The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska, by Israel Cook Russell This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska Author: Israel Cook Russell Release Date: October 25, 2020 [EBook #63553] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EXPEDITION TO MOUNT ST. ELIAS *** Produced by Ron Swanson VOL. III, PP. 53–204, PLS. 2–20 MAY 29, 1891 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE. AN EXPEDITION TO MOUNT ST. ELIAS, ALASKA BY ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. (Accepted for publication March 18, 1891.) CONTENTS. Introduction—The Southern Coast of Alaska Part I—Previous Explorations in the St. Elias Region Bering, 1741 Cook, 1778 La Pérouse, 1786 Dixon, 1787 Douglas, 1788 Malaspina, 1792 Vancouver, 1794 Belcher, 1837 [p. 53] Tebenkof, 1852 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1874, 1880 New York Times Expedition, 1886 Topham Expedition, 1888 Part II—Narrative of the St. Elias Expedition of 1890 Organization From Seattle to Sitka From Sitka to Yakutat Bay Canoe Trip up Yakutat Bay Base Camp on the Shore of Yakutat Bay First Day's Tramp Canoe Trip in Disenchantment Bay From Yakutat Bay to Blossom Island Blossom Island Life above the Snow-Line First Camp in the Snow Across Pinnacle Pass First full View of St. Elias Summit of Pinnacle Pass Cliffs Across Seward Glacier to Dome Pass Up the Agassiz Glacier Camp on the Newton Glacier Highest Point reached Alone in the highest Camp The Return Suggestions Part III—Sketch of the Geology of the St. Elias Region General Features Yakutat System Pinnacle System St. Elias Schist Geological Structure Part IV—Glaciers of the St. Elias Region Natural Divisions of Glaciers Alpine Glaciers Characteristics of Alpine Glaciers above the Snow-Line Characteristics of Alpine Glaciers below the Show-Line Piedmont Glaciers Part V—Height and Position of Mount St. Elias Appendix A—Official Instructions governing the Expedition Appendix B—Report on topographic Work; by Mark B. Kerr Appendix C—Report on auriferous Sands from Yakutat Bay; by J. Stanley-Brown Appendix D—Report on fossil Plants; by Lester F. Ward Index ILLUSTRATIONS. Plate 2—Sketch Map of Alaska 3—Map of the St. Elias Region, after La Pérouse 4—Map of the Eastern Shore of Yakutat Bay, after Dixon 5—Map of the St. Elias Region, after Malaspina 6—Map of Bay de Monti, after Malaspina 7—Map of Disenchantment Bay, after Malaspina [p. 54] 8—Sketch Map of St. Elias Region, by Mark B. Kerr 9—The Hubbard Glacier; drawn from Photograph by A. L. Broadbent 10—Wall of Ice on Eastern Side of the Atrevida Glacier; from a Photograph 11—View on the Atrevida Glacier; from a Photograph 12—Entrance of an Ice-Tunnel; from a Photograph 13—Deltas in an Abandoned Lake-Bed; from a Photograph 14—A River on the Lucia Glacier; from a Photograph (reproduced from The Century, April, 1891) 15—Entrance to a Glacial Tunnel; from a Photograph 16—View of the Malaspina Glacier from Blossom Island; from a Photograph 17—Moraines on the Marvine Glacier; from a Photograph 18—View of the Hitchcock Range from near Dome Pass 19—View of Mount St. Elias from Dome Pass; drawn from a Photograph 20—View of Mount St. Elias from Seward Glacier; drawn from a Photograph Figure 1—Diagram illustrating the Formation of Icebergs 2—View of a glacial Lakelet; from a Photograph 3—Section of a glacial Lakelet 4—Diagram illustrating the Formation of marginal Crevasses 5—Crevasses near Pinnacle Pass; from a Photograph 6—Snow Crests on Ridges and Peaks; from Field Sketches 7—Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass 8—Faulted Pebble from Pinnacle Pass INTRODUCTION. THE SOUTHERN COAST OF ALASKA. The southern coast of Alaska is remarkable for the regularity of its general outline. If a circle a thousand miles in diameter be inscribed on a map of the northern Pacific with a point in about latitude 54° and longitude 145° as a center, a large part of its northern periphery will be found to coincide with the southern shore of Alaska between Dixon entrance on the east and the Alaska peninsula on the west. On the northern part of this great coast-circle lies the region explored in the summer of 1890 and described in the following pages. From Cross sound, at the northern end of the great system of islands forming southeastern Alaska, westward along the base of the Fairweather range, the mountains are exceedingly rugged, and present some of the finest coast scenery in the world. There are but two inlets east of Yakutat bay on this shore which afford shelter even for small boats. These are Lituya bay and Dry bay. Ships may enter Lituya bay, at certain stages of the tide, and find a safe harbor within; but the approaches to Dry bay are not navigable. West of Yakutat bay the coast is equally inhospitable all the way to Prince William sound. As if to compensate for the lack of refuge on either end, there is in the center of this great stretch of rock-bound coast, over 300 miles in extent, a magnificent inlet known as Yakutat bay, in which a thousand ships could find safe anchorage. On some old maps this bay is designated as "Baie de Monti," "Admiralty bay" and "Bering bay," as will be seen when its discovery and history are discussed on another page. The southern shore of Alaska, for a distance of 200 miles along the bases of the Fairweather and St. Elias ranges, is formed of a low table-land intervening between the mountains and the sea. Yakutat bay is the only bight in this plateau sufficiently deep to reach the mountain to the northward. This bay has a broad opening to the sea; the distance between its ocean capes is twenty miles, and its extension inland is about the same. Its eastern shore is fringed with low, wooded islands, among which are sheltered harbors, safe from every wind that blows. The most accessible of these is Port Mulgrave, near its entrance on the eastern side. The shores of Yakutat bay, on both the east and the west, are low and densely wooded for a distance of twenty- five miles from the ocean, where the foot-hills of the mountains begin. At the head of the bay the land rises in steep bluffs and forms picturesque mountains, snow-capped the year round. These highlands, although truly mountainous in their proportions, are but the foot-hills of still nobler uplifts immediately northward. The bay extends through an opening in the first range to the base of the white peaks beyond. This opening was examined a century ago by explorers in search of the delusive "Northwest passage," in the hope that it would lead to the long- [p. 55] [p. 56] sought "Strait of Annan"—the dream of many voyagers. It was surveyed by the expedition in command of Malaspina in 1792, and on account of his frustrated hopes was named "Puerto del Desengaño," or "Disenchantment bay," as it has been rendered by English writers. The waters of Yakutat and Disenchantment bays are deep, and broken only by islands and reefs along their eastern shores. A few soundings made in Disenchantment bay within half a mile of the land showed a depth of from 40 to 120 fathoms. The swell of the ocean is felt up to the very head of the inlet, indicating, as was remarked to me by Captain C. L. Hooper, that there are no bars or reefs to break the force of the incoming swells. The lowlands bordering Yakutat bay on the southeast are composed of assorted glacial débris. Much of the country is low and swampy, and is reported to contain numerous lakelets. Northwest of the bay the plateau is higher than toward the southeast, and has a general elevation of about 500 feet at a distance of a mile from the shore; but the height increases toward the interior, where a general elevation of 1,500 feet is attained over large areas. All of this plateau, excepting a narrow fringe along the shore, is formed by a great glacier, belonging to what is termed in this paper the Piedmont type. There are many reasons for believing that the plateau southeast of Yakutat bay was at one time covered by a glacier similar to the one now existing on the northwest.1 1 This matter will be discussed in part IV of this paper, where it is also shown that Yakutat bay itself was formerly occupied by glacial ice. The mountains on the northern border of the seaward-stretching table-lands, both southeast and northwest of Yakutat bay, are abrupt and present steep southward-facing bluffs. This escarpment is formed of stratified sandstones and shales, and owes its origin to the upheaval of the rocks along a line of fracture. In other words, it is a gigantic fault scarp. The gravel and bowlders forming the plateau extending oceanward have been accumulating on a depressed orographic block (or mass of strata moved as a unit by mountain-making forces), which has undergone some movement in very recent times, as is recorded by a terrace on the fault scarp bordering it. West of Yakutat the geological structure is more complex, and long mountain spurs project into the platform of ice skirting the ocean. Filling the valleys between the mountain spurs, there are many large seaward- flowing glaciers, tributary to the great Piedmont ice-sheet. This brief sketch of the geography of Yakutat bay, together with the accompanying outline map of Alaska (plate 2), will, it is hoped, aid in making intelligible the following historical sketch and the narrative of the present expedition. PART I. PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS IN THE ST. ELIAS REGION.2 2 For more complete bibliographic references than space will allow in this paper, the reader is referred to Dall and Baker's "Partial list of books, pamphlets, papers in serials, journals and other publications on Alaska and adjacent regions;" in Pacific Coast Pilot: Coasts and Inlets of Alaska; second series. U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, 1879; 4°, pp. 225–375. BERING, 1741. The first discovery of the southern coast of Alaska was made by Vitus Bering and Alexei Cherikof, in the vessels St. Peter and St. Paul, in 1741. On July 20 of that year, Bering saw the mountains of the mainland, but anchored his vessels at Kyak island, 180 miles west of Yakutat bay, without touching the continental shore. A towering, snow-clad summit northeast of Kyak island was named "Mount St. Elias," after the patron saint of the day. COOK, 1778. The next explorer to visit this portion of Alaska was Captain James Cook, who sailed past the entrance of Yakutat bay on May 4, 1778. Thinking that this was the bay in which Bering anchored, he named it "Bering's bay." Mount St. Elias was seen in the northwest at a distance of 40 leagues, but no attempt was made to measure its height. [p. 57] [p. 58] LA PÉROUSE, 1786.3 3 Voyage de la Pérouse autour du monde. Four vols., 4°, and atlas; Paris, 1797; vol. 2, pp. 130–150. Yakutat bay, in which we are specially interested, was next seen by the celebrated French navigator, J. F. G. de la Pérouse, in command of the frigates La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, on June 23, 1786. The chart showing the route followed by La Pérouse during this portion of his voyage is reproduced in plate 3. In the splendid atlas accompanying the narrative of his travels, the explorer pictures the quaint, high-pooped vessels in which he circumnavigated the globe. These French frigates were the first to cruise off Yakutat bay. The last vessel to navigate those waters was the United States revenue steamer Corwin, which took our little exploring party on board in September, 1890, and then steamed northward to the ice-cliffs at the head of Disenchantment bay. So far as I am aware, the Corwin is the only vessel that has floated on the waters of that inlet north of Haenke island. One hundred years has made a revolution in naval architecture, but has left this portion of the Alaska coast still unexplored. La Pérouse sailed northward from the Sandwich islands, and first saw land, which proved to be a portion of the St. Elias range, on June 23. At first the shore was obscured by fog, which, as stated in the narrative of the voyage, "suddenly disappearing, all at once disclosed to us a long chain of mountains covered with snow, which, if the weather had been clear, we would have been able to have seen thirty leagues farther off. We discovered Bering's Mount Saint Elias, the summit of which appeared above the clouds." The first view of the land is described as not awakening the feelings of joy which usually accompany the first view of an unknown shore after a long voyage. To quote the navigator's own words: "Those immense heaps of snow, which covered a barren land without trees, were far from agreeable to our view. The mountains appeared a little remote from the sea, which broke against a bold and level land, elevated about a hundred and fifty or two hundred fathoms. This black rock, which appeared as if calcined by fire, destitute of all verdure, formed a striking contrast to the whiteness of the snow, which was perceptible through the clouds; it served as the base to a long ridge of mountains, which appeared to stretch fifteen leagues from east to west. At first we thought ourselves very near it, the summit of the mountains appeared to be just over our heads, and the snow cast forth a brightness calculated to deceive eyes not accustomed to it; but in proportion as we advanced we perceived in front of the high ground hillocks covered with trees, which we took for islands." After some delay, on account of foggy weather, an officer was despatched to the newly discovered land; but on returning he reported that there was no suitable anchorage to be found. It is difficult at this time to understand the reason for this adverse report, unless a landing was attempted on the western side of Yakutat bay, where there are no harbors. The name "Baie de Monti" was given to the inlet in honor of De Monti, the officer who first landed. The location of this bay, as described in the narrative and indicated on the map accompanying the report of the voyage, shows that it corresponds with the Yakutat bay of modern maps. Observations made at this time by M. Dagelet, the astronomer of the expedition, determined the elevation of Mount St. Elias to be 1,980 toises. Considering the toise as equivalent to 6.39459 English feet, this measurement places the elevation of the mountain at 12,660 feet. What method was used in making this measurement is not recorded, and we have therefore no means of deciding the degree of confidence to be placed in it. After failing to find an anchorage at Yakutat bay. La Pérouse sailed eastward, and on June 29 discovered another bay, which he supposed to be the inlet named "Bering's bay" by Captain Cook. It will be remembered that Cook's "Bering's bay" is Yakutat bay as now known. It is evident that the French navigator made an error in his identification, as the inlet designated as Bering's bay on his chart corresponds with that now known as Dry bay. On the maps referred to, a stream is represented as emptying into the head of this bay and rising a long distance northward; this is evidently Alsek river, the existence of which was for a long time doubted, but has recently been established beyond all question. Finding it impossible to enter Dry bay, La Pérouse continued eastward and discovered Lituya bay, as now known, but which he named "Port des Francais." Here his ships anchored, after experiencing great difficulty in entering the harbor, and remained for many days, during which trade was carried on with the Indians, while surveys were made of the adjacent shores. DIXON, 1787.4 4 The Voyage around the World; but more particularly to the Northwest Coast of America. Performed in 1788– 1789, in the King George and Queen Charlotte; Captains Portlock and Dixon: 4°, London, 1789. Although the actual discovery of Yakutat bay is to be credited to the French, the first exploration of its shores [p. 59] [p. 60] was made by an English captain. On May 23, 1787, Captain George Dixon anchored his vessel, the Queen Charlotte, within the shelter of its southeastern cape, and, in honor of Constance John Phipps, Lord Mulgrave, named the haven there discovered "Port Mulgrave." The harbor is described in the narrative of Dixon's voyage as being "entirely surrounded by low, flat islands, where scarcely any snow could be seen, and well sheltered from any winds whatever." The voyage of the Queen Charlotte was not made for the purpose of increasing geographic knowledge, but with a commercial object. Trade was at once opened with the natives, but resulted less favorably than was desired, as only sixteen sea-otter skins and a few less valuable furs were secured. On the chart accompanying the narrative of Dixon's voyage the inlet now known as Yakutat bay is named "Admiralty bay." A survey of the adjacent shores and inlets was made, and the astronomical position of the anchorage was approximately determined. The map resulting from these surveys, the first ever made of any portion of Yakutat bay, is reproduced on a reduced scale as plate 4. At the time of Dixon's voyage, the inhabitants numbered about seventy, including men, women, and children, and were thus described: "They are of about middle size, their limbs straight and well shaped, but, like the rest of the inhabitants we have seen on the coast, are particularly fond of painting their faces with a variety of colors, so that it is not any easy matter to discover their real complexion." An amusing instance is narrated of inducing a woman to wash her face, when it was discovered that— "Her countenance had all the cheerful glow of an English milk maid, and the healthy red which flushed her cheeks was even beautifully contrasted with the whiteness of her neck; her eyes were black and sparkling; her eyebrows the same color, and most beautifully arched; her forehead so remarkably clear that the transparent veins were seen meandering even in their minutest branches—in short, she was what would be reckoned as handsome even in England. The symmetry of her features, however, was marred, at least in the eyes of her English admirer, by the habit of wearing a labret in the slit of her lower lip." During our recent visit to Port Mulgrave we did not find the native women answering to the glowing description of the voyager who discovered the harbor; but this may be owing to the fact that we did not prevail upon any of them to wash their faces. One other discrepancy must be noted between the records of Dixon's voyage and my own observations, made one hundred years later. The houses of the natives are described in the narrative just cited as— "The most wretched hovels that can possibly be conceived: a few poles stuck in the ground, without order or regularity, recrossed and covered with loose boards, ... quite insufficient to keep out the snow and rain." While this description would apply to the temporary shelters now used by the Yakutat Indians when on their summer hunting and fishing expeditions, it by no means describes the houses in which they pass the winter. These are large and substantially built of planks hewn from spruce trees, and in some instances supported from the inside by four huge posts, carved and painted to represent grotesque figures. In the center of the roof there is a large opening through which the smoke escapes from the fire kindled in an open space in the floor. But few of the Indian villages of Alaska, excepting perhaps the homes of the Thlinkets in the Alexandrian archipelago, are better built or more comfortable than those at Port Mulgrave. On the map of Port Mulgrave already referred to, "Point Turner" and "Point Carrew" appear. The former was named for the second mate of the Queen Charlotte, who was the first of her officers to land; the second name was probably designed to honor another officer of the expedition, but of this I am not positive. DOUGLAS, 1788.5 5 Voyage of the Iphigenia; Captain Douglas: in Voyages made in the years 1788–1789 from China to the Northwest Coast of America. John Meares, 4°, London, 1790. In 1788, another trading vessel, the ship Iphigenia, in command of Captain Douglas, visited the southern shore of Alaska and anchored in Yakutat bay; but no special account of the country or the inhabitants is recorded in the narrative of the voyage. MALASPINA, 1792.6 6 Relacion del viage hecho por las goletas Sutil y Mexicana en el año de 1792 para reconocer el estrecho de Fuca; con una introduccion en que se da noticia de las expediciones executadas anteriormente por los Españoles en busca del paso del noroeste de la América [Por Don Dionisio Alcala Galiano]. Madrid, 1802 [accompanied by an [p. 61] [p. 62] atlas]. Pp. CXII–CXXI. About a hundred years ago the interest felt by the maritime nations of Europe in a "Northwest passage," connecting the northern Atlantic with the northern Pacific, was revived by the renewal of the discussion as to the authenticity of Maldonado's reported discovery of the "Strait of Annan." The western entrance to this strait was supposed to be about in the position of Yakutat bay. Spain, in particular, after three hundred years of exploration and discovery in all parts of the world, was still anxious to extend her conquests, and, if possible, to discover the long-sought "Northwest passage." Two of her ships, the Descubierta and Atrevida, were then at Acapulco, in command of Don Alejandro Malaspina, who was engaged in a voyage of discovery. Malaspina, like Columbus, was a native of Italy in the service of Spain. Orders were sent to him to cruise northward and test the truth of Maldonado's report. The narrative of this voyage is supposed to have been written by Don Dionisio Alcala Galiano, but his name does not appear on the title page. Still more curious is the fact that Malaspina's name is omitted from the narrative of his own voyage. On his return to Spain, he was thrown into prison, on account of court intrigues, and his discoveries were suppressed for many years. Malaspina left Acapulco on the first of May, 1791, and reached the vicinity of the present site of Sitka on June 25. Two days later, Mount Fairweather, or "Monte Buen-tiempo," as it is designated on Spanish maps, was sighted. Continuing northwestward, the entrance to Yakutat bay was reached. The opening through the first range of mountains at its head seemed to correspond to Maldonado's description of the entrance to the mythical "Strait of Annan." The eastern shore of Yakutat bay, called "Almiralty bay" on the Spanish chart, was explored, and an excursion was made in boats into Disenchantment bay as far as Haenke island. "Disenchantment bay," as the name appears on modern charts, was named "Desengaño bay" by Malaspina, as previously stated, in allusion to the frustration of his hopes on not finding a passage leading to the Atlantic. Explorations in Disenchantment bay were checked by ice, which descended from the north and filled all of the inlets north of Haenke island. This is indicated on the map forming plate 7 (page 67), which is reproduced from the atlas accompanying the narrative of Malaspina's voyage. Special interest attaches to this map for the reason that by comparing it with that forming plate 8 (page 75), made 100 years later, the retreat of the glaciers during that interval can be determined.7 At the time of Malaspina's expedition, the Hubbard and Dalton glaciers were united, and were probably also joined by some of the neighboring glaciers which do not now reach tide-water; the whole forming a confluent ice stream which occupied all of Disenchantment bay northeast of Haenke island. 7 It must be remembered, however, that the map, plate 8, is not from detailed surveys; the portion referred to was sketched from a few stations only and is much generalized. A portion of the general map of the coast of southern Alaska, showing the route followed by the Descubierta and the Atrevida, and depicting the topography of the adjacent shores, has been reproduced in plate 5. It will be noticed that on this map Lituya bay is called "Pt. des Francais," while Dry bay is designated as "Bering's bay." These and other names were adopted from the maps of La Pérouse. A map of "Bahia de Monti," from Malaspina's report, is reproduced in plate 6. MAP OF THE ST. ELIAS REGION, AFTER MALASPINA An extract from Galiano's account of Malaspina's discoveries in Yakutat and Disenchantment bays,8 translated by Robert Stein, of the U. S. Geological Survey, is here inserted, in order that the reader may be able to form an independent judgment of the value of the evidence just referred to as bearing on the retreat of the glaciers: "An observatory was established on shore, and some absolute altitudes were taken in order to furnish a basis for the reckoning of the watches; but the great concourse of Indians, their importunity and thievishness, made it necessary to transfer all the instruments on board. Still the latitude was determined, the watches were regulated, the number of oscillations made by the simple pendulum was observed, and the height of Mount St. Elias was measured, being 6,507.6 varas [17,847 feet] above sea-level. The launches being ready, put to sea on July 2 with the commander of the expedition, in order to reconnoitre the channel promised by the opening, similar to that depicted by Ferrer Maldonado in his voyage; but the small force of the tide noticed at the entrance, and the indications of the natives, made it plain not only that the desired passage did not exist there, but that the extent of the channel was very short; which was also rendered evident by the perpetual frost covering the inner west shore. The launches anchored there, having penetrated into the channel with great difficulty, the oars being clogged by the floating masses of snow; they measured a base, made some marks, gathered various objects and stones for the naturalists, and, having reached the line of perpetual frost, returned to the bay where they had anchored.9 They there observed the latitude to be 59° 59' 30", and six azimuths of the sun, which gave the variation of the needle as 32° 49'. Before leaving that anchorage the commander buried a bottle with record of the reconnoissance and possession taken in the name of the king. They called the harbor Desangaño, the opening Bahia de las Bancas, and the island in the interior Haenke, in memory of D. Tadeo Haenke, botanist and naturalist of the expedition. On the third day they set out on their voyage to Mulgrave, where they arrived on the 6th, after [p. 63] [p. 64] [p. 65] reconnoitering various channels and islands north of that port and mapping them." 8 Ibid., pp. XCIV–CXVI. 9 On the coast of the mainland east of Knight island.—I. C. R. Following the portion of the narrative above quoted, there is an account of the natives, containing much information of interest to ethnologists, but which it is not necessary to follow in a geographic report. On July 5 the corvettes sailed westward, and made a reconnoissance as far as Montegue island. Returning eastward, they again sighted Mount St. Elias on July 22. "On the 28th they were three leagues west of the capes which terminate in Bering bay [Dry bay]; the mountain of that name being about five leagues distant from the coast and rising 5,368.3 varas [14,722 feet] above the sea- level, and in latitude 59° 0' 42" and longitude 2° 4' from Port Mulgrave." Mount Bering does not appear on any map that I have seen. Which of the numerous high peaks in the vicinity of Dry bay should be designated by that name remains to be determined. In a record of the astronomical work of Malaspina's expedition10 there are some interesting observations on the position and elevation of Mount St. Elias, a translation of which, by Mr. Stein, is here given: "True longitude of Mulgrave west of Cadiz, 133° 24' 12". On the same day, the 30th of June [1792], at the observatory of Mulgrave, at 6h. 30' in the morning, the true altitude of the sun was observed to be 16° 14' 20", and its inclination being 23° 11' 30" and the latitude 59° 34' 20", the true azimuth of the sun from north to east was concluded to be 71° 43' 0". But having measured on the same occasion with the theodolite 110° 33' from the sun's vertical to the vertical of Mount St. Elias, the difference between these two quantities is the astronomic azimuth. Hence, from the observatory of Mulgrave, said mountain bears N. 38° 50' W., a distance of 55.1 miles, deduced by means of good observations from the ends of a sufficient base. A quadrant was used to measure the angle of apparent altitude of the mountain, 2° 38' 6", and allowing for terrestrial refraction, which is one-tenth of the distance of 55.1 miles, the true altitude was found to be 2° 34' 39"; whence its elevation above sea-level was concluded to be 2,793 toises [17,860 feet], and the length of the tangent to the horizon, 152 miles, allowance being made for the increase due to terrestrial refraction.... "Lastly, with the rhumb, or astronomic azimuth, and the distance from the observatory of Mulgrave to Mount St. Elias, it was ascertained that that mountain was 43' 15" to the north and 1° 9' to the west, whence its latitude is found to be 60° 17' 35" and its longitude 134° 33' 10" west of Cadiz." 10 Memorias sobre las observaciones astronomicas hechas por les navegantes Españoles en distintos lugares del globe; Por Don Josef Espinosa y Tello. Madrid, en la Imprente real, Año de 1809, 2 vols., large 8°; vol. 1, pp. 57– 60. Taking the longitude of Cadiz as 6° 19' 07" W. (San Sebastian light-house), the longitude of St. Elias from this determination would be 140° 52' 17" W. VANCOUVER, 1794.11 11 A Voyage of Discovery to the Northern Pacific Ocean and around the World, 1790–'95; new edition, 6 vols., London, 1801. The citations which follow are from vol. 5, pp. 348–407. The next vessels to visit Yakutat bay after Malaspina's voyage, so far as known, were the Discovery and Chatham, under command of Captain George Vancouver. This voyage increased knowledge of the geography of southern Alaska more than any that preceded it, and was also of greater importance than any single expedition of later date to that region. The best maps of southern Alaska published at the present day are based largely on the surveys of Vancouver. The Discovery, under the immediate command of Vancouver, and the Chatham, in charge of Peter Puget, cruised eastward along the southern coast of Alaska in 1794. The Discovery passed the entrance to Yakutat bay without stopping, but the Chatham anchored there, and important surveys were carried on under Puget's directions. On June 28, the Discovery was in the vicinity of Icy bay, where the shore of the ocean seemed to be composed of solid ice. Eastward from Icy bay the coast is described as "bordered by lowlands rising with a gradual and uniform ascent to the foot-hills of lofty mountains, whose summits are but the base from which Mount St. Elias towers magnificently into the regions of perpetual frost." A low projecting point on the western side of the entrance to Yakutat bay was named "Point Manby." The coast beyond this toward the northeast became less wooded, and seemed to produce only a brownish vegetation, which farther eastward entirely disappeared. The country was then bare and composed of loose stones. The narrative contains an interesting account of the grand coast scenery from St. Elias to the eastern end of the Fairweather range; but this does not at present claim attention. While the Chatham continued her cruise eastward, Puget ascended Yakutat bay nearly to its head, and also navigated some of the channels between the islands along its eastern shore. A cape on the eastern side, where the [p. 66] [p. 67] bay penetrates the first range of foot-hills, was named "Point Latouche;" but the same landmark had previously been designated "Pa. de la Esperanza" by Malaspina. The bay at the head of the inlet, which Malaspina had named "Desangaño," was named "Digges sound," after one of the officers of the Chatham. Boats were sent to explore this inlet, but found it "closed from side to side by a firm, compact body of ice, beyond which, to the back of the ice, a small inlet appeared to extend N. 55° E. about a league."12 12 Vancouver's Voyage, vol. 5, p. 389. These observations confirm those made by Malaspina and indicated on the chart reproduced on plate 7, where the ice front is represented as reaching as far south as Haenke island. The evidence furnished by Malaspina and Vancouver as to the former extent of the glaciers at the head of Yakutat bay is in harmony with observations made by Vancouver's party in Icy strait and Cross sound.13 Early in July, 1794, these straits were found to be heavily encumbered with floating ice. At the present time but little ice is met with in that region. On Vancouver's charts there is no indication that he was aware of the existence of Glacier bay, although one of his officers, in navigating Icy strait, passed its immediate entrance. These records, although somewhat indefinite and of negative character, indicate that the fields of floating ice at the mouth of Glacier bay were much more extensive a hundred years ago than at present; but they do not show where the glaciers of that region formerly terminated. 13 Ibid., pp. 417–421. After the return of the Chatham's boats from the exploration of Disenchantment bay, an exploration of the eastern shore of Yakutat bay was made. The following extract indicates the character of work done there: "Digges' sound [Disenchantment bay] was the only place in the bay that presented the least prospect of any interior navigation, and this was necessarily very limited by the close connected range of lofty snowy mountains that stretched along the coast at no great distance from the seaside. Mr. Puget's attention was next directed to the opening in the low land, but as the wind was variable and adverse to the progress of the vessel, a boat was again despatched to continue the investigation of these shores, which are compact from Point Latouche and were then free from ice. This opening was found to be formed by an island about two miles long, in a direction S. 50° E. and N. 50° W., and about a mile broad, lying at the distance of about half a mile from the mainland. Opposite to the south part of this, named by Mr. Puget KNIGHT'S ISLAND, is Eleanor's cove, which is the eastern extremity of Beering's [Yakutat] bay, in latitude 59° 44', longitude 220° 51'. Knight's island admits of a navigable passage all round it, but there is an islet situated between it and the mainland on its northeast side. From Eleanor's cove the coast takes a direction S. 30° W. about six miles to the east point of a channel leading to the southwest between the continent and some islands that lie off it. This was considered to lead along the shores of the mainland to Point Mulgrave, and in the event of its proving navigable, the examination of the bay would have been complete, and the vessel brought to our appointed place of meeting, which was now supposed to be no very great distance." In endeavoring to reach Port Mulgrave by a channel leading between the islands on the eastern side of the bay and the mainland, the Chatham grounded, and was gotten off with considerable difficulty. Many observations concerning the geography and the natives are recorded in the narrative of this exploration. BELCHER, 1837.14 14 Narrative of a Voyage round the World, performed in the ship Sulphur during the years 1836–1842; by Captain Sir Edward Belcher: 2 vols., 8°, London, 1843. The next account15 of explorations around Yakutat bay that has come to hand is by Sir Edward Belcher, who visited that coast in Her Majesty's ship Sulphur in 1837. 15 A fort was built by the Russians, in 1795, on the strip of land separating Bay de Monti from the ocean, and was colonized by convicts from Russia. In 1803, all of the settlers were killed and the fort was destroyed by the Yakutat Indians. So complete was this massacre that no detailed account of it has ever appeared. (Alaska and its Resources, by W. H. Dall, 1870, pp. 316, 317, 323.) In the narrative of this voyage, a brief account is given of the ice cliffs at Icy bay, which are stated to have a height of about thirty feet and to present the appearance of veined marble. Where the ice was exposed to the sea it was excavated into alcoves and archways, recalling to the narrator's mind the Chalk cliffs of England. "Point Riou," as named by Vancouver, was not recognized, and the inference seems to be that it was formed of ice and was dissolved away between the visits of Vancouver and Belcher. Accompanying the narrative of Belcher's voyage is an illustration showing Mount St. Elias as it appears from the sea near Icy bay, which represents the mountain more accurately than some similar pictures published more recently. The Sulphur anchored in Port Mulgrave; but no account is given of the character of the surrounding country. [p. 68] [p. 69] TEBENKOF, 1852.16 16 Atlas of the Northwest Coast of America from Bering strait to Cape Corrientes and the Aleutian Islands [etc.]: 2°, St. Petersburg, 1852. With index and hydrographic observations: 8°, St. Petersburg, 1852. Tebenkof's notes, which are often referred to by writers on Alaska, consist principally of compilations from reports of Russian traders, which were intended to accompany and explain an atlas of the shores of northwestern America, published in 1852 in St. Petersburg and in Sitka. Map number 7 of the atlas represents the southern coast of Alaska from Lituya bay westward to Icy bay. On the same sheet there is a more detailed chart of the islands along the eastern border of Yakutat bay. The height of St. Elias is given as 17,000 feet; its position, latitude 61° 2' 6" and longitude 140° 4', distant 30 miles from the sea.17 It is stated that in 1839 the mountain "began at times to smoke through a crater on its southeastern slope." At the time of an earthquake at Sitka (1847) it is said to have emitted flames and ashes. 17 In a foot-note on page 33 it is stated that Captain Vasilef, in the ship Otkrytie (Discovery), ascertained the height of Mount Fairweather to be 13,946 feet. It will be seen from the account of the exploration carried on last summer that Mount St. Elias is composed of stratified rocks, with no indication of volcanic origin; and these reports of eruption must consequently be considered erroneous. The low country between Mount St. Elias and the sea is described by Tebenkof as a tundra covered with forests and grass; "through cracks in the gravelly soil, ice could be seen beneath." More recent knowledge shows that this statement also is erroneous. The adjacent ocean is stated to be shallow, with shelving bottom; at a distance of half a verst, five to twelve fathoms were obtained, and at two miles from land, thirty to forty fathoms (of seven feet). The Pimpluna rocks are said to have been discovered in 1779 by the Spanish captain Arteiga. They were also seen in 1794 by the helmsman Talin, in the ship Orel, and named after his vessel. These observations are interesting, and indicate that possibly there may be submerged moraines in the region where these rocks are reported to exist. Many other observations are recorded concerning the mountains and the bays in the vicinity of Yakutat. While of interest to navigation and to geographers, these have no immediate connection with the region explored during the recent expedition. UNITED STATES COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY, 1874,18 1880.19 18 Appendix No. 10, Report of the Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey for the year 1875: Washington, 1878, pp. 157–188. 19 Pacific Coast Pilot, Alaska, part 1: Washington, 1883, p. 212. The surveys carried on in 1874 by the United States Coast Survey on the shores of Alaska embraced the region about Yakutat bay. They were conducted by W. H. Dall and Marcus Baker. Besides the survey of the coast-line, determinations were made of the heights and positions of several mountain peaks between Glacier bay and Cook inlet. Dall's account of this survey contains a brief sketch of previous explorations and a summary of the measurements of the higher peaks of the region. This material has been used on another page in discussing the height of Mount St. Elias. Besides the geographic data gathered by the United States Coast Survey, many observations were made on geology and on the glaciers of the region about Yakutat bay and Mount St. Elias. Exception must be taken, in the light of more recent explorations, to some of the conclusions reached in this connection, as will appear in the chapter devoted to geology and glaciers. A description of the St. Elias region in the Pacific Coast Pilot supplements the paper in the coast survey report for 1875. This is an exhaustive compilation from all available sources of information interesting to navigators. It contains, besides, a valuable summary of what was known at the time of its publication concerning the history and physical features of the country to which it relates. In this publication the true character of the Malaspina glacier was first recorded and its name proposed. The description is as follows: "At Point Manby and eastward to the Kwik river the shore was bordered by trees, apparently willows and alders, with a somewhat denser belt a little farther back. Behind this rises a bluff or bank of high land, as described by various navigators. About the vicinity of Tebienkoff's Nearer Point the trees cease, but begin again near the river. The bluff or table-land behind rises higher than the river valley and completely hides it from the southward, and is in summer bare of vegetation (except a few rare patches on its face) and apparently is composed of glacial débris, much of which is of a reddish color. In May, 1874, when observed by the U. S. Coast Survey party of that year, the extensive flattened top of this table-land or plateau was covered with a smooth and even sheet of pure [p. 70] [p. 71] white snow. In the latter part of June, 1880, however, this snow had melted, and for the first time the real and most extraordinary character of this plateau was revealed. Within the beach and extending in a northwesterly direction to the valley behind it, at the foot of the St. Elias Alps an undetermined distance, this plateau, or a large part of it, is one great field of buried ice. Almost everywhere nothing is visible but bowlders, dirt and gravel; but at the time mentioned, back of the bight between Point Manby and Nearer Point, for a space of several square miles the coverlid of dirt had fallen in, owing to the melting of the ice beneath, and revealed a surface of broken pinnacles of ice, each crowned by a patch of dirt, standing close to one another like a forest of prisms, these decreasing in height from the summit of the plateau gradually in a sort of semicircular sweep toward the beach, near which, however, the dirt and débris again predominate, forming a sort of terminal moraine to this immense, buried, immovable glacier, for it is nothing else. Trains of large bowlders were visible here and there, and the general trend of the glacier seemed to be northwest and southeast. "Between Disenchantment bay and the foot of Mount St. Elias, on the flanks of the Alps, seventeen glaciers were counted, of which about ten were behind this plateau, but none are of very large size, and the sum total of them all seemed far too little to supply the waste of the plateau if it were to possess motion. The lower ends of these small glaciers come down into the river valley before mentioned and at right angles in general to the trend of the plateau. To the buried glacier the U. S. Coast Survey has applied the name of Malaspina, in honor of that distinguished and unfortunate explorer. No connection could be seen between the small glaciers and the Malaspina plateau, as the former dip below the level of the summit of the latter. The Malaspina had no névé, nor was there any high land in the direction of its axis as far as the eye could reach. Everywhere, except where the pinnacles protruded and in a few spots on the face of the bluff, it was covered with a thick stratum of soil, gravel and stones, here and there showing small patches of bright green herbage. The bluff westward from Point Manby may probably prove of the same character." Mount Cook and Mount Vancouver are named in the Pacific Coast Pilot, and their elevations and positions are definitely stated. Mount Malaspina was also named, but its position is not given. During the expedition of last summer it was found impracticable to decide definitely to which peak the name of the great navigator was applied. So existing nomenclature was followed as nearly as possible by attaching Malaspina's name to a peak about eleven miles east of Mount St. Elias. Its position is indicated on the accompanying map, plate 8 (page 75). Several charts of the southern coast of Alaska accompany the reports of the United States Coast Survey for 1875, referred to above. A part of these have been independently published. These charts were used in mapping the coast-line as it appears on plate 8, and were frequently consulted while writing the following pages. NEW YORK TIMES EXPEDITION, 1886. An expedition sent out by the New York Times, in charge of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, for the purpose of making geographic explorations and climbing Mount St. Elias, left Sitka on the U. S. S. Pinta, on July 10, 1886, and reached Yakutat bay two days later. As it was found impracticable to obtain the necessary assistance from the Indians to continue the voyage to Icy bay, whence the start inland was planned to be made, Captain N. E. Nichols, the commander of the Pinta, concluded to take the expedition to its destination in his vessel. On July 17 a landing was made through the surf at Icy bay, and exploration at once began. The party consisted of Lieutenant Schwatka, in charge; Professor William Libbey, Jr.; and Lieutenant H. W. Seton-Karr. The camp hands were John Dalton, Joseph Woods, and several Indian packers.20 20 The accounts of this expedition are as follows: Report from Lieutenant Schwatka in the New York Times, October 17, 1886; Some of the Geographical Features of Southeastern Alaska, by William Libbey, Jr., in Bull. Am. Geog. Soc., 1886, pp. 279–300; Shores and Alps of Alaska, by H. W. Seton-Karr, London, 1887, 8°, pp. L–XCV, 142–148; The Alpine Regions of Alaska, by Lieutenant Seton-Karr, in Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. IX, 1887, pp. 269–285; The Expedition of "The New York Times" (1886), by Lieutenant Schwatka, in The Century Magazine, April, 1891, pp. 865–872. From Icy bay the expedition proceeded inland, for about sixteen miles, in a line leading nearly due north, toward the summit of Mount St. Elias. The highest point reached, 7,200 feet, was on the foot-hills of the main range now called the Karr hills. The time occupied by the expedition, after leaving Icy bay, was nine or ten days. So far as known, no systematic surveys were carried on. An interesting account of this expedition appeared in Seton-Karr's book, "The Shores and Alps of Alaska." Many observations on the glaciers and moraines of the region explored are recorded in this work. The map published with it has been used in compiling the western portion of the map forming plate 8, where the route of the expedition is indicated. Another account, especially valuable for its records of scientific observations, by Professor Libbey, was published by the American Geographic Society. The Guyot, Agassiz and Tyndall glaciers, the Chaix hills, and Lake Castani received their names during this expedition. Lieutenant Schwatka's graphic and entertaining account of this expedition, published in The Century Magazine for April, 1891, gives many details of the exploration and illustrates many of the characteristic features of southern Alaska. TOPHAM EXPEDITION, 1888. [p. 72] [p. 73] An expedition conducted by Messrs. W. H. and Edwin Topham, of London, George Broka, of Brussels, and William Williams, of New York, was made in 1888. Like the Times expedition, it had for its main object the ascent of Mount St. Elias. Icy bay was reached, by means of canoes from Yakutat bay, on July 13, and an inland journey was made northward which covered a large part of the area traversed by the previous expedition. The highest elevation reached, according to aneroid barometer and boiling-point measurements, was 11,460 feet. This was on the southern side of St. Elias. The only accounts of this expedition which have come to my notice are an interesting article by William Williams in Scribner's Magazine,21 and...