enters Nushagak Bay from the west a few miles south of Coffee Point. Several more salteries and the small settlement of Igushik are found at the mouth of the Igushik River about midway down the western side of Nushagak Bay. Igushik had a population of only 16 in 1939 but appears on a map dated that same year to be the site of a commercial radiotelegraph and radiotelephone station. The Igushik River drains from Amanka Lake, in the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains, and takes an extremely tortuous,

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generally southeasterly course to Nushagak Bay. The name, which has been variously reported ever since Tebenkof first recorded it in 1849, would appear to be based on one of two similar Eskimo words, the first meaning crooked , and the other meaning snake . The Igushik River is fed by many small streams running from the countless tiny lakes which dot the interior of Nushagak Peninsula.

For 10 to 20 miles inland the territory around Nushagak Bay is soft tundra sprinkled with lakes. Since summer overland travel is impossible, mail and supplies of all kinds must be transported either by air or by water. In winter, however, the long trail which starts at two points on Shelikof Strait and runs westward to points on Kuskokwim Bay joins many of the settlements on Iliamna and Clark Lakes with points on Kvichak and Nushagak Bays. The ice does not usually leave Nushagak Bay until about the middle of May, and has been known to obstruct navigation until June 17. The pack having been completed, cannery vessels leave the bay in August, ^ and ^ T ^ t ^ he ice probably does not begin to form again until late in ^ ^ the fall. In recent years the [: ] salmon companies have substituted streamers for the sailing vessels previously used. At one time, however, some of the most famous of the clipper ships were employed in the salmon trade.

The weather in the Nushagak Bay area is considered better than fart farther westward. Winds from the east bring rain and fog; light winds from the southwest bring fair weather, but strong winds from the same direction bring rain; and winds from the northwest bring fine, clear weather. There is little fog during the summer, but August and September are usually stormy.

NULUK RIVER, northwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, was reported by Gerdine, in 190 ^ 1 ^ , as the Nooluk .

This river heads in mountains of the interior of Seward Peninsula which extend eastward from the York Mountains and which separate this no ^ r ^ thern drainage system from that of the Agiapuk, a tributary to Imuruk Basin. The Nuluk is formed by the confluence of the widely branching North and South Forks, and then flows i follows a generally northwesterly course for about 35 miles to the lagoon which borders this section of the north coast of Seward Peninsula. On some early maps this shallow body of water is identified as Arctic Lagoon, but the most recent maps leave it nameless.

The mountains in which the Nuluk rises are of Port Clarence lime– stone, and, about 15 miles from its head, the river has eroded a canyon varying from 100 to 1,000 feet in depth.

After examining this river in 1901, Collier did not find that it was a good stream for any kind of mining endeavors. The coastal gravel extends up the Nuluk farther than it does on other rivers of the region, but no colors have been found in them and the unaltered limestone through which the early course of the river flows does not contain mineralized veins.

Sources;

Baker, Marcus. Geographic [: ] Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic [: ] Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington,1906.

Collier, A.J. Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward Peninsula, ^ Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward Peninsula, ^ Alaska ^ Alaska ^ . Washington, 1902. (U.S. Geological Survey. Professional ^ Professional ^ Paper ^ Paper ^ No.2)

^ 200 wds ^

NUSHAGAK PENINSULA, in the southern part of Alaska, separates Nushagak Bay from Kulukak Bay, both northern extensions of Bristol Bay. The peninsula stretches in a southeasterly direction from the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains at about 59° N. Lat., 159° W. Long. to Cape Constantine at about 58° 23′ N. Lat. This cape was so named by Ustiugof in 1818. The northeastern section is crossed by the meandering Igushik River which flows from Amanka Lake at the head of the peninsula to Nushagak Bay. The peninsula is mostly low, marshy tundra dotted with countless tiny lakes and cut by numerous creeks and streams. Tuklom Igloos lie near one of these small lakes. The only settlement of any size on the peninsula is Igushik at the mouth of the Igushik River. Protection Point, an extension of the southeastern side of the peninsula, is the western entrance point to Nushagak Bay. This point was called Povorotnoi, turn , by Tebenkof in 1849, but was renamed by the U.S. Fish Commission in 1890. Kulukak Point, a sharp northwestern extension of Nushagak Peninsula, about 30 miles northwestward from Cape Constantine, is the eastern entrance point to Kulukak Bay (q.v.).

^ 1,000 wds ^

NUSHAGAK RIVER, ALASKA (Nushegak, Nouchagak), the largest tributary to Nushagak Bay (q.v.), a northern arm of Bristol Bay, is about 220 miles long. The Nushagak, with its largest tributary, the Mulchatna (q.v.), drains a V-shaped strip of southeastern Alaska northeast of Bristol Bay, bounded on the east by the foothills of the Alaska Range north of Lake Clark and on the west by the Kilbuck Mountains just west of the Tikchik Lakes (q.v.). The Nuyakuk River (q.v.), second largest tributary to the Nushagak drains from Tikchik and Nuyakuk Lakes which themselves are fed by streams from the Kil– buck Mountains. Wood River (q.v.), which joins the Nushagak at its mouth at the head of Nushagak Bay, drains from Lake Aleknagik, another Tikchik Lake, which also receives tributaries from the Kilbuck Mountains.

The Nushagak rises in a group of small mountains about 2800 feet high called the Nushagak Hills at about 60° 35′ N. Lat., 156° W. Long. from which point it takes a devious, southwesterly course to the head of Nushagak Bay. The Nushagak has many tributar– ies along its early course above 60° N. Lat. most of which are in– dicated by dotted lines, and some of which are as yet unnamed. The Chichitnok and King Salmon Rivers enter from the west a few miles from the head; Vukpalik Creek and Harris Creek enter from the east about 6 and 23 miles below the mouth of the King Salmon. 9 or 10 miles southward from here the Nuyakuk enters from the west, and about 18 miles south of this confluence the Mulchatna flows in from the east. From this point to its mouth the Nushagak is fed by many small streams and creeks including Nunachuak Creek, just below the mouth of the Mulchatna; Elilakok Creek, a few miles ^ farther down ^ ; Klutuk

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Creek, about 18 miles farther south; ^ and ^ Kokwok River, 6 or 7 miles below the Klutuk. Just below 60° N. Lat. the Nushagak swings south– eastward, then southwestward again, a pattern which is repeated several miles ^ up-river ^ from its mouth. This part of the river, therefore, resembles an enormous 3. In addition to the several small tributaries already given for this section of the Nushagak, there are numberless unnamed streams, ^ which ^ drain ing from the hundreds of tiny lakes ^ dotting ^ this part of the coastal lowlands ^ to ^ which flow into the Nushagak from both sides. Beginning at about 59° 15′ N.Lat. the river follows two winding courses at once, these sometimes being connected by short channels and sometimes proceeding for miles side by side without joining. One such section near the mouth of the river is called Keefer Cutoff, the southern end of which receives Portage Creek from the southeast. Just below this cutoff, at about 58° 55′, the river veers sharply westward from its southward course, then widens considerably and arches northwestward. The lower part of the river has, therefore, the appearance of a massive, blunt hook. Scandinavian Slough connects the alternate channel west of Keefer Cutoff with the a point on the river proper several miles nearer its mouth. Little Muklung River enters the Nushagak from the north very near the mouth, and the mouths of the Nushagak and Wood Rivers join at the head of Nushagak Bay.

Like so many other Bristol Bay rivers, the Nushagak

The Nushagak River system contains countless numbers of lakes making it an ideal habitat for the red salmon for which this whole Bristol Bay region is famous. From mid-June to late July

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NUSHAGAK RIVER, ALASKA

companies maintain canneries along the mouth of the river Nushagak and Wood Rivers and at the head of Nushagak Bay. The Nushagak is one of the many Bristol Bay rivers reported in 1938 by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to be incompletely surveyed and dangerous to navigate. The tidal range in this area runs from 15 to 24 feet. Because of the funneleshaped configuration of the mouths of these rivers and of the bays into which they empty, tidal currents are extremely strong and can attain a velocity of 6 knots. The depths in these bays and rivers are never very great, even at high water, so that vast areas of shoals and mud flats are uncovered at low tide, leaving only the shallowest of channels between them. Despite these difficulties, small vessels drawing up to 2 1/2 feet can navigate the Nushagak River for about 155 miles up from its mouth.

^ Settlements ^ Recent maps show no settlements along the Nushagak River above its confluence with the Nuyakuk. Koliganek, a small, native village s lies on the southern bank of this junction. Several miles south of the mouth of the Mulchatna River, but on the west side of the Nushagak, is Akokpak, another small, native settlement, and on the east side, at the mouth of Nunachuak Creek is the village of Nunachuak which had a population of 50 in 1939. The native settlements of Elilakok, Inakpuk, and Tunravik lie within about 12 miles of Nunachuak, and about an equal distance still farther south is Ekwok, a village and post office on the west bank of the Nushagak. Ekwok has a federal school staffed with a teacher and a community worker. Ekwok ^ This settlement ^ is on the mail route running from Dillingham (q.v.) to Iliamna and had a population of 68 in 1939. Recent maps show a shelter cabin at the mouth of Portage Creek at the southern entrace to Keefer Cutoff. Lewis Point, on the north

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side of the Nushagak about 10 miles from its ^ ^ mouth, is on the long winter trail which joins points on Iliamna Lake (q.v.) and the [: ] Kvichak River with Dillingham, Owens, Goodnews (q.v.) and other Bristol Bay towns to the west.

Early Russian explorers and, in 1828, Lütke reported th^e^ ^Nushagak^ ^ R ^ iver with recognizable variants of its present name. In 1778, however, Cook appears to have referred to it as the Bristol. Schanz recorded it as the Tahlekuk, about 1890, while Baker note ^ d ^ , in 1906, that the local fisheries refer ^ red ^ to it as the Main River. It is now generally known as the Nushagak.

^ 200 wds ^

NUYAKUK RIVER, southeastern Alaska, one of the important tributaries to the Nushagak River (q.v.), drains from the eastern end of Tikchik Lake at about 59° 56′ N. Lat., 158° 12′ W. Long., and takes a narrow, winding southeasterly course to join the long Nushagak at about 59° 49′ N. Lat., 157° 27′ W. Long. The Nuyakuk is about 28 miles long and is marked by falls and rapids early in its course, after which it widens and flows less swiftly. Recent maps show no named tributaries to the Nuyakuk, although it is fed from north and south all along its course by many streams and creeks rising in the numberless small lakes which dot this section of the coastal lowlands. The two permanent settlements on the Nuyakuk are Kaskanak, at its head, and koliganek, on the south bank of its junction with the Nushagak.

At one time the Nuyakuk was called the Tikchik River (q.v.) and was so reported by Baker ^ , ^ in 1906. Some confusion still exists today. The Nuyakuk was carefully traced but incorrectly indicated on a U. S. Coast & Geodetic Survey World Aeronautical Chart dated January, 1947. On this map the name Nuyakuk was printed along a stretch of the Nushagak River, leaving the entire course of the Nuyakuk unidentified.

Sources: vsgb

° in USCP, Baker, Colby, Greely

Place with Geography. Taken from Gasser "Agriculture in Alaska"

Palmer, in the Matanuska Valley, contains a business section which is growing rapidly; in 1948 a large hotel was being built. There are churches and civic organizations and a Farmer's Cooperating Association. An excellent fair is held there annually. As evidence of growth, the large school building is inadequate to house the children; and the town is considering incorporating (1947).

PENNY RIVER, southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, empties into Norton Sound about eleven miles west of Nome, at the mouth of the Snake River (q.v ^ ) ^

The headwaters of the Penny are cut off from the Kigluaik Moun– tains, in which the Snake River rises, by the broad basin of the upper Sinuk River (q.v.) and its tributaries.

The Penny is perhaps fourteen miles long, and, for the first half of its course ^ , ^ is constricted to a narrow valley by untimbered heights of over 1,000 feet. Along this part of its course, the Penny receives Wheel Gulch, Rabbit Creek, and Honey Creek.

Below this point, the Penny Basin broadns out considerably, until, for the last few miles, the river follows a meandering, deeply entrenched course across the coastal plain to Norton Sound.

Along this lower stretch, the Penny is joined by Willow Creek and several unnamed tributaries.

There are no settlements on Penny River now, although, at one time, there was considerably gold mining activity all along the stream. The village of Submarine Paystreak is on the shore of Norton Sound half– way between Nome and the mouth of the Penny River.

PINGUK RIVER, northwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rises northeast of Brooks Mountain, across the divide from California River (q.v.), and flows northward into a lagoon which lies between Lopp Lagoon and Shishmaref Inlet. This lagoon appears as Arctic Lagoon on some maps drawn early in the twentieth century, but is unidentified on more recent maps. The mouth of the Pinguk is about 30 miles northeast of Cape Prince of Wales.

Although the early mountainous section of the Pinguk is relatively straight, its lower course ^ section ^ folows a serpentine course across the gravels of the coastal plain.

About ten miles above its mouth, the Pinguk forks. The large western fork is known as York River. At one time the eastern fork was called the McKillop River, but it is not identified on recent maps.

York River rises in the eastern end of Brooks Mountain and flows northeastward to the Pinguk. In the lower part of its course it occupies a valley two to three hundred feet deep. Along this valley slate bed rock is exposed ^ , ^ and the river has also been found to contain tin. (For a general description of theAlaska tin industry see York Mountains article.)

Sources:

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, 1906.

Collier, A.J. Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward Peninsula ^ Reconnaissance of the Northwestern Portion of Seward Peninsula ^ , Alaska ^ Alaska ^ . Washington, 1902. (U.S. Geological Survey. Professional ^ Professional ^ Paper ^ Paper ^ No.2)

PRINCE OF WALES, CAPE, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is the point at which North America most closely approaches Asia. The Cape lies only 55 miles across Bering Strait from the U.S.S.R.

This Cape is really ^ a northerly ^ one section of the base of Cape Mountain, a 2,300-foot peak of comparatively regular outline which occupies much of this part of Seward Peninsula. To the south and southwest the mountains slope down to the sea, while the low sand beach, which forms the face of the cape, extends northward for a few miles and then turns northeastward toward Shishmaref Inlet (q.v.).

The small native village of Wales lies on this beach. It has a post office, a store, a school, and several reindeer corrals. The Kingegan Mission, named for the original native word for the Cape itself, is now located there, and the ^ r ^ e is a 1,600-foot landing strip nearby. Tin City (q.v.) lies a few miles southeast of the Cape.

Very deep water, up to 120 feet, will be found on approaching the Cape from the southeast. This depth continues along a northwesterly line until, about five miles northward, it is several miles offshore. A line of 18-foot shoal water begins very close to the southwestern point of the Cape, but leave ^ s ^ the shore almost immediately, continuing about one miles offshore until the Cape makes northeastward. At this point this shoal presumably joins the long and treacherous Prince of Wales Shoal.

Many times vessels of the old whaling fleets struck this shoal ten or fifteen nautical miles offshore. The western face of the shoal is especi– ally abrupt, depths decreasing rapidly from 120 feet. It is recommended that all vessels approaching from southward give the shoal a wide berth, and that they not haul eastward until 40 or more miles beyond the Cape. Southbound vess ^ el ^ le s must take care not to be caught ^ , ^ by falling too far eastward ^ , ^ between the ^ 25 ^

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PRINCE OF WALES, CAPE

shoal and the northern shore of Seward Peninsula. From Point Hope a course laid for Cape Dezhneva clears the shoal. Cape Dezhneva is high land and therefore gives ^ makes ^ a better landfall than the Diomedes, which are usually in fog. Because the limits of Prince of Wales Shoal are not definitely known, no buoys have been established to mark it. The remoteness of the locality and the heavy ice conditions would, in any case, make buoys impracticable.

Although this cape is said to have been named Gwozdef by Bering, in 1728, and the Eskimo name Niekta ^ Niekta ^ or Nychta ^ Nychta ^ has also been reported, its present name ^ , ^ given by Cook on August 9, 1778, is now universally used.

On July 30, 1816, Kotzebue passed around Cape Prince of Wales on the trip which was to re ^ s ^ ult in his dscovery of the sound which still bears his name. He describes the country about the Cape in the following words: "From Cape Prince of Wales extends a low land to the west, on which we observed many jurtes and frames built with whalebones, to dry fish on. As we were only three miles from the shore, we could plainly discern a number of people standing together in groups, to admire the wonderful large ship, but without making the least preparation for coming on board. I therefore took advantage of the wind, and fair weather, and sailed along the coast,which takes an E.N.E. direction from Cape Prince of Wales, consisting of low land, but has a far more pleasing appearance than St. Lawrence Island. The whole low ground is covered with a luxuriant green: there are no trees at all, but some low bushes; and only a little snow on the summits of the mountains in the interior of the country. Many habitations, which cover the coast, [: indcate ] indicate a numerous population. A baydare which we saw under sail, had by no means the intention of approaching the ship, but took its course to the north. I kept as close to the shore as the d pe ^ ep ^ th, which was scarcely five fathoms, would permit, and therefore I could not have missed any deep bay or opening. The depth increases slowly and regularly, and as the low land is scarcely

RODNEY, CAPE, southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ^ (64° 39′ N.Lat., 166° 25′ W. Long.) ^ the most westerly point on the southern coast of the peninsula, lies between the mouth of the Sinuk River and Cape Woolley, at the mouth of Igloo Creek about ten miles to the north.

A four-mile stretch of lake-strewn grassland separates Cape Rodney from the highlands which enclose the lower Sinuk River. The shore is a low sand beach along which runs a winter trail, leading eastward to Nome and northward to Port Clarence and Cape Prince of Wales.

The coast between Cape Rodney and Cape Woolley cannot be approached close to because of the shallowness of the water. From August 1 to November 1 each year, Cape Rodney is marked by a light.

Captain Frederick W. Beechey, who visited this section of the Alaska coast in August, 1927 1827, gives the following revealing des– cription of this cape: "Point Rodney is low, and the water being shallow, it is difficult to land. From the beach to the foot of the mountains there is a plain about two miles wide, covered with lichens and grass, upon which several herds of reindeer were feeding ; but the communication is in places interrupted by narrow lakes, which extend several miles along the coast. Upon the beach there was a greater abundance of driftwood than we had noticed on ^ ^ any other part of the coast ; ...there were several trunks which appeared to have been recently torn up by the roots. Near the spot where we landed [: t.. a number of ] were ... a number of posts driven into the ground, and in the lake we found several artificial ducks, which had been left as ------------------------------------------------

Sources: Bakers; VSGB; USCP & Supplement

Beechey, Capt. F.W. Narrative of aVoyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Narrative of aVoyage to the Pacific and Beering's ^ Strait ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ Strait ... in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28 ^ . [: Vol.II. ] London, Colburn & Bentley, 1831. Vol.II, p.251-252.

decoys; but we saw no natives. About two miles from the coast the country rises to peaked hills of great height, covered with perennial snow. It was calm throughout the greater part of the day, with very fine weather. The temperature...at noon reached to 55°, which was twenty-one degrees higher than it had been on the opposite shore ^ [ ^ Asia ^ ] ^ ."

visible when you are in nine fathoms' water, it is not to be wondered at, that Cook, who kept in this part at the depth of seventeen ^ ^ fathoms, should not have seen ^ ^ the low land at all."

Sources:

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska ^ . 2d ed. Washington, 1906

Kotzebue, Otto von. Voyage of Discovery to the South Sea and Beering's ^ Voyage of Discovery to the South Sea and Beering's ^ Straits ... in the years 1815-1818 ^ Straits ... in the years 1815-1818 ^ . Translated by H.E. Lloyd. London, 1821. vol.I.

U.S. Coast Pilot. Alaska. Part II. 1947.

U.S. C. [: ] G.S. Chart No.9380

V.S. Guide book for Alaska

1,356 wds. 25 wds - Bibe

ST. MICHAEL ISLAND, off the west coast of Alaska in the southeastern section of Norton Sound, is cut off from the mainland by a tidal slough called St. Michael Canal. "This," Dall wrote in 1870, "has been aptly named the Canal by the Russians, and it divides midway into two branches which are, it seems to me, equally tortuous, though they are styled the Straight and the Crooked respectively." The island is separated from Stuart Island (q.v.) by Stephens Pass, and is about 17 miles long by 13 miles wide. In 1871 Whymper gave this description of St. Michael Island: "The island is thick with moss, covering up, in some places, a bed of clay; berries in summer are abundant,and can be obtained fresh in winter by digging through their thick covering of snow. There are no trees whatever ..." Although generally low, the island has two elevations: 472-foot St. Michael Mountain, about in the center, and Stephens Hill, on the Stephens Pass side. Except for these two high points the island is a marsh overgrown with lichens, mosses, and sparsely growing grass. The shores are irregular and low. In 1942 four reindeer herds, ranging ^ ^ individually from 2,517 to 15,179 head, and totalling 32,809 head, were reported by white owners. Two other herds are known to exist, but no figures as to their size are available.

In 1833 Captain Michael Tebenkof discovered St.Michael Bay and built a fortified trading post on the island, which he called Michailovskii Redoubt. By 1870 ^ , ^ when Dall visited the post ^ , ^ it was already being called St. Michael. "The for s t," "he wrote, "is composed of log buildings with plank roofs, placed in the form of a square, and with the intervals filled by a palisade about ten feet high, sur– mounted by a chevaux-de-frise of pointed stakes. This is also continued round the eaves of the buildings. There are two outlying bastions, pierced

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for cannon and musketry... There is a flag-staff leaning apologetically as if consciously out of place, and a gallery for the watchman, who is on duty day and night, with reliefs, and who tolls a bell on the hour stroke to notify the inmates that he is not asleep...Outside of the stockade are several other buildings, — a small storehouse used for furs, a large shed where boats are drawn up in winter, a blacksmith's shop, and a church. The latter is octagonal in shape, with a small dome, surmounted by a cross, and a beam bearing a bell at the side of a small porch which covers the doorway." Whymper had this to say: "The station is built on the model of a Hudson's Bay Company's fort, with enclosure of pickets, and with bastions flanking it. Inside are the [: not ] store-houses and dwellings of the employes, including the "casine"...or general barrack, bath and cook-houses. These painted yellow, and surmounted by red roofs, gave it rather a gay appearance." A little over twenty years later, after the sale of Alaska to the United States, De Windt reported: "Were I to ... to live in Alaska ... I should certainly select St. Michael as a place of residence; for, although the inhabitants are practically prisoners during nine months of the year it is a bright clean ^ ^ little place, a contrast to the dirty slipshod towns of the interior. First and foremost, there are few mosquitoes, which is in itself an incalculable blessing...and, although rain and fog are prevalent in autumn, and mid-winter brings down terrific blizzards from the north, the short wintry days are generally bright, still, and pleasant. Plenty of sport is obtainable on the mainland. Caribou, wild-geese, duck, and ptarmigan abound... Fort St. Michael ... consists chiefly of warehouses and dwellings erected by the ^ ^ Alaska Commercial Company, which form one long street, neatly paved with wood, and kept scrupulously clean in wet or dusty weather."

By 1939 St. Michael had a population of 142 and was still

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the largest settlement on the island. As the transfer point from deep water boats to Yukon River boats, St. Michael was on ^ c ^ e more active than it has been since the opening of the White Pass Railway from Skagway and the Alaska Railroad from Seward, which now carry most of the freight formerly brought to the Yukon area by water. In 1938, however, a motorship shuttle service was running between St. Michael and Kotzebue Sound (q.v.), north of Seward Peninsula. The St. Michael of today has a Territorial school, with a nurse from the Bureau of Education in attendance, a post office, a Roman Catholic Mission, two general stores, two licensed fur dealers, and a roadhouse. There is a 50 x 900-foot emergency landing field on a sand pit near the town, and there is radio telephone communication with some Yukon River points.

^ 12 Co ^

Stebbins (population 98 in 1939), on the northwestern point of the island overlooking Stephens Pass, has an Alaska Native Service school. Early maps call this town Atroic. The only other settlements on the island are Fort St. Michael, an army post and radio station, now abandoned, and Tatchek (Techek) near St. Michael. All these towns on the Island are connected by winter trail with settlements on the mouth of the Yukon, with Mt. Village and other points up the Yukon and down the mainland as far as Scammon Bay, and with Norton Bay and Seward Peninsula villages to the north.

On the ^ ^ mainland across St. Michael Bay from the northeastern tip of the island, is the small native village of Healy, and just northeast of this tip is tiny Whale Island. A line of rocks which are bare at low water run from St. Michael to W hale Island ^ but ^ northward and eastward of the island the water deepens rapidly making a good entrance to St. Mich [: aal ] ^ ael ^ Bay. Beulah Island lies only about one– quarter of a mile northwestward from Whale Island. It is small and rounded and only about 50 feet high. The water between Beulah and Whale islands is shoal, but Beulah island has bold water off its north– eastern side.

Egg Island, about 10 miles northeast of Whale Island, has been used as a ^ quarantine ^ station. Deep water lies off ^ ^ the western shore and, although the island is too small to afford much protection in bad weather, it is the only lee available in this vicinity in northerly gales.

^ Since ^ T here is no harbor in all the St. Michael vicinity for ^ deep ^ ^ draft vessels, ^ ocean-going vessels which ^ ships ^ must anchor between St. Michael Bay and Egg Island. Rocks and shoals are a continuous hazard in this area. Loose rocks along the shores of St. Michael Bay are sometimes

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frozen into the ice in winter and then dropped as it goes out in the spring. These rocks are particularly dangerous to smaller vessels anchoring in shoal water close to shore. Although fogs are frequent farther up Norton Sound, they arer rare at St. Michael, but a south– ward mirage often distorts landmarks in this area and is one of the major hazards of the vicinity. Muir gives a good description of the tricks played by this mirage. "The mirage effects we have witnessed on the cruise thus far are as striking as any I ever saw on the hot American desert. Islands and headlands seemed to float in the air, distorted into the most unreal, fantastic forms imaginable, while the individual mountains of a chain along the coast appeared to dance at times up and down with a rhythmic motion, in the tremulous refracting atmosphere. On the northeast side of Norton Sound I saw two peaks, each with a flat, black table on top, looming suddenly up and sinking again alternately, like boys playing see-saw on a plank." Because of this phenomenon astronomical sights taken near St. Michael can not be depended upon and may be several miles in error although they seemed good when recorded. The ice forms in St. Michael Bay sometime in October or November and persists to the latter part of June.

^ 19 [: ] ^

Sources:

USCP & Supplement; VSGB; Colby; Baker; Tewkesbury Tompkins, Stuart Ramsay. Alaska, Promyshlennik & Sourdough ^ Alaska, Promyshlennik & Sourdough ^ . Norman, Oklahoma, Univ. of Oklahoma press, 1945.

Muir, John. Cruise of the Corwin. Journal of the Arctic Expedition ^ Cruise of the Corwin. Journal of the Arctic Expedition ^ of 1881 in search of De Long and the Jeannette ^ of 1881 in search of De Long and the Jeannette ^ . Boston, N.Y. Houghton, 1917.

Text - 1340 words Bibl - 25 "

SELAWIK LAKE ( Salawik ^ Salawik^, Silawik ^ Silawik ^ , etc.), a tidewater lake connecting with Hotham Inlet, Kotzebue Sound and the Polar Sea, indents the shoreline of northwestern Alaska at about 66° 30′ N.Lat., 161° W. Long.

This lake is about 27 miles long and about 20 miles wid ^ e ^ at the greatest. Coming in from Hotham Inlet, Attiunik Point, the southern entrance point, lies rather high on the western end of the lake. Directly opposite, at the eastern end, the Selawik River (q.v.) enters the lake. The mouth to this river is obstructed by numberless tiny islands and by extensive mud flats rat reaching almost a mile from the shore.

Depths in the lake vary from 12 to 18 feet, and 12 feet can be carried to the westernmost branch of the mouth of the Selawik River.

The only other named tributary to Selawik Lake is the Mangoak, a much ^ ^ smaller stream than the Selawik, which enters the eastern end from the south.

^ ¶ ^ However, Cantwell speaks of a tributary entering midway of the north side of the lake. "At a point about one-half the distance from the mouth of the Selawik River to the southern entrance to the lake a river runs in from the mountains which separate the Kowak and Selawik Rivers. Here the country is low and marshy, similar to the Kowak delta. Berries grow in great abundance along the sides of the bluffs and on the level tundra land, and game is exceedingly plentiful. I shot during the afternoon eight ptarmigan, one goose, a loon, and an Arctic hare, and could have shot many more of each of the birds mentioned had we needed them."

South of the main mouth of the Selawik ^ , ^ and almost completely blocked off from Selawik Lake by the Selawik delta and a mass of tiny islands ^ , ^ is a smaller body of water known as Inland Lake. Stoney found that this lake was connected with a southern branch of the Selawik and that it was not over three feet at the greatest, and for the most part, only about

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one foot deep. "There is every indication," he added, "that this second l k ^ a ^ ke was formerly part of the Selawik Lake. Selawik Lake itself is very regular in shape and depth. There is little animal life in it; it was dredged for hours, but no specimens were found."

Cantwell, of the U.S.S. Corwin, also explored Selawik Lake in August, 1884. His report reads in part as follows: "Selawik Lake ... is nothing more than an extension of Hotham Inlet. In fact it is hard to determine where the inlet ends and the lake begins on the north side, but on the opposite side the entrance to ^ ^ the lake is well marked by a sand spit, ^ [ ^ Attiunik Point ^ ] ^ which projects far out from the land and divides the two bodies of water very plainly. At night we ran across to this spit, and seek– ing a sheltered spot, camped. A convenient little harbor here determined me to leave the launch at this place and to make the trip in the skin boat, as I was informed that much of the upper portion of Selawik Lake was shoal."

^ ¶ ^ The next day, Cantwell and his two companions continued the r ^ i ^ r investigation of the lake. "After taking bearings of some prominent peaks and points around the end of the lake," he writes, "I proceeded along the south shore, finding from two to three fathoms of water with gradually shoal– ing water to the beach. The country is the usual high rolling tundra land of the lower part of the bay and forms a bluff bank to the lake. Along the front of the bank it is covered with a thick growth of willow and birch, except where the ice and snow have slipped down from the heights, leaving a scarred and rugged track behind. A narrow strip of beach composed of white sand and gravel extends for miles along the eastern side of the lake, and at intervals long spits extend far out from the shore, so that many little bays are formed...Toward 5 p.m. we reached a part of the lake where the shore trends to the northwest, and here we found the water very shoal and the shores low and swampy. Two hundred yards from the beach a bar extended to the northwest parallel to the shore and a heavy sea was running on it...

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We got over the bar comparatively dry and camped on the marsh. The place was alive with geese and ducks, and Andre killed enough in a very short while to last us a week. We slept under the boat, and as the wind continued blowing all night we were not troubled with mosquitoes."

The following day, August 11, Cantwell happened upon Inland Lake. "The shores continued low and marshy," he reports, "and at 12 o'clock I observed a small river running in from the eastward. Upon inquiry I learned that a large lake could be reached by going up this river, and as I knew of no such lake was on the charts of this country I resolved to explore it. We entered the river and found it to be about seventy-five yards wide, and with two to three fathoms of water. At 2 p.m. we reached a beautiful little lake about five miles in diameter and almost entirely surrounded by mountains. Dashing across this lovely little sheet of water we entered a narrow creek which flows in on the opposite side, and soon after stopped for dinner at the hut of an Indian living on the banks of a lagoon near by. He and his family were greatly surprised to see a white man here, but they treated us very hospitably by giving us some fresh fish and deli ^ c ^ ious salmon berries, which grew in great abundance on the tundra adjacent to the lake. At 2 p.m. we left, after giving our host some tobacco, and in an hour's time emerged on the large lake of which we were in search. The Indians call it Emogarikchoit ^ Emogarikchoit ^ , or Little Sea ^ Little Sea ^ ^ [ ^ Inland Lake ^ ] ^ , and the river which connects it with Selawik Lake, Kiactuk ^ Kiactuk ^ , or Fox River ^ Fox River ^ ^ [ ^ the present Throat River ^ ] ^ ."

^¶ —^ On the 13th, he reports, "The wind being now fair we sped away along the edge of the lake until 5 p.m., when I observed a deep indentation on the shoe, and upon inquiry learned that a small stream connected the lake at this point with Selawik River about twenty-five miles from its mouth. Finding that two days would suffice to reach Selawik Lake by this route, I turned the boat's head in this direction. After an hour's run we reached

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the farthest side of the little bay, which we found very shoal and the bottom covered with grass. The place seemed alive with fish, and shoals of them played around and under our boat without the slightest evidence of fear... The entrance to the river, which is called the ^ Eegyak ^ or Throat River, is con– cealed and could be easily passed by one unacquainted with the country. Natorak piloted us into it, however, and we found ourselves between banks densely clothed with the characteristic willow trees and grass of the low– lands hereabout. A slight current favored us, and with a smart breeze which followed the course of the river we rushed along at the rate of seven knots. No shoals were seen, and the depth of the water was from three to five fathoms. In common with all these rivers the course of the Eegyak is tortuous, and its shores afford but little scope for scenic description. At about 8 o'clock p.m. we arrived at an Indian settlement situated at the junction of the main stream with a smaller one flowing off to the left, and here pitched our camp, having made 35.2 miles during the day. The Indians were exceedingly kind and anxious to help us. They rushed into the ^ ^ water waist deep and hauled the boat up with all on board high and dry amidst great excitement, and after building a fire and getting enough wood to last us through the night, sat down around us and smiled on us with great good humor."

^ Text - 950 wds, ^

SELAWIK RIVER, chief tributary to Selawik Lake, an inland arm of Hotham Inlet, Kotzebue Sound, drains the section of northwestern Alaska between the Hogatza and the Koyukuk Rivers, in the Yukon River system on the south, and the Kobuk River, on the north.

The Selawik ri v ^ s ^ es in the Zane Hills at about 66° 30′ N. Lat., 156° 30′ W. Long. and flows almost directly westward into Selawik Lake. Low mountains constrict the upper one-third of the Selawik valley, but westward from about 158° W.Long. [: ] it expands into a lake-studded lowland which reaches many miles southward and merges with the Kobuk River valley on the north. The Selawik is eighty or more miles long and, although the entrance is blocked by mud flats, a depth of twelve feet can be carried into the most westerly outlet to the lake.

Lieutenant G. M. Stoney, one of the earliest white explorers of this river, reported as follows: "The Selawik River rises in the mountains south of the upper Putnam ^ [ ^ Kobuk ^ ] ^ and flows west to Selawik Lake. Its valley is rolling but less so than the Putnam's and is interspersed with more lakes. The river is not so long as the Putnam or the Notoark ^ [ ^ Noatak ^ ] ^ , and its course is more winding. The current at the place where the river forks is .8 knots, and less lower down. Many tributaries enter from both banks; they are deep but of no great length. The banks of the Selawik are as regular as canal banks. Two fathoms can be carried up to the fork where there is a five-fathom hole; beyond, the water of the forks was too shallow for the 'Explorer.'" Later he adds: "On the Selawik River a little spruce grows in small clusters; more of it is found on oneof the northerly branches. The principal growth is of willow and alder, the latter attaining considerable size."

Stoney mentions two of the named tributaries to the Selawik: the Tagagawik, which enters from the south about 25 miles from the mouth of the main stream, and the Kugarak, from the north. The Kawichiark, one of the few of the many other streams in this system whose name appears on recent maps, is a tributary to the Kugarak.

The river which connects Inland Lake, ^ S ^ outh of the mouth of the Selawik, with that river is called Throat River. Cantwell identified this stream by its native name, Eegyak ^ Eegyak ^ . Describing his August, 1884, trip to Selawik Lake from the junction of Throat River with the Selawik, Cantwell wrote: "The banks of the Selawik vary but little from those of the Kowak ^ [ ^ Kobuk ^ ] ^ in character, with the exception that the undergrowth is heavier. The width ^ ^ of the river varies from six hundred to a thousand yards, and in some places it expands into bays a mile wide. From four to six fathoms of water were found in the channel. From the mouth of the Eegyak the Selawik trends in a north– westerly direction about six miles and then to the south and west to the lake. Many small ^ ^ lakes and lagoons were observed near the river, and entering one of these I discovered an extensive sheet of water lying at the foot of the moun– tains, about six miles from the river. At 4 p.m. we emerged into a large bay filled with many islands, and the glistening waters of Selawik Lake could be seen about four miles ahead. We crossed the bay and at 5.30 p.m. reached the sand ^ - ^ spit forming the north side of the entrance to the lake. Here we camped, as there was too much sea in the lake for us to go farther. The wind was storng from the southwest all day and we made 25.7 miles. Average temperature, 85°."

At the present time, the only settlements on this river are Selawik, at its ^ ^ mouth, and Gabolio, several miles upstream.

Sealawik had a 1939 population of 239, a post office. an Alaska Native Service school, five general stores, and a Friend's Mission. There is also a 1,000-foot landing strip.

Gabolio is a much smaller settlement, and was no included in the 1939 Census.

The winter trail which runs southward from the Squirrel and Kobuk Rivers passes through both Selawik and Gabolio and continues for many miles up the Selawik River. At the Kobuk, this trail meets another which runs up and down that long river, on to Kotzebue (q.v.), and from there to many points on Kotzebue Sound and the northwestern cost of Alaska.

^ 90wds ^

SEPPINGS, CAPE, on the coast of the Polar Sea, northwestern Alaska, between Point Hope and Cape Krusenstern (q.v.), was named by Beechey in 1827.

Several small unnamed streams enter the Polar Sea in the vicinity of this cape, and there is an Eskimo settlement nearby.

The mountains behind Cape Seppings approach close to the water, sloping abruptly down to the sea. The Cape itself is not distinct, many pilots saying that it is difficult to determine exactly to which point the name Sappings should be applied.

SEWARD PENINSULA, an irregular land mass jutting out from western Alaska, comprises approximately 20,000 square miles of land which, in general outline, suggests a crudely shaped arrowhead with the point directed westward toward Cape Nunyagmo, on the Siberian coast. From east to west the Peninsula measur ^ e ^ s about 200 miles, and varies in width between the 80 miles separating ^ N ^ orton Sound from Kotzebue Sound and the 150 miles ^ s ^ eparating Cape Nome from Cape Eapenberg. The main mass of the Peninsula lies between 64° N.Lat. and the Arctic Circle and between 161° and 168° W.Long.

Seward Peninsula separates Bering Sea from the Polar Sea ^ . ^ ^ On the south ^ [: ] ^ the Peninsula is ^ itself almost cut off from the continent by Norton Bay, a large arm of Bering Sea, and on the south north ^ it meets ^ by Kotzebue Sound, an indentation of the Polar Sea. The Peninsula's western extremity, Cape Prince of Wales, is the most westerly point on the North American continent. This Cape lies only fifty-five miles across Bering Strait from the Asiatic coast.

(No attempt will be made in this article to include detailed [: ] des– criptions of individual features of the Peninsula; most of these will be des– cribed separately in their proper alphabetical places in the Encyclopedia.)

Topographically speaking, the dominant forms of Seward Peninsula are flat-topped uplands, measuring from 800 to 2,500 feet high, which are broken by broad valleys and lowland basins. Midway of the southern section, the Kigluaik, Bendeleben, and Darby Mountains form a broken range along a crescent axis, while the York Mountains (q.v.), and several unnamed highland areas form isolated groups in the northern half of the Peninsula. Generally speaking, the watercourses follow broad, gently-sloping valleys. About [: ] one– fourth of the drainage flows northward to the Polar Sea; [: ] the rest finds its way southward into Bering Sea or one of its extensions, such as Norton Bay, Norton Sound, or Golovnin Bay. As compared with the minutely-indented and

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irregular shore line of southern Alaska, the coast of the Peninsula is remarkably straight, characterized as it is by long, gently-sloping beaches, which are broken only occasionally by rocky bluffs or deep embayments and inlets. Shore Line The gradual sopes of the beaches bordering Seward Peninsula continue below sea level to form a slowly-deepening shoal around much of its coastline. In only a very few places are depths of sixty feet or more found within five miles of the shore. Throughout this vicinity, Bering Sea and the Polar Sea are so shallow that no soundings above 210 feet have been reported within 100 miles of the coa ^ s ^ t.

Golovnin Bay, about one hundred miles east of Nome ^ , ^ has a depth of about eighteen feet at the entrance, but large vessels cannot approach nearer than three miles of the head of the bay. The Nome roadstead is also very shoal and open to southerly and southwesterly storms which sweep this section of Seward Peninsula coast every fall. The only protection from these storms is about twenty-five miles west of Nome, between Sledge Island and the mainland.

Por ^ t ^ Clarence, perhaps eighty miles northwest of Nome, is the only true harbor on the Peninsula. Its nearly circular outline is formed by ^ ^ a long, low, curving sandspit which e ^ x ^ tends in a northwesterly direction from the main land. Depths up to fifty-four feet are e found near the entrance, and large vessels find good anchorage over much of the harbor. Light-draft vessels can proceed into Grantley Harbor, which extends inland for about fifteen miles, and which is connected by way of Tuksuk Channel, a narrow, tidal inlet, with Imuruk Basin. This large body of brackish water in turn leads to the mouth of the Kuzitrin River which is navigable to light draft vessels for many miles upstream. This series of waterways opsn ^ opens ^ the heart of the Peninsula to small vessels.

There is no similar chain of waterways on the north shore of the peninsula. Northeastward from Cape Prince of Wales the shoreline is relative– ly straight, but there are several shallow lagoons lying between barrier beaches and the mainland which are connected with the Polar Sea only by narrow, extremely shaol channels. Shishmaref Inlet, the largest of these lagoons, can, however, be used as a harbor by [: ] light-draft vessels.

At Cape Espenberg the shoreline of the Peninsula veers south– ward to form the western side of Kotzebue Sound. Goodhope Bay, a southwestern arm of the Sound, is about thirty miles wide and has depths up to thirty feet, but, because of its size and the width of its mouth, it offers but little more protection to seagoing vessels than does the open coast of the Peninsula. Spafarief Bay, a southeastern arm of Kotzebue Sound, leads northward into Eschscholtz Bay, but both these are so shoal as to be dangerous to any except small boats. The only good anchorage in this region will be found off Chamisso Island, in the entrance to Eschscholt Bay and north of Spafarief Bay, a spot which is known as Chamisso Anchorage.

Perhaps the greatest danger to navigation in the waters off Seward Peninsula is Prince of Wales Shoal which seems to be a ridge of sand extending for a distance of 35 or 40 miles from the western extremity of Cape Prince of Wales. Little definite information concerning this sho [: ] l can be given. It would appear to be much steeper on the western side than on the mainland side, and vessels are warned to give it a wide berth when approaching from either the north or the south. Many of the [: ] nineteenth century whaling vessels struck this [: ] shoal at distances supposed to be fifteen or more miles from the Cape. A note on recent Coast and Geodetic Survey charts reports that ships have been known to round the Cape by keeping at all times as close as one or two miles offshore, but, since neither depths over the shoal nor its exact position are known, this procedure can be recommended only to small, light draft vessels.

The sand and gravel beaches which girdle the Peninsula are separated by a series of headlands or promontories. Cape Darby, Rocky Point, Cape No [: ] ^ m ^ e, and Cape Rodney are the most conspicuous points on the southern shore, while Cape Woolley, Cape Douglas, Point Spencer, Cape York, and Cape [: ] Prince of Wales, mark the southwestern side of the Peninsula. As we have already noted, the northwestern shoreline of the Peninsula is remarkably straight, except for a few nearly land-locked lagoons. There are, consequently, fewer promontories along this coast, the only named examples being Cape Lowenstern, the northern entrance point to Shishmaref Inlet, and Cape Espenberg, the southern entrance point to Kotzebue Sound. Cape Deceit and Elephant Point, in Eschscholtz Bay, are the only named headlands on the Peninsula side of Kotzebue Sound . ^ , ^ and its related waterways.

For about five miles on either side of Cape York limestone cliffs rise to elevations of 600 feet, but west of these cliffs the beaches are backed by a narrow coastal plain. At the extreme western tip of the Pen– insula, 2,300-foot Cape Mountain rises just behind Cape Prince of Wales. The south and west sides of this mountain fall off to the sea in cliffs several hundred feet high [: ] , but the north side descends more gradually.

Relief Since the drainage system lacks uniformity, the detailed topography of the Peninsula is irregular. Generally speaking, however, it may be said that the land forms belong to one of three basic types. In the order of their importance these are: T he uplands;^,^ the lowlands, and the mountains. The rock and gravel ^ - ^ floored terraces which occur throughout the Peninsula might possibly be considered a fourth type, particularly since they contain the key to the evolution of the topography.

Broad, flat-topped or rounded hills, which we call the uplands, cover the greater part of the Peninsula and are its dominating topographic feature. Locally, these uplands reveal a striking uniformity of altitude,

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although generally speaking they range from a few hundred feet in height, near tide water, to several thousand feet, in the interior of the Peninsula. These uplands can be considered a dissected plateau, the summit level marking a peneplain. Base-levels of lower altitude, remnants of which have been pre– served as minor plateaus and benches, indicate later epochs of erosion and exist throughout the Peninsula.

The lowlands are of three types. Fringing the shore line and in some places reaching a width of twenty miles or more, are the most extensive type of lowland, the coastal plain. As these coastal plains merge with the lower slopes of the uplands the so-called 'tundra' or moss-covered , grasslands are formed. Basin lowlands form the second type of lowland, and these, like the coastal plains, merge with the upland slopes. True valleys, the third type, are characteristically flat-floored with gently sloping sides, but [: ] less common valley types are the steep-walled, rocky canyon ^ s, ^ and the typically U-shaped valley ^ s ^ which occurs in a few of the higher mountain masses formerly mountain masses. This last type of valley originates in glacial cirques.

Only one considerable range fulfills the requirements of the third topographic group, the mountains. There are, however, several isolated mountain masses which rise well above the general summit level of the uplands. The mountains of Seward Peninsula are rugged and have sharply ^ - ^ cut drainage channels. Several of them have been subject to recent glaciation.

The one true mountain range on the Peninsula, the Kigluaik– Bendeleben-Darby group, divides the province into two topographic sections. South and west of this range is an upland ranging from 800 to 3,000 feet in altitude, and north of the range is another upland with about the same relief.

The crescent-shaped axis of this chain stretches northeast– ward from the vicinity of Cape. ^ W ^ oolley to about 163° W. Long., and then bends southward to Cape Darby, the eastern entrance point to Golovnin Bay. The

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eastern curve of the chain encloses the drainage basin of the Fish River. The Kigluaik Mountains make up the western end of the chain and contain the highest peaks, some of which reach an altitude of nearly 5,000 feet. The Bendeleben Mountains, in the center of the crescent, do not anywhere exceed 3,700 feet, while the most easterly group, the Darby Mountains, do not exceed 3,000 feet. The Kigluaik and Bendeleben ranges are rugged, with sharply-cut valleys, and both include glacial c ^ i ^ rques. These mountains have been deeply dissected so that the valley walls are precipitous. Within the mountains the streams are torrential. The Kigluaik Mountain drainage system is characterized by remarkably straight valleys and by [: ] the fact that the largest of these divide the mountains into irregular masses and subordinate ranges.

Extensive lowlands nearly everywhere separate the Kigluaik Mountains from the uplands. On the north, the extensive flat ^ s ^ ^ ^ which surrou ^ n ^ d Imuruk Basin stretch eastward and around the end of the range to be con– tinued by the Kurzgamepa valley. On the south the headwaters of the Kruzga– mepa and Stewart rivers follow broad depressions. The western end of the Ben– deleben Mountains, containing 3,760-foot Mount Bendeleben, is also isolated in this manner, but the transition between the mountains and the upland ^ ^ is more gradual at the eastern end. In the Darby Mountains there is a similarly gradual transition between mountains and upland.

The highland mass south of these mountains rises to summits ranging from 800 to 3,000 feet high. Up to an altitude of about 800 feet the benches are plainly due to stream erosion, but above this level the benches are of undertermined origin. These highlands have no well-defined ridge system, and the rivers follow broad, deep valleys which slope gradually upward to the divides. The summits although rounded are often marked by rocky knobs, many of which have fantastic shapes. The preservation of these castellated peaks indicates absence of regional glaciation. The larger valleys trend, in general,

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north and south although minor tributaries have scalloped their margins. Despite this trend of the major valleys, the higher uplands descend to the coastal plain by a series of well-defined east-west terraces.

Many of the lowlands, which in most cases separate the high– lands from the sea, are crescent-shaped beaches terminating at either end in promontories or bluffs whose bases lie in the sea.

Lowlands separate the Kigluaik and Bendeleben Mountains from the uplands which make up the northern two-thirds of the peninsula. This northerly upland is similar to its southern counterpart, except that the peaks are slightly lower, ranging from 600 to 2,500 feet in height. Here, too, the peaks are irregular and the uplands are cut by several mountain masses. These are less rugged and somewhat lower than the southern ranges. The York Mountains, which form an irregular mass at the extreme western end of the Peninsula, are the most extensive of the northern mountains, and reach a maximum altitude of 2,918 feet in Brooks Mountains. On the south, east, and west these mountains fall off to a well-marked plateau, but on the north they slope off gradually to an upland which in turn merges with the broad coastal plain. The York Mountains proper are rugged, with steep valleys. Among the highest [: ] summits there is evidence of some glaciation.

In the northeastern, or Fairhaven District, there are several isolated mountain groups, but these would appear to be elevations of the plateau rather than true mountains.

In explanation of the various levels represented by the topography of Seward Peninsula, Collier writes: "The northern upland, as has been stated, reaches an altitude of 2,900 feet. Between the summit level and the lowland there is in many places a series of broad benches, which represent distinct epochs of erosion...Briefly stated, four epochs of erosion have been recognized, each of which marks a stage of stability during a general period

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of uplift. The highest and, therefore, oldest of these plateau ^ s ^ is preserved in benches lying at altitudes of 2,000 to 2,700 feet. This erosion level has been termed the Nuluk Plateau. A second erosion period, the result of which has been called the Kugruk Plateau, is marked by a well-preserved bench, ranging in altitude from 400 to 1,200 feet. The so-called York Plateau gives evidence of a third local base-level and stands 300 to 700 feet above the sea. The extensive coastal plain is the result of the fourth and most recent epoch of erosion. While some if not all of these base-levels are probably represent– ed throughout the peninsula they have been correlated only in the northwestern par ^ t ^ ."

The valleys of the northern part of the Peninsula stretch in general north and south. The uplands here merge with the broad coastal lowland skirting the Polar Sea which everywhere here is wider than along the southern coastline. In addition, benches are fewer here, and the transition from one level to another is in every respect more gradual.

Drainage The Bering-Polar Sea watershed follows a sinuous line along the east-west axis of the ^ Seward ^ Peninsula ^ , ^ sending the waters of more than two-thirds of the area southward into Bering Sea and the remainder northward into the Polar Sea.

From east to west the southern drainage system includes the Koyuk, Mukluktulik, Kwik, Tubutulik, and Kwiniuk Rivers into Norton Bay, the waters of the Fish, ^ N ^ iukluk, Casadepaga, and the Klokerblok into Golovnin Sound, the Daniels, Topkok, Solomon, Bonanza, ^ and ^ Eldorado into Norton Sound east of Cape Nome, and the Nome, Snake, Penny, Cripple, Sinuk, Feather, and Tisuk Rivers between Cape Nome and Point Spencer, the southern entrance point to Port Clarence.

The Bluestone River drains most of the area between the Kigluaik Moutains and Port Clarence. Imuruk Basin receives many smaller

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streams, including Canyon, Fall, Pond, Glacier, Snow, and Cobblestone from the south, as well as the combined waters of the Kruzgamepa, Kuzitrin, and Mary's Rivers at its eastern end. The Kougarok, one of the major rivers of the interior of the Peninsula, enters the Kuzitrin from the north about midway of its course, while the Noxapaga enters farther [: ] pstream and also from the north. The Agiapuk, with American River as its major tributary, enters the north side of Imuruk Basin.

Between Teller Mission, on the north side of Port Clarence, and Cape Prince of Wales, at the western tip of the Peninsula, several rivers, including the California, Don, Lost, King, Kanauguk, Anikovik, Baituk, Ocean, and Cape flow southward from the York Mountains into Bering Sea.

Between Cape Princes of Wales and Cape Espenberg, the Mint, Pinauk, Nuluk, Kugrupaga, Arctic, and Serpentine Rivers flow northwestward into the Polar Sea, while the Goodhope, Inmachuk, Kugruk, Kiwalik, and Buckland are the chief streams in the northeastern part of the Peninsula.

The Buckland is one of the largest rivers in this part of Alaska, but perhaps only the last thirty or so miles of its course may be said to lie on ^ be in ^ Seward Peninsula proper. It is about seventy-five miles long overall, and the ^ its ^ upper quarter of its extent is still unexplored.

Climate Since it is almost entirely surrounded by water, temperatures in Seward Peninsula do not rise and fall to such extremes as do temperatures of interior regions in the same latitude. The proximity of Bering Sea and the Polar Sea, and their various extensions, also supplies more moisture to the atmosphere over the Peninsula than will be found farther east. The ^ e ^ ffects of these seas are only partially reduced by the fact that both are ice-bound for almost half of each year.

During quiet winter days temperatures of ^−4^0° to −^5^0° will occur on the Peninsula, but residents do not consider these temperatures danger-

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ous in any way unless they are accompanied by strong northerly or northeasterly winds. The lowest temperatures occur during January and February, and yet, during these same two months, sudden thaws and warm rains have been known to open all streams to flood proportions. These winter thaws are accompanied by open water in Norton Sound. Very rarely do summer temperatures rise above 80°, and, in the northern part of the Peninsula, an entire summer may pass without the mercury having touched 70°. The most common temperatures for July, August, and September, in these regions, are between 45° and 60°. Minimum temperatures are 32° or lower from about September to the middle of May. The first frost usually occurs about mid-September, and the last in the middle of June.

In September, the temperature of Port Clarence averages about 38.9° The waters of Kotzebue Sound reach 50.9° in August and sink to 38.3° in October. Precipitation The total annual precipitation for the southern part of Seward Peninsula varies from about 18 to 20 inches. There is a fall of perhaps 25 inches in the northern part. By far the greate [: ] st amount of this precipitation falls in the form of rain between the months of June and October, with snow accounting for only about four or five liquid inches. ^ Throughout the winter, however, ^ T ^ t ^ he snow is quite sufficient ^ , ^ however for sledging ^ , ^ throughout the winter since it is usually blown into heavy drifts by the northerly and northeasterly winds pre– vailing during the winter months. To the many streams on the Peninsula, these well-packed drifts serve as a good source of water for some months after the first thaw.

The spring thaw is usually accompanied by floods, the frozen subsoil making for an extremely swift run-off, but is then often followed by a five or six weeks' drought. It is during this period that the water from the melting snow drifts supplies the streams with sufficient flow for the work– ing of placers. The so-called 'rainy season' begins in July, during which three or more inches of rain may fall in one month. This season continues

R. J. COLLINS - Photographer 20 MAIN STREET MILLER FALLS - MASSACHUSETTS TELEPHONE 2861

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until early September, when another period of low precipitation begins. Snow begins to fall in September and increases in frequency through January and into part of February.

^ Throughout the Peninsula, ^ E^e^xcept in certain spots ar [: ] ound Nome and in the vicinity of the hot springs on the Kruzgamepa and the Serpentine Rivers, ground frost, or perma– frost (q.v.), penetrates to unknown depths. [: ]

Except for the tops of the higher hills and mountains, the entire surface of Seward Peninsula is covered with a layer of moss and grasses which forms the so-called 'tundra' or grasslands of the arctic regions. This covering prevents the underlying gravels from thawing and also quickly absorbs whatever rain falls during the summer. Rain water so absorbed drains slowly and at a fairly uniform rate into the nearby streams. Streams which are bordered for most of their course by territory protected with this covering of moss and grass therefore have a more reliable water supply than those which flow

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directly out of the relatively bare uplands or mountains ^ almost directly ^ into the sea.

Along the shores of Norton Sound storms from the south and southeast often accompany the wind and rain of September. These southerly storms are particularly dangerous to the ports along this coast, since they tend to raise the level of the water in the Sound, driving it in the ^ ^ form of a pounding surf up the shallow roadsteads of the south side of Seward Peninsula. The north and northeast storms of the winter season are little noticed in the southern parts of the Peninsula but do endanger the settlements on Port Clarence, and Kotzebue Sound. Usually accompanying such northerly storms is a fall of very dry snow which the strong winds drive along in clouds and heap into drifts. Such storms may continue for three or four days, and, although the actual snowfall may be light, temperatures between −30° and −40° will usually prevail for the duration of the storm. On the other hand, high winds are some– times accompanied by moderate temperatures, even on the northern side of the Peninsula.

^ discu [: ] ✓ ^

Every stream in this entire region freezes across during the winter, and the smaller streams will freeze solid. In the southern parts, streams close over about the end of September and open about the middle of May. If a stream is not frozen to the bottom, it sometimes breaks through during the winter and floods its own ice covering. This cover freezes quickly, of course, but sometimes the process is repeated again and again until an entire river valley is sheeted with ice.

partially

Bering Strait is almost always partially open throughout the winter, although the sea is usually frozen for a distance of several miles from the land. After the spring break-up, this ice retrats northward through the Straits, leaving Nome open to navigation by about the ^ ^ middle of June. Port Clarence and Kotzebue Sound, being shallow and somewhat protected

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teeted from the movement of the sea ice, do not open up until a few weeks later.

Vegetation and The vegetation of Seward Peninsula is arctic in character, Animal Life stunted both by the coldness of the climate and the shortness of the growing season. Despite this, many species develop to maturity during the summer.

Most abundant of all are the mosses and lichens, which form [: ] he covering over most of the Peninsula, and which vary in color from the pure white and cream of the reindeer moss to the dark green and brown of the pe e ^ a ^ t moss. In spring and summer this carpet is thickly sprinkled with brightly– colored flowers, whose variety and abundance always surprise the Outsider.

In the lowlands ^ , ^ where there is little or no drainage, peat moss grows to such thickness and holds so much water that travel is wearisome and sometimes impossible. A trip of nine or ten miles over such a terrain is a hard day's work for a man, and may be quite impossible for a horse. Summer trails must keep to the ridges and the stream beds, and, since these may not always proceed in the desired direction, summer overland travel is considerably restricted.

Spruce trees will be ^ are ^ found near Council, on the Niukluk River, which measure one foot in diameter and fifty feet in height, but a point about twenty miles west of Council is the westernmost limit of coniferous trees on the American Continent.

Farther westward, cottonwoods are found along the rivers and dwarf alders on the hillsides. Frequently, impenetrable thickets of willow border many of the streams, making travel along them extremely difficult. These willows are usually two inches or less thick and five feet or less tall, but ^ they ^ sometimes attain a thickness of six inches and a height of twenty feet. These willows ^ constitute the fuel ^ supply the fuel ^ supply ^ for the many mining camps in the western

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part of the Peninsula, and have ^ even ^ been found in sheltered places in the vicinity of Cape Prince of Wales.

Where these mosses have ^ do ^ not prevailed, a variety of grasses will be found which supply very good forage for pack animals. This was the only forage used by the several Geological Survey parties which spent many summers on Seward Peninsula early in this century, but their reports mention also that these grasses did not always have time to mature, so that they supplied very little nourishment after curing. The concensus was that it was necessary to import feed for pack animals if they were to be kept over a winter on the Peninsula.

During August, several kinds of berries appear. Most impor– tant of these are the marsh blueberry, similar to the blueberry of the States, and the salmon berry, also known as the cloud berry and the ^ of ^ marooshka.

Since the Peninsula summer corresponds to springtime in the States, flowers are most profuse during July. The abrupt transition to warm weather, plus the humidity of the soil and the atmosphere approximate a hot– house environment which produces enormous blossoms altogether disproportionate to their stunted stocks. Equalling their size is the variety of these blossoms. Wild forget-me-nots, fireweeds, the white salmon berry, heather, and the large yellow Alaska poppy are everywhere to be seen. Even on the relatively bare hilltops, the bluebell and phlox appear, while the short-stemmed rhododendron, though hardly two inches tall, exhibits its large and showy blossoms.

Fish and Salmon, grayling, trout, pike, and whitefish abound in the Game fresh-water streams during the summer, while smelt and other salt-water fish are fairly abundant in the waters surrounding the Peninsula. ^ Throughout the Summer ^ L^l^arge numbers of Eskimos, many from the interior of the Peninsula, gather at the mouths of the rivers and at particularly favorable points along the coastline

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to fish, hunt, and trap. The dried meat and fish accumulated in this way supplement [: ] the less plentiful resources of the wintertime.

At one time c ^ C ^ aribou were ^ once ^ numerous, but their numbers have ^ now, ^ dwindled, despite efforts to raise and breed them, to a fraction of their former ^ their numbers have divindled ^ strength. ^ considerably. ^ During the winter polar bear are sometime ^ ^ skilled along the coasts, and a few brown and black bear have been seen. Some game birds, such as the ptarmigan, snipe, plover, and curlew have decreased in numbers ^ ^ in recent years, but geese, ducks, sandhill cranes and swans are still plentiful.

Commerce As will be immediately realized after reading one or more of the articles on Seward Peninsula towns and regions, the mineral resources scattered throughout its extent have dictated its development. Without the gold, tin, and other metals found there, Seward Peninsula would never have acquired its present commercial importance nor developed its present population.

By 1905, after considerable initial confusion, the various mining districts on Seward Peninsula were definit defined and mapped. Starting at Norton Bay and working [: ] westward, then northward and eastward ^ along the coast ^ to Kotzebue Sound, the districts read in this order: Koyuk, Council, Cape Nome, Port Clarence, Goodhope, and Fairhaven. Completely surrounded by these coastwise precincts ^ ^ is the Kugruk district, which fills in the center of the Peninsula.

Chief amongst the gold mining towns, of course, is Nome, site of a major gold rush in the first years of the twentieth century ^ (q.v.). ^ Eastward from Nome are Solomon and Bluff, once more important and busy than they are now. The most important settlements in the Port Clarence area are Teller and Teller Mission, directly opposite each other across the entrance to Grantley Harbor . while Mary's Igloo, Pilgrim Springs, Shelton, Noxapaga, Davidson's

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Landing, and Dahl are the ^ leading ^ chief [: ] Kugruk precinct villages. ^ The tin mining centers of ^ York and Tin City, south of Cape Prince of Wales, and Wales, just around the point to the north, are the only substantial settlements on the extreme western tip of the Peninsula, while ^ and ^ Shishmaref, on the bay of the same name, is the sole village on the northwestern shore. Turning southward at Cape Espenberg into Kotzebue Sound, one comes to Deering, Kiwalik, Candle, and Baldwin, all connected in one way or another with the gold mining activities in the ^ Goodhope and ^ Fairhaven Districts.

Until the airplane came into daily and casual use in Alaska, as it [: ] ^ has ^ today, all these towns were completely cut off from the Outside from November to June. Mail, freight, and supplies now reach almost all parts of the Peninsula once a week during the winter, which in some cases improves on the summer schedule of boat deliveries. Winter dog team trails form a web over the face of the Peninsula connecting the coast with the interior, the north with the south. For reasons made obvious above ^ , ^ roads are a comparative rarity in Seward Peninsula, and those few which do exist keep to the towns themselves or to lead to the relatively near y -by mining camps.

The serveral railroads which were built early in the century, such as the Seward Peninsu al ^ la ^ line out of Nome, and the Council City and Solomon River line out of Dickson, have fallen into disrepair and relative disuse. The airplane has only partially replaced them. The former Seward Peninsula Railroad is now known as the Kougarok Limited, or the Pupmobile, and carries a miscellaneous assortment of chassis fitted with railroad wheels as far north as Lanes Landing, on the Kuzitrin.

One of the worst and oldest of difficulties standing in the way of commerce with Seward Peninsula is the lack of a breakwater at Nome to protect that town from the ravages of the fall storms which yearly pound against the southern shores of the Peninsula. Over the years, this lack has

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cost thousands of dollars and many lives. It is to be hoped that the bill, urged by Carl J. Lomen, appropriating $1,020,000 for the Nome seawall will pass the ^ 8 ^ 1st Congress. The project was authorized by the 80th Congress, but the appropriation itself was not approved. When it is finally [: ] legalized, the seawall will be constructed by U.S. Army engineers.

Exploration Since Seward Peninsula lies only about 55 miles across Bering Strait from Siberia, it is not surprising that it was first explored by the ^ ^ white man from the west, and that it was discovered before any other part of Alaska. For centuries before this time, the natives of the extremities of the two continents were probably in regular contact with each other. It is a known fact that they are of closely allied races.

It was the Cossack, Semen [: ] Dezhnev, who, in 1648, sailed eastward from the mouth of the Kolyma River on the north coast of Siberia and discovered Bering Strait. In 1711, another Cossack, Popov ^ , ^ was sent to East Cape to induce the natives there to pay tribute to Russia. He brought back reports of islands to the eastward of East Cape and rumors of a continent beyond them.

Under direct orders from Peter the Great, Vitus Bering, a Dane, organized an exploring expedition in 1828. Bering started out only a few days before the death of Peter the Great, but the Empress Catherine carried out Peter's wishes concerning the discovery and annexation of lands far to the east.

In July, 1728, with two small ships, Bering sailed northeastward out of Okhotsk. On his way he discovered and named St. Lawrence Island, and then sailed through the strait which now bears his name. He continued along the Siberian coast to the point where it bends westward at East Cape, and so, having proved to his own satisfaction that there was no connection between the two contin– ents, he returned to Kamchatka. On his way back he named the Diomede Islands. Probably because of fog and thick weather, he did not see the American continent, although in fair weather it is visible from several points along the route which Bering followed.

The first Russian to set foot on the North American continent in 1729 without realizing that he had succeeded where Bering had failed. [: ] Sibarian Coassack, Afanase Shestakov, and Dmitri Pavlutsky , were put in joint command of an expedition against the Chukchi. These two men agreed upon nothing, so that Shestakov sailed off with both ships and most of the men to do battle without his joint commander. Shestakov and his entire company were killed by the Chukchi, and Pavlutsky, in order to avoid being sent to avenge the defeat, ordered that the remaining pilots and the geodesist, Gvosdev, set sail in the St. Gabriel , to see what lands lay to the east of XX Okhotsk. ^ The chief pilot being ill, ^ O ^ o ^ nly Federow Fedorov, the assistant pilot to the original Chukchi expedition, was able to set out [: ] ^ with ^ this expedition, and he was already so sick as to be of very little help. The geodesist Gvosdev, therefore, was the true commander of this spontaneous, unplanned trip. Gvosdev, therefore, was the true commander of this spontaneous, unplanned trip. Gvosdev's original log book was lost, and his report, written ten years later, was necessarily vague, but there is every reason to believe that he reached the mainland of North America and that he probably sailed around part of Norton Sound. Gvosdev, himself, speaks of the "large country" discovered as an island, believing apparently that it was one of those reported by the Chukchi as lying eastward of the Siberian mainland.

After six more years of preparations, Bering commanded another expedition of two ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul . Having lost contact with the St. Paul two weeks out of port, he went on alone, reached southeastern Alaska and named Mount St. Elias. Bering was already sic ^ k ^ with scurvy. Waiting only one day on these unknown shores he ordered the ship about and set sail for home. Contrary winds and gales met them; the entire party was overcome with scurvy, the ship wrecked and all survivors cast ashore on what is now known as Bering Island. Here Bering died. In the spring, however, the survivors built a tiny boat, the St. Peter , and in this they were able to reach home again.

Bering was followed by a number of Russian explorers, but it was not until Captain James Cook's voyage along Seward Peninsula, in 1778, that the region was accurately charted. Otto von Kotzebue visited St. Lawrence Island in 1816 and later explored and mapped the northern coastline of the Peninsula. ^ In addition to the large sound which bears his name, ^ Kotzebue named many of the important points on this coast, including Shishmaref Bay, Cape Espenberg, Eschscholtz Bay, Chamisso Island, Cape Deceit, and Goodhope Bay. as well as the large sound which bears his name.

In 1822, the Russian American Company (q.v.), the earliest fur– trading enterprise in this part of North America, put Captain Khromchenko in command of an expedition for the exploration of the northwestern part of that continent. In his ship, the Golovnin , Khromchenko explored Norton Bay and the bay which bears the name of his ship. Through information received from the natives around Golovnin Bay, Khromchenko believed that an inland waterway connected that body of water with Port Cla ^ r ^ ence. Although this error did not appear on any maps until about forty-five years later, it was copied by cartographers from that time forward with unfailing persistance.

Captain F.W. Beechey, R.N., in command of H.M.S. Blossom , made the last noteworthy discoveries on and around Seward Peninsula in 1827. Sent on a supply and relief mission to the Franklin Mackenzie-Coppermine River overland expedition, he charted the coast between Cape Rodney and Cape Prince of Wales, discovered and named ^Grantley Harbor and^ Port Clarence, the only true port in this part of the Peninsula^.^ and Grantley Harbor. He also named Point Spencer and Cape York. His charts have proved to be remarkably accurate and are the basis upon which all subsequent maps of these regions have been made.

Less important expeditions include those of Commodore Joseph Billings, who, in 1791, visited the Diomedes and the coast in the vicinity of Cape Prince of Wales, and the voyages of Etolin, Vasiliev, and others, who, in 1830, more thoroughly explored Norton Sound and Golovnin Bay.

Between 1848 and 1854 this section of the north Pacific was frequented by the ^ Franklin ^ relief expeditions. searching for Sir John Franklin. Leaders of these expeditions include Captain Kellett, in the Herald ; Commander Moore, in the Plover ; Captain Colli ^ n ^ son, in the Enterprise ; Captain M'Clure, in the Investigator ; and Captain Trollope, in the Rattlesnake . The leaders of many of these expeditions were also hopeful of finding the long-sought north east ^ west ^

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passage. To this end several sledge expeditions were completed, including Kellett's ascent of the Buckland River form Kotzebue Sound.

In 1865, exploration of Seward Peninsula took a completely commercial turn. The Western Union Telegraph Company, as an alternate proposal to the thus-far unsuccessful Atlantic cable, proposed to connect North America with Europe by running telegraph wires through British Columbia and Alaska, across Bering Strait to Siberia and thence to St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Paris. The Sewar e ^ d ^ Peninsula route was to run from the head of Norton Bay to the Fish River, then up the Niukluk, across to Imuruk Basin, Grantley Harbor, Port Clarence and so to Cape Prince of Wales.

Between 1865 and 1867 Baron Otto von Bendeleben surveyed the ^✓ discuss^ route from Golovnin Bay to Port Clarence, established a camp at Grantley Harbor and strung many miles of telegraph line. The success of the 1867 Atlantic cable brought these extensive endeavors to a sudden halt.

Interest in Seward Peninsula waned for many years after the purchase of Alaska by the United States, but still i ^ I ^ t was a party including Daniel B. Libby, one of the members of Bendeleben's expedition of 1866, who mad [: ] one of the earliest gold strikes on the Peninsula. Since this strike occurred on Melsing Creek, a tributary to the Niukluk, it may reasonably be assumed that Bendeleben's hints as to colors of gold having been noted throughout this region, while ignored by almost everyone, had not been forgotten by Libby. In this sense, the abortive Western Union Telegraph expedition may be said to have contributed a great deal to the development of the Peninsula.

Later gold and tin mining developments in all parts of the Peninsula will be found discussed in detail under the names of the various rivers and towns which have become identified with these activities. During 1948, a report was published concerning the founding ^ discovery ^ of uranium within one hundred miles of Nome. The exact location of these deposits is, of course,

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not known. Other minerals known to exist on the Peninsula are mercury, black sand, antimony, copper, and silver.

Other activities than mining are carried on throughout the Peninsula. Fur farms exist along its northern shores, particularly at Shish– maref, where George R. Goshaw deals in blue, white, and red fox pelts in addition to the blue-white platina pelts which he originated. All t ^ T ^ he Eskimos in [: ] this part of Alaska are especially famous for the artistry and intri– cacy of their walrus bone and wood carvings. These items are of particular interest to the tourists which ^ who ^ throng to Nome every summer. Nome, itself, [: ] as the distribution center for all of southern Seward Peninsula, has a well– developed lighterage and freighting service, as well as extensive storage warehouses all along its long water-front:

Perhaps the greatest lack in this entire region, aside from such communication considerations as the Nome sea-wall and railway connections with other parts of Alaska and the Outside, is a large-scale, non-seasonal industry. The numerous dredging and hydraulic placer operations throughout the Peninsula do not supply this lack, since placer mines of any kind are unworkable during the winter. If this non-seasonal industry were to be some kind of mining, it would have to involve the development of the lode deposits which are known to exist. As it is, the various large mining companies import much of their skilled labor each summer and these employees return to the States each fall, so that a large percentage of the money earned in Alaska is spent Outside. Up to this time no panacea has been found for this condition. The final solution may possibly lie in the extension of educational facilities throughout the area so that, in time, the already-existing industries might rely more on local than on Outside employment.

^ 90 wds ^

SHESHALEK (67° 02′ N.Lat., 163° 01′ W.Long.) is a small Eskimo village and reindeer camp on the north side of Kotzebue Sound, northwestern Alaska, some ten miles west of the mouth of the Noatak River.

In 1880 this village had a population of 100 natives, but, since it does not appear in the 1939 Census, it would seem to have ^ ^ decreased in size since that ti ^ m ^ e.

The long winter trail running south for ^ southward to ^ Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula and northward along the arctic coast of Alaska, passes through Sheshalek.

SHISHMAREF INLET (Chichmareff, Schischmareff, etc.), which indents the northwestern shore of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is about sixteen miles long by eleven miles wide at the greatest. It was so named by Kotzebue during his explorations of this region in August, 1816. Captain Lieutenant Glieb Semenovich Shishmaref was with Kotzebue from 1815-1818.

Narrow, seven mile long Sarichef Island lies directly across the entrance to this bay. Kotzebue describes the manner in which he discovered both in an entry ^ , ^ dated July 31. "After we had continued the survey of the coast during the whole night in clear weather, we cast anchor, at three o'clock in the morning, in five fathoms' water, two miles from the shore. It appeared to me, that a bay ran here deeper into the land, which I wished to explore. At four o'clock in the morning I left the Rurick accompanied by our naturalists, in two well-armed boats, and ^ ^ landed opposite our anchoring– place, near some habitations, in the hope of having some communication with the inhabitants. We went into the jurtes, which are built in a straight line along the coast, but were at first only welcomed by dogs, which were not at all discomposed by our presence, but came fawning up to us; they appeared to me to be of the same race as those used in Kamtschatka, for drawing sledges. We had already got upon the roof of the jurtes, without meeting with any people; fre ^ s ^ h traces, however, which we saw every where showed us, that they were more fearful than their dogs, and had fled at our approach.

^¶^ ^"^We now examined the interior of their dwellings, and found them cleanly and con– venient. The entrance at the S.E. side was an opening, three feet high, supported by wood, which on the outside was prolonged on each side by mud walls. We entered, first, into an apartment ten feet long, seven broad, and seven high: the walls and the top were covered with wood. To the left-hand, in a pit which extended all along the room, lay pieces of black blubber, about

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SHISHMAREF INLET, ALASKA

about a foot square, and beside these lay sieves with long handles. To the right was a rather narrow pit, two feet and a half deep, and seven long, [: ] though not broader than the pit. Now we had a wooden partition before us, in the middle of which was a round opening one foot and a half in diameter, through which we were obliged to creep into a spacious anti-room, the four walls of which were ten feet long, and six feet high; the ^ h ^ eight increased towards the middle, and at the top was a small four-cornered hole, covered with a bladder, which served for a window. On the wall opposite the entrance, broad boards, fastened one foot and a half above the floor, served for sleeping places, which only took up a third p ^ a ^ rt of the room, and at the side walls they had placed small ladders quite horizontally, to set up their utensils. The walls, and top, consisted of small beams, the visible sides of which were made even. All the i ^ h ^ abitations were built according to this plan, with the exception of one, where a more numerous family appeared to reside, as this had two more small side-rooms...

^¶^ ^"^After we had looked about a little, we found that we were on an island seven miles long, and, in the widest place, a mile broad. We took a walk across it, from north to south, and saw clearly, when we were on the opposite coast, that the continent in the east forms a deep bay, where, on three points, the connection of the land is not to be seen. We were all rejoiced at this discovery, for though we could not expect an immediate passage into the Icy Sea, we had the hope of penetrating far into the country, and there to make important remarks. This island, which lies directly before the bay, forms with the continent in the N.E. and S.W. a narrow passage...

^¶^ ^"^ After a tour of an hour and a half, we reached the N.E. passage, which we found to be a mile and a half in breadth; the depth in the middle of the channel was ^ ^ eight fathoms; the tide was rising, and the current set into the bay, at the rate of three miles an hour. It was already past noon, and the sailors, who had been incessantly employed ever since four

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SHISHMAREF INLET, ALASKA

o'clock in the morning, were in want of refreshment; we therefore landed at the N.E. point, where a fire was lighted, and in half an hour an excellent soup was made ^ ^ of English patent meat. This meat is well adapted for excursions in a boat, as it is contained in tin boxes, and therefore extremely portable. After we had sufficiently refreshed ourselves, we observed ^ two ^ to boats, of the same kind as those in the Aleutian islands, each with one man in it, approach us with the greatest rapidity from the opposite shore. They came within fifty paces, when they left off rowing, observing us with attention, communicating all their remarks to each other, and at last began to count us.

"All our endeavours to entice the Americans, by friendship, and by things which we w ^ s ^ howed them, to come on shore, were useless; they hit their heads with both their hands, and then fell down, as if dead, probably, to give us to understa ^ n ^ d, that their lives were not safe in our vicinity. It should seem that they are not acquainted with fire-arms, because they did not keep out of gun-shot, though a number of muskets were standing near us. The clothing of the Americans consisted of the entrails of whales...

"After they had observed us for a long time, and with much distrust, they threw two darts towards their habitations, probably a signal agree e ^ d ^ upon; but we continued our course to the east. The many sandbanks, which are formed by the current, and the current itself, hindered us much in our researches, as we could proceed only one mile in three hours; I therefore gave up my plan for this year, and resolved to proceed in the following year to a more complete examination in little baydares, which I intended to bring with me from the ^ ^ Aleutian islands. At present the loss of time was of too much consequence to me, as the navigation of Beering's Straits continues only for a short time. This bay received the name of Schischmareff, after the only officer that served under me. I will not, however, say that this inl t ^ e ^ t forms a bay, because, perhaps, it only divides the foreland into several islands. I called the narrow island after our worthy vice-admiral,

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SHISHMAREF INLET, ALASKA

Saritscheff."

To the eastern entrance point to the Inlet, the mainland point upon which he and his men refreshed themselves with "English patent meat," Kotzebue gave the name Cape Lowenstern.

In 1901, Collier reported as follows: "The rivers flowing into Shishmaref Inlet have received considerable attention from prospectors. A recording office and Shishmaref post-office are located on Sarichef Island, at the northeastern entrance to Shishmaref Inlet. The writer was informed by Charles W. Mashburn, the deputy recorder of the district, that there is a good harbor for small coasting vessels at this place, and that the Serpentine, the largest river of the district, is navigable for small steamers for at least 20 miles inland. Kotzebue reported 8 fathoms of water at this entrance. Shishmaref Inlet is bordered by a wide coastal plain, made up of gravel, from the margin of which a dissected erosion plain slopes upward to an elevation of 500 to 1,000 feet. Ear Mountain, ^ K ^ ugruk Mountain, Midnight Mountain, and Devil Mountain, rising above this plateau, mark the limits of the Shishmaref drainage. The Serpentine and Arctic rivers are the two most important streams of the basin."

The Arctic River rises just south of Ear Mountain, a 2,308-foot peak, and [: ] follows a generally northeasterly course to the west side of Shishmaref Inlet. In its upper section, the Arctic occupies a broad basin containing a number of small lakes, but below this basin the river has cut a well-defined canyon. The broad ^ , ^ flat divide ^ , ^ which separates the upper Arctic River from the Kugrupaga system ^ ( ^ q.v.) immediately to the west, has what appears to be an abandoned river channel running across it. Other streams in the Arctic River system, most of which enter from the east, include: Kreuger, Fox, Nug ^ g ^ et, Sango, and Mission Creeks. For the last five miles of its twenty-five mile course, the Arctic meanders sluggishly across the marshy grasslands of the coastal plain.

Traveling eastward, the next river to enter the Inlet is the Sanaguich, first reported by Gerdine, in 1901. This stream rises across a 1,000-foot divide from Portage Creek in the American River system (q.v.). The Sanaguich continues a fairly straight course [: ] out of the mountains, and then wanders across the coastal plain for a total distance of about si ^ x ^ teen miles. Bonanza Creek, its only named tributary, enters from the east.

Serpentive River, the largest stream in the area, enters the eastern end of Shishmaref Inlet. Rising near Midnight Mountain, the Serpentine follows a sinuous 45-mile course, from which characteristic the stream receives its name.

Collier reported as follows on the white man's discovery of this river: "The river was first explored and named by Charles McLennan, who, with dog team ^ ^ and Eskimo assistants, made a trip into the region from Shish– maref Inlet in May, 1900. McLennan was probably the first white man to reach the hot springs on Spring Creek, a tributary of this river. He staked a number of claims along this creek, and prepared a m ^ ap ^ of the region, a copy of which was received in Washington in March, 1901. In September, 1901, the writer found a small settlement at the hot sprin ^ g ^ s, but no trace of the claim stakes set up by McLennan the year before remained. A small garden had been made on some ^ ^ of the ground near one of the springs, and vegetables, consisting of lettuce and radishes, had been grown without difficulty."

The Serpentine may be said to originate at the confluence of Schl ^ i ^ tz and Hot Springs Creeks, or perhaps at the mouth of Bryan Creek, which enters the main stream just below Hot Springs Creek. Hot Springs rises in the granite hills north of Midnight Mountain and flows westward to the Serpentine.

These three streams and their tributaries comprise a fan-shaped drainage system, perhaps twenty miles wide at the greatest. Tribuatries

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SHISHMAREF INLET, ALASKA

to Schlitz Creek include Star, Reindeer, Bella, and Mukluk Creeks. Hot Springs receives many unnamed tributaries, and has the small settlement of Hot Springs near its head. A winter trail 148 miles long connects this settlement with Nome.

Collier gives a good description of the springs from which the village and stream receive their names: "Along Spring Creek for a distance of about half a mile," he writes, "there are hot sulphur springs. Two of these, the upper and lower ones, were visited by the writer. The upper spring is on the banks of the creek, probably above any except the highest floods. The ^ ^ spring is in the center of a broad mound, 10 feet in diameter, and perhaps 2 feet high, bu ^ i ^ lt up from material precipitated from the spring water. The temperature of the water is about 212°. The lower springs are below the high-water mark of the creek. The amount of water is not over 1 miners' inch. For some distance around the spring the ground is warm, making it an ideal place for wintering in that climate."

Tributaries to Bryan Creek include McKinley, Peter, Irene, and Dick Creeks. Continuing downstream, the Serpentine receives Rock Creek [: ] and North Fork from the east. Only one or two miles below this confluence a stream which is formed by the junction of Lone Butte and South Fork enters the Serpentine from the west. Lone Butte is identified on some early maps as Grayling Creek, and South Fork as Quartz Creek, but they are now generally known by their present names. Lone Butte Creek has no named tributaries, but South Fork is joined by Quartz, Teller, and Snowshoe Creeks. Eldorado Creek enters the Serpentine from the west only a few miles above its mouth.

A maze of winter trails and sled roads connect the mining camps which dot this section of the Port Clarence district. In addition, there is a 1400-foot landing field at Hot Springs and a smaller 800-foot strip on Dick Creek.

Shishmaref, the only substantial settlement in this region, had a 1939 population of 257. This village has a post office and receives ^ ^ mail twice a month during the season of navigation ^ , that is ^ between June 1 and October 31. ^ T ^ hroughout the winter mail is delivered once a month by dogsled from Nome via Teller ^ and Wales. ^ During the winter of 1939 ^ , ^ freight and mail were also brought in once a month by air. In addition, Shishmaref has a general store and a Native cooperative store, a licensed fur dealer, and a fox ranch. George R. Goshaw, a pioneer in the field of fur farming, raise ^ s ^ blue, white, red, and blue-white platina foxes. He originated the beautiful platina fox furs. An Alaska Native Service School and a Lutheran Church are also located in the village.

The former site on the mainland has been abandoned for a position about midway of the length of Sarichef Island. Because of the close confines of this sand bar, the settlement has an emergency landing area but no true landing strip. The overland winter trail north from Teller and across the Inlet, and the coastwise trail around the point of Seward Peninsula meet at Shishmaref. Anchorage in depths up to 30 feet will be found in the Inlet about one mile offshore from the town.

Shishmaref is predominantly an Eskimo settlement. The Natives, despite the changes which civilization has brought them, continue to live through hunting, fishing, and trapping. The Eskimos of this section are particularly well-known for their needlecraft and ivory carvings. These artistic products are bartered for staples and all kinds of general supplies available in Shishmaref.

Mining As early as 1901, gold had been found on several tributaries to the Serpentine, including Dick, Bryan, Eldorado, Hogum, and Reindeer Creeks, but work was slow in getting underway because only enough water for sluicing a few hours a day was ever available during the summer

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season. By 1905, plans were in progress for the construction of a ditch to the head of Dick Creek, this being the stream which appeared most heavily mineralized. A contemporaneous map shows that this dtich was in fact dug from Dick Creek to the heads of several stream ^ s ^ west of that creek, but, des i ^ p ^ ite this heavy expenditure of money and effort, the offic ^ ia ^ l report on the mineral resources of Alaska does not mention Dick Creek again until 1940. The Serpentine system, therefore, never proved to be a rich gold producer. (For a general discussion of the Alaska gold mining industry see Nome, Alaska article.)

SINUK RIVER (Sinook, Sinrock, Synrock), southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, which empties into Norton Sound twenty-five or thirty miles west of Nome, is one of the largest rivers of the southern watershed of the peninsula.

The Sinuk rises in the Kigluaik Mountains, southwest of Mount Osborn, and flows parallel to these mountains in a southwesterly direction for about fifteen miles, then turns southward for another twenty miles before entering Norton Sound.

The upper course of the river is closely constricted by mountains rising to over 2,000 feet. This section receives several short affluents, including Windy and Charley Creeks. North Star Creek is the main tribu– tary to Windy Creek.

Below Charley Creek the Sinuk Basin widens considerably. The river passes south of Glacier Lake, from which it receives a short tributary, and continues in a southwesterly [: ] direction across a wide valley. Stewart River, main tributary to the Sinuk, enters from the east a few miles below the Glacier Lake tributary. Thompson, Lost, Boulder, Fred, Mountain, Josie, Irene (sometimes called Moose), and Durant Creeks all enter the Stewart from the south. These tributaries rise in the mountain chain separating the Stewart River system from that of the Snake and Penny Rivers (q.v.). The northern tributaries to this section of the Stewart are Quartz, Slate, Short, Silver, Windy, and Francisco Creeks.

The main tributaries to the Sinuk below the Stewart are American, Rulby, Trinity, Coal, Washington, Green, Independence, Boulder, and Granite Creeks.

Just below Boulder Creek, the Sinuk enters a discontinuous coastal mountain chain, receives a tributary from the north formed by the conflu-

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SINUK RIVER

ence of Dry and Camp Creeks, and then enters the coastal plain across which it carves a torturous, deeply entrenched course to the sound.

These mountains of the lower Sinuk continue southeast of the river and crowd to within less than a mile of the coast between the Sinuk and Cripple Rivers. East of the Sinuk, several short streams flow into Norton Sound from these mountains, including, Rodney, Sonora, and Quartz Creeks.

In July, 1898, H.L. Blake and his party (See Nome article), pros– pected in the Sinuk area without finding gold in paying quantities. Later examination tended to co ^ n ^ firm these findings, although it was felt that some of the deposits,along the upper tributaries to this river, might be profitably worked if enough water could be brought down from the Kigluaik Mountains to make hydraulic mining possible. However, beaause of the far richer deposits in nearby streams, such as Anvil Creek in the Snake River system, what gold there is along the Sinuk has no received much attention.

The only settlement on the river is Sinuk, at the mouth, a small Eskimo village first recorded by Barnard in 1900.

Sources: USCP & Supplement; VSGB: Baker.

Collier, Arthur J. (and others). Gold Placers of parts of Seward Peninsula. Alaska. including the Nome. Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts

Gold Placers of parts of Seward Peninsula. Alaska. including the Nome. Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence, and Goodhope Precincts

. Washington, D.C., 1908.

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others). Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900

Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900

. Washington, D.C., 1901.

SLEDGE ISLAND, ^ ALASKA, ^ about five or six miles off the southwestern coast of Seward Peninsula and about thirty-six miles west of Cape Nome, is a comparatively round, rocky, flat-topped island rising 604 feet above the water. Except for a small rocky slope on the east side and a short sand spit making off from the northern end of the island, the shores are steep.

Sledge Island is only about one mile long by one-half a mile wide, but still it offers the only protection against southerly storms for deep-water vessels at a nchor in the Nome roadstead. With strong southeast winds, the currents between the island and the mainland have an average velocity of two knots and a maximum velocity of three and one-half knots setting northwestward. Vessels seeking protection from southerly storms behind Sledge Island must, therefore, give special attention to these currents.

There was once a small native village on the east side of th is ^ e ^ island, but, although the huts are still there, the island is now visited only by occasional parties of Eskimo hunters.

Cook, landing on this island on August 5, 1778, and finding a sledge on the shore, gave it its present name. The native name, Ayak ( Ajak , Asiak , Aziak , etc.) is mentioned by Beechey, who visited this vicinity in 1826, and [: ] ^ noted, ^ that, by a strange coincidence, the native name also means 'sledge.'

^ 550 wds ^

SNAKE RIVER, southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is famous for being the site of the great Nome gold strike in the fall of 1898.

Like other rivers in this part of the peninsula, the Snake rises in the Kigluaik Mountains, south of Mount Distin, and flows almost directly south into Norton Sound.

The upper third of the Snake Basin is closely constricted by mountains of 2,000 or more feet, so that the river is torrential and is joined by several other, equally swift, mountain streams.

Gold Botton and Grouse Creeks join about sixteen miles from the coast to form the Snake River, which, soon thereafter, receives the waters of Last Chance Creek and its main branch, North Fork.

Below this confluence, the Snake Basin gradually broadens out, until it is four or five miles wide at a point about seven miles from the coast. Below this point the river veers to the east and becomes deeply entrenched in the coastal plain. From north to south, along this lower third of its course, the Snake is joined by Borg, Blanchford, Divining, Bangor, Boulder, Balto, Sledge, Alpha, Lindblom, Rock, Glacier, Monument, Russell, American, Sunset, Anvil, Center, Bourbon, and Dry Creeks. Twin Mountain Creek enters Boulder a few miles above its confluence with the Snake. Snow Gulch and Bonanza Gulch are the important gold-bearing tributaries to Glacier Creek, while Hot Air Bench, an old channel of Glacier Creek, opposite Snow Gulch, has likewise proved to have rich deposits.

Discovery claim on Anvil Creek was, of course, the first strike in this region and is now judged to be the richest ever made in Alaska. One nugget valued at $1,100 was found there, and, between the years 1903 and 1908, over $5,000,000 worth of gold was recovered from the placers

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along tiny, six-mile Anvil Creek. Lindeberg (q.v.) named Anvil Creek after the peak above which it rises. He called this peak Anvil Mountain, because of the shape of a rock formation at its summit. Little Creek enters Anvil a few miles above its mouth.

Center, Bourbon, and Dry Creeks, all s ^ h ^ ort streams, rise south of Anvil Mountain and flow southwestward into the Snake. Dry Creek, [: ] economically the most important of the three streams, is formed by the union of Bear Creek, Newton Gulch, and Left Fork.

Glacier Creek and Little Creek are small villages on the streams of the same name, while Nome, the largest town on Seward Peninsula, lies at the mouth of the Snake River.

The entrance to the Snake River is shallow and ^ ^ marked by shifting bars, although it has been improved by the contruction of two parallel 400-foot jetties. Ocean-going vessels cannot approach nearer than a mile or two, and all cargoes must be lightered ashore. Southwesterly storms, which are frequent during August and September, but which occur at other times as well, endanger the entire anchorage in this part of Norton Sound, so that deep-draft vessels must make for tiny Sledge Island (q.v.), about twenty-four miles west of Nome, which offers the only protection in southerly weather. During such storms no landing of any kind is possible at Nome.

Sources:

Baker: VSGB: USCP & Supplement

Collier, Arthur J. (and others). Gold Placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, including the Nome, Council, Kougarok, Port Clarence. and Goodhope Precincts. Washington, D.C., 1908.

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others). Reconna is sances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions, Alaska, in 1900. Washington, D.C., 1901.

^ 2,160 wds. 150 wd. - Bibl. ^

THE SOLOMON RIVER REGION, which lies between the Bluff and Nome regions (q.v.), will here be considered to extend from Topkok Head, a promentory on the southern shore of Seward Peninsula, to the mouth of the Bonanza River, about 15 miles to the west. Several rivers drain into this northern section of Norton Sound including Cache Creek, just west of ^ Ta ^ ylor Lagoon, Pine Creek, and the famous Solomon and Bonanza Rivers. The coastal plain, which in many ways is similar to the Nome section, stretches from the shoreline to the foothills and ranges in width from practically nothing at Topkok Head to 4 or 5 miles in the Bonanza River section. The so-called 'beach' is really moss-covered tundra

^ Insert p.1. Solomon River Region ^

Bonanza Creek rises in the highlands several miles to the west of the headwaters of the Solomon and flows first southward and then southeastward into a narrow, eastern arm of Port Safety lagoon which is cut off from Norton Sound by a long mud flat. A U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey map, dated 1907, shows Ca ^ l ^ ifornia, Gold Run, and Jackson Creeks joining the Bonanza from the east. Ohio Creek enters Jackson from the north, and several other unnamed streams join the main river from both the east and the west.

two main tributaries to Big Hurra c h Creek a ^ re ^ Lion and Little Hurrah. Also from north to south the most important tributaries ^ to the Solomon ^ from the west are Johns, Shovel, which carries the waters of Adams, Kasson, West, and Mystery

^ 26 [: ls ] ^

^ 2,160 wds. 150 wd - Bibl ^

THE SOLOMON RIVER REGION, which lies between the Bluff and Nome regions (q.v.), will here be considered to extend from Topkok Head, a promentory on the southern shore of Seward Peninsula, to the mouth of the Bonanza River, about 15 miles to the west. Several rivers drain into this northern section of Norton Sound including Cache Creek, just west of ^ Ta ^ ylor Lagoon, Pine Creek, and the famous Solomon and Bonanza Rivers. The coastal plain, which in many ways is similar to the Nome section, stretches from the shoreline to the foothills and ranges in width from practically nothing at Topkok Head to 4 or 5 miles in the Bonanza River section. The so-called 'bech' is really moss-covered tundra which is frozen solid except for about three months of the year, so that the placer gold mining activity, for which the region is famous ^ , ^ is subject to a short season and unusually difficult conditions.

Good anchorage may be had 2 miles off this shore, but no lights are visible on shore and the only protection from heavy winds is to stand out to seaward. According to a 1902 survey, there is a depth of 3 feet on the bar at the entrance and inside the Solomon River, but experience is necessary to find the channel. ^ Insert ^

^ Insert ^ Only a low divide separates the headwaters of the Solomon River from the Casadepaga immediately to the north. Flowing almost directly south, the Solomon drains an area of about 134 square miles, and receives several tributaries along its 20-mile [: ] course. From the east the most important of these are Coal, which is ^ itself ^ joined about this junction by [: ] Victoria and Boise Creeks ^ earlier in its course, ^ East Fork, Big Hurrah, and Quartz Creeks. The two main tributaries to Big Hurra c h Creek a ^ re ^ Lion and Little Hurrah. Also from north to south the most important tributaries ^ to the Solomon ^ from the west are Johns, Shovel, which carries the waters of Adams, Kasson, West, and Mystery

^ 26 [: ls ] ^

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SOLOMON RIVER REGION

Creeks, and the last two tributaries to the Solomon, Jerome and Manila Creeks.

^¶^ For the first 15 miles of its course, the Solomon occupies a fairly broad valley between highlands rising to about 1,600 feet, [: ] d has a gradient of about 50 ^ feet ^ to the mile. Arthur J. Collier writes of this section of the river: "In the floor of this valley the river is entrenched, leaving a system of gravel terraces from 20 to 50 feet abo ^ ve ^ the water. Gravel bars from 100 to 500 feet wide, only partially covered at ordinary stages of the water, fill the river bed." For the remaining 5 miles of its course, the ^ S ^ olomon crosses the coastal plain in a broad trench and the gradient drops to 6 or 8 feet to the mile. In a report dated 1908,Collier con [: ] tinues: "The river was named by Pierce Thomas, who staked Discovery claim o ^ i ^ n June, 1899. In the same season the river and its tributaries were prospected, and in 1900 probably $10,000 worth of gold was mined in this district. The bed rocks along Solomon River are limestone and schist of the Nome group. The strikes generally have a north-south direction, ^ ^ but the dips are low and in some places the rocks lie nearly flat. On the eastern side of the valley a number of instrusive masses of green igneous rock have been observed. Veins and stringers of more or less mineralized quartz are common in the schists, both parallel with the cutting across the schistosity. Many of them carry gold, and at Big Hurrah Creek a quartz mine is in successful operation...Although gold has been found along the Solomon River through its whole length, the placers operated in 1903 and 1904 are all located within 12miles of the coast. The workings are in benches along the river, where ordinary mining methods are employed, and in the gravel bars of the river bed itself, where several dredges have been used...A system of ditches to bring water from the head of the river and its tributaries to the placers located near the mouth is in construction, and it is probabl ^ e ^ that about 1,000 miner's inches of water under a head of from 250 to 400 feet will be available."

^ 28 [: ls] ^

During the years ^ ^ 1900, 1901, and 1902 there was ^ ^ gold mining activity on most of the tributaries to the Solomon. Several claims were being worked above Coal Creek. Big Hurrah Creek had, at that time, produced more gold than any other tributary to the Solomon, although the methods used were extremely primitive, since hydraulicing was impossible because of the low gradient of the stream and the thinness of the deposit. The largest operation was Big Hurrah Mine ^ , then owned by C.D. Lane ( See Council and Nome) ^ on one of the southern benches of the creek near the mouth of Little Hurrah. Here a great many specimens of [: ] vein quartz containing free gold had been found in the placer gravels. In 1903 three such veins were being developed and several prospect holes and

Insert 1.

, so that full attention could be given to the development of the lode. Bill Stiles expressed the current placer-versus-quarz mining expectations in the following words: "Since the first year of the placer excitement quartz miners familiar with conditions in the Nome country have had an abiding faith that the time will come when the quartz mines in Northwestern Alaska will produce more gold every year than any annual product of the placer claims. The advantage of quartz mining is that it can be conducted in the winter season as well as in the summer time." These expectations were not, of course, to be fulfilled.

Creek during this period. Some development was going on i ^ I ^ n the vicinity of Jerome and Manila Creeks, which enter the Solomon a few miles from the coast, ^ some development was going on ^ as early as 1900 and continued in a small way for the next few years. These were considered important at the time because they indicated that the tundra section of the Solomon might also contain placers of the gravel-plain type. Very little prospecting had been done along [: Cahe ]

^ 37 [: ls] ^

During the years ^ ^ 1900, 1901, and 1902 there was ^ ^ gold mining activity on most of the tributaries to the Solomon. Several claims were being worked above Coal Creek. Big Hurrah Creek had, at that time, produced more gold than any other tributary to the Solomon, although the methods used were extremely primitive, since hydraulicing was impossible because of the low gradient of the stream and the thinness of the deposit. The largest operation was Big Hurrah Mine ^ , then owned by C.D. Lane ( See Council and Nome) ^ on one of the southern benches of the creek near the mouth of Little Hurrah. Here a great many specimens of [: ] vein quartz containing free gold had been found in the placer gravels. In 1903 three such veins were being developed and several prospect holes and open cuts had been made west of Little Hurrah, from which it was believed the lode had been recognized for about 1,000 feet along the stream. Big Hurrah placer operations were suspended in September, 1903. ^ (Insert 1) ^ On Kasson Creek the bedrock was massive limestone fissured and broken up into fragments, with gold-bearing sediments ^ ly ^ ing on this limestone and pene– trating the fissures to unknown depths. In some places [: ] mining opera– tions had penetrated the limestone for 20 or 30 feet and the pay streak had been discovered to have a width of from 16 to 100 feet. Claims along Kasson Creek were then all under one control and were being worked as a unit. Nine claims were being worked on West Creek in 1903 with probably 3 or 4 men on each, and garnet and magnetite were ^ found to be ^ associated with the gold in the sluice boxes. Three or ^ fo ^ ur outfits were sluicing along Mystery Creek during this period. Some development was going on i ^ I ^ n the vicinity of Jerome and Manila Creeks, which enter the Solomon a few miles from the coast, ^ Some development was going on ^ as early as 1900 and continued in a small way for the next few years. These were considered important at the time because they indicated that the tundra section of the Solomon might also contain placers of the gravel-plain type. Very little prospecting had been done along [: Cahe ]

^ 37 [: ls] ^

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Cache and Pine Creeks to the east although their gravels were said to be auriferous. In 1907 a U.S. Geological Survey report tells of the almost complete mechanization of the Big Hurrah Mine and of the dis– appointment of miners who had expected to find gold in the beach and tundra gravels of the Solomon district similar to the immensely rich strikes near Nome. Scores of holes were ^ ^ dug but no pay had been located by the close of the summer of 1907. In 1910. Philip S. Smith summarized Solomon River Region gold mining from 1900-1908: "The larger part of the production has come from Solomon River itself, from its larger ^ ^ western branch, Shovel Creek, and ^ ^ from its smaller eastern tributary, Big Hurrah Creek. Numerous smaller streams have, however, yielded placer returns, but the wok has generally been carried on by camps of only a few men each, so that although the production per man may have been considerably more than wa ^ g ^ es, yet the total production has been small as compared with that of the Nome region. There is hardly a stream in the basin that has not been prospected and reported to yield colors, but during 1907 in the entire Solomon River basin probably less than 125 men were employed in placer mining. Brooks estimated that in 1900 about $10,000 was taken from Solomon River and its tributaries. In 1904, however, the production had increased so materially that Brooks estimated it to be about $200,000. In 1905, according to Moffit, there was no considerable increase in the production. In 1906, however, a large dredge completed in the previous year increased the yield of the region, although the amount produced by the small operators probably fell off. In 1907 the production increased slightly, but most of the increase was made by the dredge and the production of the smaller operators was probably less than that of the preceding year. In 1908 an exceptionally dry season notably hampered mining work, so that from thirty to sixty days of the usual one-hundred-day season were lost.

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A new dredge was built and operated for part of the season, so a part of the decrease in other lines of work was made up for in this way." In another part of the same report he describe ^ s ^ the towns ^ ^ of Solomon and Dickson. "The mouth of the Solomon River affords as good a location for a town as any other place in the immediate region, for boats can dis– charge their freight from lighters on the beach and the broad gravel-floored valley of Solomon River gives a good pathway into the interior. In con– sequence, a town bearing the name of Solomon has sprung up there. In 1902 this place was made a post-office and at present has a semiweekly mail service to and from Nome. Stores have been opened, at which supplies of all kinds can be purchased. The town has been more or less deserted lately, and probably not more than fifty people were living there during 1908. The only other town in the area is Dickson, which was named for T. Warren Dickson, of New York. It is directly opposite Solomon, on the east bank of the river. Dickson is the coastal terminus of the Council City and Solomon River Railroad, and all of its industries and inhabita tn ^ nt ^ s are connected with the railroad. Its entire population does not exceed 50 persons. This settlement was established in 1903."

By 1905, Solomon was the base of all supplies for the Solomon River country and had a population of 150, three stores, four hotels, and "the usual quota of saloons." In the same period the main offices of the railroad had been set up at Dickson, a town site had been laid out, and several building ^ s ^ had been constructed in accordance with it.

In 1909 hydraulic mining was ^ ^ almost at a standstill because of the dryness of the season, and only two ditches wee in operation, the one from East Fork to Big Hurrah Creek, and the one from California to Mystery Creek. Dredging was not affected by the shortage of water, but was not carried on very far even so, and the Big Hurrah lode mine was shut

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down except for a few months during the winter. Little sluicing was done and only three hydraulic plants were in operation in 1913, but the dredging season was fairly successful. Dredging was the only method in use during 1914, but W. H. Esterbrook, who had taken an option lease on the ground and equipment of the Seward Dredging Company on the Solomon, installed a 200-horsepower Diesel in his new plant there, which cut fuel consumption from between 42 and 50 to between 6 and 10 barrels of crude oil a day. In 1919 four dredges were operat ^ i ^ ng in the Solomon area as opposed to the five of 1918, but these were still working in 1920. The quartz vein at Big Hurrah had, [: ] by this time, been found to be the largest, most regular, and most continuous of any on Seward Peninsula. This was explained by S. H. Cathcart to be the result of the character of the country rock of the Hurrah District, which was slate, rather than the limestone of most of the peninsula. This slate, being extremely brittle, fractured easily and broke along sharp,clean lines. However, despite the extent of this lode deposit the Big Hurrah mine had been idle since 1908.

Gold mining in Alaska has suffered a gradual decline (See ^ Nome and ^ Bluff Region article ^ s ^ ) ever since the late 1930's and was brought to a standstill by World War II, when gold was put on the unessential list. Since that time because of the high cost of labor and supplies and the fixed price of gold on the market, it has not paid the small producer to take the metal out of the ground, and even such giant enterprises as the Juneau mine have been forced to shut down. By 1946 the town of Dickson had disapp a eared, probably as a result of the bana abandonment of the Solomon to Council Council City and Solomon River Railroad, and Solomon itself had a population of 106, one general store, and a fourth class post office. The gold claims of the district were held by E. W. Quigley, R. O. Robert, and Lee Brothers Dredging Co. However, the town does have

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an Alaska Native Service School and a 5,200-foot landing strip. The winter trail which skirts the southern shores of Seward Peninsula passes through Solomon and sends one branch up ^ ^ the river and across the divide to the Casadepaga, and another northeastward to Council. But Solomon must now be thought of as a town in partial abeyance, waiting for the future of Alaska gold mining to be decided — a future which at this writing is anything but clear.

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References

Tewkesbury

Colby

U.S.C.P. & Supplement

V.S.G.B.

Wickersham, James. ... Bibliography of Alaskan Literature. 1724-1924 ^ Bibliography of Alaskan Literature. 1724-1924 ^ . ordova, Alaska, Cordova Daily Times Print (c1927) (Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines. Miscellaneous Publication ^ Miscellaneous Publication ^ . Vol.1)

Smith, Philip S. ... Geology and Mineral Resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga Quadrangles. Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

Geology and Mineral Resources of the Solomon and Casadepaga Quadrangles. Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

Washingt n, D.C., G.P.O., 1910. (U.S. Geological Su vey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 433)

Collier, Arthur J., (an [: ] others) ... Gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

Gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

(Washington, G.P.O., 1908. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 328)

U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletins ^ Bulletins ^ , 284, 3 ^ 4 ^ 5, 379, 442, 592, 622, 714, 722. Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1906-1922.

U.S. Geological Survey. Water-Supply Paper ^ Water-Supply Paper ^ 314. Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1913.

Brooks, Alfred H. (and others) Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions. Alaska, in 1900

Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and Norton Bay Regions. Alaska, in 1900

. Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1901.

Harrison, E.S. Nome and Seward Peninsula, a book of information about northwestern Alaska.

Nome and Seward Peninsula, a book of information about northwestern Alaska.

Seattle, Wash., Metropolitan press, c1905.

Stiles, Bill. "Quartz Mining in Northwestern Alaska." In: ALASKA– YUKON MAGAZINE, Vol.VII, No.6, March, 1909, PP.474-475.

^ Text-400 words ^

SPAFARIEF BAY, an arm of Kotzebue Sound, indents the northern shore of Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Kotzebue named this bay in August, 18 [: ] 6, during a survey of Eschscholtz Bay, by way of which he hoped to discover the northeast passage. It was more closely examined by Beechey. in September, 1826, who reported: "On the 8th, Spafarief Bay, which had been but little explored by Captain Kotzebue, underwent a satisfactory ex ^ a ^ mination, and was found to terminate in a small creek navigable a very short distance, and that by boats only. Its whole extent inland is about three miles, when it separates into a number of small branches communicating with several lakes, which, in the spring, no doubt, discharge a large quantity of fre ^ s ^ h water into the sound, though at this dry season of the year they were of inconsiderable size. A little to the northward of the creek there is a pointed hill just 640 feet high by measurement, from whence we surveyed the surrounding country, and found that this side of the sound also was covered with a deep swampy moss. The summit of this hill, and indeed of all the others that were ascended in the sound, was the ^ ^ only part destitute of this covering.

"The beach was strewed with a great quantity of drift wood, some of which was in a very perfect state, and appeared to have been recently split with wedges by the natives, who had carried away large portions of the trunks to make their bows, arrows, and fishing implements. They were all pine-trees except one, which by the bark appeared to be a silver birch."

Spafarief Bay lies between Cape Deceit, a few miles west of the mouth of the Kiwalik River (q.v.) and Chamisso Island (q.v.), and leads directly into Eschscholtz Bay. It is nowhere deeper than thirty feet and is fringed by a shoal.

A winter trail leads directly northward out of Kiwalik, at the mouth of that river, across the bay to Kotzebue (q.v.), on Baldwin Peninsula.

Except in the immediate vicinity of Ki w ^ q ^ alik, the bay is

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surrounded by steep banks of the coastal plain gravels which apparently are laid down in a submerged valley and since raised to their present elevation. The highest point on the eastern side of the bay reaches an elevation of 660 feet (Beechey to the contrary), but most of the banks are considerably below this level.

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska.2 ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska.2 ^ d ed. Washington, 1906.

Beechey, F.W. Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait ... in the years 1825. 26. 27. 28.

Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait ... in the years 1825. 26. 27. 28.

London, 1831. 2v.

Moffit, F.H. F ia ^ ai ^ rhaven Gold Placers, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ F ia ^ ai ^ rhaven Gold Placers, Seward Peninsula, Alaska. ^ Washington, 1905. (U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No. 247)

U.S. Coast Pilot. Alaska. Pt.II. ^ Alaska. Pt.II. ^

^ 610 words Text ^

^ 25 words Bio ^

SPENCER, POINT, ALASKA (65° 17′ N.Lat., 166° 50′ W.Long.), western S [: ] ward Peninsula, is the southern entrance point to Port Clarence, Bering Sea. Point Spencer lies about twenty airline miles northwest of Cape Douglas (q.v.), at the end of a tapering sand spit. This spit extends north– westward from the mainland, but bends about midway slightly east of north, thus forming the western side of Port Clarence. The base of the spit is dotted with lakes, as is the slightly widened tip, just below the Point.

Captain Frederick William Beechey gives a good description of the Point: "The south ^ e ^ rn side of Port Clarence is a low diluvial formation, covered with grass, and inter e sected by narrow channels and lakes; it projects from a range of cliffs which appear to have been once upon the coast, and sweeping round, terminates in a low shingly point (Point Spencer). In one place this point ^ ^ is so narrow and low, that in a heavy gale of wind, the sea must almost inundate it; to the northward, however, it becomes wider and higher, and, by the remains of some yourts upon it, has at one time been the residence of Esquimaux. Like the land just ^ ^ described, it is interesected with lakes, some of which rise and fall with the tide, and is covered, though scantily, with a coarse grass, elymus , among which we found a species of artemesia, probably new. Near Point Spencer the beach has been forced up by some extraordinary pressure into ridges, of which the outer one, ten or twelve feet above the sea, is the highest. Upon and about these ridges there is a great quantity of drift timber, but more on the inner side of the point than the outer. Some has been deposited upon the point before the ^ ^ ridges of sand were formed, and is now mouldering away with the effect of time, while other logs are less decayed, and that which is lodged on the outer part is in good preservation, and serves the natives for bows and fishing staves."

On the Bering Sea side of the Spit there is a wide shoal which extends s ou thward past Cape Douglas and Cape Woolley to Cape Rodney (q.v.). However, this shoal is widest southwest of Point Spencer, where there is also a ledge with a reported least depth ^ ^ of one and three-quarter fathom, so that, when approaching from this direction, deep water vessels must give the point a berth ^ ^ of at least five miles.

The entrance to Port Clarence, between Point Spencer and Point Jackson on the north shore, is about four or five miles wide, and is clear of all dangers. Depths in the entrance run between twenty-eight and thirty-six feet. There is a sheltered anchorage just inside Point Spencer, but south of this point, a shoal makes into the bay with depths of only fifteen ^ ^ feet a mile off ^ ^ from the spit.

Point Spencer itself is bold, with d p ^ e ^ pths up to forty-two feet as close as one-quarter of a mile, and it is marked by a light from August 1 to November 1. Although this light is shown from a white wooden house about fifteen feet above the water, several poles at Point Spencer are more con– spicuous than the light in the daytime.

Point Spencer was named by Beechey in September, 1827, "in compliment to the Honourable Captain Robert Spencer," of the Royal Navy. With his usual modesty, Beechey remarks: "As we receded from Point Spencer, the difficulty of distinguishing it even at a short distance accounted for this excellent port ^ [ ^ Port Clarence ^ ] ^ having been overlooked by Cook, who anchored within a very few miles of its entrance."

Sources:

USCP; Baker; VSGB; C&GS Chart 9302; Aeronautical Chart 76

Beechey, Capt. F.W. Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait... in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28

Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait... in the Years 1825, 26, 27, 28

. London, 1831. Vol.II.

^ 1,080 words ^

SQUIRREL RIVER, in northwestern Alaska, is one of the chief northern tributaries to the Kobuk (q.v.), one of the largest waterways in this part of the Territory.

The Squirrel rises in the divide between its watershed and that of the Noatak (q.v.), and drains an ^ the ^ area between the western end of the Baird Mount Mountains and Hotham Inlet. It receives its largest t ^ ri ^ butaries from the Baird Mountains^,^ and on the north, and flows in a generally southwesterly direction to the Kobuk, entering that river about sixty-eight miles upstream from Hotham Inlet.

Travelling downstream, the important northern tributaries are Omanha, Timber, Klery, Central, and Canyon Creeks. Timber Creek is joined by Spruce and Cross Creeks; Klery by Snyder, Gold Run, Crooked, Martin, Rocky, Jack, Bear, Boldrin, and Peluk Creeks; and Canyon by the waters of Jay, Otter, and Mink Creeks.

The Squirrel-Noatak divide is hardly over 1,000 feet high, but the mountains in which the major tributaries to the Squirrel rise reach elevations of three or four thousand feet. On the highest peaks rocks weathered to fantastic shapes are the prominent landmarks for the surrounding country side. The mountains to the south of the early ^ ^ course of the river are only about one thousand feet in height at the greatest, but the short chain [: ] bordering the southern end of the river contains 2,675-foot Deviation Peak and another unnamed point 2,800 feet high.

The entire course of this river is above the Arctic Circle so that the ^op^en season is limited to only about two months of every year. Because Kotzebue Sound is extremely shallow and somewhat protected from the main movement of the pack northward in the spring, it is not open to naviga– tion until sometime in July. By the middle of September the rivers are already frozen again. Because of the considerable elevation of the terrain

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surrounding much of the Squirrel River system, ice begins to form on the sides of the stream as early as mid-August and the surrounding mountains are covered with snow far down their sides slopes. (For a more detailed description of the climatology of this part of Alaska, see Kobuk River article.) Vegetation & A fringe of dark green spruce, perhaps one hundred yards in Game width, edges the larger streams in the Squirrel River system. All timber in this area is more or less stunted, the spruce. averaging about one foot in diameter and tapering rapidly at the top. There is a much smaller growth of birch along the Squirrel than is found on the Kobuk, but the willow and alder, which grow by the smaller streams, are useful for fuel. Much of the Squirrel basin is treeless, the only vegetation being ^ mosses and ^ a kind of heavy rank grass. and mosses Even during the summertime this grass is not an ideal fodder for pack animals, since [: ] it con– tains a large percentage of water and relatively little nourishment. This grass wilts at once and looses all its usefulness at the slightest touch of frost.

Smith, writing in 1909, remarks that there was very little game in the vicinity of the diggings on Timber, Klery, Central, and Canyon Creeks. He suspected, however, that bear and caribou might be found in the more remote parts of the upper Squirrel system. On the other hand, ptarmigan and water birds were abundant near the mines, although they proved so wary as to be unreliable as an exclusive source of food. Salmon swarmed in the lower channels and branches of the Squirrel and great numbers of grayling were usually available in the smaller streams.

Mining During the 1909 season, the U.S. Geological Survey visi [: ] ed the Squirrel River region. Although gold had by that time been found on eight or ten tributaries to the main river, work was then in progress only on Klery Creek. About fifty men had located in the area,

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of which one-third or more were on one claim. In his 1909 report, Smith warned that capital had not yet taken hold in the region, that there was little opportunity to work for wages, and that most of the camps were run on a partnership basis. Until such time as a well-financed company entered the ^ d ^ istrict, making it possible to spend a few unproductive seasons in pre– paring the ground, Smith did not feel that there was much hope for the Squirrel River mining ventures.

Klery Creek, Smith pointed out, exemplified the unjustness of the existing staking regulations. Of the sixty-four claims above, and the twenty below Discovery Claim on that stream, work had been done on only about ten locations. As had already been demonstrated at Nome and repeatedly throughout the Territory, this system of absentee claim staking with no requirements concerning the working of the ground, could close an entire area to all new– comers while the original claimants waited for one of their own group to risk the time and money developing his section of the field.

In his summary of the Squirrel River prospects, Smith points out that the ^ rigor of ^ region and the climate and the shortness of the working season militate against the development of a large camp anywhere along the river, just as it discouraged the stampeding of a large group of incompetents to the district. On the other hand, he indicated that the similarity of the already existing placers to those in the more productive parts of Seward Peninsula, pointed to a possibl ^ e ^ bright future for the Squirrel district. This hope would have been considera ^ b ^ ly strengthened had any rich lode deposits been found there, so that there might have been some hope of continuous mining the year around.

As late as 1944, the difficulty of transporting men and equipment to the Squirrel region and getting to work within the short span of one season was still hindering the development of the area. Recent reports,

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however, speak of a well-equipped and well-informed group of young men entering the region during the summer of 1947 and succeeding in beginning to mine on Klery Creek within a few weeks of their arrival there. Much of their supplies and machinery was brought in by air. This may be the first turn in the tide of mining prospects for the entire district.

Kiana, a short distance above the junction of the Squirrel and the Kobuk, is the only settlement nearby. Kiana has two landing strips and is the supply and transfer point for all the mining camps on the Squirrel.

References

Baker, Marcus. Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Geographic Dictionary of Alaska. ^ Washington, 1906. 2d ed.

Smith, P.S. Squirrel River Placers ^ Squirrel River Placers ^ . (Brooks, A.H., and others. Mineral Resources of Alaska....1910.

Mineral Resources of Alaska....1910.

Washington, 1911. pp.306-319)

Stewart, R.L. Prospecting in Alaska. ^ Prospecting in Alaska. ^ Juneau, Alaska, 1944.

^ 300 wds ^ ^ 15wds-Bibl ^

STUART ISLAND, Norton Sound, less than a mile off the west coast of Alaska, is separated from the mainland by Stephens Pass. The Island is about 10 miles from east to west, and about 5 miles from north to south. On September 18, 1778, Captain James Cook returned to this section of Ala the Alaskan coast in an attempt to follow it south– ward from Norton Bay, but the shoals of Stephens Pass deterred him. Later he learned that these shoals continued down the coast for hundreds of miles, and he changed his course and sailed for Unalaska. He writes in part: "The land in this place was moderately high, the westernmost point (Stuart Island) making in a bluff. At one half past ten, the Resolution hailed the Discovery to take the lead, and make for an opening (Stephens Pass) between the mainland and the island which was called Stewart's Island, and our boats were sent ahead to sound; but some time after, they made the signal of 4 and 3 fathoms and a half and consequently we hawled our wind to the westward."

The shores of Stuart Island are irregular. The north shore from North Point to Observation Point and down to Stephens Pass is one continuous bluff about 170 feet high, but the southern and western shores are considerably lower. Stuart Mountain in the northeastern part of the ^ ^ island is 483 feet high and there is one other 265-foot hill in the northwestern section. Most maps show the island cut in half from north to south by a tidal slough. A line of detached rocks extends from the western tip of the island and the shoals which discouraged Captain Cook still extend about 3 miles off the southeastern point toward Stephens Pass. Recent maps show no settlements of any kind on the island.

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Sources:

USCP: VSGB: Cook, Capt. James. Authentic Narrative of a Voyage per- ^ Authentic Narrative of a Voyage per- ^ formed by Capt. Cook and Capt. Clerke in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and ^ formed by Capt. Cook and Capt. Clerke in His Majesty's Ships Resolution and ^ Discovery during the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780 ^ Discovery during the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780 ^ . Lond. Robinson 1782. 2v. (V.2)

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TALIKOOT (67° 06′ N. Lat., 163° 34′ W.Long.) is a small Eskimo village a few miles south of Cape Krusenstern, the northern entrance point to Kotzebue Sound, northwestern Alaska.

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THOMPSON, CAPE (68° 08′ N.Lat., 166° 02′ W.Long.), north– western Alaska, projects into the Polar Sea a few miles southeast of Point Hope (q.v.).

Beechey, the famous British explorer, named this cape in August of 1826 "after Mr. Deas Thomson, one of the Commissioners of the Navy." Although the name appears as "Thomson" in the text, Beechey spelled it "Thompson" on his map, and it has been recorded as such ever since.

Cape Thompson, like its neighbor to the south, Cape Seppings, is not distinct, making it difficult to decide to which exact point the name should be applied. In the vicinity of the Cape for a distance of six of more miles, the mountains drop abruptly into the water in a series of cliffs about five hundred feet high. A rugged mountain face about midway of this series of cliffs is probably Cape Thompson. From the small stream in the ravine just south of this point fresh water may be obtained, and directly off this watering place is an anchorage in thirty feet with sandy bottom. At almost all other points along this line of cliffs, the bottom is rocky.

The mountains forming Cape Thompson continue northward to Cape Lisburne, while the coast itself curves westward and northwestward to Point Hope.

THE TIKCHIK LAKES, southeastern Alaska, form a chain of 12 small lakes, which extends north and south along or slightly to the east of 159° W. Long. between 60° 30′ and 59° 18′ N. Lat. The long a ^ xis ^ of these lakes runs east and west or, as in a few cases, slightly southeast-northwest, and the lakes lie almost directly under each other starting with the most northerly, Nishlik Lake, and con– tinuing [: ] southward to Lake Nunavaugaluk. The major tributaries to these lakes, excluding the rivers which connect them with each other, rise in the Kilbuck Mountains which extend north and south just west of the lakes. These mountains form the western divide for the Nushagak River system to which the Tikchik ^ ^ Lakes contribute by way of the rivers which rise in them and flow eastward to the Nushagak or its tributaries.

Nishlik Lake, the most northerly and one of the smallest of the Tikchik Lakes, is 6 or 7 miles long by 1 to 2 miles wide. It is fed by streams from the Kilbuck Mountains and is the source of the Tikchik River which drains from the southeastern end of the lake.

Upunuk Lake, a few miles south of Nishlike Lake, is the second most northerly of the Tikchik Lakes. It is about 9 miles in its greatest length by 5 miles in its greatest width, and is also fed by streams from the Kilbuck Mountains. A small unnamed stream drains from the eastern end of this lake and joins the Tikchik River about 7 miles east of Upunuk Lake.

Chikuminuk Lake, next in line to the south, is irregular in shape. It is about 15 miles long by 13 miles wide at the greatest points. The longer of two northern arms of the lake reaches to within 1 or 2 miles of the south shore of Upunuk Lake. Chikuminuk ^ 25 [: ls] ^

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river and its tributaries connect Nishlik and Upunuk Lakes with Tikchik Lake, which in turn is connected with Nuyakuk, Chauekuktuli, and Chikuminuk Lakes. A few minor streams and creeks flow into Tikchik River from the small lakes to the east and west of its southerly, 40-mile course. About 15 miles from its head the Tikchik passes through Tikchik Canyon, and the last few miles of its course pass to the westward of a 2760-foot height called Tikchik Mountain.

Tikchik Lake is about 9 miles long by 4 miles wide at the greatest points. Its only settlement according to recent maps is Kaskanak on the north shore of the head of the Nuyakuk River. Schanz reported this lake under its present name in 1890. Baker noted, in 1906, that the older name was Nushagak Lake, although it has appeared consistently as Tikchik Lake on recent maps. There would appear to be a confusion, as well, as to the name of the river which drains from the eastern end of the lake. Early sources call this the Tikchik River, but it now generally referred to as the Nuyakuk.

Lake Kulik, the eighth most southerly of the Tikchik Lakes, is about 17 miles long by 2 miles wide at the greatest P^p^oints A short stretch of falls and rapids connects it with Grant Lake. [: ] small lake to the Northeast. Northeast of Grant Lake is Agenuk Moun– tain, a prominent elevation in this part of the Nushagak Basin.

Lake Kulik is fed by streams flowing from the Kilbuck Mountains and from Eagle Mountain which separates it from Nuyakuk Lake. Rapids connect Lake Kulik with tiny Mikshalk Lake, to the south, which is itself connected with Lake Beverly by Peace River. Lake Kulik has been variously reported. Tikhmenief called it Kullik, in 1861, and Raymond, in 1869, recorded it as Lake Koulakh.

^ 27 ls ^

Lake Beverly, the next most southerly of the Tikchik Lakes, lies northwest-southeast across 158° 40′ W. Long. It is about 15 miles long and about 5 miles wide at the greatest points. The western end is divided into Golden Horn and Silver Horn. These extensions are about 6 and 3 miles long respectively. Golden Horn is fed by a stream flowing from a small lake in Rainbow Basin southeast of Mt. Waskey in the Kilbuck Mountains. Silver Horn receives several small streams rising in Akulu ^ k ^ tok Mountain which separates this part of Lake Beverly from Lake Nerka, the next Tikchik Lake to the south. Lake Beverly is fed all along its ^ ^ northern shore by streams rising in the highlands which separate it from Lake Kulik and by streams and creeks draining from the system ^ ^ of small lakes which lies east of these highlands. ^ A short sketch of rapids called ^ Agulukpak R ^ iver ^ drain ^ s ^ from the southeastern end of Lake Beverly, connect ^ ing it ^ with Lake Nerka, which, at this point, lies only about a mile s to the south.

The two eastern extensions of Lake Nerka are separated by a broad peninsula, 5 to 6 miles wide, on which stand the Prog Moutains. Lynx Lake, sends which lies at the foot of these moun– tains, sends a small tributary into the southern arm of Lake Nerka. Anvil Bay reaches a few miles into the northern side of the penin– sula. Elbow Point, at the tip of the peninsula, lies on the main body of ^ Lake ^ Nerka Lake which is about 3 miles square. The northwestern end of the lake again divides into two parts, one called Amukuk Arm, the other and more southerly called Little Togiak Lake. Between these lies Lake Elva which sends a tributary into the main body of the lake. The general shape of Lake Nerka resembles a wishbone with the prongs extending eastward. The lake is fed by streams rising in the Kilbuck Mountains and in the highlands which separate ^27 ls^

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Nerka from the other Tikchik Lake. Lake Bumyok Ridge which extends into the southeastern arm of Nerka is bounded on the south by River Bay. From Jack Knife Mountain, which separates this part of Lake Nerk^a^ from Lake Aleknagik, several streams flow into Fenno Creek, a tributary to River Bay. The Agulowak River connects this bay with Lake Aleknagik, about 3 miles to the south.

Lake Aleknagik extends northwest-southeast for about 24 miles and is about 3 miles wide at the greatest point. It re– ceives several streams from Sunshine Valley, to the northwest, Youth and Ice Creeks from the south, and feeds Wood River (q.v.), which drains from the extreme eastern end of the lake southeast ^ ward ^ into Nushagak Bay (q.v.). Marsh Mountain ^ and ^ the Muklung Hills, prominent features of this part of the Nushagak Basin, lie north– east of the Lake Aleknagik. Many variants of the name Aleknagik have been recorded since it first appeared in Sarichef's atlas of 1826. This would appear to be the same lake which Sheldon Jackson called Abaknakik and described as dotted with pine-covered islands. Aleknagik, at the head of Wood River, is a fast-growing settlement with a reported population of 78, in 1939, during which same year a new Territorial school was built. The village has a church, general store, logging camp, and sawmill. Mail is delivered from Dillingham all months of the year except October.

Lake Nunavaugaluk, the most southerly of the twelve Tikchik Lakes, is about 14 miles long on its northwest-southeast axis and about 4 miles wide at the greatest point. Lake Nunavaugaluk is fed by streams and creeks rising in the foothills of the Kil– buck Mountains which surround it on all sides. A map, dated January, 1947, indicates two cabins on the lake, one on each side of the head of Snake River, which drains from its southeastern end. ^28 ls^

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TIKCHIK LAKES

Although marked by rapids at its head, the Snake River later takes a tortuous, meandering course, repeatedly reversing direction, to empty into Nushagak Bay. Near its head it receives Otter Creek, and about 8 miles from its mouth it is joined by the Weary River which is also marked with ^ ^ sloughs and meanders. The channel leading to the mouth of the Wood River is only 8 feet deep at high water and is therefore unnavigable to any except the smallest fishing boats. Since it rises in a lake, however, the Snake is ^ an acceptable spawning ground for the ned salmon and as such is ^ important to the red salmon canneries which operate in Nushagak and all other arms of Bristol Bay from mid-June to late July. The Snake River catch is taken to the canning centers of Nushagak, Dillingham, and ^ ^ Snag Point near the head of Nushagak Bay.

All the Tikchik Lakes contribute to the success of the salmon industry in ^ ^ this part of Alaska, since the ^ red ^ salmon chooses for a habitat only those river systems which contain lakes.

The six most northerly Tikchik Lakes: Nishlik Upunuk, Chi ^ k ^ m ^ uninuk, ^ Chauekuktuli, Nuyakuk, and Tikchik, for ^ m ^ a lake system which feeds the Nuyakuk River, one of the chief tributaries to the Nushagak, the largest river in the area. The next five Tikchik Lakes: Grant, Kulik, Beverly, Nerka, and Aleknagik, fee ^ d ^ the Wood River, third largest tributary to Nushagak Bay, and also very important to the salmon industry. Nunavaugaluk, the last Tikchik Lake, gives rise to the Snake River, which, although it is not navi– gable to cannery vessels, plays its own part in the industry, as we have already seen.

^ 24 ls ^

^80 wds^

TIKIZAT, on the coast of the Polar Sea, northwestern Alaska, is an Eskimo village a ^ f ^ ew miles north of Cape Krusenstern, the northern entrance point to Kotzebue Sound.

According to Pe ^ t ^ rof this settlement had a population of seventy– five or more in 1880, but, since it does not appear on the [: ] 1939 Census, it would seem to have decreased in size since that time.

The long winter trail which connects this part of Alaska with Kotzebue and Seward Peninsula, to the south, and with other coastal settlements, to the north, passes through Tikizat.

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is fed by streams flowing down from the Kilbuck Mountains and is the source of the Allen River which joins the southeastenrn end of this lake with ^ Lake ^ Chauekuktuli [: ] immediately to the south. The Allen River is 7 or 8 miles long and is interrupted by rapids all along its course. The Kilbuck Mountains just westward of these two lakes reach heights of 4800 feet.^,^ ^ and ^ T^t^he territory between the lakes is also mountainous. Ongutvak Mountain lies just northwest of the point at which the Allen River enters Lake Chauekuktuli, the fourth Tikchik Lake.

Chauekuktuli is a long, narrow, bow-shaped lake about 20 miles long by 1 to 2 miles wide. It is fed from the north by Allen River, ^ and ^ by streams flowing from the Kilbuck Mountains to the west and from the highlands to the north and south. The extreme western end of Lake Chauekuktuli is called Shadow Bay which fills a narrow valley bounded on the south by Konarut Mountain. The Red Hills separate th e ^ i ^ s end of the lake from Portage Arm, an extension of Nuyakuk Lake, the next of the Tikchik Lakes. Mirrow Bay, a south– western arm of Nuyakuk Lake is separated from Portage Arm by a group of peaks from which several small streams flow into both branches of Nuyakuk Lake. This, the fifth and perhaps the largest of the Tik– chik Lakes, is about 21 miles long by 5 miles wide at the greatest points. At its southeastern end a narrow channel connects Nuyakuk with Tikchik Lake, headwaters for the Nuyakuk River (q.v.), one of the major tributaries to the Nushagak (q.v.).

Since it is east of Nuyakuk, Tikchik Lake does not cross 159° W. Long., but rather lies just south of 60° N. Lat. across 158° 20′ W. Lat. Tikchik Lake is fed from the north by Tikchik River. This river should not be confused with the one formerly called the Tikchik, but new known generally as the Nuyakuk which drains from the eastern

^ 25 ls ^

^ 160 wds-Text ^ ^ 25 wds-Bibl ^

TIN CITY, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska (65° 34′ N. Lat., 167° 54′ W. Long.), is a small mining community at the mouth of Cape Creek on south side of Cape Prince of Wales.

Like York (q.v.), Tin City has grown and shrunk with the uncertain fortunes of the tin mine ^ r ^ s of the York region. (For a general description of the Alaska tin ^ ^ industry see York Mountains article.) From time to time tin ^ ^ mills of varying sizes have been set up in Tin City, but they were all idle at the time of this writing, (1949).

The post office established here in 1905 was later closed. Teller is now the nearest post office, and, between November 1 and May 31 Tin City receives mail once a month. During the season of navigation, June 1 to October 31, mail is brought to the mail boat stops at Teller twice a month.

Despite the great hopes for this mining settlement early in the century ^ , ^ it dwindled so considerably in later years that it was not reported separately in the 1939 U.S. Census.

^ 800 wds ^

TOGIAK BAY, ALASKA, a northwestern arm of Bristol Bay, has been called Tugiak or Togaik Bay, and was first named by Tebenkof in 1849. Togiak Bay indents a section of Alaska coast between Cape Constantine, Nushagak Peninsula, and Cape Newenham, which has never been surveyed, but shoal water is reported to exist throughout the bay. Between the two entrance points, Right Hand Point on the east and Tongue Point on the west, the bay is about 30 miles wide. It extends about 14 miles in a northeasterly direction to its head where the native settlement of Togiak lies at the mouth of the Togiak River. This village had a population of 70 in 1936 and ^ an Eskimo ^ school maintained by the Office of Indian Affairs. In 1880 Petrof reported two villages in this vicinity: Togiak on the eastern side of the bay, and Togiagamute, Togiak People , at the head of the bay. Recent ^ ^ maps show only Togiak on the eastern side of the mouth of the Togiak River, although the 1939 Census reported a population of only 10 for this settlement, and a population of 46 for another called Togiak Bay. Togiak is on ^ ^ the long winter trail which ^ ^ connects points on Lake Clark, Iliamna Lake, the Alaska Peninsula, and Nushagak Bay with Goodnews and other settlements to the west.

In addition to its main tributary, Togiak River, the bay receives several smaller streams rising in the lakes which dot the tundra country east and west of the bay, and from ^ in ^ the mountains which flank both sides of Togiak Basin.

The eastern entrance to Togiak Bay is partially ^ ^ blocked by the Walrus Islands which are comprised of three islands and three rocks, all above water, and extending about 16 miles east and west and 8 or 9 miles north and south. Round Island, the most easterly of

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TOGIAK BAY, ALASKA

this group, is a little under 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. Crooked Island lies about 9 miles northwestward from Round Island and is about 6 miles long by 2 miles wide at the greatest points. High Island, a few miles northwestward from Crooked Island, is only about 4 miles long and 2 miles wide. Two isolated rocks, The Twins, lie south of Crooked Island, and Black Rock lies northeast of ^ T ^ he Twins. The Walrus Islands rise to heights of 100 to 900 feet and are ^ ^ partially surrounded by bluffs similar to those along the eastern side of Togiak Bay. Summit Island lies only a few miles south of a small peninsula just below Owens on the eastern side of Togiak Bay. Westward from the Walrus Islands is mountainous Hagemeister Island which partially obstructs the western entrance to the bay. Depths of these island run from 36 to 48 feet, with ever-decreasing depths down to 6 feet and ever-increasing shoals as one approaches the head of Togiak Bay.

Hagemeister Island lies ^ extends ^ northeast-southwest a few miles south– ward from Tongue Point. The Russians named this island after Capt. Leontius Vasilevich ^ ^ Hagemeister who, between 1816 and 1830, made three voyages to the Russian American Colonies and around the world in the Neva , the Kutuzof , and the Krotkoi . The island is about 20 miles long by 8 miles wide at [: ] the greatest points and is separated from the mainland by Hagemeister Strait. The southwestern and central sections of the island are dotted with highlands from which flow several small streams. Shoal water surrounds this island extending northeastward into Togiak Bay and westward Shaiak Island, a tiny islet covering less than one square mile s in the southern entrance to Hagemeister Strait. In 1826 Sarichef called this Morzhevoi, walrus , Island but it is now generally known as Shaiak.

Hagemeister Strait varies from about 4 to 9 miles in width ^26^

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TOGIAK BAY, ALASKA [: ]

and is constricted at its southern entrance by shoals and at its northern entrace ^ entrance ^ by Tongue Point. The Albatross , a U.S. Bureau of Fisheries steamer, found good anchorage under Tongue Point and depths up to 18 feet a few miles south of Hagemeister Island. Because of the narrow entrance to both ends of the strait, tidal currents are very strong in the channel. Several small streams flow into Hagemeister Strait from the lake-and highland-dotted tundra of the mainland. peninsula which separates this northwestern reach ^ ^ of Bristol Bay from Kuskokwin Bay (q.v.). Cape Peirce, the southwestern entrance point to Hagemeister Strait, lies a few miles south of the mouth of the Slug River which enters Bristol Bay about 14 miles eastward from Cape Newenham.

^ 300 wds ^

TOGIAK LAKE, southern Alaska, lies in a narrow valley in the foothills of the Kilbuck Mountains about midway between 59° and 60° N. Lat. and 159° and 160° W. Long. The mountains which surround the lake rise to about 2,000 feet. Many small streams flow from these mountains and the valleys between them into all sides of Togiak lake. The main body of the lake is about 11 miles long by 2 to 3 miles wide, but numerous small inlets reach away from the lake into other mountain valleys.

Togiak River drains from the southern end of Togiak Lake and follows the ever-widening valley in a generally southwesterly direction for about 45 miles to the head of Togiak Bay. A few miles below its head the Togiak swings westward across the valley, but after about 10 miles, veers southwestward again. Just above this turn lies Kashiagam^u^t, a native settlement with a population of 33 in 1939. About 10 miles below the turn lies Gechiagam i ut and about 2 miles farther south is Ekilik. These three Eskimo villages are all on the west side of the river. Beginning with at a point between Gechiagam i ut and Ekilik the Togiak follows two channels which are separated in one place by about 4 miles of tundra, but ^ , ^ about 5 miles from the mouth ^ , ^ the two courses veer toward each other so that they enter the head of Togiak Bay at almost the same point. The Eskimo settlement, Togiak, lies on the mouth of the more easterly branch of the river.

The name Togiak as applied in this part of southern Alaska first appeared in Sarichef's atlas of 1826. Tebenkof recorded this name for the lake, the river, the town, and the bay in 1849 although he used the spelling Tugiak. It is now standardized as Togiak.

^ 25 ^

^ 1,752 wds ^ ^ 25 wds bibl ^

The Unalakleet Area, western Alaska, bordering the eastern end of Norton Sound, will be considered to extend from Healy, the small mainland village across St. Michael Bay from St. Michael, northward to Cape Denbigh, the southern entrance point to Norton Bay.

A marsh ^ , ^ which extends 5 to 10 miles inland ^ , ^ surrounds Healy. On the southwestern fringes of this marsh Crater Mountain rises to 633 feet, and south from the southeast ern edge of the marsh about 8 miles inland from Healy, The Sisters, 1 ^ , ^ 327, 1 ^ , ^ 371, and 1 ^ , ^ 595 feet high respectively, look down upon the marsh. The coastline continues eastward for about 13 miles to Kiktaguk. The marsh also extends along this section of the shoreline but is stopped south of Kiktaguk by a 320-foot hill and by Toik Hill, 520 feet high, southeast of the town. Kiktaguk is on a small ^ narrow ^ spit which forms the western side of Kiktaguk Bay, a small, shallow extension of Norton Sound with an entrance opening northward. The 1,298-foot elevation southeast of the bay extends northward into rolling hills which follow the coastline around to the northeast and which ^ then ^ sink into marshes in the vicinity of Golsovia, Black Point, and Tolstoi Point, about 11 and 15 miles (airline) northeast of Kiktaguk. Moderate highlands sweep back to the shoreline again above Tolstoi Point for the 8 miles to Cascade Creek, after which ^ there is ^ comes another stretch ^ ^ of marshland. This marsh reaches to and beyond Unalakleet, at the mouth of the river by the same name ^ , ^ about 8 miles north of Cascade Creek.

This entire stretch of coastline from Healy to Unalakleet and beyond is bordered by 1 to 2 miles of extremely shoal water nowhere exceeding 18 feet, and by a secondary shoal extending offshore. ^25 ls^

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UNALAKLEET AREA

sometimes 4 miles of 30 feet or less which sometimes extends as far as 4 miles offshore. Depths decrease with remarkable regularity throughout this vicinity so that dangers are never come upon suddenly although the extreme shallowness of the coastwise waters makes it impossible for ocean-going vessels to take shelter anywhere near this shore. Although there are no outlying dangers, a reef extends about 1/2 mile from the shore a few miles south of Black Point and shoal waters extend 1 1/2 miles out from the mouth of the Unalakleet River. Only light draft vessels can make their way through these shoals.

Unalakleet, the pivotal native settlement in this region, is a fishing, trapping, and reindeer-herding settlement, ^ village ^ which had a population of 329 in 1939. ^ The estimated 1948 population of too jumped to 1200 during the summer's fishing season. That particular summer was also an especially fine one for growing vegetables, so that the many visitors and transients in the village enjoyed an abundance of fresh food. Unalakleet ^ The town lies is the site of a Swedish Luther ^ an ^ convent church and its affiliated Children's Home, which was completed in December, 1947. The new orphanage was dedicated as a "shelter for the homeless and sanctuary for those who may have no father or mother." The 40x60-foot building has a concrete basement equipped with a laundry and a steam furnace, an assembly room, class– rooms, and staff quarters on the first floor, rooms for the children on the second floor, and expansion room in the attic. Unalakleet also has an Alaska Native Service School which had a 1947 enrollment of 132 pupils and an attendant U.S. Government nurse. The town also has two general stores, a license ^ d ^ fur-dealer, a roadhouse, several r ^ e ^ indeer corrals, and commercial truck gardens. In 1942, about ten white owners reported reindeer herds ranging in size from 250 to 15,000 head and totaling over 32,000 head. All these owners lived in Unalakleet and grazed their herds in ^ ^ the neighboring vicinity. There is a telephone connection with Nulato and radio-telegraph ^27 ls^

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UNALAKLEET AREA

connection with Nome. The landing field has runways 250x150 feet and 200x1500 feet. Both wheel and float landings can be made at Unalakleet in the summer. The village was established by the Russians after an epidemic almost wiped out the old settlement of Unalakleet which lay just across the river from the present site of the town. Part of the old blockhouse which the Russians built at that time is still standing.

In mid-1947 it was reported that the people of Unalakleet, all ^ most ^ of whom are Eskimos, had obtained a Government loan with which they had established a cooperative store. They were hoping at that time to build a cannery, sawmill, a housing development, and a recreation center. They also hoped to start mining the coal which is locally available. A cannery would make it possible for them to preserve garden produce and fish by other methods than drying, and the sawmill and coal mine would help to relieve the accute fuel shortage which now inconveniences them. Recent maps show a coal mine a few miles south of the town.

The Unalakleet River, which is famous for its salmon and trout, rises in the divide which separates the rivers of this part of Alaska from the Yukon River system. It flows for about 50 miles in a generally southwesterly direction directly into Norton Sound. Small boats can navi [: ] te a considerable distance up-river and there is a winter trail which connects all points on the Unalakleet with Kaltag on the Yukon. The head of boat navigation on the Unalakleet is about 30 miles from Kaltag. Although there are no settlements on the river other than its ^ ^ namesake at the mouth, there are several shelter cabins along the stream with intriguing names. Traveling down river these are: Twenty-Two Mile Shelter Cabin; Ten Mile ^ ^ Cabin; ^26 ls^

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UNALAKLEET AREA

Old Woman Cabin; and Whaleback Cabin.

The long winter trail, which borders ^ skirts ^ Norton Sound from Scammon Bay northward, continues on north of Unalakleet past Iguik Roadhouse, Egavik, Foothills Roadhouse, and Shaktolik ^ , ^ at the mouth of the Shaktolik River. Egavik and Shaktolik, with populations of 23 and 128 respectively, are the only towns in this group to be reported in the 1939 Census.

The Shaktolik River rises northeast of Christmas Mountain, swings westward, then southwestward, and finally almost directly westward to flow into Norton Sound, about 36 miles north of the mouth of the Unalakleet River. A low divide separates the headwaters of the Shaktolik from those of the [: ] Gisasa, a tributary to the Koyukuk. In the early 1940's three white owners reported herds of reindeer totalling over 26,000 head in the ranges surrounding the headwaters of the Shaktolik. Two more herds totalling close to 16,000 head were reported during the same year near Egavik.

Above Shaktolik the coastline curves northwestward and then westward with many irregularities around to Cape Denbigh which continues the curve and extends southwestward into Norton Sound. This cape is a fairly high rounded hill which is joined to the mainland by a low narrow neck of land. There is good anchorage eastward of the cape. Captain James Cook was one of the first white men to realize that this point of land was not an island. He wrote: "At eight ^ [on September 11, 1778] ^ the south end of the land we anchored under last night (which was generaly taken for an island, but which we now found was joined to the main by a ne ^ c ^ k of low land) bore N.45 1/2 deg. W...Th [: ] s, which made in a bluff cape, was called Cape Denbigh." ^25 ls^

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UNALAKLEET AREA

The next day Cook sailed southward from Cape Denbigh and anchored off the mouth of the Shaktolik River. As we have seen, the hills alternately approach and retreat from this stretch of the shores of Norton Sound. Cook writes: "The land at the bottom of the bay was in some parts composed of very low land, in others it was of a con– siderable elevation; the whole has assumed a brown hue, occasioned by the plants, &c. which, at this season of the year, were decaying very fast. At two in the afternoon, boats well manned were sent on shore, for the purpose of cutting wood, of which we saw great plenty upon the beach. The sides of the hills, which were of a very gradual ascent, were well clothed with birch and ^ ^ willows, but they were small in size; among these were great numbers of red and black currant trees, with plenty of fruit. The higher parts and summits of the hills were almost entirely covered with crow and whortle-berries, which afforded a most pleasing and salutary repast to everyone on board. Upon different parts of the beach, under the hills, were several huts, but in a very ruinous condition; from their appearace, we supposed them to be erected merely for the temporary employment of fishing: they were built of drift-wood; the roofs, which were almost flat, with a hole in the middle for the evacuation of smoke, were supported by four stout posts ... The entrances to them all were sheltered from the S.E. winds, and, upon that part of the shore which was exposed to it, there were no huts, which renders it probable that those winds prevail and blow violently during some seasons of the year. The boats were soon loaded, but we found great difficulty in getting them off, on account of the little depth of water, which obliged us to heave a good deal of our cargoes overboard. The head of the bay is entirely surrounded by a flat which runs some distance from the shore, and even at three and four miles distance there is only four and four fathoms and a half. It was near nine before the ^27 ls^

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UNALAKLEET AREA

boats got on board, and, during their absence, many of the inhabitants had been alongside, of whom were purchased dried fish, berries of several kinds, bows and arrows, and other articles in the curiosity way. They appeared very plump and full of flesh, had orna– ments in a hole on each side their under-lip, and had those bladder– like jackets over their other apparel which consisted principally of the skins of martins and the spotted field-mice; their hair was short and black, and their canoes were like those of the natives of Unalaschka."

Cook and his crew saw all this on September 11, 1778. Then, as now, the shallowness of the water bordering these shores made for difficulty in launching even such small boats as his when loaded. [: ] These shoals, the surrounding marshes, and the inland mountains have more or less cut this part of Alaska off from the rest of the world ever since. It is to be hoped that the coming of the airplane will do much to open communication with the people of the Unalakleet area.

^ 15 ls ^

Sources:

USCP & SUPPL.: VSGB; Baker; Tewkesbury; Colby Cook, Capt. James. ^ Ellis, w. ^ Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Capt. ^ Authentic narrative of a voyage performed by Capt. ^ Cook and Capt. Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778 ^ Cook and Capt. Clerke ... during the years 1776, 1777, 1778 ^ , 1779, and 1780 in search of a North West Passage ^ 1779, and 1780 in search of a North West Passage ^ . London, Robinson, 1782. Vol.II, pp. 9-13

^ 400 wds ^

WOOD RIVER, Alaska, Bristol Bay region, drains from Lake Aleknagik, one of the Tikchik Lakes (q.v.), and takes a generally southwesterly course to join the Nushagak River (q.v.) at the head of Nushagak Bay (q.v.). [: ] Wood River is about 15 miles long and varies in width from 50 yards at the head to 600 yards at the mouth. The thriving community of Aleknagik at the western end of Lake Aleknagik near the head of the river, and a cannery a few miles north of Snag Point, Nushagak Bay, is situated on the same side of the river near its mouth. The Alaska Salmon Co. sometimes operates this cannery. The cannery maintains stores of gasoline, diesel, and fuel oils for its ^ ^ own use and operates a radio station during the canning seasion which runs from mid-June to late July. The tender– way has a maximum draft of 8 to 9 feet at high tide and is capable of hauling 75 gross tons. The mud flats in front of the cannery wharf are bare at low tide. The cannery lies on the winter trail which joins Lewis Point on the mouth of the Nushagak River with Dil– lingham, Togiak, Goodnews (q.v.), and other settlements to the west.

Wood River is one of the many Bristol Bay rivers reported in 1938 by the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey to be incompletely surveyed and dangerous to navigate. The tidal range in this area runs from 15 to 24 feet. Because of the funnel-shaped configuration of the mouths of these rivers and of the bays into which they empty, tidal currents are extremely strong and can attain a velocity of 6 knots. The depths in these bays and rivers are never very great, even at high water, so that vast areas of shoals and flats are uncovered at low tide, leaving only the shallowest of channels between them. Despite these difficulties small vessels with drafts up to 3 1/2 feet

can navigate 15 miles up the river at low tide. Not more than 2 1/2 feet can be carried from here to Aleknagik Lake at low tide, but 4 feet can be carried to the lake at high tide.

Wood River was first recorded under that name by the U.S. Fish Commission in 1890. This was apparently the name by which the river was locally known ^ ^ at that time. Early Russian explorers had reported it as the Aliagnagik, under which name it appeared in Sarichef's atlas of 1826. Tebenkof called it the Aleknagek, in 1849, but it is now generally known as Wood River.

^ 375 wds ^

WOOLLEY, CAPE (Wolley, Wooly) (64° 48′ N.Lat., 166° 30′ W.Long.), southwestern Seward Peninsula, Alaska, is a low head of land extending into Bering Sea and forming the southern entrance point to a wide-mouthed shallow lagoon indenting the west side of the peninsula below Port Clarence. The northern entrance point to this bay is Cape Douglas, about fifteen airline miles northwest of Cape Woolley.

The lowest, western foothills of the Kigluaik Mountains ^ here ^ approach to within four or five miles of the shore, and from these mountains several small streams flow down into the bay. Traveling north– ward from Cape Woolley to Cape Douglas along the winter trail which runs along the coast here , these streams are crossed in the following order: Igloo, Fairview, Feather, Crete, Tisuk, Cora, Agre, Last Chance, and, finally, a stream formed by the union of Peluk and Spruce Creek, which rises in the highlands a few miles ea [: ] t of Cape Douglas.

Stuart Creek runs into Fairview; Livin ^ g ^ ston, Johnston, Blume, Willis, and Thistle enter the Feather; and [: ] McAdam, Granite, Eldorado, Wesley, Seattle, and Dome join the Tisuk.

From just north of Igloo Creek to the mouth of the Peluk-Spruce stream a low, narrow sand spit cuts the mouths of all these streams off from Bering sea.

The shore is a low sand beach. The shoal, which extends northward from Cape Rodney (q.v.), widens considerably above Cape Woolley and continues to widen above Cape Douglas, until, in the vicinity of Point Spencer (q.v.), it extends several miles out to sea. Because of this shoal this coast can nowhere be approached close to by ocean-going vessels, and it is suggested that they give the shore between Cape Douglas and Point Spencer a berth of over five miles.

The only habitation in this area is Shea Roadhouse, at the mouth of the Feather River.

At Cape Douglas, the winter trail previously mentioned turns east of north and runs first overland and then across the east side of Port Clarence to Teller (q.v.). Another branch of this trail runs up the Tisuk and so overland to Teller. There are a few gold mining camps on this branch of the trail.

Sources:

USCP; VSGB; Baker; U.S. Geological Survey. Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.328. Washington, 1908.

^ 120 wds ^

WULIK RIVER, northwestern Alaska, debouches into the Polar Sea at a point about midway between Cape Krusenstern and Cape Hope (q.v.). Both Stoney and the U.S. Coast Survey recorded this river as ^ the ^ Woleek , in the late nineteenth century, but the present form of the name is now generally accepted.

The Wulik rises on the south side of the De Long Mountains, passes south of Mount ^ J ^ arvis, and then continues in a generally southwesterly direction for a total of about forty miles.

There are no settlements along this stream, the nearest town being Kivalina (q.v.), across the entrance to Corwin Lagoon from the mouth of the Wulik.

^ 240 wds-Text ^ ^ 50 wds-Bibl ^

YORK, ALASKA (65° 30′ N.Lat., 167° 37′ W.Long.) a few miles west of Cape York, lies at the mouth of the Anikovik River (q.v.), western Seward Peninsula. It is about 45 miles from Port Clarence, the nearest harbor, and about 85 miles from Nome. Like that of Nome, the York roadstead is completely unprotected from the southerly storms which sweep this coast [: d ] ^ e ^ very fall.

In 1900, because of the recent discovery of tin in the nearby streams, and mountains, York, as the distribution point for the entire York region, was a busy and important settlement. By 1905, however, with the depletion of some of the tin placers and the difficulties encountered in developing the tin industry in this region, York had dwindled to the status of a village of only a half-dozen inhabitants. Since that time, the town has grown and shrunk with the uneven fortunes of the tin miners. (For a general discussion of the Alaska tin industry see York Mountains article.) A 1922 report on the town reads: "York, once a flourishing tent town, now consists of half a dozen cabins, and the is permanently inhabited by one family of three persons."

The post office opened here in 1900 was discontinued in 1902. Mail for York now goes to Teller (q.v.), on Grantley Harbor. A western branch of the long winter trail which borders Norton Sound extends westward from Teller through York and on to Tin City at the very tip of Seward Peninsula. A fork of this trail turns northward at York and runs to the foothills of Potato Mountain.

^ 1400 wds ^

YORK, CAPE, western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, faces Bering Strait about ten miles southeast of Cape Prince of Wales.

Captain F. W. Beechey named this point on August of 1824, during his extensive voyage in search of Sir John Franklin. He writes in part: "To the southward of Cape Prince of Wales the coast trends nearly due east, and assumes a totally different character to that which leads to Schismareff Inlet, being bounded by steep rocky cliffs, and broken by deep valleys, while the other is low and swampy ground. The river called by the natives Youp-nut (the present Anikovik) must lie in one of these valleys; and in all probability it is in that which opens out near a bold prom^o^ntory, to which I have given the name of York, in honor of his late Royal Highness. On nearing that part of the coast we found the water more shallow than usual."

Cape York is high, rocky, and nearly vertical, cut by several ravines, and backed by the York Mountains, which rise to well over 2,000 feet only a few miles from the shore. The cliff is about te ^ n ^ miles long, and there is no distinct promontory or point which can be defined as the cape proper.

Depths of not less than thirty-six feet will be found at a distance of about two miles offshore, although the water shoals slightly westward and southeastward of the Cape.

A shallow bight extends from Cape York to a point south of Cape Prince of Wales and Cape Mountain. A shelving, shingle beach, usually not more than 100 or 200 yards wide, edges this bight, back of which rises the escarpment of the York Plateau. This plateau averages about 600 feet above sea level and extends northward across the Peninsula to its northern side.

Brooks notes: "The southward drainage of the region is by a number of streams which have trenched sharply into the plateau surface...The smaller ^25^

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tributaries of the main drainage system flow in small but typical canyons. The remarkable evenness and level character of the plateau is very striking; by avoiding the large waterways and making detours around the smaller canyons, a horse and wagon can be driven anywhere on the plateau surface as on a good [: ] roadway." From east to west, the individual streams making up this southward drainage system are: Kanauguk, Anikovik (q.v.), Kigezruk, Baituk, Ocean, Lagoon, and Cape Creeks. The longest of these is the Anikovik.

York (q.v.), Pelazuk, and Tin City (q.v.) are the only settlements along this stretch of coast. Pelazuk is a small native village between Baitu and Ocean Creeks. York, at the mout ^ h ^ of the An ^ i ^ kovik, and Tin City, at the mouth of Cape Creek, are more important towns and are written up separately.

Mining Since a year or two before the opening of the twentieth century, there has been considerable mining in this area. Brooks explains the progressive changes in the na i ming of what is now known as the Port Clarence Mining District, which includes the area described above: "This region is usually known to the prospector as the York district. The part that was organized in 1899 was named the Kanaugok district. In the winter of 1900, another portion of the Kanaugok was reorganized under the name Arctic district. By decision of the judge of the United States district court of Alaska, second division, both these districts are included in the Port Clarence recording district."

The bed-rock geology of this region is granite, limestone, slate, and greenstone. Brooks, writing in 1900, had the following prognosis as to the future of gold mining here: "The gold of the York region, as far as could be determined, is derived from mineralized portions of the slates which have already been described. The York district proper, in which gold has been found, will probably not exceed 30 or 40 square miles. It is possible ^ , ^ ^26^

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however, that gold exists in the northern portion of the region. In fact, colors have been found on some of the rivers flowing into the Arctic."

Brooks was the first to find evidences of stream tin on Buhner Creek (See Anikovik River) and on the Anikovik itsel ^ f ^ . With his usual caution, he adds: "The above occurrence is of considerable interest, but its commercial value is dependent on finding the cassiterite in larger quan– tities. In any event it is worth while to call the attention of the pros– pectors and miners to the desirability of being on the lookout for stream tin, and, if possible, of tracing it to its source in the bed rock. From the description of the occurrence which has been given it is plain that its source can not be far distant."

He is not sanguine as to the future of gold mining in this area because the miners of the region have told him that the gold, although it is coarse, is spotted. From his own observation he knows that most of the developments then existant have been made in the bed rock, that the creek valleys are comparatively ^ s ^ hallow, that very little bed rock has yet been eroded, particularly near the head of the streams where normally one would expect the richest deposits. He continues, "The climatic conditions have also affected the concentration of the gold to a limited degree. During the early summer months the creeks of the York district are low and their erosive power is correspondingly small. In late summer and early ^ ^ fall violent rain storms are frequent, and as a result of the peculiar topograph– ic conditions the water runs off almost as rapidly as it falls. The streams consequently have swift currents and cut away their channels very rapidly. The gravel and debris which have been deposited in the smaller streams during the low stages of the water are borne away rapidly without much sorting and the gold is carried into those larger drainage channels ^26^

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the developments of which seem to be richer than the gulches lying near the source of the gold. The stream-tin deposits on Buhner Creek do not seem to have been affected as much by these floods as the alluvial gold. This is probably because the grains of stream tin are larger and not so liable to be removed by a rise of the water."

Writing in 1908, Collier confirms Brooks' earlier conclusions: "The Port Clarence limestone is not a gold-bearing formation and the areas in which it forms the country rock should not attract the placer miner. Along the margins of some of the granite masses cutting this limestone, mineral– ization has taken place in the form of veins carrying cassiterite, galena, etc...It was probably in 1898 that the first prospectors visited this region, but they confined their attention to the Agiapuk basin, where they found no workable placers. In the following year auriferous gravels were discovered in Buhner Creek, a tributary of Anikovik River, in ^ ^ what was then organized as the York recording district. A little gold has been taken out in the York region, but it has now been practically abandoned as a gold placer district, thought it is growing in importance as a tin producer. Practically all the gold-producing creeks are confined to the Blue ^ s ^ tone and Agiapuk basins, except a few tributary to Grantely Harbor. The district has not been a large producer, the entire output up to 1903 being estimated at $200,000. With the introduction of better mining methods, no doubt many mining enter– prises now abandoned will be revived and can be made to yield an adequate [: ] return."

In 1903 Collier, himself, and Hess found lode tin in the York region, which verified the reports made by prospectors ever since 1900. For the next few years there was much activity in the York tin district, ^25^

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although most of it was of a prospecting nature.

The future of Alaska tin mining could not have been foretold by any of these early prospectors and geologists. Despite the disruption of the world's tin supply by two world wars, and despite the fact that the United States has always been the world's largest tin consumer, most of the tin on Seward Peninsula is still in ^ ^ the ground. (For a general discussion of this problem see Tin City ^ York Mountains ^ article.) ^6^

^ Rewritten & retyped Sept.1949 ^

YORK MOUNTAINS, a steep and rugged range in western Seward Peninsula, Alaska, rise sharply to over 2,000 feet above the narrow coastal plain fringing Cape York.

The mountains follow an east-northeast axis. On the south, in the region of Cape York, they plunge into Bering Sea in cliffs 400 to ^ ^ 600 feet high. [: ] [: ] Capping these cliffs is a terrace one to four miles wide. Eastward from this point, in the vicinity of Don and Caiifornia Rivers, the mountains retreat from the coast, leaving a plain in some places six miles wide, across which the two rivers flow to the sea. Westward of Cape York the mountains give way to the York Plateau, a rolling moss-covered plain ranging from 200 to 600 feet high, which extends northward toward the Polar Sea. Potato Mountain, 1,400 feet, in its northern extremity, is the only prominent peak on the plateau. At the extreme western tip of Seward Peninsula, rising suddenly from the water's edge to 2,250 feet, is the isolated mass known as Cape Mountain. From the tip of the Peninsula the York Mountains stretch northeastward in line with, but from 2 to 10 miles distant from the shore of the Polar Sea. Ear Mountain, an isolated peak south of Shish– maref Inlet, is separated from the northern fringes of the York Mountains by twenty or more miles of grass-covered plain.

Brooks Mountain, 2,918 feet, about fourteen miles northeast of Cape York, is the highest peak in the entire range.

Because of the width of the coastal plain, the northern drainage system is characterized by sluggish, meandering streams and numberless lakes. Only in the vicinity of Don and California Rivers is there a correspondingly wide coastal marsh to the south of the range. Elsewhere, because of the steepness of the slopes, the frozen ground, and the total absence of vegetation, rainfall disappears almost immediately as run-off. The Don and California marsh is bordered by a shallow lagoon separated from Port Clarence by a twelve-mile barrier beach.

Probably two-thirds of the York Mountain area is drain ^ s ^ ed northward into Lopp Lagoon, just north of Cape Prince of Wales^,^ and into the unnamed lagoon immediately north of Lopp Lagoon. All the streams rising in Ear Mountain find their way with into that unnamed lagoon or into Shishmareff Inlet, north of it. Although this northern drainage system contains many streams, none ^ of them ^ is large. All can be forded easily, even at the mouth, and the great majority of them are only a few feet deep and wide. After entering the flat, marshy grasslands of the coastal plain, these streams become sluggish and tortuous.

Ice and drifted hard-packed snow accumulate in the gullies and ravines of the upper courses during the winter. Most of this snow disappears from the lowland and exposed ridges with the arrival of spring, supplying water for the usual spring run-off, to which the placer miner looks forward so eagerly. Sheltered ravines will retain isolated snow and ice masses, which provide a con– stant supply of water to the streams throughout the dry season at the end of the summer. This supply is not always sufficient for mining.

The streams which enter Lopp Lagoon and which comprise the major portion of the northern drainage of the York Mountains are Manna, Potato, ^ and ^ Lynx Creek ^ s ^ , and Mint River. The longer Pinguik River rises east of Brooks Mountain, but its main tributary, York Creek, flows almost directly northward from the northern flanks of the peak.

The main streams of the southern drainage system of this region are the California and Don Rivers (q.v.), rising to the east of Brooks Mountain, and Lost River, which rises about 5 miles south of that peak. The main tributaries to Lost River are Cassiterite and Tin Creeks. Proceding westward along the coast, the King and Kanauguk River enter Bering Strait just east and just west of Cape York, respectively. A few miles beyond the Kanauguk is the Anikovik River (q.v.), which rises ^ with headwaters ^ in the southern watershed of Potato Mountain ^ and York Settlement at its mouth. ^ Important tributaries to the Anikovik are Buck, Sutter and Gold Creeks. York settlement lies at the

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mouth of the Anikovik. As one continues northwestward toward Tin City and Cape Prince of Wales, this most w ^ e ^ sterly tip ^ extension ^ of Alaska narrows , so that the rivers are considerably shorter. From east to west these are: Kigezruk, Baituk, Ocean, and Cape Creeks. Tin City lies at the mouth of Cape Creek.

The York Mountains are largely made up of Port Clarence limestones, 2000 or more feet thick. They have been ^ f ^ olded in a broad way only and are plainly bedded. Basal beds are flaggy and somewhat schistose, but with higher altitudes the strata become more massive. Invertebrate fossils and impressions of fucoid stems have been found in this limestone.

Climate As might be expected from its position [: ] only about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the climate of the York Mountains region is arctic, and, because of the proximity of the Bering Sea and the Polar Sea ^ s ^ , marine in character. Strong winds from the north or the south usually prevail, with fre– quent fogs and considerable rain in the spring and early summer. Total precipita– tion is probably about 24 inches, with a season of about 100 days during which it falls in the form of rain. Except for three or four weeks during July and August, freezing temperatures will occur at some time during each twenty-four ^ h ^ our period. Woolen clothing is required the year around. however. The winter is long and the snowfall heavy. Temperatures as low as −40° and −50° F. have been recorded, but these in no manner approach the extremely low readings recorded for the interior of Alaska where the temperature is not regulated by large , surrounding bodies of water. Permafrost exists throughout the York Mountains region so that the unconsolidated gravels underlying the marshes and grasslands of the coastal plains must be thawed before they can be mined.

Vegetation Storms often leave driftwood on the beaches of this region. and Timber Since the only trees are the tiny scrub willows along the streams, this driftwood is the only source of construction timber. The scrub willows can be used for fuel, but do not prove ^ ^ really desirable even for this purpose.

During July and August the coastal plains ^ and ^ are larger valleys are covered with a heavy growth of grass which is suitable for grazing. The moss, which is equally abundant, is eaten n by reindeer but not by other animals.

The higher sections of Brooks, Ear, Cape, and Potato Mountains are almost barren of vegetation. The main mass of the York Mountains north of Cape York and the lower limestone hills eastward of Brooks Mountain are the most deficient in willows and grass. Where slate appears there is a good supply of both.

Animal Ptarmigan, snipe, plover, curlew, and rabbits [: ] were once Life numerous numerous by have been greatly reduced in recent years. The few bear which ^ that ^ once roamed over these mountains supplying prospectors with a good source of me [: ] t have almost completely disappeared. Geese, ducks, sandhill cranes, swans, and other seafowl are still plentiful. The streams flowing through the heart of the York Mountains contain scarcely any vegetable life, and are therefore poorly supplied with fish, but fairly large numbers of grayling and trout will be found in the peripheral streams of the area.

Communication A continuation of the long winter trail which follows the coast of Norton Sound continues along the north shore of Grantley Harbor and so northwestward past Cape York to Cape Prince of Wales, and the ^ n ^ ^ ^ northeastward along the shores of the Polar Sea to Shishmaref Inlet. A branch of this trail turns northward at the mouth of Lost River and continues in this direction ^ ^ for several miles into the heart of the York Mountains. Another such branch turns northward at York and runs almost to Potato Mountain. There is now a 1500– foot landing strip at the mouth of Lost River.

Population Although ^ ^ York and Tin City were once thriving communities, they are and Industries now almost dederted. Their revival will depend on the renewal of work on the surrounding tin placer and lode deposits. Teller, on the south shore of Grantley Harbor, is the post office for this region.

Some tin mining is still being don ^ e ^ , but the only other industry is

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summer fishing for salmon and the white whale, and, in the inland waters, for herring. In the winter the natives hunt walrus, seal, and polar bear, and do some trapping, but the returns from these activities are small when compared with those catches in other parts of the Peninsula.

History of Mining As early as the fall of 1899, prospectors, who in the York Mountains had left the crowded Nome fields, found placer gold in the Anikovik basin. In September of the next year, A.H. Brooks, while engaged in a U.S. Geological Survey of the Cape Nome gold region, took ten days off to visit the York Region. Here he found the miners complaining that some heavy minerals were ^ ^ clogging their sluice boxes. Brooks discovered that a part of this heavy concentrate from the Anikovik and one of its tributaries, Buhner Creek, was stream tin. Upon his return, Brooks published a short article calling atten– tion to this discovery, and he sent copies of the article to all miners in the York ^ ^ district. The publicity given this find attracted a great many new prospec– tors to the region, so that by the fall of 1901, stream tin had also been ^ ^ discover– ed in Buck Creek, about twenty miles north of York. During the summer of 1901, Collier completed his geologic mapping of the entire area. In 1903 Collier returned to the region and, while trying to help three prospectors to identify their samples, discovered lode tin in the vicinity of Lost River (q.v.).

Later, Collier learned that development work was going forward on the lode tin deposits which had subsequently been discovered near Cassiterite Creek, a tributary to Lost River. Lode desposits similar to those of the Los ^ t ^ River region had also been discovered on Brooks Mountain. Only traces of tin were found on Ear Mountain, and, although the Cape Mountain deposits were located, they were difficult to trace and to develop because of the heavy mantle of talus and residual soil which overlay them.

Stream tin mining was going ^ went ^ forward on Buck Creek and York River. It was reported that about sixty tons of stream tin, averaging 40-50 40% to

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50% ore, had already been recovered from Buck Creek.

After his 1905 visit to the Lost River area, Hess reported hopefully on the future of the lode deposits there^,^ ^ although ^ H^h^e anticipated "frequent delays and [: ] inconveniences from storms, floods, lack of water, freezes, and other hindrances" in the mining of stream tin and expected that these could be most easily avoided by concentrating on the lode deposits. And yet, many of the tunnels run through the Lost River [: ] area filled with water so that all work was stopped until the winter freeze-up.

At about this same time large masses of pure cassiterite were found on the north and northeast sides of Cape Mountain. Other fine pieces were found near Cape Prince of Wales, the largest weighing between 20 and 30 pounds.

^ By now ^ T^t^he Bartells Tin Mining Company building in Tin City contained an assay office, storerooms, engine ^ room ^ and living rooms ^ quarters, ^ all under one roof. At the time of Hess's 1905 visit, the company had strung a mile of bare copper wire over the mountain to furnish power for the electric drills already in use in the tunnels on Cape Mountain. The company was also building a stamp mill and digging a well in order to obtain water for winter mining.

The United States Alaska Tin Mining Company also had a cabin and a few small warehouses as well as a 10-stamp mill one-quarter of a mile back from the beach. This company had a claim ^ 1750 feet up ^ on the north side of Cape Mountain. at an altitude of about 1750 feet. Despite this height, the fifteen-foot shaft sunk on this claim had filled with water so that Hess could not examine it.

Hess discovered that the older shafts in this area were covered with a one-inch coating of bristling, feathery ice crystals. This frost was said to form only during the summer when warm, moist air entering the tunnels met the colder air [: ] below the opening. Near the entrances, surface water dripping from the tunnel roofs formed icy stalactites and stalagmites which, unless pruned at regular intervals, ^ g ^ rew together to form gradually thickening

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pillars of ice, effectively blocking all entrance to the tunnel.

It was only the expectation of large profits that kept the Lost River and Cape Mountain miners at work under such difficult and discouraging conditions.

In this connection, Hess estimated that, considering that York region wages averaged $5.00 a day plus board, and that the cost of materials and machinery was high and their transportation to the sites expensive, tin from ^ the mining of tin in ^ the ^ ^ York district probably cost over $6.60 per ton. with ^ t ^ in ^ was then ^ selling at about [: ] $0.23 per pound. and ^ A ^ llowing for such as sinking fund ^ s, ^ ^ and ^ prospecting, ^ costs, ^ legitimate profit, etc., Hess estimated that Alaska tin miners could not work claims supplying less than 2 1/2% ore, with any assurance of a reasonable ^ profit. ^ profit.

Buck Creek placers, the only ones to produces in 1905, yielded 91 tons of ore that averaged 65% metallic tin. Bad weather had slowed 1905 activities, but hopes for the district were very high.

Business firms and some individuals sent at least seven parties of 'experts' to examine the placer deposits on Buck Creek. These experts dug holes where bed rock could not possibly be reached except with steam pumps or bed-rock drains, neither of which they had. Signs of crosscuts were almost wholly wanting in the section where these experts were working, and yet they made long reports as to the depth and value of the gravels. All this useless work cost the investors we^l^l over $50,000.

Stream tin was reliably reported to exist in Grouse and Red Fox Creeks, in the Buck Creek region, and in several streams flowing from the northeast and east sides of Ear Mountain.

In 1911, when the York Dredging Co. had a dredge on Buck Creek, Seward Peninsula tin mining production began its climb to the peak which was reached five or six years later, and which was not duplicated for many years to come.

H.M. Eakin's reported in 1914 that the dredge on Buck Creek had seen three years of successful operation. In 1914, two Anikovik River dredges were

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installed for the joint recovery of gold and tin, and lode tin mining continued. The ground held by the Cape Mountain company had been patented, and the property allowed to stand idle. Up to 1914, the Lost River mine was developed only in a small way. After 1914, Lost River claims came under new management and were the site of increased activity.

Included in Eakin's report is the following chart showing the production of tin in Alaska from 1902 to 1914:

There were still no tin smelters in the United States and the size of the Alaska shipments did not warr ^ a ^ nt their construction. As a result ^ , ^ all Alaska tin was shipped abroad for reduction. Very early shipments went to Swansea, Wales, but later the major part of the production was sent to Singapore. This necessity put an extra financial burden on the young Alaska tin mining companies.

Three dredges were in operation for all or part of the 1914 season; a tract of tin placer ground was being prepared for the installation of an additional dredge; and the Lost River lode mine and mill were being worked. About 40 men were employed directly in mining operations throughout the area — 20 on Buck Creek, 5 on Lost River, and 15 on the Anikovik. The two Anikovik dredges operated for both tin and gold throughout the season, and about 25 more men were temporarily employed in the construction of a new dredge. [: ] During the winter of that year, three men mined on Lost River.

Placer tin was being produced from Buck Creek and its tributary Sutter Creek, and from the Anikovik, where the first important production of both tin and placer gold was made in 1914. (These placers were valuable chiefly for their gold content, but sufficient tin was present to make a valuable by-product.) The Cassiterite Creek tin placers were already exhausted.

A U.S. Geological Survey report on operations during 1916, written by J.B. Mertie, Jr., says that an option was ^ a ^ ssumed on the Lost River tin mine by W.W. Johnson and associates, who further prospected and developed the mine during that summer. Development work was in progress on the O'Brien Lode farther down Lost River. The Empire Tin Mining Co. was said to have 33 claims on Cape Mountain, about two or three miles from Tin City. No recent development work was reported for these claims and the stamping mill at Tin City was not in use. The Percy lode, farther up Cape Mountain, owned by Ludlow Botts, had seen only assessment work for several years. The United States ^ Alaska ^ Tin Mining Co ^ mpany ^ . also owned property on Cape Mountain, but the company's 10-stamp mill in Tin City was not in operation, and its tunnel was closed. Denny Brothers had done some development work on its claims on Potato Mountain, and had recently opened a tunnel and a shaft. As can be easily seen, however, the original impetus and enthusiasm for tin mining in Seward Peninsula was losing much of its drive. As will be under– stood from the explanation given below, the International Tin Committee was having its effect on the new industry.

With the entry of the United States into World War I, the government once again became interested in tin, since the country was in critical need of a source of this metal nearer than the Asiatic deposits. The U.S. Geological Survey made a brief reconnaissance of portions of the York region in 1917 and reported that the Lost River lode mines appeared to offer the greatest hope of an increased production of tin within the continental United States.

The Survey added, however, that, although these claims were sufficiently developed

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to warrant the installation of a small mill, the resul^t^s of a thorough sampling of the ores and an examination of the costs of production in this area, indicated that the [: ] immediate output was not likely to supply more than a small percentage of the country's needs. Du ^ e ^ to the strangling effect of cartel agreements between the world's great tin producers, the United States tin industry was still too little developed to assist [: ] in the national crisis.

Harrington reported that the Ear Mountain deposits, 12 miles from the shoal-locked shores of Shishmaref Inlet, were more difficult of access than those at Lost River. Even light-draft steamers, he declared, had to be unloaded at least one and one-half miles from the entrance to the lagoon. For this reason, in order to make Ear Mountain tin mining profitable, a higher grade of ore would have to be found there than had been found on the south side of Seward Peninsula. Harrington intimated that Potato Mountain might offer better prospects, but warned that much more development of the district would have to be made before the possibilities there could be estimated. "Under present conditions," he added, "it would take at least two or three years before any ^ ^ production could be made."

By this time, there were 1255 feet of tunnels and winzes on the Cape Mountain property formerly owned by the Bartels Tin Mining Co. In 1917, this property was reported to be owned by Fred Hinton, of Teller. It had, however, been idle since 1914. After examining this district, Harrington felt that, although the claims might contain some bodies of good tin, the development work had been too slight to outline them and no exact statement as to the potentialities of the property could be made.

The United States ^ Alaska ^ Tin Mining Co ^ mpany ^ property on Cape Mountain had also been idle for several years at the time of this survey, so that Harrington was once again forced to conclude that no statement as to possibilities of production could be made and that no appreciable amount of production could

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be expected in the near future.

Concerning placer tin mining in general, Harrington concludes: "Placer mining in 1917 was limited to the vicinity of Buck Creek. About 300 tons a year appears to be the limit of production for this area, and this production will be limited to a period of not over five years; after that time there will be production of only a few tons annually from sluicing operations. Placers may be developed in the vicinity of Ear Mountain, but the production in this vicinity will be small. On Lost River a few tons of residual placer tin may be recovered when water is available for sluicing. Anikovik River has a greater area of stream gravels which may be dredged than ^ ^ any of the other placers (but)...the possibilities of the stream can not be stated."

The official 1919 Alaska tin mining report was equivocal; no new deposits of placer tin had been discovered in the York district in recent years, and this form of tin mining might be discontinued, whereas the lode deposits, such as those at Lost River, offered some hope for the sur revival of the industry. It was felt that the wide distribution of known deposits was a good indication that more would be found in the future. There was no indication that the tin output would decrease in the near future, but a large increase in production would depend on the development of, as yet unlocated, deposits . ^ not yet located. ^

By 1920, the Grouse Creek placers were reported to be worked out. The American Tin Mining Co. operated only one dredge on Buck Creek, as compared with two the previous year, and the total production for the York District dropped from 112,000 pounds, valued at $73,400, in 1919, to 32,000 pounds, valued at $16,112, in 1920.

To offset the failure of the Grouse Creek property, tin-bearing gravels had been prospected on Potato Creek, on Goodwin Creek, and on its tributary Percy Creek, all of which flow northward into the [: ]

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Polar Sea, and similar gravels had been examined on Cape Creek, which flows southward into Bering Sea. Brooks considered this to be a hopeful sign, particu– larly since some of these new claims were reported to be on good dredging ground, and the owners planned to install dredges on some of them.

Seward Peninsula tin production rose from 1.9 and 1.4 tons of metal in 1922 and 1923, respectively, to 7 tons, in 1924. Although this was a very small output, compared to the 139 tons produced in 1916, the Geological Survey optimistically took it is a sign of possible recovery of Alaska tin mining.

The following table gives a good idea of the rise and fall of the tin production curve:

In view of the fact that the 1924 production was less than ^ ^ half that for 1902, the first year in which tin was produced in Alaska, Brook's appraisal of its significance might seem unfounded. Brooks probably felt a personal interest in the welfare of this industry which he did so much to found. As it turned out, the price of tin continued to improve, and 13.8 and 8 tons of the metal were produced in 1925 and 1926 respectively. Production then jumped to 26.7 tons in 1927. Although this was still far below the 1911-1919 figures, it served to justify Brook's faith in the industry.

By this time, the York district had a competitor in the tin business, as Smith makes clear in his 1927 report. "Tin The tin produced in 1927...did not come from lodes but from placer deposits, principally in the York district, of Seward Peninsula, and the Hot [: ] Springs district, of the Yukon Valley. In

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the York district the placer tin, or cassiterite, is mined principally for itself, though some placer gold is also found with it. In the Hot Springs dis– trict the tin ore is a by-product obtained from deposits that are mined primarily for their gold. In the York district the tin ore was mined by two small camps, the larger of which is on Goodwin Gulch...The tin ore shipped from the York region is said to have had a content of 72 per cent of metallic tin; that from the Hot Springs district carried about 65 per cent."

Alaska produced 37.5 tons of tin ore in 1927, which contained 26.7 tons of metallic tin and were valued at $34,000. Practically all of this tin was shipped to Singapore for reduction, and only a few hundred pounds remained unsold at the end of the year.

1928 again saw an increase in the tin produced. The output was 58.6 tons, which con ^ t ^ ained 41 tons of metallic tin. With the metal priced at 50.46 cent ^ s ^ a pound (down almost 14 cents from the previous year), the value was $41,000. Although all this tin came from placer deposits, the new vitality of the industry induced the National Tin Mining Co. to ship considerable equip– ment into the district, and to plan the reopening of the old Crim-Randt-O' Brien properties. The company planned to employ eight or ten miners throughout the year and to speed the development of the most promising lodes. This was the only lode mining for tin ore then being undertaken on the North American continent.

These bright prospects were short-lived. In 1929, not only did the pro– duction of tin drop slightly (51.6 tons of ore containing 38.6 tons of metallic tin), but the price of the tin also dropped so that the value of these shipments was only $35,000. However, as had been true during all previous years, all but a few hundred pounds were sold by the end of the year.

Developments for 1930 were even less happy. Alaska tin production fell off both in quantity [: ] and value and amounted to only about one-tenth of the annual production for the period from 1912 to 1917, when the ^ ^ industry was at its height.

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The drop ^ ^ in price--from the 45 cents a pound of ^ in ^ 1929 to the ^ 31.7 ^ cents of ^ in ^ 1930 — discouraged active development. The 1930 output was all derived from placers, and the ore reported repres ^ e ^ nts concentrates of from 68 to 72 per cent of metallic tin. The ^ ^ output of tin ore was about 21 tons, containing a metallic tin content of 14.7 tons. Of these about 25 tons had been ^ ^ produced in previous years whereas 17 of the tons produced during 1930 were not sold by the end of that year. Little new prospecting was done for tin in Alaska during 1930, and the Geological Survey anticipated no revival of interest in the metal until the price should improve.

As the following table shows, tin production dropped again in 1931, and disappeared in 1932:

The incredible jump between 1934 and 1935 was the result of the activities of a new company, the American Tin Fields, Inc., in the vicinity of Tin City. This was the first attempt at full-scale mechanization of the Alaska tin industry. American Tin Fields, Inc. built a good road to its placers which were perhaps a mile inland from the coast. Power shovels, enormous grizzlys and a well-planned series of sluice boxes were at work at the mines. Large trucks then carried the concentrates to the mill, which had been built close to the shore so as to have a constant and abundant supply of water.

Much of the placer ground in this area ran from 20 to 30 pounds of tin ore to the cubic yard of material. With tin selling for 50 cents a pound

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and the ore containing a bout 75% metallic tin, the prospects for profit with these new methods were extremely bright. There were some disadvantages: the region was practically treeless, so that all fuel had to be imported; the weather was bad ^ , ^ and the working season short. On the other hand this part of Seward Peninsu a ^ l ^ ar was accessible to vessels of medium draft; few of the tin– ^ b ^ earing areas were far from the sea; and the limestone bed rock allowed the inexpensive construction of very good ^ r ^ oads. In addition to all this, the flying time out of Nome was only one hour. There was also the possibility that extensive placer operations would disclose lode deposits in this same area, and, if this happened, tin mining on a large and economical scale could progress the year around.

Tin production increased steadily through 1936 and 1937, but then dropped off again, as the following table shows:

The main tin mining activity in all of Seward Peninsula was still on the property of the American Tin Fields, Inc., near Tin City.

The increasing importance of the United States as a consumer of tin, and the notable success of this operator in producing by far the largest amount of tin of any mines in North America, again aroused official interest in the value of Alaska tin fields. In 1939, the Geological Survey se ^ nt ^ a party, headed by J.B. Mertie, Jr., to begin an intensive field investigation of the tin deposits of Seward Peninsula. In 1939, the work was closely restricted to ^ ^ the area around Cape and Potato Mountains. Samples were taken and maps made so that the most ^ ^ specific information might be available as to the occurrences of tin there. In 1940, Mertie led another party to study the placer and lode deposits in the vicinity of Lost River. Additional field work was planned,

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which would ultimately cover all Alaska tin fields. These official investiga– tions were made in the hope that reliable and definite information on the tin resources there might serve to interest both companies and individuals in the possibilities of tin mining in Alaska.

World War II, which almost immediately put the Japanese in possession of Malaya and the Netherland East Indies, the world's chief sources of tin, again threw the United States back upon tin supplies from Bolivia, the Belgian Congo, and her own tin fields. Once again, the Geological Survey and the Territorial Department of Mines renewed the investigation of Alaska's tin deposits.

The U.S. Bureau of Mines made a careful estimate of overburden, concentra– tion of ore, and production costs in the Potato Mountain and Buck Creek areas. The expensive drilling required to estimate the value of lode deposits, which drilling had previously been avoided, was now expedited. Old underground work– ings were sampled and twenty-two new diamond-drill holes were put down in the Lost River area alone. The region was found to be one where a tin-bearing intrusive granite underlay a series of limestones or slate, and in places in the granite itself. Lode tin, in relatively high concentration, was found at 150 to 200 feet bel l ^ o ^ w the surface. These were easy mining depths. An estimated 4,000,000 tons of low-grade ore were also found to be available at Lost River. Bain concludes: "The combination of high-and low-grade ore would seem distinctly to warrant an attempt at commercial production in the district."

However, Alaska tin mining dropped from 46.8 ^ l ^ ong tons in 1921 to 2.8 and .1 long tons in 1942 and 1943. Once again [: ] immediate need for an enormous supply of tin, plus wartime labor shortages, combined with the international situation to defy the development of the industry. With the opening of the government-owned Longhorn Smelter in Texas City, Texas, in 1942,

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the United States turned from any attempt to mine tin to the smelting of available supplies from Bolivia and the Congo.

The struggle to develop tin mining in Alaska has met with unequal odds, difficulties, and hindrances from the very beginning. We have discussed the natural and geographic difficulties pertaining to the industry and seen how, in the mid-1930's, they were substantially overcome. The greatest and finally insurmountable obstacle, that pertaining to international ^ ^ trade and cartel agreements, has not yet been discussed.

As early as 1903, one year after tin was first produced in Alaska, the United Kingdom opened its attack on the new industry by making it impractical for the United States to smelt this ore within her own borders. At about this same time, the United States Steel Corporation, then the largest producer of tin plate in the United States, supported the construction of a tin smelter at Bayonne, New Jersey. In 1903, the United Kingdom applied export duty--to the amount of 40% and valorem--on all British Malaya shipments of tin concentrates to ports outside the British Empire. Not counting Bolivia, British Malaya then lead the world in the production of tin concentrates. Bolivian concentrates could not be treated economically without an admixture of purer concentrates from the far East, but British Malaya production lacked this characteristic and had ^ was to have ^ been treated in the Bayonne plant. Since exports from Alaska were not yet sufficient to keep this smelter going, and the British Malaya mines could not afford the ^ new ^ 40% duty on their exports, the first United States smelter failed even before it had gone into production.

From 1903 until 1914, as we have ^ ^ previously noted, the bulk of Alaska tin concentrates were sent to Singapore smelters. The first World War, however, interfered with the shipment, particularly of Bolivian ores, to United Kingdom smelters. Th [: k ] ^ i ^ s circumstance induced the second attempt to build up a smelting industry in the United States. In partnership with an English concern, the

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National Lead Company built a smelting plant at Jamaica Bay, Long Island. The American Smelting and Refining Company built another smelter at Perth Amboy, New Jersey. These two concerns continued in business until the end of the war, but then British vested interests moved against them. British smelters first reduced by more than 50% their charge for smelting Bolivian ores. Then the preferential export duties already existing for ores from British Malaya were extended to Nigeria ores. The British tin smelters were able to do these things primarily because their coal and labor costs were much ^ ^ lower than in the United States smelters. By 1923 or 1924, the United States was once again driven out of the tin smelting industry.

However ^ Meanwhile ^ , other changes were taking place in the world-wide picture of the tin industry. From the beginning of the century to about 1917, world tin production and consumption increased at a uniform rate. Tin prices also rose gradually from about 26 to about 46 cents a pound. The average annual price was about 35 cents a pound.

The shipping shortage occasioned by the first World War, however, diverted large amounts of Bolivian ores to the United States and cut off supplies of the metal from southeastern Asia. Tin prices soared. The 1918 average was 86.8 cents per pound, with a peak of 110 cents.

The shipping situation improved only slightly during 1919, whereas the post-war boom increased the demand for large amounts of tin. Prices stayed up through the early part of 1920. Meanwhile, enorm l ^ o ^ us stockpiles of tin accumu– lated in the East. By the time the shipping facilities had increased suffici– ently to carry them to consuming countries, those countries were experiencing a business slump, which had set in about the middle of 1920. The combination of enormously increased supplies and a suddenly decreased demand deflated the tin market. Tin price ^ s ^ collapsed.

The causes for these developments were several: tin consumption had been reduced both by the general depression and by the great coal strike in the United Kingdom; European consumption did not begin to approach the pre-war level; and large tin stocks which had accumulated during the shipping shortage overhung the market. The several tin producers of the world met this problem in different ways. Many small companies were forced to ^ ^ shut down; those with large financial resources either stock-piled their production, rather than sell it at the existing low prices, or cut labor costs to ^ ^ the bone and continued to sell their tin. Knorr remarks that this drastic reduction of labor costs, which in all cases repres n ^ e ^ nted [: ] a large proportion of total costs, was very important. "During 1921," he writes, "wages in British Malay ^ a ^ generally fell by from 15 to 20 per cent. "During this same period, coolies, working in Chinese-owne ^ d ^ . mines, received minute wages and sometimes worked for board and lodging.

Faced with this competition, Alaska miners stopped work. Until modern, large-scale, heavily-financed, and well-managed developments entered the industry there was little hope of its survival.

The governments of the large tin ^ ^ producers of the world now entered the tin b ^ u ^ siness. The government of the Federated Malay States (FMS) purchased ore concentrates and held them until the price reached $119 (Straits) per picul (133 1/3 pounds). These government stocks were gradually m ^ a ^ rketed during the second half of 1919 During 1920 and 192 0 ^ 1 ^ similar techniques were used, but it soon became evident th ^ a ^ t they were not sufficient to sustain the ^ ^ price of tin. Under the terms of the Bandoeng Agreement, the British and Netherland governments agreed to hold existing stocks of tin off the ma ^ r ^ ket until the price rose to £240 per ton. By December, 1923, the price stood at £239. The Bandoeng holdings were completely liquidated by the end of 1924 without interfering with [: ] that price. However, this gradual feeding of backstocks into the tin market in the early 1920's conealed the fact that the production capacity of the existing

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mines no longer equalled world demand. It was this fact, not the fact of the Bandoeng Agreement, which caused the tin boom of the middle 1920's.

In 1925 and 1926, world tin consumption exceeded world production and stocks were considerably depleted. Some consumers faced a "tin famine," but by 1927 production had been increased, and it continued to improve. World produc– tion had averaged 139,000 tons in 1923-26. From 1927 to 1929 it averaged 176,000 t tons. After 1927, production exceeded average requirements, stockpiles accumulated once more, and tin prices dropped.

The Tin Producers Association (TPA), established in July, 1929, was res– trictionist from the beginning. It curtailed hours of work, and, for varying lengths of time, shut down production entirely. Cooperation with the TPA was uneven and spotty. Some small producers, went out of business because of the fall in the price of tin, but the large producers, although they may have shut down their plants for a time, used that time for necessary repairs which would inevitably increase production when they started up again. In 1930, world tin production dropped 17,000 tons below the 1929 figure, and yet this was less than half of the curtailment intended by the TPA and was far more than offset by a further contraction of world tin consumption. Knorr concludes: "By the fall of 1930, therefore, there was a decidedly strong drift toward support of govern– ment intervention for compulsory output curtailment."

The results of certain secret megotiations between the governments of British Malaya, Nigeria, the Netherland Indies, and Bolivia and the tin pro– ducers were announced on February 28, 1931. The restriction agreement called the International Tin Control Scheme (ITCS) became effective on March 1, 1931.

The ITCS was, as Knorr puts it, "an international producers' scheme with compulsory legislative backing." No consuming country had any part in it and all member producers were forced to submit to whatever controls and pol c ^ i ^ cies were dictated by the ITCS.

In 1931, Thailand entered the ITCS. The five member countries then con– trolled 90.5% of the world output of tin. The International Tin Committee (ITC) planned to hold up the price by maintaining tin stocks at a prearranged minimum. The participating countries were given quotas and promised to distribute their production evenly throughout the year.

World consumption of tin fell again in 1931. This was, in great part, due to the curtailment of the United States production of tin plate and automobiles, which in turn was a direct result of the depression. The Alaska tin industry, caught in this slump, started on the decline which reduced it to complete idleness in 1932. On the international level, it was obvious that the restrict– tions imposed by the ITC were not sufficiently severe to sustain the ^ ^ price of tin. In August, 1931, the member governments of the ITC promised to continue restric– tion for three more years, and the International Tin Pool was formed.

The ITP met in Paris, on December 17, 1931 ^ , ^ and agreed to raise the minimum selling price of tin to £165 per ton. A monthly release of 10% was to be allowed only after the price reached £198 per ton. By going off the gold [: ] standard, the United Kingdom had inflated sterling prices. This was the chief reason for the increase in the pivotal price of tin. The ITP had accumu– lated about 21,000 tons of tin by the end of 1932, and, although total back stocks amounted to 60,000 tons, the industry was restored to some confidence.

In 1932, the United States used even less tin than tin than during the previous year, but by restricting production to the lowest figure since 1907, the ITC was able to force consumption to exceed production for the first time since 1926. In 1933, consumption, particularly in the United States, rose sharply as also did the price of tin.

The activities of the ITP during this period have not yet been revealed, but, by November, all but 8,000 tons of its holdings had been sold at prices well above ^£2^00 per ton. These stocks had all been acquired when tin was selling

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for considerably less the ^£^140 per ton. This was definitely a large-producer's market. Small or new operators, such as those in Alaska, could never hope to face the combined and organized competition of the five largest tin-producing countries of the world.

In July, 1934, the governments of British Malaya, the Netherland Indies, Nigeria, and Bolivia entered into an agreement to establish a buffer stock of tin. This, unlike the ITP, was an official institution, and was described as an adjunct of the ITCS. This put consumer interests even more at the mercy of the ITC; trading interests opposed the plan because it would curtail speculation on the tin market; and even some tin producers, particularly the FMS who explicitly rejected it, disliked the proposal. Smaller producers quite naturally disapproved of it, because it made permanent control of tin production much more possible than had the temporary ITP. The most suspicious element in the [: ] plan was that it was proposed at a time when tin prices were already very high, so that there was, as Knorr expresses it, "a strong suggestion... that the controllers planned to stabilize prices at an extremely elevated level."

Early in 1934 it became obvious that the ITC was attempting to peg the price of tin at around £240 per ton. Production was severely curtailed, so that, even at this price, tin was less profitable when produced at 50% capacity or less, th [: ] rate assigned by to many of the largest mines, than it had previously been at a lower price with full production. By 1935 world consumption had over– taken even the resources of the new pool, and tin was short on the market. The ITC claimed to have acted in good faith, but it was severely criticized by traders and consumers alike, as well as by certain producers who were unable to revise their production schedules speedily enough to meet the demand. In 1936 production, under lightened restrictions, surpassed world consumption for the first time since 1931, but, in the course of the year tin was again short on the market due to the inability of certain countries, particularly Bolivia, to meet their quotas.

England and Portugal did not join the third tin agreemtn w agreement which was consumated in July, 1936. The quotas of British Malaya, the Nether– land Indies, Nigeria, and Bolivia remained unchanged in the original agreement, but were somewhat increased later. For the first time consumers were given rep– resentation in the Committee meetings and the right to "tender advice to the Committee regarding world stocks and consumption," but this right did not extend to production and prices. However, with permission of all voting Committee members, decisions might be arrived at by correspondence, in which case there was no meeting at which non-voting members could express any opinion, no matter how restricted.

This new scheme was scheduled to run for five years, or, until December 31, 1941. Although the longer term put the tin indust l ^ r ^ y on a more stable basis, and certain improvements had been made in the agreement, the control scheme remained a producer's arrangement so that consumers could only expect the price of tin to remain unreasonably high. Moreover, the new agreement actually discriminated against low-cost producers, so that even the natural lowering effects of efficient management were negated by its terms.

A detailed discussion of the ineffectual efforts to control supply and prices under the new agreement cannot be given here. The reader is referred to Knorr's Tin Under Control, from which much of the ^ above ^ information above and below ^ as well as that ^ ^ which follows ^ has been obtained.

1940 found the world at war and the United States government buying enor– mous quantities of tin direct from the ITC, at a minimum price of 50 cents per pound. After further negotiation, the ITC agreed to raise export quotas from 80% to 130% for the second half of the year. Because of the air bomboa bombardment threat to British smelters, and also because of the uncertainty of p ^ e ^ ace in the Pacific, the Metals Reserve Company contracted to buy ore from several Bolivian companies, and the United States government decided to

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construct a tin smelter. Texas City, Texas, was chosen for the location of this smelter because of its ^ ^ good port, terminal and warehouse facil l ^ it ^ ies, and because of the availability of cheap gas for fuel. The plant was estimated to cost $3,500,000 and to be able to handle 50,000 tons of tin concentrates and to produce 18,000 tons of tin a year. The $150,000,000 allocated for the pur– chase of a tin stockpile would, if completely spent, produce 150,000 tons of the metal. The ITC was concerned as to the effect this consumer's pool might have on the tin market and insisted on certain terms for its disposal, conditions of national emergency aside. Despite these terms, as Knorr points out, "it appeared at the time that the stock constituted some kind of potential consumers' pool of truly impressive magnitude. It would put the United States in a favorable position for bargaining with the ITC about its restriction policy and for preventing the engineering of exhorbitantly high prices, at least for a considerable period of time."

During 1941, the capacity of the Texas City smelter, now known as the Longhorn smelter, was increased to 52,000 tons of metal per year, and the United States government entered into agreements with the Netherlands Indies and the Chinese government for the acquisition of additional amounts of tin ore. With the outbreak of war in the Pacific, Japan came quickly into ctonrol of the tin resources of China, French Inco-China, Thailand, Burma, British Malaya, and the Netherland Indies, but domestic stocks held in the United States totalled 116,000 tons, in addition to 25,000 tons of tin concentrates at Texas City.

The ITCS was scheduled to expire on in December, 1941. Although ^ N ^ n egotiations for its renewal continued throughout that year, ^ although ^ the need for a restriction on the production of tin had long since passed. ^ was non-existent. ^ Quotas still stood at 130% of standard tonnages, and countries were unable to meet them. Finally, on September 9, 1942, an Agreement for the International Control of the Production and Export of Tin was signed by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands,

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Bolivia, and Belgium. With the exception of Thailand and French Indo-China, these were the parties of the old ITCS. The new agreement repeated the terms of the ITCS and was put into force retroactively to January 1, 1942, and was to remain in force until December 31, 1946. Although this body had only formal existence, it [: ] reinstituted the control machinery of the old scheme without major change. Representatives of consuming countries were increased from two to three, but once again they were ^ ^ given no voting rights.

By 1945, the United States government's Longhorn plant was the largest single operating smelter in the world ^ , and ^ T ^ t ^ he United States had definitely turned from any attempt to encourage tin mining on the North American continent. Nighman, of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, reported no production of tin in Alaska during 1945. He emphasized the fact that effor s ^ t ^ s to extract Alaska tin had failed again and again, and pointed out that the total yield since 1903 was not enough to supply the country's needs even for a single month "even at the extremely low level of use set up in 1943."

One of the many reasons for this change of attitude is ^ was ^ the fact that the Atlantic Charter stipulated against international cartel agreements and that "the British Government stated late in 1942 that the tin-restriction scheme, like other commodity-regulation schemes, would be subject to postwar review." Nighman continues: "The American policy, which has the support of the British Government, has been set forth by the United States Department of State, proposing the formation of an International Trade Organization...In place of international commodity arrangements, intergovernmental commodity agreements would be made under specified conditions. Membership would be open to any country, but it was especially recommended that consuming countries lacking the materials in question should have an equal voice with their administration... The various provisions are not to apply however to effectuate 'an equitable distribution of commodities in short supply.' The conference should create

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an Industrial and Mineral Unit that 'should promote by technical assistance, and other appropriate means the expansion of production and trade...with regard to minerals and other primary commodities' that are not under the jurisdiction of the Food and Agriculture Organization. Insofar as tin is concerned, it is likely to remain in the 'short supply' class for a brief period, in which instance the Combined Tin Committee may continue to function. If that condition were to persist, the Industrial and Mineral Unit might take a hand. In any case the ITC would have a sharply constricted field in which to operate."

It would appear from this announcement that, so far as tin is concerned, the United States has decided to allign itself with the 'consumer' nations. It is therefore unlikely that there will be any further official efforts to develop the high-cost deposits in the York Mountains of Seward Peninsula.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baker, Marcus. Geographic dictionary of Alaska ^ Geographic dictionary of Alaska ^ , 2d ed., Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1906. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.299.

Bain, H. Foster. Alaska's minerals as a basis for industry. ^ Alaska's minerals as a basis for industry. ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1946. U.S. Bureau of Mines, Information Circular ^ Information Circular ^ 7379.

Brooks, A.H., and others. Mineral Resources of Alaska ^ Mineral Resources of Alaska ^ , 1913, 1914, 1916, 19191, 1920. Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1914-22. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletins ^ Bulletins ^ 592, 622, 662, 714, 722.

Collier, A.J. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, ^ Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, ^ Alaska , Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1902. U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper ^ Professional Paper ^ No.2.

----. Gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska ^ Gold placers of parts of Seward Peninsula, Alaska ^ , Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1908. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ No.328.

----. Recent developments of Alaska tin deposits. ^ Recent developments of Alaska tin deposits. ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1905. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 259.

Chapin, Theodore. Mining on Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ^ Mining on Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1913. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 592.

Eakin, H.M. Tin mining in Alaska, ^ Tin mining in Alaska, ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1915. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 622.

Harrington, G.L. Mineral resources of Seward Peninsula, ^ Mineral resources of Seward Peninsula, ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1919. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 692.

Hess, F.L. York tin region, ^ York tin region, ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1906. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 284.

Knorr, K.E. Tin under control ^ Tin under control ^ , Stanford University, Calif., Food Research Institute, Stanford University, 1945.

Mertie, J.B., Jr. Lode and placer mining on Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ^ Lode and placer mining on Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ^ Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1917. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 662.

Smith, P.S., and others. Mineral Resources of Alaska, ^ Mineral Resources of Alaska, ^ 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1929-32. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 797, 810, 813, 824.

----. Mineral industry of Alaska ^ Mineral industry of Alaska ^ , 1936, Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1938. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 897-A.

Steidtmann, Edward, and Cathcart, S.H. Geology of the York Tin deposits, Alaska ^ Geology of the York Tin deposits, Alaska ^ , Washington, D.C.,G.P.O., 1922. U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin ^ Bulletin ^ 733.

U.S. Bureau of Mines. Minerals yearbooks ^ Minerals yearbooks ^ , 1945, Washington, D.C., G.P.O., 1947.

1927 - 17 ½	1939 - 32,460
1931 - 506	1940 - 33,800
1932 - 720	1941 - 26,221
1933 - 793	1942 - 23,213
1934 - 3,101	1943 - 27,162
1935 - 8,685	1944 - 33,625
1936 - 8,825	1945 - 26,551
1937 - 9,823	1946 - 22, 882 ^ 949 ^
1938 - 40,932

	Maximum	Minimum
January	^ + ^ 23	-34
February	^ + ^ 6	-41
March	^ + ^ 38	-39
April	^ + ^ 35	-32
May	^ + ^ 55	-12
June	^ + ^ 58	^ + ^ 21
July	^ + ^ 56	^ + ^ 26
August	^ + ^ 62	^ + ^ 36
September	^ + ^ 60	^ + ^ 29
October	^ + ^ 39	-1
November	^ + ^ 34	-21
December	^ + ^ 28	-36

Anvil Creek--------------------------------------------------	$1,750,000
Glacier Creek, including SnowGulch------------------------------------	750,000
Dexter Creek-----------------------------------------------	300,000
Extra Dry Creek--------------------------------------------	15,000
Dry Creek---------------------------------------------------	25,000
Newton Gulch---------------------------------------------	10,000
Bourbon Creek---------------------------------------------	5,000
Saturday Creek--------------------------------------------	10,000
Oregon, Hungry, and Mountain Creeks-	50,000
^ H ^ igh bench placers near Nome----	145,000
Nome beach-----------------------------------------------	350,000
	$3,410,000

Year	Tons of Metallic Tin	Value
1902	15	$ 8,000
1903	25	14,000
1904	14	8,000
1905	6	4,000
1906	34	38,640
1907	22	16,752
1908	25	15,180
1909	11	7,638
1910	10	8,325
1911	61	52,798
1912	130	96,000
1913	69	44,103
1914	104	66,560

Year	Ore (Tons)	Metal (Tons)	Value
1915	167	102	$78,846
1916	232	139	121,000
1917	171	100	123,300
1918	104.5	68	118,000
1919	86	56	73,400
1920	26	16	16,112
1921	7	4	2,400
1922	2.3	1.4	912
1923	3	1.9	1,623
1924	11	7	7,028

Year	Ore (Tons)	Metal (Pounds)	Value
1937	--	372,000	$202,300
1938	--	210,640	89,100
1939	--	74,080	37,300
1940	--	104,000	52,000

Additional Alaska Geographical Items: Encyclopedia Arctica 12: Alaska, Geography and General