Full text of "A reconnaissance in northern Alaska, across the Rocky mountains, along Koyukuk, John, Anaktuvuk, and Colville rivers, and the Arctic coast to cape Lisburne, in 1901,"

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3
; ., f A, Heonomic Geology, 28
Eevesnnal taper Noe ad Series | B, Descriptive Geology, 34
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
- CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Director

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RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA

ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ALONG KOYUKUK, JOHN,
ANAKTUVUK, AND COLVILLE RIVERS, AND THE
ARCTIC COAST TO CAPE LISBURNE, IN 1901

BY
FRANK CHARLES SCHRADER

WITH NOTES BY

W. J. PETERS

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1904

IT99(C

CONTENTS.

etterrofatransm ittallbe rere cpare ee yee eaves eis NG Bee apereee Soe ee eh 2 che SNS
NTE OC UG ULOT Se ae ar eS a are I a ard WO EMIS ION AN, tek Bele P| Snes ee ie

@hronoloricisummanyco operations =e eee eee eae eee eee ee eres

Meth odsiontiscrentitie kyon kas ryrtst yee ee eee tate ae te ea aetna ee
iimeranysanditoporraphicmmethodsy bye Ww eters ery eee tye ae eS eee eee eee
Plan of OPELAtONSH= cena a tee oe pena cae icles SPREE te RE estan SY vee
WihitesHorsertoyBerpman=.2 eo nate eae Sas cer es Scie Saye eerie ge eye pve een ESS
Reconnaissance uprAilatna; Rive == — = crise oe eee nr sie ee See eee
Reconnaissance Wprs Oh NMRA eT =e ert aioe 2 ae eee ee erste nig < Seo Sine eee ei
GanoeitripiromeB ettlesitosPointy Barrows <a o- eee eee oe sae ee eee ee ers
Methodsioftopopraphiciworkys ee meg ana SSeS Ee nt eee
IBTeEMIOUSTOXP)LOTALLONS eye = eee aia les fe ie tes pe Sapa al atets,. eine MR jee Se Siar nea utes aa bus Ja Se
EI Storicalliske tChtee cere ae oe sot Saya ein aie = ee pe se serene cere ae Seo
GhronolopicHistrorswonkS ume aie a Sete oe Spe ene EIN EE avers OE eae oR yeh
Populatonsand. conditions es oe ees mee ee ate RE OE Reto yee apes See ce
Orig GES 6 yee Se pete ah arte ae eee aie ies da eR ET Nl 2a ee ce

WIHT LeS isi 8y- EER eye RO Sei ces Beg inn Silat espe RE et
Transportatlonandomeans(ol trayele== seer se see eee eee ee aaa
AN 05579 o) ENCE) Sc sta At aS ae Rao an ha a go GE
Oe PH CPAMCEI CYC OMS Leese ets rate oe od pte Sale ere ence cian brel erate clei HIME meee

iransportationsandimecanslotstrayelie sees sees see ee eee ee ee soe seee ee ae

Rablezof distances esas rerss a ciae tere eee ayois bie oi lae tee eects Coes os hee ee Sue a See
Georraphy, = oan eee ere ae eee eames nes s beta ues aey se meeike Sea ce Se sesso © ue ASeE
iocation and), zeneralipteattiresi erst sant aco e ee ee Oe eres aie Be een eee ais saan ee aoe
Moun Calne pr O vin Ce mee eter ee pete aye eee oo eva Ree GE Sie mE Se ee
ndicott Mountains oss.) erah eee. se oe aaa = oe ee eels eo Sees aa eee eee

Generali: features y= 25 are ee eta) ts eS Siete ete ors Saar N lay cay aoa EM

ID) rainy Cees oo eae oer 2 ele raiepe beepers Se wie Seema iss MOI te ee eee el ep
Leonid eal 29 SOA PEN GS crs alge SEB EIEHE SOE SEE iris ICAI Ee ES eae ae eines Flee Rie wee
General features!=°222552--5------ RSS Se SSM Siero Re AIS Beale Ree eee
Dralady Chasers re eee: sae tees Ses os ais cre ise fa See MEO eee EES

4 CONTENTS.

Geography—Continued. * Page.
ANCHE BONS MTOWINCO). csc os och sa Sasccscnc es ceses ste tose eee ee ee ee 45
AMA iri Plateanl so. aces eo soon samme ees ae neck SRE aoe ee ee 45
Archie! CoastaliPlain’.; ooc<52oke aoc. Soot Saeco eee See oe oe ee eee 46

MD rainape) Bo So seme Sore ssa ok Sane nose bie ace Ueto Peano ae ae Se 46
@olville Rivers .2cees.cs.ci ccc esc oss bac can codecs Soees eeeeeee 46
AnaktovukRivers.<.625<6205i5-c6casgsencs check boeken: eee eee 48
Goashline =. 2Sis ssstGasnte sec sec eocecucleosisecnack as Ae eee ee 48
rom) GolviullewRiverito Point /Barroweee sooo eee. e eee 48

From Point Barrow to Cape Lisburne and beyond....-......-...-......----- 49

Geplonygieeaonac ate ccna ss see Poesia ss sis s qaes ew eeeesee Sosa ae ees Soe oe eo eee eee 50
‘Geologicalimap)and\ sections 2.5..<. == Ys Sy Jasss nsec eee ace eee ee eee 50
Outline‘ of geologicihistory,- == 222. < <=: - aseesaee es sass se eee ae ee 52
medimentary rock formations) 5525.5 tisas =o oe see eee ace eee ee ee 5d
(PalCOZOIGTOCKS HS. ho sso = Se Se See ee ee ee ee eee 5d
Structure, sss 58 - se es soos SSeS eS Soe Se Oe eee ee ae See ee 55
Skajitformations (UpperjsiluTian)) pease eae = eee eee 56
@haracter-andoccurren Ces a2-osnagasnee ee anon Oe eee ee eee ee 56

Structure She Si sss oS 5 Lae ee eo re oe oa ae 56

AGC Sa sare pe eciae a Seen oo a5 SSS eS aEISAS SSE OS Ee eC EE eee eee 57

@orrelationy. 2 <e se sac.2.-53 Se SOS ci ae = se CS Ee ee ee ee 58
Motsenfseries\(Sulurian) \o-. ...2 =: - seen pe pein ases see ae eae Ree eee See see 58
Character’and (occurrence sass ee ae oe seek eee ce eee eee Eee ene eee 58

Structure Fz soe ee eS te ee eee See eee eee Se eee 59

AGO Doe eislScae aaa [S ees 2s HES SOE Ee CES ROSE Gree Ee eee eee 59

Correlations 3.2252 22325522 eeeees sees ee eee ee eee ees 59
SiUVersseries! ((pre-Deyvomian)) se — see ea a eee 60
Characterand occurrence: 5 a-b.s se wasce cae ee ae eerie ae ee eee 60

Structure... 5 ss ssetias)-se te e eeee See oe oa as eee eee eee 61

AGG ito se Soa ssa8 oh sins se Seiad Secs cbse HEP wEee NewS = SSE eee ee eee eee 62

Correlation ssi Sass 4552S oe ee ao ne Se ee eee eee 62

Pashurne TormMatone (MD) Sorin) eye eee ae ee 62
@Haracter'andkoccurrén¢es 552 Sas c aot ee Sn a eee eee 62

Structure: 2552. cect amceen ee eon Oe Bee oot eee nee ee 64

ARC cadaneee oss tees soc seen ease cee: seep l see e ses seeeeee See eee 64

@orrelationleisc Ae ie cess ec cea sence one Pere ease See a cee ee eee 65
Distribution’ a2. 3 ke seep ce cee eee eee ee eat) eee 67

Bickett series! sca. 5 nsasiissono ations see cieeen ostee pescece Sos ace Soe 67
Character:and: occurrence: 2322 -— 5-225 522 Sosa oon Eee eee 67

Structures 222.25 .ss5- lh. 2 ese ces soem e ee = ae a Ss ee eee es 69

AGG .ssccesndesset ba Lahsanssosee ieee sce ee eee Cee Ee PEE EEE eee 70

@orrelation....25.2¢-2+ .< saecesSeS55 So sae wees ce aS ee EE eee See eee 71

Mesozoic rocks: 2223... . Sawecdeocss See eee se Sac eeeeep ere See ee eee eee 72
Gorwin'series!(Giura-CretaceOus) a2 oe see 72
@haracter/andloccurrences See =4-s eee <= sso ae eee ee ee eee eee 2

7
Structures, - os s3ee aes jee passes ssameee eoeies sa stoe =e See eee Ee eee 73

CONTENTS. 5

Geology—Continued. Page.
Sedimentary rock formations—Continued.
Mesozoic rocks—Continued.
Corwin series (Jura-Cretaceous)—Continued.

ING ooo nesqaacadcee cen seesecoc cosas sags sosqnepncossedeneoos pescouceeceous 74
(Coraline cocce sae daa sot Ae eB ROS CARO Rn Os AR Ean Se snes Serene Repeats 74
Analktuyukyseriess dsowerl Gretaceous)| see a-sialon eee ee 74
@haracterjand occurmencere tis eases e le een eee eee ee eee eee 74
Structures css Se cre soa asmind wae Since Secerine See cise ne nae ose seeee wesieae 75

IND cas aes hasbaed> Sauadbocnee bo poe se Ee Su ade rE cas Spb oboScesUSaaSHEsSsaesesE 76
Correlation ses feet es ene ceo as Eee eee eae ee cne eee emake oes eee 76
Koyukukjsenes: (Mower Cretaceous) =. seas oases asec cee eee eee 77
@haractemandvoccurnencessass 4-2 sceee eee eee oe sae cae eee ee eee ee 77
Structuress ssa. c Se Se ce seee ee eis = eee ele sites eee estas ameaalee see Ste yoee 77

ING no dean pee eeece ceene Saco sene dencas dose ds oEcorenpESeH ses seeaesbes seeder 77
Gorrelation 25-2222 Sa52 Sac -sess odes ee ee ease eo see Le eee ee eens 77
iBerpmaniseries:|(Cretaceoush) S15. o- 2. a2c ce sereseies se eee eee Se eeeens cee 77
Characteriand occurrence: cs 22-2 a Sei eee eae emote eee eerie ene 77
Structures sesso cc ME Soa ce he note ec meme eee Soeareb enee cma ssaee cee tees 78

IMD nococatSscs0ne= eaSsesos seas ssecossas dencdsocadomcasesssaasosedssass 78
Nanushuks series (Upper Cretaceous) 2-2 sseeeee esse sateen nee eae sese ae eeeaee 79
Characteriand occurrences 2552 Sct ene tse sas Sao «se eceeaeaises 79
Startech as ss aan ee SB Sh ner cyan ree cn ts BR a ens es fee ope 80

BA Cee ee ee tae ae e ees e ct Sie eeREe See oe Set me ean Se apa eRenon Ses Benae 80
Correlations eae y= ere a2 coe) 5 SR eee Ene es on eS ree eee 80
PerhlaryirOCkses omen ee goes oe se oac os = Heenan ae eee Cen ee ae eeampeee ee 81
Colville}series) (Olicoceneyandueliocene) ses seseee eee e eee ne eee ee eee eee 81
@haracterandloccurrences soe 52 ee ee eee nee Eee eee eee Eas 81

SIMU CHUTE Seay eee ea cee tes nt Be etait rare a ee ered eer ae te Ee 82

owen Colvilles(Olicocene) esas a 5s snes sate ise toe ae SR eee 82
Wipper'Colvalles(Pliocene) A. seen acer eae eee cee ears se ae one eee 83
(Pleistocene: deposits saeec= =e aie se See cee 8 See eins Se ce hese ional sett Sees 84
Glacialtdepositsiandiclaciation's ers cts scares ree eae eee ape en era 84
Ground-iceormationsandecowakaclayenseeeereneeeee ee eee ee ene eee eee eee 91
Gulia ric ese a ers cede tare 2 ape rs oa armi nN meet at ei ya ae a Ss a 93
Recent mud, muck, ground ice, dune sand, silts, and gravels...........--..-.-_-- 94

Une biavel Seo a as ae. c eee Cece aC E Reece ania Seat Sea Seer eee erence S 94
Coastalrepiompe:. se eee) seers wine Seacreee rae Tere Re Pass veda a 95

roms ColyillesRivertorkolntybartoweeer eet eer ere eee reer Se eee ee ne seen ere 95
BromyLomiPbarrowstoleape Wisburn ee seer eee Estee eater eer ae eee eee eee 96

Recent fossils; fomithevArctic, coastis=-snse- =e eee eee eeese see eee tee re eee ee 96
ableotiprovisionalicorrelations ses esac ae cna | tee ere o eee canine dase eee ae ae 97
Wi STiGie lh CSN RS cick mic Sonos COSI REE ACOE TEES SOPRA C ET COBSC BREE canteen das Seem Marees eee 98
General statementteete tetris. Ss ayers otra ais) oie re mee le Sasi oes mle eles ee Segawa 98
GOLD ae see a eee rane ap i a oes mS as SII RSIS aae OS Oe Sine aE SEITE BEES 98

6 CONTENTS.

Mineral resourees—Continued.

Lead

Antimony

Zones of metalliferous mineralization

InviherMickett series: 0.2222 222-2. cee po oeeceeee need ok Ge ee ee
Coal

Koyukuk region

Koyukuk River

John River

Anctic'slope, c= a2. <2-Sent = Jo Sse See ORES Sane Seo Se eee eee
Anaktuvuk River
Colville River

Northwest Coastisa- cisco otters do sie se ee oe eee ee ee eee
Wainwright Inlet

Cape Beaufort

Thetis and Corwin mines

Area south of Cape Lisburne

Analyses of coal

Climatic conditions

Meteorologic’ record for. 1899 2c 2s2se 0: - 8. Soe eels ee eeeee ee eee eee eee eee eee

Meteorologic record for 19015 by, Wid. Peters saa- seas ane eee eee eee
Meteorologie record for 1885-86, by Lieut. G. M. Stoney

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Prate I. Outline map of Alaska, showing areas covered by larger scale maps.-.-.-.-----------

XI.

IT.

XII.

XIV.

wwe

Topographic reconnaissance map of northern Alaska -.-.........-------------------
. Geologie reconnaissance map of northern Alaska..............-.--.--.-------------

. A, Inland edge of Anaktuyuk Plateau and north base of Endicott Mountains; B,
Lisburne limestone and Fickett series in Endicott Mountains at head of John

. Sketch map of Cape Lisburne region, showing coast line and localities of coal deposits.
. A, Topography of John River Valley in Endicott Mountains, from near south

edge of Fickett series; B, Glaciated side slopes of John River Valley in Endicott
MI@ pine Ree cL Se cone bee demogbEeEaeEdel as Sooc bed pRSse see nebEEosUSoSs ob ee apoD

. A and B, Bisected view of Endicott Plateau and Endicott Mountains carved from it. -
. A, B, ©, D, Bisected view of Colville River bluffs in Tertiary coastal plain of Col-
Ville: SONICS 2 38 abo kaha onse ga cocemeSbe aos ee bn Guas acoracsa seSseceaas HaaneaoH as

. A, Arctic coast and edge of moss-covered Arctic Coastal Plain; B, Skajit lime-
Stone on wohn Riverin Hndicoth Mountainsesseseeecene esa ae sees a aesee seers

. A, North edge of Skajit limestone, dipping north, on John River in Endicott
Mountains; B, Lisburne limestone and ground moraine, from Cache Lake, near
Anaktuyuk Pass in Endicott Mountains, C, Cape Sabine and undulating plateau;

A, Quartz gash stringer veining in Fickett series on John River in Endicott Moun
tains; B, Structure in Anaktuyuk series on Anaktuyuk River

D, Cape Halkett, showing ground ice terrane rising 30 feet above tide

A, Base-level feature in Nanushuk series on Anaktuyuk River; B, Structure and
rapid alternation in bedding in Nanushuk series on Anaktuyuk River --..-...-..--
A and B, Structure in Colville series; C, Coal bed and rocks of Corwin series at
(Otoreyatl ates es 6 3e soc BS o De COU EDO EDA SE SEO 8 HEE SSS Res 7 ee
A, Pliocene fossil locality in Colville River bluffs (Colville series); B, Glaciation in
upper John River Valley in Endicott Mountains --_-..........-.-.-=------------

. A, Ice remnant of John Valley Glacier in Endicott Mountains; B, Timbered ter-
minal moraine resting on Fickett series, on John River .-...-.-.-- ee Rote aotaasHonee

. A, Barrier reef and Eskimo grave on Arctic coast, near Icy Cape; B, Abandoned
Pleistocene flats of Colville River showing mounds and lakelets-.....-..-.--------
Sketch section of supposed Paleozoic rocks on the coast south of Cape Lisburne-------
Diagrammatic profile showing relations of Endicott, Yukon, and Koyukuk plateaus. --
Sketch profile showing structure in Anaktuyvuk series on Anaktuyuk River, 10 miles

above Willow Creek

46
51

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Unirep StaTes GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,
Washington, D. C., August 3, 1903.

Str: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript by Mr. F. C. Schrader,
entitled ‘‘A Reconnaissance in Northern Alaska in 1901,” and to recommend its pub-
lication as a professional paper.

This report is based on an exploration made by Messrs. W. J. Peters and F. C.
Schrader from Yukon River to the Arctic Ocean during the winter and summer
of 1901. Besides important geographic results, the investigation is the first to
throw light on the complex geology of the Rocky Mountain system of northern
Alaska. Mr. Peters, leader and topographer of the expedition, has contributed
notes on itinerary, topographic methods, and climate.

Very respectfully,
ALFRED H. Brooks,
Geologist in Charge Division Alaskan Mineral Resources.
Hon. CHartes D. Watcort,
Director of United States Geological Survey.

U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

178° 78
~~

OUTLINE MAP OF ~~

~ , on ee
A LA S kK A ae
showing area covered by larger scale maps,
Plates II and Ill

Routes of WJ.Peters and F.C. Schrader, 1901
Routes of W.C. Mendenhall and D.LReaburn, 1901
Routes of FC. Schrader and T7.G.Gerdine,1899

Scale

comiles

154° West of Grec

PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO.20 PL.1

JULIUS BIEN & CO. LITH. NY.

PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO.20 PL.-I

U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
178° 178°

OUTLINE MAP OF SS

le SS es:
ving area covered by larger scale maps,
Plates II and Ill. 5
Routes of WJ Peters and F.C. Selirader, 1901 i as

shoy

.. Routes of W.C.Mendenhall and D.L.Reaburn,1901
© Routes of NC.Schrader and 1.G.Gerdine,1899

Seale

49700 40.80

SN
i
ie)

120 isomiles
St

ae ;
ge
ZNANN ra a

154° West of Greenwich 150°

JULIUS BIEN ACO LITH Ny

A RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

By F. C. ScurapEr.

INTRODUCTION.

Since 1898 the United States Geological Survey has been carrying on systematic
topographic and geologic surveys in Alaska under an appropriation made for the
investigation of the mineral resources of the Territory. This work has included not
only areal surveys of regions already being developed by the miner and prospector,
but also explorations and investigations of regions that are little known or entirely
unexplored. Asa result of these explorations a network of reconnaissance traverses
has been extended over a large part of Alaska, where route surveys of this character
must necessarily precede more detailed topographic and geologic mapping. They
serve to outline the main geographic features of the country and afford the pioneer
or prospector a guide for his journeys as well as help him to select his field of
operations. The present report and maps are the results of such an investigation.

Previous to 1901 but two journeys” which yielded any geographic results had
been made across northern Alaska by white men. The first of these was made by
Lieutenant Howard, U. 8. Navy, in 1886, and extended from Kowak River to Point
Barrow, while the second, made by J. H. Turner, in 1890, followed the one hundred
and forty-first meridian from the Porcupine. ‘The conditions under which these
journeys were carried on precluded instrumental work. The present survey must
therefore be considered the first made with precise instruments from the Yukon to
the north coast of Alaska. In connection with the traverses made of Chandlar and
Koyukuk rivers by Mr. T. G. Gerdine, and of Dall, Alatna, and Kowak rivers by
Mr. D. L. Reaburn, both of the Geological Survey, it outlines some of the most
important of the physical features and drainage channels of northern Alaska.

The exploration on which the following report is based was made by the writer
during the season of 1901, while attached as geologist to a party in charge of W. J.
Peters, topographer. The other members of the party were Gaston Philip, topo-
graphic assistant; Thomas M. Hunt, George H. Hartman, Charles H. Stuver, Ben

a¥For references and details see pp. 29 and 38 of this report.

12 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Bennett, and Joe Edge, camp hands, all of whom rendered untiring and efficient
seryice and manifested genuine interest in the expedition. Sections prepared by
Mr. Peters are credited to him in the proper places.

As early as 1896 the Survey considered projects for reaching this unexplored
field in northern Alaska, but owing to the remoteness of the region and the difficul-
ties of transportation, no plans could be devised which did not involve the wintering
of a party in this arctic country at great cost and much loss of valuable time. The
first plans submitted were by Mr. J. E. Spurr, who proposed a traverse from
the lower Koyukuk to Point Barrow, essentially along the route followed by
Howard. The probable existence of a passable route 200 miles east of the above,
between the upper Koyukuk and the Arctic slope, was not learned until 1899. The
transportation difficulty, however, became less formidable when the discovery of
gold on the Koyukuk, in the widespread search which attended the Klondike excite-
ment of 1897 and 1898, led to the location of a trading post at Bergman, on Koyukuk
River, near the Arctic Circle, nearly 500 miles above its mouth, and subsequently to
annual visits to this post by the steamboats of a reliable company.

In the light of this later information, gained by a visit to the upper Koyukuk in
1899, the plans of the present expedition were formulated by the writer and sub-
mitted to the Director of the Survey, who approved them, and preparations were
accordingly begun in the spring of 1900. The writer being otherwise engaged, the
task of purchasing and assembling at San Francisco the necessary outfit, including
four months’ provisions for eight men, fell to Mr. Alfred H. Brooks, who was aided
by Mr. R. B. Marshall.

The outfit, including canoes and supplies, was shipped from San Francisco
through the Alaska Commercial Company early in the spring of 1900 and stored at
the Bergman post until! called for by the Survey party in 1901. From this base it
was planned to carry the work northward across the Rocky Mountains of northern
Alaska to the Arctic coast, and to conduct a parallel return traverse, from some other
point on the coast than that at which it was reached, southward into the Koyukuk
Basin, if conditions should permit. In case the return trip to the Koyukuk should
be found impracticable the party was to proceed northwestward along the coast and
seek relief at Point Barrow, where it was hoped it might be picked up by a return-
ing revenue cutter or arctic whaler. In the event, however, that no such vessel
appeared (as proved to be the case), it was proposed to at once continue south-
westward along the coast in native skin boats or by dog sleds, as conditions might
permit, until some chance vessel along the coast or some mining camp in the Nome
region should be reached.

As this northern region was practically unsurveyed and much of it was entirely
unexplored, it was planned to make an instrumental survey along the route of
travel, which was to traverse the Rocky Mountains stretching across northern

PLANS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 13

Alaska, as already noted. It was believed that by this means, even though the
actual survey was of a reconnaissance character and embraced only a narrow
strip, the general physiographic features of the region would be determined and
important contributions would be made to geographic and geologic knowledge. It
was planned to carry on the work in as much detail as the adverse conditions
would permit. It was believed by the writer that the metamorphic rocks of
Paleozoic age or older, which are the source of the placer gold in the Koyukuk
Basin, extended to the west, and probably formed important members of the forma-
tions which make up the Rocky Mountains, and hence valuable economic results
of the investigations were to be expected. In short, the expedition was planned to
collect information of all kinds relating to the geography, geology, and resources
of the region; and data bearing on the preparation of the proposed general map?
of Alaska for public use were particularly desired.

Owing to the shortness of the Arctic summer it was important that progress
should be as rapid as possible, regardless of the character of the weather, and as
much of the energy of the party was expended in contending against the swift
currents of John and Anaktuvuk rivers, the accompanying report is necessarily
incomplete. For want of opportunity to make more extended observations many
important problems had to be left unsolved. This is especially true with reference
to the structural relations of the Paleozoic rocks in the northern part of the range,
and to the relation of these Paleozoics to the Mesozoic rocks forming the Anaktu-
yuk Plateau or ‘‘Great Plains” on the north. The time devoted to actual field
work in carrying the line from Bergman, on the Arctic Circle, to Pitt Point, on
the Arctic coast, a distance of 513 miles, was sixty-five days.

For courtesies, information, and material assistance rendered on our long winter
trip necessary to reach the field of work, thanks are due the Canadian Development
Company and other leading trading and transportation companies, as well as
numerous individuals at various points along the route of travel down the
Yukon, and to the United States army officers at Eagle. In the Koyukuk region
the ever hospitable hand of the prospector and miner was generously extended.
Special thanks are due, also, to the Alaska Commercial Company for the excellent
condition in which our supplies were delivered and wintered at Bergman, and to
Mr. Gordon C. Bettles, Pickarts Brothers, and other pioneers, for valuable informa-
tion concerning the people, geography, routes, trails, resources, and conditions of
the country.

On the Arctic coast, where the larder and foot gear of the party had become
reduced to inadequacy, the generosity of the Eskimos, manifested in their gifts of
fresh fish, the loan of their mukluks, the use of their skin boats for transportation,
and their aid as guides to Point Barrow, was of material value and too greatly

aTopographic map of Alaska, compiled by the U. S. Geol. Survey, 1902.

14 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

appreciated to pass without notice. Thanks are also due to Mr. Charles Brauer and
others for hospitality and courtesies received at Cape Smyth, and to Captain Ericson
for transportation on the steamship Arctic from the Corwin coal mines, near Cape
Lisburne, to Nome.

The determinations of the fossils collected on the trip and referred to in this
report were made by Drs. Lester F. Ward, W. H. Dall, T. W. Stanton, George H.
Girty, Mx. Charles Schuchert, and Prof. William M. Fontaine, each dealing with the
fossils from the horizons of which he has special knowledge. The coal analyses and
mineral tests were made by Messrs. George Steiger and H. N. Stokes in the chemical
laboratory of the Survey, and the assays for gold and silver by E. E. Burlingame
& Co., of Denver, Colo. Fig. 1 (p. 40) and other information bearing on the Cape
Lisburne region haye been generously contributed by Mr. A. G. Maddren.

METHODS OF WORK.

Dog sledding.—As the success of the work required the surveyors to reach
the field before the break-up of winter, and Point Barrow by September 1, the
party set out from Skagway early in February, and, after proceeding over the Coast
Range by the White Pass Railway, traveled by dog sled from White Horse 1,200 miles
down the Yukon to Bergman, which was reached April 10. Traveling by this means
is known, in the language of the country, as ‘‘mushing,” and the traveler is called a
**musher.” The ‘‘musher” does not ride on the sled, which is used only for carry-
ing the absolutely necessary supplies and luggage, but follows the sled afoot and
urges the dogs forward, or runs ahead on snowshoes to break a trail where none
exists, or where, as frequently happens, it has been drifted over. To keep trail
breaking and friction in travel at a minimum the dogs are all hitched tandem, from
five to nine ina team. The Survey party used four teams, or about forty dogs in all.
Their feed, which is given once a day, usually at night, consists of some cereal, rice,
meal, or flour, cooked with meat, fish, or grease. Rice and bacon, flavored with-a
little dried salmon, is best. It is affirmed by experienced and reliable prospectors
throughout Alaska that on arduous prospecting trips, where a man is dependent for
sustenance on the food supply packed on his own back, he, too, can go farther and
accomplish a greater amount of hard work on rice and bacon than on any other ration.
the

‘‘inside” or native, consisting of Siwash and Malemut, and the ‘‘outside,” consisting
? > b) b) >

At the present day two classes of dogs are used for sledding in Alaske

of yarious breeds of imported dogs, principally from the United States. The outside
dog excels in intelligence and is usually desirable for a leader, but the native dog is
best for all-round service and for long, hard trips, as he requires less food and care,
and having a dense pelt, much like that of the wolf, is less affected by the severity of
the climate, hardship, and exposure. He is also less liable to become footsore on a

trail of rough ice and freezing slush.

METHODS OF WORK. 15

In “mushing,” the best progress is made in relatively cool weather, at a tem-
_perature 10° or 12° below zero. As the atmosphere warms under the midday sun,
the dogs, especially the natives, pant and become tired or lazy, and can not be
urged. On a long trip, under reasonable conditions, 25 miles is a good average
day’s drive. In one instance, where the trail was good, 46 miles were covered
by the Survey party in a single day. The mail carriers on the lower Yukon are
known in exceptional instances to have made as high as 60 miles, the record for
the Yukon country.

Camping.—During the last two years, sled journeys on the upper Yukon have
been rendered less arduous by the so-called road houses, which are located at points
a fair day’s drive apart, and which consist usually of a log cabin and a dog kennel.
Though the accommodations are of the crudest order, these places facilitate progress
by affording the weary traveler much-needed shelter and rest, and by lessening the
amount of outfit and supplies he is compelled to transport on a long journey. The
rates charged by these road houses average about $1.50 a meal.

Where there are no road houses, as was the case beyond Fort Yukon, the traveler
at the end of the day’s drive selects his camp spot for the night, and, unless provided
with tent and stove, digs a hole through three or four feet of snow to the
ground fora fireplace. Asa shovel is rarely carried, the snow is scooped out with
an axe and snowshoes. In sleeping on the snow and ice, spruce boughs, where
available, form a desirable mattress. A light-weight tent, provided with broad
bottom flaps and a closable entrance, besides affording protection from storm and
cold, is useful in keeping the dogs from lying on one’s bedding or person, as they are
wont to do on a cold night. A light-weight sheet-iron stove, suited for cooking
inside the tent, is very desirable, but not indispensable, as an outdoor fire is usually
required to cook the dog feed.

Chronologic summary of operations. —After doing some triangulation and topo-
graphic work in the Koyukuk Valley, principally between the Arctic Circle and the
sixty-seventh parallel, the party waited at Bergman for the disappearance of the
snow and ice—the *‘break-up,” as it is called; for the sheet of soft snow or slush,
several feet in thickness, which everywhere overspreads the country during the thaw
period of spring renders travel of every kind at that time impossible. Owing to the
heavy snowfall of the previous winter and the lateness of the spring, the break-up
period of 1901 was of unusual length, extending from the middle of May to June 6,
about twenty-five days. During this time some astronomic observations and other
investigations of a local nature were made.

Except its arching feature, the breaking up of the ice on the Koyukuk, as
observed by the writer at Bergman, differed but little from that seen on most
of the large rivers in northern United States. As the stream beneath the ice
became swollen and distended its ever-increasing hydrostatic pressure gradually

16 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN. ALASKA IN 1901.

bulged or raised the formerly level ice floor along the middle part of the river
into a low arch, whose crown, by May 26, stood about 5 feet above its edges
or pedal extremities, which were still frozen fast to the shores. In the mean-
time the excess water, increased by surface drainage due to thaw, unable to find
passage beneath the ice, formed broad overflow streams, several feet in depth,
coursing on the surface of the ice that formed the limbs of the arch on either
side between the crown and the shore. These conditions increased until the 29th,
when, at 2.30 p. m., the ice, now visible in the middle of the river only along
the crown of the arch, broke or parted transversely and almost bodily moved
one-eighth of a mile downstream, when it was stopped by a jam; but at 6.30 it again
started and moved about a mile. Soon after this, with increased rise of the river,
a general breaking up of the ice took place, and it continued to run more or less
steadily until June 6, when the river cleared of it and became navigable. So far
as observed, the ice rarely exceeded 23 feet in thickness, this comparative thin-
ness being probably due to the protecting heavy mantle of snow. Permanent ice
usually forms on the river by October 10.

Stoney“ has described a break-up witnessed by him at Fort Cosmos, on
Kowak River, which was probably in most respects similar to that on the Koyu-
kuk just described. In Stoney’s description occurs the statement that ‘* the ice
suddenly became covered with water, increasing in depth on both sides of the river
and decreasing toward the middle.” As no reason appears to be assigned for the
otherwise peculiar increase of water at the sides and its decrease toward the middle,
the writer infers that this phenomenon was due to the ice-arch feature, which
seems not to have been recognized by the observer at the time.

The arching feature of the ice, which seems to be characteristic in the breaking
up of Arctic rivers and does not attend those in temperate zones—granting a rise
in the water at the head of the rivers in both zones—is ascribed by the writer
primarily to the presence of permanent subterranean frost, in whose icy grasp
the edges and lateral portions of the ice become so firmly welded and held to the
frozen earth along shore and the shallow riparian portions of the river bed that
it is not released until thawed from the surface downward by almost midsummer
suns. In temperate climates, on the contrary, where perennial underground frost
does not exist, the longshore ice is the first to give way, and is often replaced
by open-water leeways due to the warming and thawing influence of the under-
ground temperature soon after the climax of winter is past.

After the break-up the party proceeded by river steamboat 80 miles up the Koyu-
kuk to Bettles, a new supply post near the sixty-seventh parallel. From this point,
commencing June 13, after doing a day’s work on Lookout Mountain, the work
was continued northward 125 miles, with Peterborough canoes, up a large tributary

aStoney, Lieut. George M., Naval Explorations in Alaska, U. S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md., 1900, p. 52.

SUMMARY OF OPERATIONS. aly
of the Koyukuk, John River,” to its headwaters, thence by a 5-mile portage via
Anaktuyuk Pass through the mountains to the upper waters of Anaktuyuk River,
the large east fork of the Colville, which flows northward to the Arctic coast.
These rivers were descended by canoe and the coast was reached August 15. The
ice on the Colville is reported to have broken up July 16.

After mapping a considerable portion of the Colville delta, the work was con-
tinued by canoe 100 miles northwestward along the coast to Smith Bay. Here,
owing to the lateness of the season, the stormy weather, and heavy surf incident
thereto, the plane-table work was dropped and the journey was continued with
Eskimos, who, traveling in walrus-skin boats of native make, were encountered on
the journey to Point Barrow. These skin boats were found to be more seaworthy
and to sail better than our Peterborough canoes.

September 3 Point Barrow was reached, where it was hoped that passage to the
States might be procured ona vessel of the United States Revenue-Marine Service
or some whaler; but when it was learned that all such vessels had gone, and that the
ice on the ocean was expected to close within a week (September 10 being the
usual date), supplies and an open whaleboat were hastily procured and the party
proceeded southwestward along the coast, hoping to make connection with a whaler
several hundred miles farther south, at Point Hope, where one was expected to touch
to leave her native crew. By exceptional good fortune, however, on September 18,
at the Corwin coal fields, 80 miles above Point Hope, the steamer Arctic was met,
which carried the party to Nome, where it landed on September 26. From here
passage to Seattle was readily obtained on one of the numerous Alaskan steamers.

Methods of scientific work.—As the Koyukuk did not break up until June, and
the expedition, to be successful, was obliged to reach Point Barrow early in Sep-
tember, the season of work was necessarily limited to a period of less than three
months, during which 500 miles had to be traveled. Since it was impossible to make
more than from 3 to 7 miles a day up the swift waters of John River—and to accom-
plish even this required the united efforts of the entire party—it became necessary
to make almost daily advances, and therefore many mountains could not be climbed
that might have afforded more extensive opportunity for observation. — .

The topographic work was carried on by a combination of the plane table,
triangulation, and tachometry, of which an account is given by Mr. Peters on pages
24-25. An independent traverse was carried on by the geologist by means of compass
and aneroid to serve as an immediate base for locations in the geologic notes. In this
traverse the distances were paced or estimated, and the work was daily connected
with the more accurate surveys of the topographer, while from the topographic
stations and other established points panoramic photographs with recorded bearings

aNamed for John Bremner, pioneer prospector and explorer, who was killed and robbed by a native in the Koyukuk
region in 1888. Its native name is Alchichna, meaning wind river, so named on account of the fierce wintry blasts that
sweep down it from the Arctic side of the divide, through Anaktuyuk Pass. See also note on p. 58,

189—No. 20—04——2

18 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHFRN ALASKA IN 1901.

were usually taken to show the character and relations of surrounding rock masses
and to supplement topographic sketches. :

So far as possible the geologic section was continuously examined, and, where
conditions permitted, detailed sketches and diagrammatic notes were made of

contacts, structures, mineral zones, and other important features.

ITINERARY AND TOPOGRAPHIC METHODS.

By W. J. Prrers.

Following is an extract from the letter of instructions from the Director of the
Survey:

PLAN OF OPERATIONS.

‘The object of the expedition under your charge is to execute a reconnaissance
survey from Bergman to the Arctic Ocean. The advance will be made by ascending
some tributary of the Koyukuk to the divide against which head streams flowing
northward to the Arctic Ocean, and thence down such a stream to the Arctic. The
return trip will be preferably overland over a route east of that traversed in reaching
the Arctic, so as to obtain as much information relating to the interior as possible.
If the main branch of the Colville is not descended, however, in going northward, it
will probably be advantageous to return along its course. If time or other circuni-
stances do not permit of the overland return, the most practicable alternative route
will probably be along the shore via Point Barrow, until the party may be picked up
by a vessel of the Revenue-Cutter Service or a steam whaler cruising in the Arctic.
If relief should not be obtained from the above sources, the journey should be con-
tinued southward until a vessel becomes available or the mining camps are reached.

““As the territory to be traversed is so entirely unknown, you are especially
instructed to secure all topographic and geographic information that can possibly
be obtained. Sights to all mountain peaks should be taken, distances estimated if
intersections are not practicable, and sketches made. In short, no opportunity
should be neglected for locating, however approximately, all features that can be
seen, especially in view of the fact that it is proposed to prepare a general map of
Alaska on the scale of about 40 miles to the inch, and that your party will probably
be the only one that will penetrate this region on a geographic mission for many years.

‘“You are further instructed to afford every facility to the geologist accom-
panying the party for the prosecution of his special work, and to consult with him
in regard to all important emergencies.”

In accordance with the above instructions I left Seattle February 9 on the steamer
Victorian, accompanied by three men—Gaston Philip, assistant, Tom Hunt, and
Charles Stuver. It had been arranged that the rest of the party, under Mr. Schrader,
should join us at Bergman before the thawing of the ice and snow. We arrived at
Skagway” February 15, where we were obliged to wait three days on account of
the snow blockade on the White Pass and Yukon Railway.

a1 wish here to make acknowledgment of the courteous treatment shown us by Mr. E. S. Busby, supervising officer
Canadian customs, on presentation of the letter of Mr. John McDougald, commissioner of customs (Canadian), furnished
me through the Director of the Geological Survey.

ITINERARY. 19

WHITE HORSE TO BERGMAN.

We left Skagway on February 18 and arrived the following day at White Horse,
the terminus of the railway. We found the thermometer at 55° below zero, but it
rose 30° before we started on our march. On February 21 we left White Horse with
335 pounds, principally instruments and personal baggage, on each of two sleds.
The first marches were made very short to avoid the lameness which results from
the vigorous exercise of untrained muscles.

Fifty-three road houses are distributed along the 369 miles of trail extending from
White Horse to Dawson. This stretch of trail was broad and hard packed by
pedestrian, dog, and horse. Considerable heavy freighting was being carried on by
horse sled. Below Dawson the trail was narrow, in deep snow, and no wider than a
dog sled. From Dawson to Eagle, a distance of 106 miles, there are but four stop-
ping places, while farther down the Yukon they are even less frequent and usually
not so well supplied, owing to their remoteness and to the scarcity of patrons. It is
240 miles by winter trail from Eagle to Fort Yukon, and along this stretch are scat-
tered 12 road houses. During the last portion of the journey, from Fort Yukon to
Bettles, a distance of 330 miles, there are no cabins, and we were dependent on our
own resources. The trail followed there had been made by some parties that preceded
us a few weeks, but owing to subsequent snowfalls it was frequently obliterated.
This trail followed Chandlar River to Granite Creek and extended up that stream
about 20 miles. It then led directly over the summit, crossed the South Fork of the
Koyukuk, again ascended a divide, and finally descended into Slate Creek, another
tributary of Koyukuk River. From Slate Creek to Bergman there had been much
travel by prospectors sledding their summer’s supplies up from Bergman.

The whole party stood the low temperature and arduous travel without bad
effects. Only woolen garments were worn, which were found to give ample pro-
tection while on the march. Wolf robes, one to each man, afforded a warm sleep.
Our principal discomfort was due to wet feet. Probably the best footwear for wet
snow and overflowing streams are mukluks, or the native boots made on the coast.

Spruce timber was found on all the river bottoms and extending up the tribu-
taries and gulches. Two short stretches, one on the divide between the Chandlar
and South Fork of the Koyukuk and the other on the divide between the South Fork
and the main Koyukuk, are above timber, but both of these were crossed in less
than one day, so that every night we had firewood and some sheltering spruce, though
it was small and scattered near the two divides.

Moose tracks were plentiful in the Chandlar Flats, and ptarmigan were occa-
sionally found along the trail, but no other game was seen.

20 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

We arrived at Bettles April 14, and were hospitably cared for by Mr. Turner,
the agent at this post. The following day we proceeded to Bergman to examine our

supplies, which had been sent in the previous season, and found them intact.
RECONNAISSANCE UP ALATNA RIVER.
The party was now divided into two parts for the purpose of reconnoitering a

route through the mountains to the Colville waters. Mr. Philip was placed in charge
of one of these, and, employing a native guide, ascended Alatna River“ about 90 miles,

to its eastern branch—the Kutuark. On May 5, his provisions becoming exhausted
and the increased flow of water betokening a break-up, he turned back, after climbing
a mountain near the mouth of the Kutuark, from which the head of this stream
appeared to be completely surrounded by high mountains. The northern limit of
timber appeared a few miles above the confluence of the streams. Up the western
branch the timber extended as far as the valley floor could be seen.

Returning, Mr. Philip reached Bergman May 10. On this trip a few natives on
their winter hunt for caribou were encountered.

RECONNAISSANCE UP JOHN RIVER.

On April 23, with the remainder of the party anda native, I started up John River.
The first day’s march was over the lowlands and directly toward a gap in the moun-
tains. This direct course avoided many large bends in the river, and by night we
camped close to the foot of the mountains, having made 16 miles. April 24 we
entered the mountains, which rose from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the valley, and
traveled over the frozen stream, with but few cut-offs. On this trip we overtook a
native woman, whose four previous camps we had passed. She was subsisting on
rabbits that she caught with primitive traps. Camp was made after a march of
10 miles. On April 25 overflows were frequently encountered in the morning, but
in the afternoon we were again in deep snow, which was soft, and necessitated the
breaking of a trail. This was very tedious work, as the trail had to be traveled
several times by all of the party and tramped down with snow shoes before it would
support the sled. Sixteen miles were made in this day’s march. Natives were seen
in the afternoon. On April 26 we were traveling in soft, deep snow, and after going
10 miles were glad to end the weary tramp. On April 27 more natives were seen,
who gave us the welcome information that little snow was ahead of us, and but little
further on was the bare ice of the frozen stream. In the afternoon another camp of
natives was found, and shortly after we ran onto bare ice, which was a great relief
to man and dog. The day’s march was 17 miles. On April 28 the traveling was on
bare ice. Early in the morning we reached timber line and took on a supply of fire-

a Called Allen River by Mendenhall in Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 10, 1902.

ITINERARY. 91

wood. Grass could be seen protruding through the snow. Wind drifts and marks
in the snow indicated very strong wind storms; indeed, we had been warned by the
natives last met to go into camp if a blow from the north came on. The pass was visi-
ble at the end of a march of 20 miles. I left camp standing and proceeded to explore
the pass, which appeared to be short and easily passable. It was impossible to esti-
mate correctly the length of portage for the canoes on account of the frozen condi-
tions. On April 30, being satisfied that the mountains could be crossed through this
pass, which I called Anaktuyuk, from the northward-flowing river that it leads to,
we started on the return to Bergman, which, with our now lightened sled, we reached
on the morning of May 3. During our absence Mr. Schrader had arrived with
the rest of the party, according to the original plan. He had found the trail again
covered with snow, and to make better progress had thrown away tent, stove, and
other articles.

On the reconnaissance up John River, about thirty natives—men, women,
and children—were counted. It is their custom to ascend the tributaries of the
Koyukuk in winter to hunt. Caribou is their principal source of food. They never
go beyond timber line, and it is very seldom that natives of the north coast come as
far south. When the waters run they build rafts and float down, bringing skins to
Bergman for trade.

It was now too late to move the cache of provisions with sleds, for the snow was
fast becoming soft and the streams were beginning to run. We therefore proceeded
to Bergman to await the breaking up of Koyukuk River, and spent the remaining
time in starting plane-table work in that vicinity. A base was measured on the river,
and four points had been occupied with plane table, when travel became impossible.

At Bergman there were three white men, and but one of these, Mr. Powers, the
agent, was there permanently. Not more than half a dozen natives live near the
trading post. Mr. Powers succeeded in keeping a horse all winter, feeding him
oatmeal and hay, made froma coarse native grass. Several horses were also wintered
at Bettles.

The cost of travel from Seattle to Bergman, via Skagway, during the winter, is
about $800 per man. The cost of freight from San Francisco to Bergman, by ocean
and river steamers, was $150 per ton.

CANOE TRIP FROM BETTLES TO POINT BARROW.

On May 29 the river ice broke, but jammed again inafew minutes. Italternately
moved and jammed until June 6, when the river became practically clear of ice. On
June 8 the river steamer Zue//a came down from winter quarters and carried the
party and outfit up again to Bettles. Preparations were immediately begun. for
ascending John River, and Lookout Mountain was occupied with the plane table.

22 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 190].

A horse was hired, to be used later: in packing across the divide, and T. M. Hunt
was instructed to provide himself with ten days’ provisions and proceed up the valley
of John River to good grazing, there to await the arrival of the party, which would
work up the river in canoes. The canoes started June 13, when the water was high
and very swift. Progress was best made by reaching out from the bow of the canoe,
clinging and hauling on projecting bough branches and snags (which is known as
*‘milking the brush”), and aiding the advance by the judicious use of a pole from
the stern. High water gradually decreased until June 27, from which time on poling
and tracking were more advantageous. Working canoes up this stream necessitated
constant wading in the water at a temperature of about 50°. No ill effects, however,
were observed in any of the party. Snow had by this time disappeared, except on
some of the highest mountains. Occasional stops of one day each were made to
ascend prominent points to carry on the mapping. The northern limit of spruce was
passed July 8. Beyond this was a thin growth of willows along the stream and its
tributaries. On July 9 we passed through a narrow gorge in which the stream was
very swift and many bowlders occurred. This was one of the most dangerous parts
of the river, and from this point to the camp of July 15 the river was a constant suc-
cession of rapids and dangerous rocks, and should not be descended in boats by any
one unfamiliar with it. Between camp July 15 and camp July 16 the stream is slug-
gish. Above the latter point it spreads out, becoming shallow and swift. From
camp July 17 the outfit was packed over by the men and horse to a small lake which
empties into the Anaktuvuk, and which I have called Cache Lake. Numerous small
lakes occur in the pass and along the sluggish parts of the stream.

Grayling abound in the lakes and in the pools that occur in the streams. Several
caribou were shot, and signs of goats were frequent on the mountain tops. Every-
thing having been packed over to Cache Lake, on July 22 mail and reports were
intrusted to a native, together with the horse, to take back to Bettles.

On July 24 the party started down the Anaktuyuk. About 4 or 5 miles above
camp July 28 the mountains end and the stream runs through rolling tundra ina
fairly straight course. The channel frequently spreads out and becomes so shallow
that wading had to be resorted to in order to lighten the canoes. Many caribou
were seen, and one was shot. A small grove of balm of gilead, consisting of about
a dozen trees, was passed August 3. Mosquitoes, which had been extremely annoy-
ing since June 14, had practically disappeared. Redtop grass was seen growing in
many places, particularly at camp August 5. Between camp August 6 and the
mouth of the Anaktuyuk willows became thicker, and some were several inches
in diameter. Among these were scattered a dozen or two balm of gilead, which,
growing to a height of about 30 feet, look gigantic in the absence of other timber.
The stream flows through a country that is almost flat, covered with moss, and dotted
with small lakes.

CANOE TRIP FROM BETTLES TO POINT BARROW. 23

From the camp of August 8 the bluffs of the Colville were seen, and on August 9
we ran into that river, which, at the confluence of the Anaktuvuk, is 12 feet deep
and about 800 feet wide, with a current running 4 miles an hour. High-water
marks were 10 feet above the stage of August 9. The water was fairly clear, but
increased in turbidity as we floated down. I believe this turbidity is due to the wash
from the bluffs, from which muddy little rivulets continually drip with the thawing
of ice. Five miles below the mouth of the Anaktuvuk a short stretch of rapid water
(6 miles an hour) occurs, in which bottom was touched at 23 feet in midstream.
Though it is possible that deeper water might have been found, I doubt if it would
have been more than 4 feet at that stage. Between the rapids, shown on the map
accompanying this report, the current was not over 2 miles an hour, and in them it
was not greater than 6 miles. The rapids shown are all very gentle, and average not
more than 100 yards in length. Four feet of water was the minimum found over all
of these swift places, except the one opposite Sentinel Hill,“ where the depth was
not over 3 feet. At high water, which probably occurs in June, all of these small
rapids would disappear. Good grass was found on ‘‘ Coal” Bluffs.

At Sentinel Hill the Colville divides and thence flows in two or more channels.
The one nearest the bluffs on the western side of the valley is the deepest. Twenty-
four miles below Sentinel Hill the end of the bluffs is reached, and the river, con-
taining four islands, runs in one channel through a flat whose surface is 10 to 15 feet
aboye sea level. The river gradually widens from 1,100 feet at the end of the bluff
to 5,000 feet at the head of the delta. The head of the delta, where a very small
tide is perceptible, was reached August 13. The main channel has a course N. 30° KE.
magnetic, and is the one farthest to the right, or the most easterly one. There was
not sufficient time to follow this to the sea. It is over 12 feet deep at the head of
the delta and apparently continues unbroken to the ocean. This is the only one that
would be nayigable for river steamers. In the endeavor to find the native village of
Nigaluk, several channels were explored and the delta was roughly mapped, but it
being evident that we had passed the westernmost or left-hand channel, on which
Nigaluk is probably located, and not having time to return, we put out to sea. I
estimated the delta to be about 20 miles wide.

Tracks of caribou were numerous on the delta, and later I learned that caribou
frequent the coast to avoid the clouds of mosquitoes in the interior. On August 18
we left the delta and its mud flats and followed the coast, which varies from a low
beach to ice bluffs 10 to 20 feet high. A camp of natives was seen on the delta, but
little information could be obtained from them. They appeared friendly, but were
not communicative. On August 20 these natives overtook us, followed by about a
dozen umiaks, each containing from three to six persons—men, women, and children—
on their way to Point Barrow. As they appeared to weather seas that we dared not

4 An isolated hill, so named on account of being a prominent landmark.

24 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

attempt in our canoes, and as our time was getting short and storms were brewing,
I decided to induce these natives to take us in their boats.

Along the coast we were dependent for firewood on the ocean drift. This is
abundant in places, but at several camps ‘there was barely sufficient for our need.
It does not compare in quantity with that found on the southern coast of Seward
Peninsula. Among the logs, which were principally spruce, were noticed a redwood
and one or two pines. Drinking water is to be had almost everywhere along the
coast, even on the small islands, provided they are covered with moss. It is, how-
ever, often brackish.

After losing several days by storms, we arrived at Point Barrow on the evening
of September 3, and at Cape Smyth about midnight. Mr. Brauer, agent of the
whaling station here, gave us a warm welcome. <A steam whaler had left a day or
two before, and as no more vessels were expected to pass the point, he supplied us
with a whaleboat with which to sail to Cape Hope, where he thought we would likely
catch a vessel bound home. We started on September 5, as there was danger of the
ice pack being driven in if the wind shifted to the northwest or north.

The coast from Cape Smyth to Cape Beaufort is very low, with a sandy beach,
back of which bluffs rise rarely to a height of 75 feet. No high land could be
discerned in the interior. Except when prevented by the storms of September 6, 9,
11, 12, and 13, we were constantly working toward Cape Hope, sailing, rowing,
or towing.

In the afternoon of September 18 we sighted the funnel and masts of a steamer
lying off the coal veins east of Cape Lisburne, and about dark, there being a perfect
calm, this steamer, which proved to be the Arctic, was boarded. She was taking on
a load of coal for Nome, and on the night of September 21 she steamed away, arriy-
ing at Nome September 26. Here one of the regular steamers was taken for Seattle,
where the party was disbanded.

METHODS OF TOPOGRAPHIC WORK.

Atintervalsof about 10 miles prominent points adjacent to the river were ascended
for topographic sketching on the plane table. Two signals, usually stone cairns
about 6 or 7 feet high, were left on each of these points to mark the ends of the base
which was to be used in determining the distance to the next station. This next
station was usually selected first, so that the base might be laid off at right angles to
a line joining the two stations, or as nearly so as the shape of the summit would
permit. The direction of the base was always projected on the plane-table sheet to
permit of the measurement of the angle between it and a line to any other station
that might be occupied. The length of the base was from 300 to 600 feet, and was
chosen with regard to the estimated distance and direction of the next station so as to

PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS. 25

subtend an angle of about 22 minutes, which was measured with the micrometer
screw of the alidade. ;

Between stations a traverse of the river was made with prismatic compass and
stenometer. The plat of the traverse was transferred to the plane-table sheet
and fitted to the located points. The orientation of the plane table was controlled
by the azimuths, determined with the theodolite when necessary.

The method of plane-table locations was followed from Bergman to a point 20
miles beyond the summit, and, judging from intersections on points on either side of
the route, it was satisfactory and sufficiently accurate for the publication scale of the
accompanying exploration map. The compass and stenometer were used from a
point 20 miles beyond the summit to the end of the traverse, on the Arctic coast.

PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.

Soon after the discovery of America interest was awakened in, and attempts began
to be made to find, a northwest passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and
these led directly or indirectly to explorations of Alaska and adjacent regions. The
discovery of the northwestern side of America, and especially of the Arctic coast
of Alaska, was preeminently the work of the English and the Russians.

For the benefit of the reader who may desire to extend his knowledge on this sub-
ject, a list of works from which much of the information here compiled has been
drawn is given at the end of this chapter. Though the following sketch aims to
note the more important of these discoveries and explorations, it does not attempt
to be exhaustive.

Samuel Hearne,” of the Hudson Bay Company, reached the Arctic Ocean as early
as 1770 by way of Coppermine River, in longitude approximately 110°. His jour-
ney was considered as demonstrating the practicability of reaching the coast by this
route and means of travel, and, what was of much greater importance, the absence of
any waterway connecting Hudson Bay with the Pacific Ocean.

In 1778 Captain Cook’s expedition,’ composed of the vessels Resolution and Dis-
covery, in search of the northeast passage, explored the northwest coast from Norton
Sound to latitude 70° 41’, a little north of Icy Cape, where they were obliged by the
ice pack to turn back. The conclusion reached at this time (and the correct one it
atterwards proved to be) was that no passage existed south of latitude 65°, and that
it must be sought north of Iey Cape.

In 1789 Sir Alexander Mackenzie, a member of the Northwest Trading Com-
pany, descended to the mouth of the great river which bears his name. In its delta he

aHearne, Samuel, A Journey from Hudson’s Bay to the Northern Ocean, Dublin, 1796, p. 162. See also Barrow’s
Arctic Regions, p. 300.
+ Cook’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 3 vols., London, 1785, vol. 2, pp. 446-465.

26 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

located Whale Island, so named by him from the large number of white whales
observed at this point. He also made observations on the tide of the Arctic Ocean.
His descriptions and locations of channels were later found by Sir John Franklin to
be very complete and accurate.

In the year 1815 Lieutenant von Kotzebue,“ of the Russian Navy, penetrated
Bering Strait and explored the sound which bears his name, together with the north-
west region as far north as Cape Lisburne. After this time we have no record of
this part of the coast until the voyage of Captain Beechey, who explored the larger
part of the entire Arctic coast in the years 1825-1828.

In 1826, under the auspices of the Earl of Bathurst, Sir John Franklin descended
the Mackenzie to its mouth and surveyed the coast line to the west as far as Return
Reet, near longitude 149° W. Acting in conjunction with Franklin, Captain Beechey,
of the Blossom, had entered Bering Strait and sent a boat expedition in charge of
Master Thomas Elson, which in the same year explored the coast as far north as
Point Barrow, the northwesternmost point of the American continent.” The explora-
tion of the intervening distance, consisting of 160 miles of coast line, between the
points reached by Beechey and Franklin on the west and east, respectively, was sub-
sequently completed, and the north coast of the continent was outlined about ten
years later, in 1837, by Dease and Simpson, by whom many of the natural features
along this section of the coast were named.

In his westward advance beyond the mouth of the Mackenzie, Franklin was the
first to round the great chain of the northern Rocky Mountains, consisting here, as
he perceived from the coast, of several parallel ranges. These are the Richardson,
Buckland, British, Romanzoff, and Franklin mountains. According to Dease and
Simpson the portion of the Rocky Mountains visible from the coast does not termi-
nate, as conjectured by Franklin, in the Romanzoff chain, but after a brief interval
the Romanzoft Mountains are succeeded on the west by another chain, less lofty but
equally picturesque, which was named by Dease and Simpson the Franklin Moun-
tains. These mountains present a precipitous front to the coast.

In the days of these earlier discoverers the above-named parallel ranges, rising
from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, were apparently supposed to be the final termination of the
Rocky Mountains extending northward from the United States and British Columbia.
The great extension of the main axis to the west along the sixty-eighth parallel and
its development into a range nearly 100 miles in breadth and 6,000 feet high were
unknown. Not until the performance of the work forming the basis of this report
was a correct idea of this obtained.

At the same time that Franklin was conducting his discoveries westward along
the coast, a detachment of his party proceeded from the mouth of the Mackenzie

aDall, W. H., Alaska and its Resources, London and Boston, 1870, pp. 329-330.
b Voyage of Captain Beechey to the Pacific and Behring’s Straits, London, 1836.

PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS. Dl.

eastward, connecting their explorations with those previously made by him near the
mouth of Coppermine River.

In the meantime, the Russians, having obtained a foothold in Bering Sea and on
the coast to the south, pushed up the Kwikpak, or lower Yukon, which Malakoff,“ a
creole, explored in 1838 as far north as Nulato, below the mouth of the Koyukuk,
where he built a small post for the purpose of trading with the natives. In 1842
Lieut. A. Zagoskin, of the Russian Imperial Navy, explored the Koyukuk for 50
miles or more aboye its mouth, but explorations on the upper Koyukuk were not
made until some time after much of Yukon River had been ascended and explored.

While the aboye explorations were being conducted along the coast during the
first half of the century, in the interior the pioneers of the Hudson Bay Company,
representing the English, pushed still farther northwestward from their remote out-
posts on the Mackenzie into regions then unknown, in quest of new fields in
which to ply their fur trade. lLiard and Dease rivers were explored, and in
1842 Robert Campbell descended the Pelly to its confluence with the Lewes, where
Fort Selkirk was subsequently established in 1849. Also in 1842 J. Bell? crossed
the divide from the Peel River drainage into that of the Porcupine, and in 1847
McMurray descended the Porcupine to its mouth and founded Fort Yukon, on the
banks of the river of this name, under the Arctic Circle, whence trade was opened
with the natives. Not until two years later, however, when Campbell descended the
Yukon from Fort Selkirk, was it learned that the two posts were on the same stream.
The river was not ascended to this point from the western coast, however, until 1863,
when the trip was made by Ivan Simonson Lukeen, an employee of the Russian
American Company, and the Yukon of the English and the Kwikpak of the Russians
were found to be identical. Not until then was it fully realized that the Yukon
flowed into Bering Sea instead of northward into the Arctic Ocean by way of the
Colville, as had been supposed, and as was represented on the maps of our school
geographies until and even subsequent to that time.

In 1849 Lieutenant Pullen, of H. M.S. Herald, made a boat voyage from Bering
Strait to the Mackenzie, and in 1850 the boats of the Plover, starting from Cape Lis-
burne, reached Bailey Island, in longitude 127°. In 1850-1854 Commander Captain
McClure, of H. M.S. Znvestigator, proceeded from Bering Strait to Banks Island
and Lancaster Strait, where the crew finally abandoned the ship in the ice, and by
walking over the ice to Beechey Island discovered and made the northwest passage.
Also, in 1850 and 1855, Capt. R. Collinson, of the Hnterprise, sailed from Bering
Strait to near King William Island, in Victoria Strait, whence, being short of coal,

bSpurr, J. H., Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898,
p. 104.

8 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901,

tain Maguire, wintered at Point Barrow, in Moores Harbor, whence members of the
expedition made journeys southwestward to Tasiak River and eastward along the
coast to Return Reef, in longitude 150°, Maguire himself going as far as Smith
Bay.

In the autumn of 1860 Robert Kennicott,“ crossing from the Mackenzie, arrived
at Fort Yukon, and in the spring of 1861 descended the Yukon as far as Small
Houses.

In 1865 J. T. Dyer and R. D. Cotter,’ in connection with the Western Union
Telegraph expedition, are reported to have made a very creditable exploration of the
country between Norton Bay and the mouth of Koyukuk River, on the Yukon.

In 1866 Ketchum and Laberge, explorers for the Western Union Telegraph
expedition, ascended the Yukon to Fort Yukon with Lukeen, and later, in 1867, con-
tinued their investigations up the river as far as Fort Selkirk.

In 1867 Dr. W. H. Dall, at first in connection with the Western Union Telegraph
expedition and later at his own expense, in descending the Yukon, visited the Koyu-
kuk. Though Dall’s work was necessarily of a pioneer character, his contributions
to our knowledge of the interior of Alaska were very important, as they gave the
first clue to the geology of the Yukon Basin.

Astronomic observations made at Nulato by Capt. C. W. Raymond, who ascended
the Yukon in 1869, materially aided in more accurately locating the mouth of the
Koyukuk, also the position of the upper Koyukuk, which until recently rested
largely upon the astronomic determinations subsequently made by him in the same
year at Fort Yukon.

The first whaler is reported to have entered the Arctic Ocean in 1848, and since
then whaling has there been an important industry.

From 1881 to 1883 a signal service station, in charge of Lieut. P. H. Ray, of
the United States Army, was maintained at Point Barrow, which was one of the
polar magnetic stations located by international agreement. The report of this
expedition and station gives statistics and valuable tables containing results of
meteorologic, astronomic, magnetic, zoologic, ethnologic, geographic, and some
marine observations. In making inland explorations, a part of the upper course of
Meade River was mapped and the Meade River Mountains were discovered.

In 1884 additional valuable information on northwest Alaska, including the
Kowak River region, was gathered on the cruise of the Corwin, by Capt. M. A. Healey
and officers of the United States Revenue Service. Their work was subsequently
continued by various other revenue cutters, some of which have visited the northwest
coast of Alaska almost every year. Of these visits the most notable is probably that
of the U. 8. revenue cutter Bear, which sent out the winter overland expedition of

a Smithsonian Reports, 1861, pp. 89-40; 1864, p. 417.
> Dall, W. H., Alaska and 1ts Resources, London and Boston, 1870, p. 277.

PREVIOUS EXPLORATIONS. 29

Lieutenant Jarvis and Drs. Call and Lopp to Point Barrow, for the relief of the
whalers in the Arctic Ocean. These investigations, including the explorations of
Kowak River, by Lieut. J. C. Cantwell, and of the Noatak, by Asst. Engineer
S. B. McLanigan, of the Corwin, were continued in 1885.

In 1885 Lieut. H. T. Allen, of the United States Army, leaving the Yukon by way
of the Tozikakat route, reached the Koyukuk near the Arctic Circle and ascended it
to near the sixty-seventh parallel. In the same year a detachment of Lieutenant
Stoney’s expedition crossed from his camp on the Kowak to the lower Koyukuk by
way of the Dakli.

During the winter and spring of 1886 further explorations were made on the
Arctic slope by Lieut. W. C. Howard,¢ who, on a trip that was productive of
important results, crossed from Stoney’s camp on the Kowak to the head of the
Colville, Chipp (Ikpikpuk) River, and thence by way of the head of Dease Inlet
to Point Barrow. Howard’s trip showed that a low pass leads through the moun-
tains from the Kowak to the Noatak; that another leads from the Noatak to the
upper waters of the Colville, and that on the upper Colville in the region of
longitude 156° W. the mountains are succeeded on the north by an undulating
country, in which the river has a winding course, with steep banks. Farther north-
ward, down Chipp (Ikpikpuk) River toward the coast, the undulating country is
reported to give way to a ‘‘dead level waste of tundra.”

To the east, Mr. R. G. McConnell, of the Canadian geological survey, descended
the Mackenzie in 1888 on geologic reconnaissance work as far as the mouth of Peel
River, near the sixty-eighth parallel, whence he crossed by way of the Porcupine
to the Yukon.

In 1889 Mr. I. C. Russell, who as geologist accompanied the Alaskan—Northwest
Territory boundary survey parties sent out by the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey, ascended the Yukon from its mouth to its source, and soon after published
valuable geologic and geographic notes on his observations made along the route.

In 1890 the Arctic coast opposite Herschel Island was visited by Mr. J. H. Tur-
ner, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, in connection with the inter-
national boundary survey between the Canadian Northwest Territory and Alaska.
On this trip Mr. Turner made a geographic reconnaissance from the Porcupine
across the Davidson Range, following the one hundred and forty-first meridian,
which resulted in a material contribution to our knowledge of the mountains and
country in this region.

In 1892-1894 Mr. Frank Russell, under the auspices of the lowa State Univer-
sity, descended the Mackenzie, principally to make ornithologic and ethnologic
investigations.?

aStoney, Lieut. George M., Naval Explorations in Alaska, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md., 1900.
> Russell, Frank, Explorations in the Far North, published by the University of Iowa, 1898.

30 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

In 1896 extensive geographic and especially geologic contributions were made
to our knowledge of the Yukon Basin by a United States Geological Survey party
in charge of Mr. J. E. Spurr,“ who descended the river and mapped the gold- and
coal-producing districts.

Owing to the extended interest taken in Alaska by reason of the Klondike dis-
coveries, during the years 1897 and 1898 the Koyukuk? was visited by 1,200 or more
prospectors, miners, and adventurers, many of whom ascended the river by steam-
boat nearly to the Arctic Circle. Some of these subsequently explored and pros-
pected various tributaries as far up as latitude 67° 30’. Many spent the winter of
1898-99 here. During approximately the same period, 1897-98, some of the pros-
pectors who had ascended the Kowak crossed the divide to the northeast and reached
the Koyukuk by way of the Alatna.

In 1899 a United States Geological Survey party,’ conducting a reconnaissance
traverse from Fort Yukon to Nulato, ascended Chandlar River, and, crossing
from its headwaters, mapped the Koyukuk from near the head of its middle fork,
near the sixty-eighth parallel, to the mouth of the river at the Yukon.

During the summer of 1900 a party of prospectors crossed the divide between the
head of the Koyukuk and the Arctic drainage by way of Dietrich River and descended
the Arctic slope along the one hundred and fiftieth meridian to a point probably ¢
little north of the sixty-ninth parallel. From a personal interview with members
of this party the writer infers that the country is passable by pack train. It is,
however, mountainous and is reported to contain some glaciers of considerable
size, but these are probably valley glaciers only. To the east of this the country
has been traversed by deserters from whaling vessels at Herschel Island, who made
their way in a destitute condition from the coast to the Yukon by way of Chand-
lar River. From accounts given by some of these men in a personal interview, the
writer obtained the impression that this part of the region is largely a waste of rug-
ged mountains, containing some glaciers, which are probably confined to the heads of
the valleys.

During the season of 1901 a geologic reconnaissance survey was also made from
Fort Hamlin, on the Yukon, by way of Dall, Koyukuk, Alatna, and Kowak
rivers, to Kotzebue Sound by a party in charge of Mr. W. C. Mendenhall.¢

During the years 1901 to 1903 the region lying between the Colville Basin
and the international boundary was visited, it is reported, by S. J. Marsh and
T. G. Carter, two prospectors who landed at Camden Bay in the fall of 1901, and,

aSpurr, J. E., Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898.

>Schrader, F. C., Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-
first Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 458.

ec Op. cit.

aMendenhall, W. C., Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska: Prof, Paper U.S. Geol, Survey
No. 10, 1902.

CHRONOLOGIC LIST OF WORKS EXAMINED. 31

proceeding inland during the following winter, prospected without success on
Kugrua River, about 90 miles from the coast, during the summer of 1902, where
they remained in camp during the next winter, in latitude approximately 69°,
longitude 146°.

Mr. Marsh reports that this section of the country is barren or timberless, and
consists largely of tundra swamps and niggerheads, underlain by rocks which he
regards as a geologically young and nonmineral-bearing limestone formation. The
country is reported to be plentiful in game, of which caribou, bear, wolves, foxes,
and ptarmigan are the most important, the latter being very abundant. Kugrua
River, which flows northward into the Arctic Ocean, is estimated to be about 280
miles long. Besides the Kugrua, four other rivers of considerable size are reported
to enter the ocean between the Turner and the Colville.

In the spring of 1903 Mr. Marsh crossed the divide to the south of the Kugrua,
where he reports that he found a mineralized zone on the headwaters of Chandlar
River, which stream he descended to the Yukon.

During the summer of 1903, it is reported, a prospecting party, of which James
L. Reed and Walter Lucas were members, crossed from the Kowak by way of the
headwaters of the Noatak and of the Alatna, a tributary of the Koyukuk, to the
Killik, a tributary of the upper Colville, which they descended to its mouth. The
Killik is said to transport much floating ice, to be about 100 miles long, and to have
many rapids in the lower 50 miles of its course. They then explored the Colville
for a distance of 175 miles below the mouth of the Killik and for 50 miles above it,
and found this section of the Colville to be 400 to 500 yards wide and navigable,
with a current of about 6 miles an hour. The topography of this part of the basin
is reported to be undulating, with low hills, as described by Howard, and the rocks
to consist of a sandstone formation in which thick veins of bituminous coal crop out
along most of the creeks. This coal was burned by the prospectors in their camp
fires. As no trace of gold was found, the formation is inferred to be probably non-
auriferous.

Excepting willows, which occur along the streams, and are often of large size,
the country is timberless; there is no spruce. Game is present and caribou are
plentiful.

CHRONOLOGIC LIST OF WORKS EXAMINED.
1784. Coox, James. A voyage to the PacificOcean * * * for making discoveries in the northern
hemisphere. 3 vols. Vol. 2. London. 4°. 421, 548, and 556 pp.
1796. Hearne, Samuret. A journey from Prince of Wales’s fort, in Hudson’s Bay, to the Northern
Ocean * * * in the years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772. Dublin. 8°. 459 pp., 5 maps,
1801. Te Sir ALExANDER. Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Laurence through the

continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific oceans, in the years 1789 and 1793, 4°,
yili, cxxxii, 412 pp., 3 maps, 1 pl. London,

1883.

1884.

1885.

1886.

1887.

1889.

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Koizesur, Lieutenant Orro von. <A voyage of discovery into the South Sea and Bering
Straits, * * * 1815-1818. 3 vols. Vol. I, pp. 187-240. London. 8°. xvi, 358, 442,
433 pp., 7 maps, 7 pl.

FRANKLIN, Sir Jonn. Narrative of a second expedition to the shores of the polar sea in the
years 1825, 1826, and 1827. Philadelphia. 8°. 318 pp., 1 map.

Berecuey, F. W. Narrative of the yoyage of the Blossom to the Pacific Ocean and Bering
Straits. London.

BEECHEY, F. W. Voyage of Captain Beechey to the Pacific and Behring’s Straits, 1825-1828.
London.

Smrpson, THomas. Narrative of the discoveries of the north coast of America effected by the
officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company during the years 1836-1839. London. 8°. xix, 419
pp., 2 maps.

Moore, Commander T. E. L. General proceedings of Commander T. E. L. Moore, of H. M. S.
Plover, through Bering Straits and toward Mackenzie River, 1848-49. British Blue Books.
London.

SHitiinciaw, JoHn J. Narrative of Arctic discovery from the earliest period up to the present
time. London.

McC urge, Roperr. Cruise of the Investigator, by Captain McClure. Blue Books, Accounts, and
papers. Navy. Vol. 42.

British Blue Books. Arctic expeditions, 1854-55. Vol. 35.

ARMSTRONG, ALEXANDER, M. D., R. N. A personal narrative of the discovery of the northwest
passage. * * * London. 8°. xxxii, 616 pp., 1 pl., 1 map.

Kennicorr, Ropert. Exploration of the Hudson’s Bay territory. In Smithsonian report, 1861,
pp. 59-60. 8°.

Ricuarpson, Sir Jonny. The polar regions. Edinburgh. 8°. ix, 400 pp., 1 map, 1 pl.

Kirsy, W. W. A journey to the Youcan, Russian America. In Smithsonian report, 1861. pp.
416-420. 8°.

Dati, W. H. Explorations in Russian America. American Journal of Science, 2d ser., vol. 45,
pp. 96-99. 8°.

Wuymper, FrepericK. Travel and adventure in the Territory of Alaska. * * * New York.
8°. xvix, 353 pp., | map, 16 pl. German edition: Alaska. Reisen und Erlebnisse in hohen
Norden. ‘Translated by Dr. Friedrich Steger. Braunschweig, 1869. 8°. 1 map, 16 pl.

Dati, Wriu1am H. Alaska and its resources. London and Boston. 8°. xii, 628 pp., 13 pl.

Raymonp, Capt. CHartes W. Report of a reconnaissance of the Yukon River, Alaska Territory,
July to September, 1869. By Capt. Charles W. Raymond, Corps of Engineers, U. 8. Army.
Senate, Executive documents, No. 12. 42d Congress, Ist session. 8°. 112 pp.

Cruise of the revenue steamer Corwin in Alaska and the northwest Arctic Ocean in 1881. Notes
and memoranda: Medical and anthropological, botanical, ornithological. Washington. 4°.
120 pp., 18 pl.

Hooper, Capt. C. L. Report of the cruise of the U. 8. revenue steamer Thomas Corwin in the
Arctic Ocean, 1881. Washington. 4°. 147 pp., 16 pl.

Ray, Lieut. P. H. Report of the international polar expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, 1881-
1883. Executive documents, No. 44, House of Representatives, Forty-eighth Congress,
second session. 4°. 695 pp., 22 pl., 2 maps.

Turner, L. M. Contributions to the natural history of Alaska. Results of investigations made
chiefly in the Yukon district and the Aleutian Islands; conducted under the auspices of the
Signal Service, United States Army, extending from May, 1874, to August, 1881. Washington,
4°, 226 pp., 26 pl.

Bancrort, Huserr Howe. History of Alaska, 1730-1885. The works of Hubert Howe Bancroft.
Vol. 33. San Francisco. 8°. 775 pp., 1 map.

Heatey, Capt. M. A. Report of the cruise of the revenue steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean
in the year 1885. Washington. 4°. 102 pp., 42 pl., 3 maps.

Auxen, Lieut. Henry T. Report of an expedition to the Copper, Tanana, and Koyukuk rivers,
in the Territory of Alaska, in the year 1885. Washington. 8°. 172 pp., 29 pl., 5 maps.

Heauey, Capt. M. A. Report of the cruise of the revenue marine steamer Corwin in the Arctic
Ocean in the year 1884. Washington. 4°. 128 pp., 40 pl.

POPULATION AND CONDITIONS. 33

1890.- McConnett, R. G. Report on an exploration in the Yukon and Mackenzie basins, N. W.T.
Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada. Report 1888-89. New series 4. Mon-
treal. 8°. 145 pp.

1890. Russert, Israrn Coox. Notes on the surface geology of Alaska. Geological Society of
America, Bull. I, pp. 99-162.

1891. Russert, Isrant Cook. An expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska. National Geographic
Magazine, vol. 3, pp. 53-204, 12 pl., 7 maps. 8°.

1892. Report of the superintendent of the U. 8. Coast and Geodetic Survey, fiscal year ending June,
1891. Part 1. Division of Alaska, pp. 82-96. Washington. 4°.

1892. Dani, Witram Heatey, and Harris, GILBERT Dennison. Correlation papers. Neocene. Bull.
U.S. Geol. Survey No. 84. Washington. 8°. Alaska, pp. 232-268, 1 map. ;

1894. Knowxton, F. H. A review of the fossil flora of Alaska, with descriptions of new species.
Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., vol. 17, pp. 207-240. 1pl. (No. 998.) Washington. 8°.

1898. Spurr, J. E. Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska. Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol. .
Survey, 1896-97, pt. 3. Washington. 8°. pp. 87-392, 8 pl., 14 maps.

1898. Russet, FRANK. Explorations in the far North. Being a report of an expedition under the
auspices of the University of Iowa during the years 1892, 1893, and 1894. Published by the
university. 8°. vii, 290 pp., 22 pl., 1 map.

1899. Report of the cruise of the U. 8. revenue cutter Bear and the overland expedition for the relief
of the whalers in the Arctic Ocean from November 27, 1897, to September 13, 1898. Wash-
ington. 8°. 144 pp., 60 pl., 1 map.

1900. Scuraper, Frank CHarues. Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandlar and
Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899. Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol. Survey, 1899-1900,
pt. 2. Washington. 8°. pp. 441-486, 9 pl., 1 map.

1900. Sronry, Lieut. Grorcr M., U.S. Navy. Naval explorations in Alaska. U.S. Naval Institute,
Annapolis, Md. viii, 105 pp., 7 pl., 8 maps.

1902. MernNpDENHALL, WALTER CurrRAN. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska,
by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, and Kowak rivers. Prof. Paper U. 8. Geol. Survey No. 10.
Washington. 4°. 68 pp., 6 pl., 4 maps.

POPULATION AND CONDITIONS.
ON THE KOYUKUK.

WNatives.—So far as can be judged, there are about 100 native inhabitants on the
upper Koyukuk. The United States census for 1900 places the population of Peavey
village, near the South Fork of the Koyukuk, at 35. The settlements of the Koyukuk
natives, each consisting usually of a few cabins and tents, are sparsely scattered along
the river from below the Arctic Circle to the sixty-seventh parallel of latitude. They
are generally located at the mouth of some tributary stream, as in the case of Alatna
River, Pickarts Creek, and Kanuti River. Their village at Bettles, which is larger
than most others, forms an exception to the above rule, and exemplifies the disposi-
tion of the natives to remain near a trading post and the abode of white men.

At the post the natives are frequently employed by the whites for boating, sledding,
which, added
to what they get of game and fish, make up their living. They take but little interest

and other work, for which service they receive provisions and clothing,
in prospecting or mining. Apart from the partial sustenance they procure at the
post, their chief source of food and clothing is the wild Alaskan reindeer or caribou,
bear, salmon, whitefish, rabbits, grouse, and ptarmigan.

189-—No. 20—04——8

34 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

The Koyukuk country is also visited by the Kowak natives from the northwest,
a more hardy and industrious race than the Koyukuks.

Whites.—After the exodus of the thousand or more inexperienced adventurers
who in the Klondike rush reached the upper Koyukuk in the fall of 1898, wintered
there, and disappeared from the country almost with the ice when navigation opened
in the following spring, about a hundred sturdy men, mostly prospectors and miners
who had arived with the influx the preceding fall, remained. Stimulated by the dis-
covery of placer gold, they continued to prospect and began to mine some during the
summer and engaged to some extent in development work during the following
winter. In the meantime, especially in the months of February and March, 1900, as
the reports of the presence of gold became authenticated, many people from various
camps along the Yukon were attracted thither. This materially increased the mining
activity of the district, which in a general way has continued to the present time; so
that in 1901-2 about 200 white people, mostly miners and prospectors, wintered
there, and at present” (1903-+) they number about 350, the most of whom are pros-
pecting or doing development work about the mines. Besides the people who winter
there, many others reside there during the summer only, while working their claims.
Since the discovery of gold the wage for the district has been $12aday. Ground
that will not yield this amount or more is not worked. Board is $6 a day.

Transportation and means of travel.—Since 1900 there have been two supply
posts? in the country, Bergman and Bettles, both operated by the Northern Com-
mercial Company, successor to the well-known Alaska Commercial Company. Of
these posts, the lower and usually the best stocked is Bergman, at the head of
steamboat navigation, near the Arctic Circle, and about 450 miles above the mouth
of Koyukuk River. At high water, however, in both spring and fall, steamboats
ascend with freight to Bettles, near the sixty-seventh parallel, about 80 miles above
Bergman. From Bettles, which has become the leading distributing point for the
country, the supplies are conveyed to the various mining camps, about 75 miles
farther up the river, by rowboat during the open season, or, preferably, by dog
sled in the winter. The country is also reached by pack train from the Yukon in
summer, by way of Chandlar River from Fort Yukon and by way of Dall River
from near Fort Hamlin, the distance in each case being about 150 miles. Pack
horses have been used to some extent during the last few summers, both for
packing and for working at the mines, but the heavy snowfall renders the horse unfit
for winter use. A shorter route than either of the above, leaving the Yukon ata
point about midway between the Dall and the Chandlar and about 100 miles from
Coldfoot direct, is now being investigated.

aInformation on present (1903) conditions in the district has been contributed by Mr. L. M, Prindle, a member of the
Survey, to whom it was recently furnished by miners en route from there to the States,
b Besides these, the company keeps a branch post at Coldfoot.

POPULATION AND CONDITIONS. 335)

The principal post-office is at Bettles, but mail is also distributed from Bergman
and from Coldfoot, at the mouth of Slate Creek. The judiciary of the district, con-
sisting of United States commissioner, probate judge, coroner, and recorder, is
located at Slate Creek, near the center of the mining region. Since early in 1901
these offices have been held by Judge D. A. Mackenzie, a former citizen of Seattle,
and one of the pioneers of the Koyukuk country.

The placers.—The gold placers are shallow deposits, well suited for development
by men of moderate means, who are able and willing to work. No one, however,
should go to this country intending to mine without taking with him a year’s supplies,
commonly known as a ‘grub stake,” or its money equivalent, about $1,000. The
mining period is confined to about 23 months in summer.

The placers now being worked extend over a large area, but occur chiefly on
the middle drainages of the Middle and North forks of Koyukuk River, where they
embrace a score or more creeks with their tributary gulches, some of which have
been discovered recently. The gold is coarse. The yield of the district to date, as
shown on page 102, is about $717,000.

ON THE ARCTIC COAST.

Natives.—With the exception of about a dozen white persons at Cape Smyth,
near Point Barrow, and some at Point Hope, the bleak Arctic coast of northern
Alaska is inhabited only by the Eskimo. From the international boundary to Point
Hope, through a distance of 800 miles, the native population aggregates about 1,500
persons. Their settlements are far apart. The principal ones are those of Point
Hope, Cape Smyth, Nuwuk at Point Barrow, Nigaluk at the mouth of the Colville, and
Barter Island about 150 miles farther east. There is also a settlement at Herschel
Island, east of the international boundary, and one in the Mackenzie River delta.
There is yearly communication between all these points. The census of 1900 credits
Point Hope village with a native population of 314, and the settlement of Cape
Smyth, probably including Nuwuk,? with a population of 623. That of Nigaluk, at
the mouth of the Colville, also probably amounts to about 200. There are also smaller
settlements or single huts at points along the coast, as at Wainwright Inlet and Icy
Cape, which are occupied in winter but generally vacated in summer.

The principal food supply contributed by the sea is derived from the whale,
walrus, seal, polar bear, and some small fish. Salmon, herring, smelt, and other
small fish are found in the inlets and rivers. During the summer season there are
large numbers of geese and ducks. The principal land quadrupeds are Alaskan
wild reindeer or caribou, brown and black bear, wolverine, marten, wolf, hare, lynx,

aNuwuk, meaning in Eskimo ‘the point,’’ is the name of the native village on Point Barrow proper, while the main
settlement of the white people, where are the trading post, mission, and post-office Barrow, is 9 miles southwest of Point
Barrow, at Cape Smyth, to which the name Point Barrow is generally though somewhat incorrectly applied.

36 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

fox, beaver, muskrat, and lemming. Of these, the most important for food and
clothing, and fortunately the most abundant, is the caribou, whose migrations the
natives follow. Berries and roots are also used for food by the natives.

As the coast region is destitute of timber, affording only a few dwarfed willows
at distant points along the rivers and inlets, the principal fuel of the natives is drift-
wood, most of which has been discharged into the ocean by the larger arctic rivers,
whose headwaters lie in forested regions. This is fairly well distributed along
the coast, but is not so abundant as often supposed.

The Alaskan Eskimos, so far as seen by the writer, are not the dwarfed race of
people they are often depicted. The men will probably average nearly 54 feet in
height and 150 pounds in weight. They are generally robust, muscular, and active,
inclining rather to angularity than to corpulence. The face may be described as flat,
broad, and rounded, witb high cheek bones. The eyes are brown or dark and the
hair is black. As a people they are relatively intelligent and industrious and appear
to be reasonably honest and moral. They are hospitable, good-humored, and cheerful,
apparently free from care, and generally patient and tactful in manner. Their feel-
ings have been described as lively but not lasting, and their temper is frequently
quick but placable. The conjugal and parental affection is strong. Though thankful
for favors, their gratitude is of short duration. ‘

Owing to its mixture with that of representatives of other races who reach the
arctic regions, principally on whaling vessels, the blood of the Alaskan Eskimo is
rapidly losing its purity. Children of pure Eskimo blood are reported to be very few.

Whites.—There are at present about a dozen white persons living at Point Barrow.
There is a mission school here at present, in charge of Doctor and Mrs. Call. A
trading post, maintained here by the Cape Smyth Whaling and Trading Company
for purposes of trade with the natives and whalers, is now in charge of Charles
Brauer. The keepers of the post engage to some degree in whaling, in which they
employ the natives. Early in April the whaling parties proceed by dog sled 10 or
more miles out over the ice to the open sea, where they pursue their calling in open
skin boats.

Point Barrow is almost annually visited by vessels of the United States Revenue
Service and by various whaling vessels. Tenof the latter are reported to have called
there during the summer of 1901. Whaling in this part of the Arctic Ocean has
been carried on with varying success by several companies during the last half
century, but is now reported to be on the decline. The pursuit is hazardous, as the
vessels are often caught in the ice pack.

In 190i effort was being made by a Japanese to establish a small trading post at
the mouth of Staines River, near the one hundred and forty-sixth meridian.

TABLE OF DISTANCES. ON

Transportation and means of travel.—Transportation and travel in this barren
region is principally by native skin boats along the coast and streams during the
short open summer, and by dog sled over the snow and ice in winter; though the
north coast Eskimos sometimes make trips into the interior from the mouth of
Chipp (kpikpuk) River southward to the head of Colville, Noatak, and Kowak
rivers. Their knowledge of the country in general is not definite beyond a distance
of 40 or 50 miles from the coast.

The native skin boats, or umiaks, are usually made of walrus skin. Being light,
flat-bottomed, and responsive to sail, they are admirably adapted for use in the
shallow waters of the deltas and tidal mud flats so characteristic of the Arctic coast,
and for small craft are very seaworthy.

TABLE OF DISTANCES.

The following table, prepared by Mr. Peters, is here inserted to afford an idea
of approximate distances along the route of travel.

Distances up John River.

New rs Alain Ih Gres cose cadsesosdocsesssabesee soocus so aer SooonoEab Eo pedodeREacESGooEaee 0
Io) Oye) ee A See BOCES eB Son COnSEE HCH EECO SCOR Cae SE BOSSE OSB DBAS aq eOO TS HeEErEEE Bes aaee 51
LEWIN Node 3 Se Se pea ee eee SOC Ee SESE RCE tse es Se ene eer Ser mere ee ee mI Sy EY yin eae fea cael ties 92
IOC a7 CORM® coco nasa coeccs soenneoske ase ese oeeodeau Perse cupscaossseneeoocundesagsuauocses 106
PAT AETV Kp PASS po aie ae ee rane a sneer oe cen eine Heese = eee ae eee eae 120
Cacheminak ue etna atta a See estes elute Ride SEER Re eeciseiaee Tete eee neh ee meres 125

(Sar @HLE ee Se Sakeoe cisenee pean Nadas sono dono anon abet eouEeane SSan eb Soob Seo ehuUAEseSosERe 0
(CAMO nc Seco bSac cecee seed oouco bee ebe suodasobopepoTessaesodesscesudpoSduoaSHeasdassEa 43
Smialteroverbalmuom Gilead ase ee eee soa ae tee ane eee ed ae seat ee i rem ee neon ene 54
WSs ss eee CeO sede ca Orns ABR eee SSIS ee Se oe Se ore ieee tee eae 63.
RwomathvevhuUts sa sen mee eee cess eee isis ere sis ena eee eo aeie ss eeeelemecceewateedascsne 101.5
MouthrofvAmaktuvuksRiyenmac ease aera eas ait ee aaa ine sic seen cis rises eemeee 114
LPTs Ra oo srinoc cocuhes se dodo panecy RS aSE eae ESte Ben Rca ES eat Sec Mann aca ce sae sere 117
Jee Gee SE ee cin aac Gee OHea Ren ae sae BR Seep aREHe ee SECO A Sees ese esr ee RB eteEM Sane memo 119.5
Rel NCA aoe esa nes ceasee needa eeetoabedoce Sance re Bas OawaaEbe Sa He nee HER Un au aa UE ORE 121
Sentinels Hill pss ee sees awe ae ate ete cst tees cee eiSteers Sea eeiand SIRS raya es 140
FEN GIG, eee rogeeecedesesdse Taqdonenqsonseosacodeanocn ar paUn deuaronccasedeseanasadhe 143
TERE LL ee eet aela aaa aca setae Mise ees ee ete este SSIES eine sie ie Mires a rciste Rie ieeiape esis a SSE 147
EGA PU Ges ase a ae asa a ee Se eee eisesecleinleicte eee Se en afyae = eae see ee teem e se 157
CGE TRE OTT yee ora eye Ie tere ey rae Net Se ee ae Sie ea ere otserneiee cee ene Sena 164
EV CALE OE CLC Ae a yest ttre a ae Det cpanel ce cia ree ae I Saree HE jl atl yes Cred at care ies oe 192.5
PAHANG OLGE BEA AEH a eG SEB OOO E SCREENS Se Ite esis Pape ls apa re Seg pe teem Be 212

aThese rapi is are short stretches of the river, running about 6 or 7 miles an hour, with no rough water.

wo
oO

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Distances along coast from Colville River to Cape Smyth.

Waddlefcharnel'of Colville River: .. 222s 22 sc cos feeds obec sein aseeosneeeen eee eee 0
Wrestichannel!! 5. 222-22 .ccecccee eons peeee ee ce ee cc ec se nn sos See oSe Sere ees aaa ee ee eae 17
Gapettalketaetee paso onan ani cos onaae cles wee eine iainicis wine ne eine See eee ae eee 67
RILG BOING Reseiece sete mak cleo aractccicictewte selsisic’s = Se tiaiciicts ieee cise ene PRO ene ae ee eee 90
Sra earn (Cs Sea69 ae so sede ase SoS se eo ea SSO aden oesa= boo seasose sa aesScassososoncs 137
MET 1 goed Gop Rede baa O aC RSD One 3 = SE SO RB RbOueUaEaAOnSen sacoremaSacacassscdesnbscs 189
LEWIN Fu Big) pci SOO SSO OHO O Ree R ORO SSOB AE neO aa ano Co RAssnomb nono aenennoncESessedasacoscsos 198
(CHRIST ANN soso 5SpodSSqoces ese sede SESS soenS so occesu ssosnScooonsenecoasensesesqossossese 207
GEOGRAPHY.

LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES.

The region here considered, as shown on the outline map, Pl. I, lies in northern
Alaska, mainly in its middle part. The area covered by the detailed maps (Pls. II
and III) trends in a nearly northward direction from the sixty-sixth parallel of
latitude approximately along the one hundred and fifty-second meridian to about the
seventy-first parallel at the Arctic coast, a distance of about 400 miles. The maps
are based entirely on observations made during the present exploration along
Koyukuk, John, Anaktuvuk, and Colville rivers, except that to these have been
added some notes of observations made by Mr. T. G. Gerdine and the writer in
the Koyukuk district in 1899.

Geographically the region consists of three well-marked provinces—the moun-
tain or middle, the Koyukuk or southern, and the Arctic slope or northern.

Orographically the mountain range, forming the middle province, is regarded
as a northwestern continuation of the Rocky Mountain system of the United States,
which, extending northwestward through Canada nearly to the Arctic Ocean, bends
abruptly to the west beyond the Arctic Circle and trends nearly westward across
northern Alaska, forming the great trans-Alaskan watershed between the Yukon
Basin on the south and the Arctic Ocean on the north. In its northward and finally
westward course the range forms a prominent feature of the ‘* concentric” orography
of Alaska, and embraces in its southward-facing curve the great basin of the Yukon
and the well-known, but not always well-defined, Yukon Plateau.

From its character and relation to the range, it seems probable that the gently
rolling plain bordering the mountains on the north and sloping gently to the Arctic
Ocean may be physiographically correlated with the Great Plains in western United
States, while the basin of the Yukon corresponds to the great Interior Basin of
the West, lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Range.

In their trend across Alaska the mountains agree with those in the Canadian
territory adjacent to the east, which extend nearly to Mackenzie River. In the

U5. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO.20_PL IL

TOPOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE MAP

NORTHERN ALASKA

along the 152% meridian from the 65% parallel to the Arctic Const by wary of
Korukuk, Job, Anaktuvuk.and Cobille rivers
WILLIAM J. PETERS, Topographer in charge
Additional information compiled from maps of
U,S Geological Survey, US. Army,US.Navy, and British Navy surwys,
Seale: G3t=50
Contour interval 300 feet
Drtism ia mexn ara tev

~ Probable drainage not murreyrd
Dates refer to campa
1801

HL,
te
Indian Village

ii tanent

GEOGRAPHY. 39

region north of the mountains, both in Canadian territory and in Alaska, the valleys
trend northward toward the Arctic coast, while those on the south trend southwest-
ward toward the Yukon.

Considering the country more in detail, we may note that the line of profile
extending through the region as a whole, in a north-south direction (see Pl. ID),
beginning on the south, at the sixty-sixth parallel, traverses for the first 120 miles of
its course an undulating country whose low, rounded hills attain elevations of from
1,000 to 3,000 feet. It then crosses a rugged range of mountains 100 miles wide and
about 6,000 feet high, whence it descends steeply to the elevation of 2,500 feet at the
inland edge of a gently northward-sloping plateau or rolling plains country (Pl. IV).
It then traverses this rolling plain for 80 miles, and thence passes for about 80 miles
through a nearly flat, tundra country or coastal plain to the Arctic coast.

To facilitate description each province will be treated separately.

MOUNTAIN PROVINCE.

The most striking is the middle or mountain province, which, as noted, consists
of an inland range of rugged mountains trending east and west across the field
between latitudes 67° 10’ and 68° 25’, as shown on the topographic map, Pl. II.
These mountains here have a width of about 100 miles and an average elevation of
about 6,000 feet.

It is unfortunate that the term Alaskan has already been applied to a local
range lying south of the Yukon, as that name would seem to be the most fitting term
by which to designate this portion of the great Rocky Mountain system, which here
extends east and west entirely across the northern part of the Territory. That these
mountains are regarded as a northwestward continuation of the Rocky Mountain
system has been noted. and the term Rocky Mountains has been broadly applied to
them on the map.

That portion of the main range lying between the international boundary and
Mackenzie River has been called the Davidson Mountains, while to the several
small groups on the north, between the main range and the coast, and extending from
the one hundred and thirty-eighth to the one hundred and forty-eighth meridians,
the names Richardson, Buckland, British, Romanzoff, and Franklin have been applied.
They are all probably more or less closely connected with the main range, from
the northern side of whose great bend to the southwest between Mackenzie River
and Colville River they seem to branch. So far as known they trend in a general
northwestward direction, but have a somewhat imbricated relationship, each group
tending to overlap the inland part of the one next to the west. They seem to rep-
resent the northward dying out of the range near the Arctic coast. If they are con-
sidered a part of the range in the region of the one hundred and forty-seventh

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

meridian, they give to it a breadth of about 210 miles. In elevation these groups

Ears

Stream

Cape Dyer

}scatever

Massive limestone

Cape Lewls

Limestone

Fie, 1.—Sketch section of supposed Paleozoic rocks on the coast south of Cape Lisburne.

lie generally between 2,000 and 4,000 feet, while the height of the
main range near the international boundary is from 5,000 to 7,000
feet. From this point, with but slight if any decrease in elevation, the
range continues westward to the one hundred and fifty-third meridian,
beyond which, in the region at the head of Colville and Noatak rivers,
it diminishes in height, and seems to divide into two parts or ranges.
Of these, the northern range, continuing westward, terminates in the
low mountains and abrupt sea cliffs of Paleozoic rocks at Cape
Lisburne (see Pl. V and fig. 1), while the southern forms the divide
between Noatak and Kowak rivers.

ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.
GENERAL FEATURES.

It is probably to the range between Noatak and Kowak rivers,
as seen from Lookout Mountain, on the Koyukuk, that Allen in 1885
gave the name Endicott Mountains. Though the name appears on
Allen’s map,% and is referred to in the text of his report, it is not
known to have come into use or to have appeared on any of the
numerous succeeding Alaskan maps. Allen refers to the mountains
of this region as comparatively low, and says the highest are the
Endicott Mountains, between Koyukuk and Kowak rivers, which,
extending northward, were supposed to contain the headwaters of
Colville River. The highest peaks were estimated at 4,000 feet. As
printed on Allen’s map, however, the term is given a broader signifi-
cance, applying to practically the entire portion of the range embracing
the headwaters of the Koyukuk and the sources of the drainage ways
which flow in an opposite direction into the Arctic Ocean, between the
one hundred and forty-fifth and one hundred and fifty-fourth meridians.
As the term embraces and seems fittingly to apply to all that part of
the range considered in this report, it will here be retained, and the
mountains will be referred to in this report as the Endicott Mountains.

Where crossed by the Geological Survey party the range lies
between the rolling, hilly country of the Koyukuk Basin on the south
and a very gently undulating plateau country on the north. On the
south the rise from the rolling country to the mountains is by foothills,
but rapid. On the north the mountains break off abruptly, much as
they do along the edge of the Great Plains in western United States.

aAllen, Lieut. H. T.. Reconnaissance in Alaska, 1885, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1887.

ie a a %

i a

Cnn A Sa ahi

US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO 20 PL Iii

fSinaru Tal

JepLetsvocene

BERT ES (TERTIANY)

Move

Jcocd

P
2
6
E
E
:

far at oor
Matuge ater

let

a oo ca
GEOLOGIC RECONNAISSANCE MAP

NORTHERN ALASKA
along the 152 meridian from Ue 66% parallel ta the Arctic Const by way of
Kosukuk., John, Anaktuvukcand Coble rivers
BY F.C.SCHRADER
18

Contour interyal 200 feet
Datum ts mean sen levee
—— —-— Probable drainage not surveyed. Dates refer to camps

aaaly scnisr YX}
Ano
LIMESTONED

Reported zone of \|

mineratieation With
gold-beanng suiphvae
ao =
Cw

K Mot Springs

HARD FISSILE
SHALES

5 N
‘Reo Beos |
ATF © SHALE!

ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS. 41

Pronounced faulting and uplift are evidenced by marked deformation of the strata
and in some places by fault scarps miles in extent.

The comparatively regular southern edge of the range trends approximately east

and west, in latitude 67° 10’, while the northern edge, where it was crossed, in the
region of Anaktuvuk River, latitude about 68° 25’, presents a concave front to the
north, as shown on the maps (Pls. IL and IJ). ‘This crescentic feature is repeated by
seyeral low concentric ridges in the Anaktuvuk Plateau to the north. These seem to
have been formed bya part of the same orographic uplift as the main range, for
they lie parallel with its front and grow weaker and finally die out northward with
increase of distance from the seat of maximum uplift.
West of the Anaktuvuk the crescentic front of the range soon gives way to
amore nearly westward trend, bearing in the direction of Cape Lisburne. To the
east of the Anaktuyuk, however, the curved front continues in a northeasterly and
finally north-northeasterly direction, so that in about latitude 70° and longitude 147°
it reaches a point within 35 miles of the coast, where it merges with the Franklin
Mountains, one of the northern groups previously noted. From this point eastward
to Mackenzie River the northern edge of the mountains continues near the coast.

Along the one hundred and fifty-second meridian the range is somewhat higher
in the northern than in the southern part, and contains two distinct orographic axes,
_ the surface of the northern having an elevation of a little more than 6,000 feet, and
that of the southern somewhat more than 5,000 feet. Between these axes there is a
slight depression, where the surface has apparently been somewhat more rapidly
reduced by erosion in soft rocks. This is notably true on the west side of John
River, somewhat north of the middle of the range, where in the region of the sixty-
eighth parallel and the one hundred and fifty-third meridian the country between the
head of Hunt Fork, which flows southeastward into John River, and the head of the
Colville on the northwest, probably does not exceed 5,000 feet in elevation.

The topography of the range varies, depending on the character and structure of
the rock formations. That of the Fickett series, composed of phyllites, slates,
quartzites, and conglomerates, is characterized by sharper crests and peaks than the
limestone areas, whose ridges, being broader and more rounded, are often studded
by knobs and bordered by steep cliffs, with extensive slopes of heavy talus at their
foot.

Though marked cliffs and precipices occur, the side slopes of the valleys, as shown
in Pl. VI, A, can generally be ascended without difficulty. They are moss covered
to within about 2,000 feet of the top of the mountains, where steeper slopes of barren
rock and talus begin. Exceptions occur in the faulted Paleozoics in the northern
side of the range, at the head of the Anaktuvuk, where some scarps rise abruptly to
a height of several thousand feet above the valley.

492 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

ANCIENT PLATEAU FEATURE OF ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS,

Where best observed on this reconnaissance, principally on John and Anaktuvuk
rivers, a view across the top of the range presents the general appearance of an
ancient plateau or peneplain from which, by deep dissection, the mountains have
been carved. The former surface of the plateau is evidenced by numerous closely
crowded peaks, rising generally to an elevation of 6,000 feet, where they present an
even sky line, as shown in Pl. VII, 4 and 4. For this plateau feature of the range
the name Endicott Plateau is proposed. About 4,000 feet below this level lie the
floors of the main valleys, at an elevation of about 2,000 feet; and the open Anaktuvuk
Pass, near the northern edge of the range, between John and Anaktuyuk rivers, is
at an altitude of scarcely 2,500 feet.

Since for geologic purposes the accompanying geologic section (see section
on Pl. III) is confined to the line of traverse along the valleys, where the elevation
has been much reduced by erosion, the profile of the section does not express the pla-
teau character of the range. This feature is probably best shown in the illustrations
forming Pl. VII, which are reproduced from photographs taken on the upper part
of John River, near the top of the range, at an elevation of about 6,000 feet.

It seems to the writer not improbable that, as our knowledge of the physical
geography of Alaska becomes more complete, it will be found that the Endicott
Plateau, including its extension to the east, possibly beyond the Davidson Moun-
tains, may be correlated with the Chugach Plateau, a similarly dissected plateau
surface, which is observed in the westward continuation of the St. Elias Range, at
an elevation of about 6,000 feet.@

The interstream areas, whichin general rise to the surface of the Endicott Plateau,
are rarely flat topped, but consist of a network of peaks connected by irregular and
often sharp-crested ridges. Only occasionally does an isolated peak rise a little
above the general level of the plateau. None that could be observed are monadnocks.

The relation of the Endicott Plateau to the supposed Yukon and Koyukuk
plateau features, to be considered later, is diagrammatically illustrated in fig. 2 (p. 44).
So far as known, no rocks younger than Lower Carboniferous have been found in
the Endicott Plateau. But as it seems not improbable that Upper Carboniferous
and possibly even Lower Mesozoic rocks may be present in the Fickett series, it
does not seem safe to suggest for the plateau an age earlier than Mesozoic. It seems
undoubtedly older than the supposed Yukon Plateau, which in turn is considerably
older than the Koyukuk Plateau, as the latter lies at a much lower level and is com-
posed of rocks which are in part Cretaceous, and some possibly younger.

a Schrader, F. C.,and Spencer, A. C., Geology and Mineral Resources of a Portion of the Copper River District, Alaska;
a special publication of the U.S. Geol. Survey, 1901. :

See also Schrader, F.C., A reconnaissance of a part of Prince William Sound and the Copper River district, Alaska:
Twentieth Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1900, p. 375.

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ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS. 43

Since the Yukon Plateau, as to whose age there is slight difference of opinion,
has been shown by Dawson,¢ Spurr,’ and other writers to be due to Eocene or
early Neocene erosion, if the present writer is correct in his supposition concern-
ing the representation of this plateau feature in this northern field, the interrela-
tions of the several features here make it obvious that the Endicott Plateau, which
is certainly post-Lower Carboniferous, must be at least pre-Neocene and is probably
considerably older, and that the Koyukuk Plateau is at least post-Eocene and possibly
considerably younger.

DRAINAGE.

In the portion of the range crossed by the Survey party the drainage is
principally southward into the Koyukuk. The master stream is John River,
which rises near the northern edge of the range. The main drainage ways are
therefore transverse, extending across the strike and trend of the rocks, as well as
across the trend of the range. The small tributaries, being nearly always controlled
by rock structure, flow in general along the strike and enter the master stream at
right angles, producing a rectangular drainage system.

Though John River Valley is intramontane and contains some canyons, it is
broad and in general open. A portion of it, near the middle part of the range,
seems to lie in a syncline in the Fickett series, trending a little east of south. The
valley probably averages about 14 miles in width, from base to base of the mountains.
Portions, however, are much wider and contain flats, through which the river freely
describes great bends from side to side. The present stream channel has apparently
been sunk into several older valley floors, as is shown by the bed-rock benches along
the sides of the valley. Of these benches the most pronounced occur at heights of
1,700 feet, 600 feet, and about 100 feet above the present stream, and seem to mark
stages of comparative rest in the progress of orographic uplift. It is probable that
the 600-foot bench may be correlated with the benching noted on the Koyukuk, in
the region of Red Mountain.’ ;

At the head of John River, benches sloping northward against the present drain-
age seem to denote that a considerable area lying at the head of this stream formerly
drained northward, through the Anaktuvuk and the Colville, into the Arctic Ocean,
instead of southward, through the Koyukuk and the Yukon, to Bering Sea, as at
present.

The bed-rock benching and the topography of the lower side slopes of the valley
are frequently found to have been materially modified by ice action, which has

aDawson, G. M., The physiographical geology of the Rocky Mountain region in Canada: Trans. Royal Soc. Canada,
vol. 3, 1890, sec. 4, pp. 1-74.

Spurr, J. E., Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898,
Pp. 257-265.

¢Schrader, F. C., Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899:
Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 468.

44 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

eroded the rocks and brought down deposits of gravel and drift, as shown in PI.
VI, B. Such deposits, however, rarely attain a thickness of more than 100 feet.
The John River system, just described, is believed to be a fair type of the other
adjacent drainage systems of the mountains, such as Hokotena River or Wild Creek
and North Fork, which trend parallel to it and also flow south into the Koyukuk.

KOYUKUK PROVINCE.

GENERAL FEATURES.

This province, extending from the southern base of the mountains 120 miles
southwestward to the limit of the map at the sixty-sixth parallel, lies mainly in the
northwestern part of the iarge basin of the Koyukuk, which forms the northwestern
part of the Yukon Basin.“ It consists mainly of a roliing or hilly country of known
and supposed Mesozoic rocks, whose hills rise to elevations of from 1,000 to 3,000
feet, while the main valley floors lie at approximately 600 feet.

The general accordance in height of the hills and ridges of this province at two
different levelsstrongly suggests that the present topography has been carved from two

ENDICOTT PLATEAU 5500°

. s
YUKON ? PLATEAU 3000

KOYUKUK PLATEAU
1200"

Fic. 2.—Diagrammatic profile showing relations of Endicott, Yukon, and Koyukuk plateaus.

former plateau features (see fig. 2). Though, for need of further investigation, this
question can not be discussed in detail in this place, it may be noted that of these two
features the lower level, at about 1,200 feet, is relatively distinct and well marked,
and represents the general elevation of the land mass over the larger part of this
portion of the Koyukuk Basin, as may be seen on the map (PI. Il). For it the name
Koyukuk Plateau is suggested.

The higher level, which also suggests a former plateau now dissected and largely
removed by erosion, lies at about 3,000 feet, but it is indefinite. Its best expression
occurs along the base of the mountains, where portions of nearly flat-topped ridges,
rising gently northward, soon merge into the foothills of the mountains, while to the
south they become lost in irregular ridges and hills, descending to the lower or
Koyukuk Plateau. This higher level, where formerly observed, at an elevation of
from 2,500 to 3,000 feet, to the east, on Chandlar and upper Koyukuk rivers,
near the sixty-seventh parallel, was supposed to represent the Yukon Plateau,’ but

a¥or a more complete description of the Koyukuk Basin the reader is referred to Preliminary report on a reconnais-
sance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900,
p. 467, See, also, Recent work of the United States Geological Survey: Bull. Am. Geog. Soc., vol. 34, No. 1, Feb., 1902.

bSchrader, F. C., Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899:
Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 99.

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KOYUKUK AND ARCTIC SLOPE PROVINOES. 45

owing to its feeble development to the northwest and to its remoteness from the
known Yukon Plateau feature, the present work, though it yields supporting
evidence, has not gone far toward confirming this supposition.

DRAINAGE.

The drainage of this province, which is separated from that of the Arctic slope
by the above-described mountain range, is southwestward. The master stream is
the Koyukuk, which flows into the Yukon. It is navigable for some distance above
Bettles, to near the sixty-seyenth parallel. Next in size are John and Alatna rivers,
tributaries to the Koyukuk from the north, and South Fork from the south, all of
which at high water may be ascended by steamboat for 20 to 30 miles above their
mouths. Other prominent tributaries are Hokotena River or Wild Creek and Alashuk
River from the north and Kanuti River from the south.

All the above streams, as shown on the map, meander over their broad, flat
valley floors, which vary from 1 to 10 or more miles in width. On the lower and
middle portion of the Koyukuk the flats attain a very much greater width, being, in
a measure, comparable with the Yukon Flats. To this portion the name Koyukuk

Flats? has been applied.
ARCTIC SLOPE PROVINCE.

This province, beginning at the north base of the Endicott Mountains, in latitude
68° 25’, extends 160 miles northward to the Arctic coast. From the Anaktuvuk and
Colville it appears to extend eastward to the foot of the mountains, 70 to 80 miles
distant, while on the west it is inferred to probably extend to the Arctic coast,
between Point Barrow and Cape Lisburne, a distance of about 400 miles. It is mainly
with the eastern portion of the province that we shall here have to deal. This
portion embraces almost the whole of the Colville Basin, and consists primarily of
two distinct features, plateau and coastal plain. For the former feature the name
Anaktuyuk Plateau is proposed.

ANAKTUVUK PLATEAU.

Beginning at the north base of the Endicott Range, at an elevation of 2,500 feet,
as shown on the left in Pl. LV, A, this gently rolling plateau or plains country, com-
posed of Mesozoic rocks, extends with gentle slope northward for a distance of 80
miles, to latitude 69° 25’, where, at an elevation of 800 feet, begins the nearly flat
coastal plain next to be described. In the Anaktuvuk Valley a still more gentle
aspect is given to the topography of the Mesozoic rocks by the glacial drift.

The most prominent features of this plateau are a few low, broad ridges, which
lie parallel to or concentric with the curved front of the mountain range, and the
shallow drainage valleys (see Pl. IV, A), trending north and south. These ridges

aSchrader, F. C., Preliminary report on a reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899:
Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol, Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 468.

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

present the concavity of their curve to the north, and, as suggested, appear to owe

Anaktuvuk River

Fig. 3.—Sketch profile showing structure in Anaktuyuk series on Anaktuvuk River 10 miles above Willow Creek,

their origin to a part of the same uplift that formed the more abrupt
front of the main range. They seem to be persistent features between
the Colville and the head of Chipp (Ikpikpuk) River, where they trend
a little north of west. Farther west they presumably merge into the
Meade River Mountains, at the head of Meade River, in latitude 69° 20',
and probably continue still farther westward to the Arctic Occan, where
much the same type of topography, also cut in Mesozoic rocks, appears
in the region north of Cape Beaufort.

Where traversed by the Survey party, the most pronounced of
these ridges occurs about 20 miles north of the mountains. It is low,
broad, and somewhat rounded. Its highest points rise only 500 to 600
feet above the general plateau level, or about 1,200 feet above the bed
of Anaktuvuk River. <A sectional profile of this ridge, sketched from
a point a few miles above it, on the Anaktuvuk, is presented in fig. 3.

ARCTIC COASTAL PLAIN.

In latitude approximately 69° 25’, at a distance of 80 miles from the
mountains, and at an elevation of about 800 feet, the northern edge
of the above-described Anaktuyuk Plateau gives way to a nearly flat
tundra country or coastal plain, which from this point extends about 80
miles northward to the Arctic coast, and descends in this distance prac-
tically to sea level, with slope so gentle as to be inappreciable to the
naked eye. For this feature, by reason of its geographic position, the
name Arctic Coastal Plain is here proposed. This plain is practically
constructional. The flat surface of its large interstream areas is dotted
here and there by extremely shallow ponds and lakelets, which in most
instances are without outlet and present no suggestion of the develop-
ment of any system of drainage. Along the west side of the Colville the
eroded edge of this part of the plain forms continuous steep bluffs,
which gradually decrease in height northward, from 200 feet at the
mouth of the Anaktuvuk to about 80 feet at Ocean Point, 40 miles
distant. The few rivers that traverse the plain flow with considerable
velocity in its inland portion, but toward the coast they become
sluggish.

DRAINAGE.
COLVILLE RIVER.

The drainage of this Arctic slope province is essentially north.

ward, into the Arctic Ocean. The master stream is Colville River.

The Colville has a drainage basin of about 30,000 square miles. It rises in the

U. S$. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. VI

A. TOPOGRAPHY OF JOHN RIVER VALLEY IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS,

From near south edge of Fickett series; looking S, 60° E., into Skagit formation.

B. GLACIATED SIDE SLOPES OF JOHN RIVER VALLEY IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.

Looking N. 15° E.

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HA "Id 0@ “ON HAdVd IWNOIS9SA0Nd WoOIHOTOaD *s "NN

DRAINAGE OF ARCTIC SLOPE PROVINCE, A7

northern part of the Endicott Mountains, near the sixty-eighth parallel and the one
hundred and fifty-third meridian, whence it soon makes a large detour to the west
and back, and then, in flowing northward to the ocean, traverses both the Anaktuvuk
Plateau and the coastal plain. Practically all its tributaries of any importance are
received from the right, or southeast. The chief of these—the Ninuluk, Anaktuvuk,
and Ityelik—head in the mountains.

In the inland part of the coastal plain, at the mouth of the Anaktuyuk, as shown
by continuous bluffs, the Colville has sunk its bed toa depth of 200 feet (see PI. VII),
and at Ocean Point, 40 miles farther north, where it permanently leaves the bluffs, to
a depth of 80 feet below the surface of the plain. In this downcutting, from a point
above the mouth of the Anaktuyuk to the coast, the Colville has migrated laterally
westward, into the terranes composing the plain, to such an extent that, while its left
or western shore is for the most part lined by steep-faced bluffs, rising from 80 to
200 feet above the stream to the level of the plain, into which it is still cutting, on
the right or east it is bordered by an expansive waste of low abandoned flats, laid
waste by the river, for which the name Colville Flats is proposed.

These flats occupy a triangular area of probably 2,000 square miles, extending
from the mouth of the Anaktuvuk as the apex northeastward to the coast, where,
including the Colville delta, they attain a maximum width of probably 50 or 60
miles. They are dotted by numerous shallow ponds and lakelets. The monotony of
their almost dead level is occasionally relieved by low mounds of gravel, rising 10 to
40 feet above the surface. In fact, from near the mouth of the Anaktuvuk the
Colville seems formerly to have flowed more directly northeastward through the
area now occupied by the flats and entered the ocean through Gwydyr Bay, from 30
to 40 miles east of its present delta, if not Prudhoe Bay, still farther eastward, at
the base of Return Reef, as shown by the broken lines on the map forming PI. III.

At the head of the Colville delta, where the edges of these flats form the stream
banks, their surface lies about 10 feet above the river. Here they are composed
chiefly of dark mud, muck, and ground ice, while at certain localities farther inland
the banks give way to stretches of gravel beach sloping gently to the water's
edge.

The Colville delta at present has a radius of about 15 miles and a width across
the front of about 20 miles. It is composed of low islands, which coastward gradu-
ally pass into marshes, mud flats, bars, and expansive shallows, which are continuous
with the very gradually deepening sea floor. Near the head of the delta sand dunes
have been formed on some of the islands to a height of 60 or more feet. As the
**Pelly Mountains” of Dease and Simpson, represented on their map to the west of
the Colville delta, do not exist, it seems probable that the features which these men
mistook for mountains were merely low sand dunes, similar to those above referred

48 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

to. This view is strengthened by the fact that under certain conditions of light along
the coast low objects become, by refraction, enormously exaggerated in vertical scale.

Colville River has formerly been described as having four mouths, but it prob-
ably has five or six. The westernmost is said to be shallow, but the second from the
west is navigable and is used by the natives in ascending and descending the river on
the west. Whether any of these channels will admit river steamboats was not learned.
If so, it must be the right or most easterly channel, which seems to be the main
one. Once across the delta, judging from its gradient and volume, the river can
probably be ascended by steamboat for a distance of 150 or more miles above its
mouth. McClure, in crossing Harrison Bay in 1850, found the freshening influence
of the Colville to extend 12 to 14 miles seaward, the surface of the water being of a
dirty mud color and scarcely salt.

ANAKTUVUK RIVER.

Next to the Colville, the principal stream of this province is Anaktuvuk
River, the large southeast tributary of the Colville, which, rising in the northern
part of the mountains, flows almost directly northward across the Anaktuvuk Plateau
and joins the Colville at the inland edge of the coastal plain. At about 30 miles
from the mountains the Anaktuvuk is joined on the east by Willow Creek, a stream
equal to itself in size.

Above Willow Creek, owing to the swiftness of the current and frequent riffles
formed by large bowlders that beset the bed of the stream, the Anaktuvuk can
hardly be regarded as navigable at ordinary water for canoe or rowboat. In the
upper section of the river, the valley, as shown in PI. IV, A, is shallow and open,
with no bluffs or banks to speak of. The tundra extends almost to the water’s edge.

Below Willow Creek the floor of the valley consists of a gravel- or bowlder-
covered flat, a mile or more in width, along the edges of which the gentle, moss-
covered side slopes are occasionally interrupted by low bluffs rising from 20 to 100
feet above the river. Willow Creek and Nanushuk River both seem to head in the
mountains to the southeast of the edge of the plateau, while Tuluga River, on
the west, apparently takes its rise on the plateau, near its middle part.

COAST LINE.

From Colville River to Point Barrow.—The northern Arctic coast of Alaska,
from the mouth of the Mackenzie to Point Barrow, trends a little north of west. It
is low and flat, the actual shore line being formed by a low shelving beach (PI. TX, 4),
whose seaward extension forms the shallow sea floor. From east of the Colville
westward to Point Barrow the surface of the tundra often descends to or within a
few feet of tide level, so that the same gentle slope seems to be continued in the very

URVEY

U. 5. GEOLOGICAL

BISECTED VIEW OF COLVILLE RIVER BLUFFS }

A and B, Looking southw:

PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. VIII

JARY COASTAL PLAIN OF COLVILLE SERIES.

U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

r
PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL Vill

TIARY COASTAL PLAIN OF COLVILLE SERIES.

nee
RIVER Ti fookIng northwest.

‘A and By Loot

BISECTED VIEW OF COLVILLE

COAST LINE OF ARCTIC SLOPE PROVINCE. 49

gradually deepening sea floor. The greatest height of the bluffs is about 30 feet.
The drainage ways are consequently broad and very shallow.

The coast line is comparatively regular, though not nearly so uniform as repre-
sented by the early explorers Dease and Simpson. It is more or less broadly sinuous
or wayy.-its first striking uniformity being broken by occasional lagoons, shallow
embayments, and inlets; but in comparison with the coast of southern Alaska, for
example, in can not be called indented. Some of the embayments mark the mouths
of rivers, but most of the larger ones seem to occur independent of inland drainage.
The deepest, and perhaps the only one to which the term indentation will strictly
apply, is Dease Inlet, at the head of which is situated Admiralty Bay, which receives
the Chipp (Ikpikpnk) River. The principal streams entering the sea between
the Colville and Point Barrow are Garry, Smith, Sinclair, Chipp (Ikpikpuk), and
Meade rivers. These rivers, however, could not all be visited by the party in its
rapid progress along the coast. So far as known, they in general have wide mud-flat
deltas, much the same as the Colville, which pass seaward into shallows, merging
with the shallow coastal shelf of the sea.

It is judged that the coastal shelf extends far offshore, with a slope probably
even less than that of the nearly level subaerial coastal plain. Captain McClure
found the soundings so exceedingly regular that during the foggiest weather the
vessel could stand inshore with the most perfect confidence in 34 fathoms of water,
and the Jnwestigator is reported to have passed the mouth of the Colville 40 miles out
to sea in 34 fathoms. The range of tides on this portion of the Arctic coast is very
small, being only 2 or 3 feet.

Point Barrow, the northern extremity of this low coast and of the American
continent, is a low spit of gravel and sand, projecting to the northeast, in latitude
71° 23’, longitude 156° 40’. Itis 4 miles in length and about one-fourth mile in width,
but expands at the end, where it rises to a height of 16 feet and sends out a long,
narrow ridge, which extends east-southeastward for a distance of more than 2 miles.
This ridge finally gives way to a line of sandy islets, inclosing a shallow body of
water of considerable extent, named Elson Bay, after the discoverer of Point Barrow.

From Point Barrow to Cape Lishurne and beyond.—TVhe trend of the coast line
changes from northwest to southwest at Point Barrow and thence extends about 300
miles southwestward to Cape Lisburne. It continues comparatively straight and
regular, but it is not so low as on the north. It soon loses the almost featureless
edge which is characteristic of the flat coastal plain on the north, and gradually comes
to exhibit low, but seldom rock-faced, bluffs, rising 30 or 40, rarely 70, feet above
tide. Back from the shore a very gently rolling surface rises very gradually toward
the interior, but no highlands or mountains can be seen. Seaward the bluffs over-
look immense stretches of brackish lagoons, from one to several miles in width, which

189—No. 20—04——-4

50 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

rather persistently line the coast. These lagoons are screened from the force of the
open sea by broad waye-built barrier reefs and beaches of sand and gravel, through
which occasional narrow channels, cut by the ebb and flow of the tide, connect with
the outer water. On portions of the coast not thus protected, during a northwest
gale the mouths of the smaller valleys become entirely clogged and the streams them-
selves are then dammed back by the broad beach barriers thrown up by the violent
surf. In the rear of these barriers the lower reaches of the valleys then become
temporarily converted into broad lakelets, whose surface may rise 5 or 6 feet above
normal tide level; but with the abatement of the storm a new drainage channel is
opened through the beach and the lake disappears.

Near Cape Beaufort, latitude 69° 15’, the above-described low topographic relief
gives way to a range of hills or low, rolling mountains, which, sweeping a little south
of west, appear at the coast with an elevation of 800 to 1,000 feet. They are sup-

posed by the writer to represent the westward continuation of the Meade River ~

Mountains, already referred to. Farther southwest they seem to merge into the
somewhat more pronounced and rugged mountains of Cape Lisburne, which, as
noted, are supposed to represent the westward continuation of the northern axis of
the Endicott Range, noted at the head of the Anaktuvuk, in longitude 152°.

Here these mountains, as noted, terminate at the coast in abrupt sea cliffs, form-
ing the bold promontory of Cape Lisburne, which rises to a height of 850 feet above
tide. From Cape Lisburne the mountains, with decreased altitudes, continue south-
westward in several successive parallel ridges, trending at about right angles to the
coast. The shore line, however, is here less abrupt, as shown in fig. 1 (p. 40).

About 30 miles south of Cape Lisburne the shore extends out nearly 15 miles to
the west in an immense tongue of low, sandy land, known as Point Hope, which is
backed by bluffs at its inland end.

From Point Hope southeastward to Cape Krusenstern, at the entrance to Kot-
zebue Sound, the coast is reported to be low and somewhat rocky, with intervals of
lagoons and wave-built barrier reefs, somewhat resembling those already described;
but in latitude 67° 35’, opposite the great bend of the Noatak, low mountains, known
as the Mulgrave Hills, again approach the coast.

The streams entering the coast on the northwest are nearly all short. The prin-
cipal, beginning at the north, are Kee, Kukpowruk, Pitmegea, and Kukpuk rivers.
GEOLOGY.

GEOLOGIC MAP AND SECTIONS.

The results of the very incomplete observations concerning the distribution
of the geologic formations here treated of are represented on the accompanying
geologic map (PI. Il), the colored portion of which, comprising an area of about
27,000 square miles, lies mainly between the ene hundred and fiftieth and one

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. IX

A. ARCTIC COAST ANDO EDGE OF MOSS-COVERED ARCTIC COASTAL PLAIN.

From west of Colville River; looking S. 45° E,

B. SKAGIT LIMESTONE ON JOHN RIVER IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.
Looking S, 65° E.

GEOLOGIC MAP AND SECTIONS. Aull

hundred and fifty-fifth degrees of longitude. As the line of traverse

h 17)
extends in a north-south direction across the trend of the terranes, oF :
which has been found to be relatively constant, especially in the moun- ay
tains, the boundaries delimiting the various formations on the north and 5 eae A
on the south, along the line of the section, are approximately correct i S38)
and in some instances are well defined. In an east-west direction some 2 38a
liberties have been taken in making such broad generalizations as = bo
seemed permissible from the regularity of the terranes in the mountains E g
and their relations and lithologic resemblance to those previously 2
mapped to the east. :

The boundaries of the post-Paleozoic formations of the Arctic Z
slope, approximately determined on paleontologic and lithologie =
evidence along the route of traverse, have been extended eastward =
and westward on topographic evidence and on observations and S i
collections made by the writer in returning southward along the 3 es BS)
coast from Point Barrow to Cape Lisburne. z a
At the north base of the mountains, where the profile, descend- e ;
ing from the mountains, passes from the upturned Devonian onto eae
Pleistocene till, which farther north is found resting on Lower Creta- 2
ceous, a belt several miles wide has been left blank, in view of the E s,
possible occurrence of Carboniferous and Lower Mesozoic rocks 4 ;
between the Devonian and the Cretaceous; and similar contact gaps 3 &
have been left in other parts of the section. On topographic grounds, Q 8
however, it seems probable that the Mesozoic and Carboniferous 2
formations are absent at the above point on the Anaktuvuk, having 3
been removed by erosion, and that the inland edge of the Lower A
Cretaceous or Jura-Cretaceous may rest directly on the Devonian, #
as indicated in fig. 4. Areas away from the route traversed, where =
the geology is unknown, are also left blank; while, on the other hand, i
general geologic information and the probable occurrence of certain g ae
formations are represented by notes printed in red. East of the §& gs
geologically colored portion of the map the notes applying to the = ogi
region lying north of the Arctic Circle are based on the work of the 2 ayy
writer in a previous year,” while those to the south of the Circle, on oS a
the west, and along Alatna and Kowak rivers in the region of the — geo 5
sixty-seventh parallel are by Mr. W. C. Mendenhall, geologist in charge 35
&

of the Kowak expedition, whose work? has just been published.

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 448.

> Mendenhall, W. C., Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska: Prof. Paper U.S. Geol. Survey
No. 10, 1902.

52 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

A profile and geologic section appearing on PI. III, drawn on the same scale
as the map, illustrate the structural features and relations of the various rock
formations. It extends from the southern edge of the map at A (PI. II) to
the foot of the Colville delta and the Arctic coast at J. In order to show the
structure in the Tertiary coastal plain and to represent the flats and delta near sea
level at the north, the scale of the section has been vertically exaggerated 5:1 as
compared with the horizontal scale, and in order to represent more accurately the
relations of the rocks as actually observed the section follows the somewhat zigzag
line of traverse. Where it traverses the rocks diagonally, as in the northern
edge of the Fickett series, compensation has been made therefor by reducing the
dips of the rocks in the section. As the line of traverse follows the valleys, where
the topography has been reduced by erosion, the profile rarely rises to the normal
height of the adjacent land mass. Consequently the peneplain feature of the Endicott
Mountain summits is not expressed by the profile. From studies thus far made of
the section it promises to be of far-reaching importance, not only in deciphering the
geology of Alaska, but also in making correlations with Asiatic stratigraphy.

Near the northern edge of the range, as shown on the map, the section traverses
the mountains to the east of the Anaktuvuk Valley, but as the rocks have here been
disturbed by folding and faulting, a supplementary short profile section (fig. 4), show-
ing the rocks as they appear on the west side of the valley, has been introduced. It
extends from the Lower Carboniferous at Contact Creek on John River a distance
of about 25 miles northeastward across the Devonian, along the north side of
Anaktuvuk Pass, to the Cretaceous of the Anaktuvuk Plateau on the west of
Anaktuvuk River. The base of this section represents approximately the elevation of
the floor of the Anaktuvuk Valley and that of the pass, which is about 2,500 feet.
The mountains rise to about 5,500 feet. Besides the faulting shown between the
Devonian and the Lower Carboniferous on the south, and in the Devonian itself
toward the north, the section supposes the Lower Cretaceous to be resting uncon-
formably on the upturned and eroded Devonian.

OUTLINE OF GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

The rocks composing the section here considered, extending geographically from
the sixty-sixth parallel to the Arctic coast, a distance of nearly 400 miles, comprise
representatives of most of the geologic ages ranging from Silurian to Recent, as
shown in the accompanying table.

OUTLINE OF GEOLOGIC HISTORY. 53

TABLE oF GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS.

Sedimentary rocks.

beach gravels, Gubik sand, ground ice, and gla-
cial drift.

Ny r j j = j 7 re.
Pip ae cet oecae Verne. LY stratified, fine-grained calcare
pi clay, shale, soft sandstone and limestone

: Recent stream gravels, dune sands, mud flats, silts,
ipleistocene taaaco esa oases ae ee eee eee aaeae

Tertiary (Colville series) - |

OTHE sane eos S-o with lignites, hard ferruginous sandstone, and

conglomerate.
Upper Cretaceous ( Nan-
ushuk series).
Cretaceous (?) (Berg-
man series).
Lower Cretaceous (Ko-

Soft sandstone, limestone, shale, and coal.

Sandstone, slate, grit, conglomerate, and coal.
Impure limestone, sandstone, slate, and associated

Se oe ee

Mesozoic --.--.--------- yukuk series). igneous rocks.
Lower Cretaceous (An- \Principally impure sandstone or arkose, with some
aktuvuk series) . conglomerate or grit.
Jura-Cretaceous (Cor- \Sandstone, impure limestone, shale, and bitumi-
win series). nous coal.
Lower Carboniferous See slate, limestone, sandstone, quartzite,
(Fickett series). grit, and conglomerate.
Devonian ( Lisburne for- \Lim eetonctondiahales
mation).
iPaleoz0i@s 2 ees == seas: 2 ue é wa ee” \Mica-schists and quartz-mica-schists.

Upper Silurian (Skajit
formation).

Pre-Deyonian (proba-
bly) (Stuver series).

Schistose and micaceous limestone.

vo,

\Conglomerate, quartzite, slate, and shale.

Igneous rocks.
Post-Silurian dike (?) rocks, associated with the Skajit formation.
Cretaceous and post-Cretaceous dike rocks, associated with the Koyukuk series.

The oldest rocks encountered in the field consist of several metamorphic series.
They are principally of sedimentary origin, and have acquired their present character
largely by processes of mountain building, which, broadly speaking, seem to have
been in progress intermittently since Middle Paleozoic time, and are probably still
going on.

These metamorphic rocks are exposed only in the mountainous portion of the
field. The different series are here designated by the names Skajit, Totsen, Stuver,
Lisburne, and Fickett. Though the Totsen series is mainly sedimentary, it includes
also some greenstone-schists of igneous origin, which appear to be old basaltic flows,
but may be intrusives.

With probably a single exception, igneous rocks were not observed with any of
the other metamorphic series. This exception was on John River, near the middle
of the Skajit formation, at a point about midway between camps of June 23 and
June 24. Here, in the face of the upper part of acliff which rises steeply toa height
of 2,000 feet above the edge of the stream, as seen from the opposite side of the
river, looking northeast, but which, owing to difficulty of access and lack of time
was not visited, the limestone is cut by what appears to be two classes of dikes (but

54 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

which may possibly be veins), one dark and the other light. These supposed dikes
are thin, and they are younger than the schistosity of the country rock. The dark
ones are the older, and cut the rock for the most part obliquely to the schistosity or
bedding, which they slightly exceed in dip, the dip being to the north, at-an angle of
about 45°. The light dikes cut the rocks at nearly right angles to the dark dikes
and dip south at an angle of about 80°, and seem to follow fault planes or fissures
that were manifestly produced subsequent to the intrusion of the dark dikes.

The above division of the rocks is based largely on paleontologic evidence. But
the Totsen series, in which no fossils were found, is assigned to a low place in the
geologic scale by reason of its crystalline character or high degree of metamorphism
and the known relatively low stratigraphic position in which similar rocks oceur in
adjacent regions. The Stuver series, in which likewise no fossils were found, is
regarded as among the older rocks by reason of its field relations to the overlying
Devonian.

After the deposition of the oldest Paleozoic sediments occurring in the present
southern axis of the main range, this part of the region seems to have been uplifted
and subjected to dynamic action and metamorphism, following which a portion of
the field probably remained above sea during the whole or a part of the period
in which the Devonian sediments were being laid down in the region now occupied
by the northern axis. During this period of deposition, which possibly extended
into early Mesozoic, the later Paleozoic sediments, including apparently the Car-
boniferous, seem to have been deposited unconformably against the older rocks
of the southern axis. This period was followed by stress, uplift, and the exertion
of mountain-building forces, resulting in folding, metamorphism, and deformation
of the strata.

Then followed a long pause, during which the reduction of the land area by
subaerial erosion nearly to sea level gaye rise to the peneplain or formerly nearly
level surface of the Endicott Plateau. “This base-leveling-was, in turn, followed by
elevation of the region, whence upward movement seems to have continued more or
less intermittently down to the present time. Uplift was accompanied by vigorous
dissection of the plateau, from which the Endicott Mountains, as we find them
to-day, seem manifestly to have been carved.

Contemporaneous with this uplift and dissection the sediments eroded from the
range were borne to the sea and deposited as new terranes on both the north and
the south side of the mountains. These later deposits range in age from Middle
Mesozoic to recent. Though throughout this period the Endicott Plateau seems to
have stood above the sea, the region was subjected to somewhat pronounced changes
of level and disturbance, as is evidenced by deformation and unconformities extend-

ing from Middle Mesozoic to Pleistocene.

SEDIMENTARY ROCK FORMATIONS. 55

The later of these disturbances is that suggested by the vigorous cutting of the
left or west bank of Colville River into high bluffs (Pl. VIII), while the east bank
consists only of the edge of an expansive waste of low flats abandoned by the river in
its lateral migration during its down cutting. This shifting or lateral migration of
the river was evidently brought about by a tilt, which is apparently more than a local
disturbance, for other examples indicate that there has been a general tilt throughout
northern Alaska, which has caused and is still causing the larger rivers, notably the
Yukon, the Porcupine, the Koyukuk, the Kowak, the Colville, and the Anaktuvuk,
to cut their western banks.” This differential upward movement of the region proba-
bly extends eastward to the international boundary or farther, and, judging from the
lateral migration of the Colville into the Pleistocene as well as the Tertiary and
Mesozoic terranes, it took place, in part at least, in the Pleistocene, and is probably
still in progress.

During Lower Cretaceous time, deposition on the south of the range, in what is
now the Koyukuk Basin, was apparently accompanied by igneous extrusions and
followed by intrusions, which latter continued into post-Cretaceous time,’ while the
range itself and the Arctic slope, so far as observed along the route of traverse, are
relatively free from igneous rocks. It was supposed by the writer that the northeast-
southwest trend of the Koyukuk Valley, from the Yukon to the sixty-eighth
parallel, probably represented in a general way a line of weakness in the earth’s
crust, along which igneous phenomena are especially manifest. More recent work,
however, along Kanuti and Kowak¢ rivers and on Kotzebue Sound, shows that the
igneous rocks are distributed over a much wider area in this northern country than
in that occupied by the Koyukuk Valley.

’

SEDIMENTARY ROCK FORMATIONS.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS.
STRUCTURE.

Beginning with apparently the oldest, the several formations or rock series will
be briefly described. As the field is new and the investigations have not been detailed,
the formation names introduced are proposed provisionally.

To afford a more comprehensive view of the relations of the several series and
to avoid repetition in referring to them individually, it will be well to note at the outset
some features of structure which are common to nearly all the Paleozoic rocks, and
which apply to the range as a whole, namely, that the series all strike approximately

aThe fact that the Yukon in the lower part of its course is cutting its right or western bank has been noted by Dall.
Russell, Spurr, and others.

b Schrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol.
Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 481.

e Mendenhall, W. C., Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska: Prof. Paper, U. S. Geol. Survey,
No. 10, 1902, map, p. 30.

56 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

east and west, parallel with the trend of the range. They are nearly all traversed
by the dominant jointing of the range, which cuts the rocks in a direction about
northeast-southwest, with dip nearly vertical or inclined steeply to the northwest, at
angles of 75° to 80°. There are also usually one or more sets of secondary jointing or
minor structure, trending in general northwest-southeast, sometimes approximately
at right angles to the major jointing.

The above statement of the structures affecting the Paleozoics in the range
applies also in a limited way to the upland Mesozoics on either side.

With the exception of the greenstone-schists occurring in the Totsen series, the
Paleozoics of the range, as well as the younger formations of the Arctic slope, are
all sedimentary, and, so far as observed, are relatively if not wholly free from
association with igneous rocks of any kind.

SKAJIT® FORMATION (UPPER SILURIAN).

Character and occurrence.—The Endicott Range, as noted, has two distinct axes,
of which the southern seems to be composed of the older rocks (see Pl. III), those
of the Skajit formation and the Totsen series, the former playing the principal part.

The rocks of the Skajit formation (Pl. LX, 2) consist of heavy-bedded crystal-
line limestone and mica-schist. Weathered surfaces, parallel with the bedding and
planes of movement and crushing, present a silvery sheen, due to the presence of
mica, while some layers grade wholly into mica-schist. Ona fresh fracture surface
the limestone is found to be highly crystalline, generally fine or medium grained,
and of impure white or bluish-gray color, the latter apparently denoting the more
dolomitic phases of the rock. It weathers to a dirty gray or light brown, sometimes
tinged with red. ‘

The formation occurs in the southern part of the Endicott Mountains, where, in
latitude approximately 67° 30’, it occupies a belt that is from 15 to 20 miles wide,
in which the mountains rise to an elevation of more than 5,500 feet above sea
level, the rocks forming some of the highest peaks and most rugged topography of
the southern axis of the range. Judging from the attitude or prevailing dip of the
rocks and their extent measured across the strike, the formation probably has a
thickness of at least 4,000 feet.

Structure.—The Skajit formation has a nearly east-west strike, parallel with
the general direction of the mountains; but about 20 miles west of John River this
trend changes to north of west. The structure in general indicates a broad anti-
clinorium whose middle part is occupied by a broad, shallow syncline. In general
the dips are gentle, as shown in Pl. IX, Band Pl. X, A. The latter shows the

aThe term Skajit is of native origin, and is taken from a group of rugged mountains occurring within the area of the
formation to the east of John River.

‘Adil 3A08V
1334 0€ ONISIY JNVYYSL 3D!| GNNOYD ONIMOHS ‘LLSWIVH Adv ‘7 ‘HLNOS ONIMOOT ‘NVALVId ONILVINGNN GNY¥ 3NIGVS 3dvVo

‘LISAMHLYON ONIYOOT ‘SNIVLNOQOW LLOOIGNS NI ‘SS¥d AYNANLAVNY ‘LSVA ONINOOT 'SNIVLNMOW LLOSIGN] NI ‘YSAIY
YVAN 3YV1 SHOVO WOYS ‘SNIVYOW GNNOYD GNV SNOLSSWIT SNYNSSIT “WL NHOP NO 'HLYON ONIdd!Id ‘SNOLSSWIT LISVHS 40 3903 HLYON FV

X "Id 02 ‘ON HAdVd IWNOISSSsdONd AJAUNS WoInotOadD “8 'N

fod

PALEOZOIC ROCKS; SKAJIT FORMATION. 57

formation as it disappears to the north unconformably under the Fickett series. In
some localities, however, the faulting and folding have been intense.

Like the other Paleozoic rocks of the range, the Skajit formation is cut diag-
onally by the dominant northeast-southwest jointing, which divides the rocks into
nearly vertical sheets varying from less than 1 to more than 10 feet in thickness, and
by the secondary jointing sometimes at nearly right angles to this direction.

The joint planes are usually nearly vertical or have a steep westerly dip, and are
sometimes locally followed by veins or veinlets of calcite and some quartz, carrying
occasionally a little galena or iron pyrites and copper. Prospectors report that
galena, probably of economic value, occurs on Wild Creek, 25 miles east of our
route, in a wide ‘‘ledge” in limestone probabiy belonging to the Skajit formation.

Cleavage was also noted in a few instances, but none so pronounced or so well
developed as that observed in similar rocks in the area to the east, at the head of
Chandlar River. ;

Age.—The Skajit formation, as seen in the geologic section, probably repre-
sents the oldest or next to the oldest rocks in the field. It is the principal formation
forming the southern axis of the Endicott Range, of which it seems to be the lowest
terrane exposed. It is unconformably below the Fickett series on the north, and
apparently bears similar relation to the Totsen series on the south, where, as shown
in the geologic section on Pl. ILI, the probable unconformity is indicated by the beds
of the Totsen series lying at a steeper angle than those of the Skajit formation, as
well as by an abrupt change in the character of the sediments along the zone of
contact. Similarly, on the north, where the heavy-bedded limestone of the Skajit
formation finally disappears with a northerly dip, it is met by the overlying slates
and schists of the Fickett series dipping south (section on Pl. III and Pl. X, A).

Though the limestone, as noted, is much altered by metamorphism, it contains
faunal remains, some of which were collected in place on John River. While most
of these forms are too greatly altered for determination, a single specimen has been
identified by Mr. Schuchert as ‘*‘ having the ventral valve of a brachipod of the order
of Weristina and Meristella, and also resembling a transverse Seminula. This kind
of shell indicates that the rock can not be older than Upper Silurian and not younger
than Lower Carboniferous.”

On this evidence, and because the rock is much more disturbed and metamor-
phosed than the limestone of the Lisburne formation, in which Devonian fossils have
been found in the northern axis of the range, the Skajit formation is provisionally
referred to the Upper Silurian. This, if the inference be correct, places it among
the oldest known fossil-bearing formations of northern Alaska. Late Upper Silurian
forms have been found in the Glacier Bay limestone in southeastern Alaska.” Ordo-

aBrooks, A. H., Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska: Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 1,
1902, pp. 19-20,

58 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

vician fossils have been found by the Survey party on Seward Peninsula,“ and Lower
Silurian forms’ were also found by Mr. A. J. Collier during the season of 1901
in the same region.

Silurian fossils are also reported to have been collected® by Buckland, Dall, and
others at Cape Lisburne and the adjacent Cape Thompson, but, so far as known to
the writer, no section or description of the rocks is given. In Dana’s Manual of
Geology it is stated that species of Zithostrotion have been found in the Arctic coast
lands between Cape Lisburne and Kotzebue Sound. Lower Silurian fossils were
collected by Mr. Schuchert on the northeast coast of the continent, in Baffin Land.

Correlation.—From the schistose, crystalline, and micaceous character of the
Skajit formation and its resemblance to similar rocks of the Bettles series,” it is here
provisionally correlated with the schistose phase of the Bettles series occurring at
the head of Chandlar River, with which subsequent detailed work in the inter-
vening region may connect it. It seems probable that the limestone reported by
prospectors to occur in the gold placer district in the Koyukuk, between the Skajit
formation on John River and that on the Chandlar, represents this connection. In
an earlier report’ the Bettles series was tentatively correlated with the Fortymile
series of Spurr. If, however, the Skajit formation proves to be Upper Silurian and
its correlation with the Bettles series is correct, the previous correlation of the
Bettles limestone to the north of the Yukon with the pre-Silurian Fortymile series
to the south, in the Fortymile district, may have to be abandoned.

TOTSEN SERIESS (SILURIAN).

Character and occurrence.—This series of rocks occupies a belt about 12 miles wide
on John River. It lies south of the Skajit formation, upon which the Totsen rocks
seem to rest unconformably, while they in turn are unconformably overlain by the
Bergman series on the south. The rocks are mainly mica-schists and quartz-mica-
schists, in both of which the essential minerals are biotite and quartz. There is also
some much-altered greenstone or amphibole-schist. Locally the mica-schist becomes
graphitic, graphite bodies one-eighth inch in diameter being noted, and in some cases

aBrooks, A. H.; Richardson. G. B.; Collier, A. J., and Mendenhall, W. C., Reconnaissances in the Cape Nome and
Norton Bay Regions, Alaska: Special publication U. S. Geol. Survey, 1901.

bGraptolites were found by Messrs. A. H. Brooks and L. M. Prindle along the northern base of the Alaskan Range in
the summer of 1902.

e Correlation papers, Neocene: Bull, U. 8. Geol. Survey No. 84, pp. 248-249.

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900.

e Ibid.

fThe name Totsen is derived from the term Totsenbetna—formerly applied by the natives to Wild Creek—by
dropping the final syllables, which signify river. On the map accompanying the writer’s report on the expedition of 1899,
and on that in Mendenhall’s report of 1902 (Prof. Paper U. S. Geol. Survey No. 10), this name was erroneously applied to
the stream which is now called John River, but which Allen designated Fickett’s River. The word was spelled Totzen-
bitna by Allen, It is said to mean lune, the waterfowl.

——

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, TOTSEN SERIES. 59

the rock carries much secondary quartz, both in small veins and in lenticular bodies.
Some iron pyrite is also present, which on oxidation gives a reddish-brown color to
the rock. The quartz veins tend to follow the schistosity and are often locally con-
torted and twisted. Some carry irregular veinlets or stringers of epidote.

The series is believed to be essentially of sedimentary origin, but the sedimenta-
tion seems to have been accompanied by basaltic flows, which were later sheared
with the sedimentary beds, giving rise to amphibolite-schist, of which the most
prominent strip, having an apparent width of several miles, occurs near the southern
part of the belt occupied by the series. Here the rock, judging from the bent and
crushed remnants of feldspar and augite shown under the microscope, is plainly of
igneous origin. Though on account of faulting and folding there is doubtless some
duplication of the rocks in the Totsen series, its total thickness, judging from the
prevailing dip and distance across the strike, is 6,000 to 7,000 feet.

Structure.—The Totsen series, like the older rocks composing the range, trends
approximately east and west, and though the series as a whole has been intensely
folded, the dip in general is monociinal, being, so far as observed, southward, at
angles of 60 to 80°; but in the northern part of the belt, John River Valley, for a
distance of several miles, seems to follow a north-south syncline in the series.
The series is traversed by the major northeast jointing of the range, and by a second-
ary structure at nearly right angles to the major jointing. Cleavage was noted at a
few localities, but apparently much of this has been obliterated by disturbance.

Age.—The Totsen series is represented in the geologic section as it appears
to occur in the field, namely, above the Skajit series. It thus seems to be younger
than the Skajit, but the actual contact between the formations was not seen, as is
shown by the gap in the section, and the age relations here indicated can not be
demonstrated. Furthermore, while the Totsen series, so far as observed, consists
essentially of rocks that seem undoubtedly to belong to the class of older crystalline
schists found in Alaska, and can not be correlated with the Fickett series, it should
be noted that the observations made were confined to the line of traverse along
John River, and the mountains in this part of the field not having been ascended,
it is possible that the series may be overlain by or otherwise associated with rocks
younger than those described above. The great thickness and probable extent of
the Fickett series (to be noted later) to the north of the Skajit formation, makes it
not unreasonable to suppose that members of this series may occur on the south side
of the Skajit anticlinorium, but this point must be determined by future investigation.

Correlation.—The Totsen series can be correlated in a tentative way, on lithologic
grounds, with the Lake quartz-schist® of Chandlar River. It is less evidently of

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 474.

60 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

sedimentary origin, is more micaceous, and contains much less quartz and more
greenstone-schist, of igneous origin. In some localities, however, it very much
resembles the more altered phases of the schists to the east of the Koyukuk, in the
Slate Creek diggings, which also have been correlated with the Lake quartz-schist of
Chandlar River. That the Totsen series extending beneath the younger formations
in the Koyukuk Valley may connect with the Slate Creek schists is not improbable,
especially since the Bergman series, which occupies a large part of the intervening
Koyukuk Valley, seems to rest unconformably upon both.

STUVER SERIES“ (PRE-DEVONIAN).

Character and occurrence.—Vhe next of the older groups of rocks to be consid-
ered is the Stuver series, comprising the oldest rocks exposed in the northern portion
of the Endicott Range, and apparently forming the core of the north axis. (See
section on Pl. III.) The rocks of this series are principally conglomerates, with
interbedded layers of quartzite, which toward the top pass into slate and shale.
The pebbles composing the conglomerate are practically all siliceous and consist
of black, slate-colored, red, green, and bluish flint and milky-white quartz. They
range in size from less than an inch in diameter to cobbles, and in a few instances
approach bowlderets. The cement is siliceous, usually dense, and often contains
grains of cryptocrystalline or aphanitic silica, undoubtedly derived from the same
parent rock as the pebbles. Great force is required to break the rock with the
hammer, and, when broken, the fracture plane is almost invariably found to take a
direct course, traversing any pebbles, though perfectly sound, that may lie in its path;
in fact, the cementation is so firm as to form of the conglomerate, as a whole, a rock
substantially as hard as the hardest flint pebbles that are included in it.

The various colors of the pebbles in the conglomerate make it a very conspicuous
rock, so that it is easily recognized where its fragments occur in Pleistocene and
intervening formations. These fragments are conspicuous in the Lower Carbonifer-
ous rocks succeeding the Lisburne series, and are also represented in the Lower and
Upper Cretaceous and in the Tertiary formations. No one of the parent rocks from
which the various types of flint pebbles of the Stuver series have been derived has
yet been observed. The specimens found in the placer mining gulches to the
northeast, on the west side of the Koyukuk, and referred to by the prospectors as
‘*emerald” and ‘‘adamant,” probably represent flint pebbles derived from the Stuver
conglomerate.

The interbedded quartzites in the Stuver series are medium grained and excep-
tionally hard and siliceous, and are usually of a gray or sometimes a pinkish or red-
dish color, while the slate is dark.

aThe name applied to this series is taken from Mount Stuver, situated east of the Anaktuyuk, and named for a
member of the party.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, STUVER SERIES. 61

Where best exposed between the two limestone areas of the Lisburne formation
to the north of the Anaktuvuk, the Stuver series, forming the lower part of the
longer limb of an anticline, dips southward at an angle of 30° and passes beneath the
limestone of the Lisburne formation. The relation of the two formations imme-
diately at the contact is concealed by talus, but near by begins an exposure which,
extending for several miles along the front of the mountains, shows the Lisburne
formation dipping southward at an angle of 20°, this dip being but 10° less than
that of the Stuver series, which, as it nears the Lisburne formation, gradually
decreases southward. From this it is inferred that the Lisburne, where not faulted,
probably rests conformably on the Stuver series. If any unconformity exists, it
must be very slight.

As shown on the geologic map (PI. II), the exposure of the Stuver series is
limited to a narrow belt, about 5 miles in width, that trends eastward for an unknown
distance from the Anaktuvuk Valley, lying between the eroded edges of the Lis-
burne formation. The series is also supposed to form the bed-rock floor of the
Anaktuvuk Valley, beneath the glacial drift, from the north edge of the mountains
for a distance of 10 to 12 miles southward, to near the southern edge of the Lisburne
formation. There are some small exposures of its upper member beneath the
Lisburne along the base of the mountains on both the east and the west side of the
valley, while on the south it has probably been brought into contact with the Lower
Carboniferous of the Fickett series by faulting. Both here and at the north edge of
the series the faulting seems to be normal.

Structure.—To convey a clearer conception of the controlling conditions here, it
should be noted that the Stuver series lies in an east-west zone that exhibits the
most marked geologic disturbance of the region. Pronounced faulting extends
southward into the range for a distance of 15 to 20 miles from its seaward face.
This zone extends along the crest of the divide between the Yukon and Arctic coast
drainages, in the region at the head of John and Anaktuvuk rivers, and at the southern
part of the great crescent formed by the north front of the Endicott Range. The
beds in a general way retain the east-west trend noted in the older Skajit and
Totsen series. Roughly considered, the uplift, which, judging from sediments in the
post-Paleozoic rocks and the unconformable relations of these to the Paleozoic rocks,
seems to have been going on since middle or late Paleozoic time, apparently took
place in the form of a broad anticline, whose longer limb extends with gentle slope
southward and whose shorter limb forms in part the north front of the range. Eleva-
tion was accompanied by faulting. The thrust or movement came from the south
and apparently produced an overturned fold in the terranes forming the crest of the
anticline. The faulting which accompanied this movement broke the beds into
several great fault blocks. Erosion followed, which finally brought the Stuver

62 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

series to view along the axis of the fold. These are apparently the lowest and oldest
rocks exposed in the northern part of the range.

Toward its northern limits and the crest of the fold, as has been noted, the
Stuver series dips southward at an angle of 30°. But still nearer its northern
limits, practically at the crest of the fold, the beds have been strained, bent down-
ward, and broken, and finally terminate in a well-defined fault scarp, as shown in the
section on Pl. III. This scarp trends a little south of east and is visibly pronounced
for at least 5 or 6 miles. Along this distance, in the higher part of the mountains,
the edges of the broken, hard conglomerate beds forming the scarp are distinctly
exposed, generally dipping about 30° S., while at a lower elevation along the face
of the scarp the broken-off portions of the same strata have dragged behind along
the lower face of the scarp and stand nearly on edge, dipping northward at an angle
of 80°. These nearly vertical beds of the Stuver series are met at the contact on the
north by the limestone of the Lisburne formation, which dips south at an angle of
75° to 80°. (See section on Pl. III.) The contact of the two formations thus forms
a reentrant angle of 25°, opening upward.

The conglomerate of the Stuver series, toward its north edge and along the fault
scarp, is intersected by two systems of jointing about equally pronounced. One
system trends east and west, with dip vertical; the other nearly north and south,
with dip to the east at an angle of 80°. On the top of a low mountain along the edge
of the scarp the same hard conglomerate is finely laminated by a well-marked
cleavage trending N. 60° E. and dipping northwestward at an angle of 45°.

No estimate can be formed of the thickness of the Stuver series, as its lower
limits are unknown. The exposed portion shows a thickness of at least 2,000 feet.

Age.—The Stuver series, from its position underneath the Lisburne series, which
on paleontologic evidence is considered to extend to below Middle Devonian, is
certainly not younger than Lower Devonian, and it is regarded as probably pre-
Devonian.

Correlation.—No other Alaskan rocks with which it may be correlated are known
to the writer. Sediments, notably of fine conglomerate, containing materials similar
to those forming the conglomerates of the Stuver series, have been noted in the
Mission Creek series of the Yukon district; but probably these, like the sediments
derived from the Stuver series and now found in the Tertiary and other formations
on the Arctic slope, have been many times deposited and reworked since they were
derived from their original source.

LISBURNE FORMATION (DEVONIAN).

Character and occurrence.—Lisburne formation is the name here employed to
designate the limestone, with some shale, occurring next above the Stuver series at
the head of Anaktuyuk River. The name is taken from Cape Lisburne, where

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, LISBURNE FORMATION. 63

apparently the same formation, consisting of limestone and shale, occurs. On the
Anaktuvuk the formation occupies a belt 15 or more miles in width, extending
north and south along the valley. Toward the west the belt narrows and appears to
soon be delimited on the southwest by the fault scarp of Contact Creek, and, farther
west, by the Carboniferous of the Fickett series; while to the east of the Anaktuvuk
it seems to widen. The westward extension of the formation may, however, some-
what exceed that represented on the map before it disappears beneath the Carbonit-
erous, for the mountains south of Contact Creek were not ascended.

Where examined along Contact Creek, the north side of the valley for several
miles consists of a steep wall, or fault scarp, of the Lisburne limestone, similar to
that forming the scarp along the Anaktuvuk Valley on the east; while the rocks
directly opposite, on the south side of the valley, less than three-fourths mile distant,
are Carboniferous quartzite and conglomerate of the Fickett series. Northwest of
this locality, however (as shown in Pl. IV, B,a view looking westward from the
south edge of a Lisburne fault block near Contact Creek), the Lisburne, still forming
the crest of the axis, with an elevation of about 6,500 feet, is less disturbed. The
beds on the right, which show a marked increase in shale at the expense of the lime-
stone, dip northward toward the base of the range, while farther west the Lisburne
seems gradually to disappear beneath the Fickett series as a broad anticline, with the
longer limb sloping gently southward and the shorter dipping more steeply north-
ward, and probably playing an important part in forming the steep north front of the
range, as has been shown to be the case to the east of the Anaktuvuk Valley.

In the foreground of Pl. IV, B, the Lisburne extends all the way across the
field from left to right, but the sculptured cirque topography forming the top of the
mountains in the left background lies in the slate and quartzite of the Fickett series,
which, to the northwest, seems to overlie the Lisburne and form the crest of the
range, and probably also descends the north slope and underlies the Mesozoics of the
Anaktuvuk Plateau at the north base of the mountains.

The rocks of the Lisburne formation may be characterized for the most part as
medium-bedded semicrystalline limestone of impure white or gray color. They
weather gray, light rusty brown, or chocolate. They form the mountains that rise
to a height of 2,500 to 3,000 feet above the floor of the Anaktuvuk Valley. Near
the summit (see Pl. X, B, and fig. 4) occur two beds of intercalated shale, each
apparently several hundred feet thick, and containing some thin layers of dark-gray
limestone.

On the east the extent of the formation is unknown. On the south it is appar-
ently in contact with the Carboniferous, while in descending the slope of the moun-
tains on the north it disappears beneath a mantle of glacial till, where, judging from
the topography, it is probably soon met and overlain by Mesozoic strata, which prob-
ably rest unconformably upon it at this point. (See. fig. 4, p. 51.)

64 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Judging from exposures observed in the region of the Anaktuvuk, the thickness
of this limestone formation is probably a little over 3,000 feet.

Structure.—The entire area of the Lisburne formation here considered is deeply
involved in the system of faulting and disturbed blocks referred to under the head-
ing ‘‘Stuver series.” As viewed from the Anaktuvuk Valley, looking either east
or west (see section on PI. III; also fig. 4 and Pl. X, 4), the Lisburne series reveals
but little of the disturbance it has undergone. On the southwest, however, toward
Contact Creek, the rocks have been folded and broken into blocks, which in some
instances are highly tilted. The fault on the west side of the Anaktuvuk, shown on
the right of fig. 4, probably represents the westward extension of the same fault
that gave rise to the scarp along the northern edge of the Stuver series, which series
however, has not here been brought to view. At the north base of the mountains,
west of the Anaktuvuk, the Lisburne formation disappears beneath the covering of
glacial drift with a dip of 60° to the north. East of the Anaktuvuk it similarly dis-
appears beneath the drift, but with an opposing dip at an angle of 75° S., against
the fault scarp of the Stuver series, as shown in the section on Pl. III. Between
these two localities the Stuver series probably attains a steep westerly dip, of which
there is some suggestion along the north edge of the valley, or a portion of the val-
ley may be traversed by a north-south fault extending from the north edge of the
mountains to the southern limits of the Stuver series.

In certain localities, notably on the south side of the Anaktuvuk, the Lisburne
1s cut by a close jointing, trending N. 27° E., with dip southeast-east at an angle
of 85°, dividing the rocks into thin slices from 2 to 8 inches in thickness.

There can be but little doubt that the faulting between the Lisburne and the
Fickett series continues eastward and connects with that along the southern edge
of the Bettles series, on Koyukuk and Chandlar rivers. Its alignment with the
boundary of the Bettles series, as located in a previous year’s work,” is shown on the
geologic map, PI. III.

Age.—The most convenient disposition to make of the Lisburne formation would
be to include it with the Fickett series and call the group Carboniferous and Devonian,
since both Carboniferous and Devonian fossils occur freely in the stream gravels of
the upper John and Anaktuyuk rivers, and none of the fossils found in place were
sufficiently well preserved for identification. On lithologic grounds, however, the
Lisburne formation can be set apart as qu'te distinct from the Fickett series, which
it also seems to underlie. Therefore, on the basis of the Devonian fossils found in
detached fragments of rock on the surface of the formation near the top of the
mountains, and on the lithologic similarity of the rock attached to these fossils to that
of the Lisburne formation, the formation is provisionally referred to the Devonian.

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, pl. Lx.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, LISBURNE FORMATION. 65

The fossils from the Lisburne formation collected by the writer have been
identified by Mr. Charles Schuchert as follows:

Fossils of the Lisburne formation.
Locality 455.

Productella (2 species).

Platystoma.

Zaphrentis.

Fenestella.

Unitrypa.

Eridotrypa, nearly identical with E. barrandei (Nicholson) of the Middle Devonian.

Localities 460 and 462.

Spirifer disjunctus.

Localities 496, 498, 499, 501, 523, and 524.

Diphyphyllum (1 species).

Locality 500.
Zaphrentis.

Locality 528.
Aulocophyllum.

Locality 533.

Zaphrentis.

Rhombopora.

Fenestella. —

Hemitrypa. A

Localities 455 and 528 appear to be of one formation of the Middle Devonian. The species present
suggest very much the Athabasca-Mackenzie Middle Devonian, collected many years ago by Kennicott
and described by Meek in the Transactions of the Chicago Academy of Sciences.

Localities 460 and 462.

Spirifer disjunctus, one of the fossils characterizing the Upper Devonian. The same species is
also found in the Peace, Hay, and Liard River regions of Arctic Canada.

Localities 496, 498, 499, 501, 523, and 524.

Diphyphyllum (1 species). This genus extends in America from the Upper Silurian to the
close of the Middle Devonian, and will probably also be found in the Upper Devonian, so that,
unsupported by other evidence, it does not indicate an exact horizon. This or a very similar
species has been found at or near the mouth of Mackenzie River in Devonian rocks.

Localities 500 and 533 are probably also of Devonian age.

Correlation.—On lithologic grounds it appears that the Lisburne formation can
safely be correlated with the medium-bedded, unsheared limestone portion of the
Bettles series, which is best exposed near the mouth of Bettles River, on the
Koyukuk,? and it probably continues to the head of Chandlar River. Thus this
limestone formation extends from the region west of the Anaktuvuk eastward 100 or
more miles, and the presence of Devonian still farther eastward, to the north of the _
Chandlar, is rendered highly probable by a few fossils collected from the Chandlar
River gravels in 1899 by the writer.’ These fossils, a list of which follows, were
identified by Dr. George H. Girty, whose statements thereon are here inserted.

aSchrader, F. ©., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 475.
bybid.

189—No. 20—04——5

66 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901,

Paleozoic fossils from the Chandlar River gravels.

Locality 211. Indeterminable.
Locality 22. Syringopora sp. 1.
Locality 2. Syringopora sp. 2.

Locality 47. Spirifer, disjunctus type.

Locality 5. Cyathophylloid coral.

Locality 203. Crinoid stems.

Syringopora, so far as known, is not found above the Carboniferous; therefore 22 and 2 can be
referred, with little doubt, to the Paleozoic.

The spirifer of locality 47 represents a type which is not found below the Devonian, and is, in a
measure, restricted to rocks of thatage. Thisspirifer can pretty safely be referred to the Devonian, and
if, as I suspect, the form is Sp. disjunctus itself or one of its close allies, probably to the Upper Devonian.

The coral found at locality 5 probably belongs to the genus Acervularia. The age indicated is
certainly Paleozoic, and probably Devonian.

The crinoid fragments found at locality 203 indicate nothing positive as to age. From their
character and abundance I should be inclined to determine the horizon as Paleozoic.

It should also be noted that the trend of the series continued still farther east-
ward, beyond the Chandlar River Basin, strikes the Porcupine near the Lower Ram-
parts, where Devonian forms were collected by Kennicott,? and where Mr. McCon-
nell, of the Canadian geological survey, reports the limestone to yield such fossils
as Atrypa reticularis, with fragmentary specimens of corals referable, in part at
least, to the Devonian.’ It seems highly probable that the Lisburne formation may
also be correlated with the similar limestone and shale formation occurring at Cape
Lisburne, which, though nearly 400 miles distant, undoubtedly represents the west-
ward continuation of the same mountain axis. (See Pl. V and fig. 1, p. 40.) This sug-
gestion is based, in a measure, on the statements of different persons who have found
Paleozoic fossils in the Cape Lisburne region, and more especially on the recent
reports of Mr. H. D. Dumars and Mr. A. G. Maddren. The fossils collected by
Mr. Dumars in the region, with notes by the collector, have been presented by Mr.
Maddren to the United States National Museum, where they have been examined
by Mr. Schuchert, whose communication on them to the writer is as follows:

Paleozoic fossils from the Cape Lisburne region.

There is an interesting coral fauna of Middle Devonian age from “‘limestone cliffs 4 miles south of
Cape Lisburne, just south of the mouth of a considerable stream, where the rocks strike east and west,
and dip south at 45°”? (Dumars). This limestone contains—

Endophyllum, 2 species.

Syringopora, near 8. tabulata.

Syringopora, near 8. perelegans.

Diphyphyllum, near D. simcoense.

Diphyphyllum, near D. stramineum.

Zaphrentis, probably 2 species.

This limestone appears to be the same formation as that discovered by you last summer [at head
of Anaktuyuk River] at localities 496, 498, 499, 501, 523, and 524, but more particularly at 455 and 528.

aTrans. Chicago Academy Sci., vol. 1, 1867. bAnn. Rept. Geol. Survey Canada, new series, vol. 4, 1890, p. 138 D.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, LISBURNE FORMATION AND FICKETT SERIES. 6

In his field notes referring to this locality Mr. Maddren states that the lime-
stones forming the cliffs referred to contain corals and other fossils and also veins of
calcite. Fig. 1 (p. 40) is a profile section of the limestone and shale as sketched
by Mr. Maddren at a locality a short distance south of the point where the fossils
were found in place. The section includes Cape Lewis and Cape Dyer. So far as
known, however, no fossils were found in the limestone represented in it. Cape
Dyer is described as the sea terminus of a limestone range, about 1,000 feet in
height, which trends inland in an easterly direction, the rocks striking east and west
and dipping 35° N. In the valley between Cape Dyer and The Ears there is said to
be a syncline of shale containing an exposure of coal along a sea cliff that rises from
50 to 100 feet above tide. The occurrence of coal here would seem to indicate the
presence of some other horizon, probably Carboniferous or Mesozoic. According
to Mr. Maddren the limestone beds at Cape Lewis also dip north and expose a
thickness of 800 to 1,000 feet.

We may also note that the Middle Devonian discovered by Mr. Spurr in south-
western Alaska,“ in the Kuskokwim country, is considered by Mr. Schuchert as
about the same as that on the Anaktuvuk. The same is true of the forms collected
by Mr. Brooks in southeastern Alaska.?

Distribution.—Vhe thickness of the Lisburne formation in the mountains on the
Anaktuyuk and at Cape Lisburne on the coast, and the important part it plays in the
constitution of the Endicott Range and the continuation of these mountains westward
to at least the one hundred and fifty-second meridian, as discovered by Howard,? as
well as the general regularity in the disposition of the rocks, seem to render it
highly probable that that formation is continuous between the Anaktuvuk and Cape
Lisburne. Its lithologic resemblance to the limestones of the Bettles series on the
Koyukuk? and the Devonian fossils found by the writer in the Chandlar River
district, and by Kennicott and McConnell farther east on the Porcupine, would lead
to the inference that the Lisburne formation, or at least the Devonian, forms a pretty
constant component of this northern Rocky Mountain range from Cape Lisburne
eastward throughout northern Alaska, for a distance of 600 or more miles, nearly to
the international boundary and probably beyond it.

FICKETT SERIES (CARBONIFEROUS).

Character and occurrence.—The Fickett series, so named from the Fickett River of
Allen (now called John River), comprises rocks of very diverse character, ranging from

aSpurr, J. E., A reconnaissance in southwestern Alaska in 1898: Twentieth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1900,
p. 179.

> Brooks, A.H., Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska: Prof. Paper U.S. Geol. Survey No. 1, 1902,
p- 21.

eStoney, Lieut. George M., Naval Explorations in Alaska, U. S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md., 1900, p. 70.

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlarand Koyukuk rivers, Alaska; Twenty-first Ann. Rept,
U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 475,

68 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901,
chloritic schists and phyllites on the south, through impure limestone, slate, sandstone,
quartzite, and grit, to hard conglomerate on the north. As shown in the discussion
of the Skajit, Totsen, Lisburne, and Stuver series, the Endicott Mountains contain
two geologic axes, a northern and a southern, both composed of the older Paleozoic
rocks, and, as represented on the geologic map and section (Pl. II), the Fickett
series lies essentially in what appears to be a broad trough between these two
axes. This trough or syncline, judging from the unconformity of the Fickett
series to the Skajit and Lisburne formations, and the difference in character of the
sediments, was probably occupied by an arm of the sea in late Paleozoic time, when
the axes on the north and the south seem to have stood above sea level; and the
sediments of the Fickett series, judging from their calcareous content, were probably
in part derived from these Paleozoic land areas.

Here the Fickett series has a width, or north-south extent, of about 50 miles.
On the south its edges appear to rest unconformably on the eroded Skajit forma-
tion of the southern axis, as shown in the geologic section, while owing to the fault-
ing at the head of John and Anaktuvuk rivers its relations to the older rocks of the
northern axis are not definitely revealed. It seems, however, to meet the Stuver
series and the Lisburne formation by fault contact, as has been indicated. To the
north of this contact, so far as observed in the region of the Anaktuvuk, all trace of
the series in place seems to have been removed by erosion. ‘To the west, however,
beyond the limits of the fault-block system of the Devonian, about 20 miles from the
Anaktuvuk, it seems to overlie the Lisburne formation, and probably extends beneath
the Mesozoics at the north base of the range. From the occurrence of Carboniferous
fossils in the stream gravels it is inferred that the same conditions probably prevail
to the east of the Anaktuvuk, but they have not thus far been actually observed.

Beginning on the south slope of the north axis of the range, the lower part of
the Fickett series, as it seems to be, consists of dark shale, schistose slate, and appar-
ently some dark limestone, which is succeeded by quartzite, grit, and conglomerate.
The sediments in the quartzite, and more especially those in the grit and conglom-
erate, though they are often fine, bear a marked resemblance to the vari-colored
conglomerate of the Stuver series, from which they seem undoubtedly to have been
derived. The quartzite, grit, and conglomerate are hard and flinty, the grains and
pebbles being thoroughly united by a siliceous cement. The best exposure of these
rocks that was seen is that at Fork Peak, on John River, east of camp July 12, from
which point for about 15 miles northeastward, to beyond the Anaktuvuk portage,
they present a steep face to the northwest, overlooking the upper part of John River
Valley. Here the dip is gently south or southeast. Apparently these same conglom-
erates and grits were also encountered in the lower reaches of a deeply cut gulch
about 20 miles south of Fork Peak, west of the mouth of Hunt Fork. Toward

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, FICKETT SERIES. 69

the top of Fork Peak the grit and quartzite give way to dark schistose slate and
dark-gray micaceous sandstone.

Southward, at a geologically higher horizon, gray sandstone, limestone, gray
schist, some quartzitic schist, slate, and conglomerate are encountered. These rocks
are medium layered, variously interbedded, and more or less sheared. In the region
of Hunt Fork a dark-gray or bluish schistose sandstone and soft slate become
predominant. Apparently ascending in the column, still farther southward, the
rocks become for the most part very fine-grained gray or bluish quartz-schist, with
finally greenish chloritic schist and slate, which continues to the southern edge of
the series, where it rests unconformably on the Skajit limestone formation. The
quartzitic schist and the green chloritic schist often carry considerable quartz in
small veins and stringers, trending more or less parallel with the schistosity and
the bedding. But exceptions occur, as shown in Pl. XI, A, where a species of
gash veining breaks across the bedding. This quartz frequently is most abundant
in the bights of sharp folds and along lines of strain and breaking. So far as
observed, the veins carry no valuable metals.

Besides the aboye-noted rocks, light-gray and dark or black limestones, appar-
ently belonging to the series, but not met in place along the route traversed, were
sighted and studied with the field glass both southeast and southwest of Fork Peak.
These limestones, judging from the resemblance to the specimens found in the
stream gravels, are the mother rocks of the fossils occurring so abundantly in
the streams. Their position in the geologic section seems to be above the con-
glomerate, grit, and quartzite portion of the section and near the dark schistose
slate and dark-gray micaceous sandstone, as shown to some extent in Pl. VIL.

Structure. —The Fickett series, like the other Paleozoics of the range, has been
subjected to faulting and folding, incident to mountain building. The general
structure, however, seems to be monoclinal, with strike and trend east and west and
dip south at angles of 20° to 45°. The dip may vary, however, from southeast
in some localities to southwest in others, while in certain cases the rocks lie nearly
horizontal or dip very gently north. The prevailing southerly dip of the series as
a whole seems to point to a greater and probably later elevation in the northern
than in the southern part of the range since the Fickett was laid down.

The series is finely cut in some localities by the major nearly northeast-south-
west jointing, whose planes are frequently slickensided and usually dip 70° to
80° NW. Slight movement, or normal faulting, has frequently taken place along
them. The rocks are also traversed by a secondary set of joints, trending nearly
northwest and southeast, with dip nearly vertical, or in some instances 60° to
80° SW.

The schists, and notably the slates, often exhibit excellent cleavages, a good

70 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

instance of which is shown at Crag Peak, 10 miles south of Hunt Fork and 4$ miles
west of John River. Here the cleavage trends N. 35° E. and dips northwest at an
angle of 85°. Four miles north of this point, on the west side of John River,
occurs another good instance, in which the cleavage trends N. 70° E., with dip to
the north at an angle of 45°. Also where the river crosses the sixty-eighth parallel
a cleavage is found trending east and west, with dip south at an angle of 30°.
Age.—No fossils have been found ‘in place in this series, but on the basis of
abundant Lower Carboniferous forms obtained in the stream pebbles of the region,
and the lithologic resemblance of these pebbles to the rocks of the series, and also
from the relation of the series to the Lisburne formation (which is considered
Devonian and seems to underlie it), the Fickett series is provisionally assigned to the
Lower Carboniferous. Following is a list of the fossil forms collected by the writer
within the area occupied by the series, largely on the headwaters of John and Anak-
tuvuk rivers. They have’ been identified by Mr. Schuchert, who reports as follows:

Fossils from the Fickett series.

Locality 493. Lithostrotion (of the group in which the corallites are not in close embrace).

Locality 495. Spirifer striatus Martin, Productus scabriculus Martin, and Spirifer near S. neglectus
Hall.

Locality 513. Productus scabriculus Martin.

Locality 520. Productus semireticulatus Martin.

Locality 521. Spirifer striatus Martin; Productus, a very small undetermined species, and Cysto-
dictya nearest to C. lineata.

Locality 522. Spirifer striatus Martin and Fenestella.

Locality 525. Spirifer striatus Martin and Spiriferina cristata Schlotheim?

Locality 534. Streblotrypa near nicklesi Vine; Fenestella, several species, one of which is near F.
cestriensis Ulrich; Cystodictya, Pinnatopora, and Rhombopora.

The above eight localities represent one formation, in the upper portion of the Lower Carbonifer-
ous. This fauna, however, is unlike that of the Mississippi Valley in that it does not have its charac-
terizing fossils, as the screw-like bryozoan Archimedes and the blastoid genus Pentremites.
parisons must be deferred until larger collections are at hand.

Localities 497 and 529 have a Syringopora much like S. multattenuata of the Upper Carboniferous.
This genus, however, has little stratigraphic value, but the development of the species present is
indicative of Carboniferous.

Localities 511, 518, and 454 are represented by a crinoidal limestone, apparently the same as at
localities 525 and 521 and probably from the horizon of the latter.

Localities 463 and 464 represent another horizon, since the lithology is quite different from any of
the other localities. The only fossils present are large crinoidal columns like those of the Lower Car-
boniferous.

Locality 461 also has large crinoid columns and may represent the Lower Carboniferous.

The aboye localities probably all represent the same Lower Carboniferous formation as that of
the specimens from localities 493, 495, 513, 520, 521, 522, 525, and 534.

Locality 519 has Fenestella, Cystodictya? and crinoid columns. The material is unsatisfactory
and all I can do is to state that it indicates either Devonian or Carboniferous.

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XI

A. QUARTZ GASH STRINGER VEINING IN FICKETT SERIES ON JOHN RIVER, IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.

Looking southeast.

B. STRUCTURE IN ANAKTUVUK SERIES ON ANAKTUVUK RIVER.

Looking N. 10° W.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS, FICKETT SERIES. Ol

In referring the series to the Lower Carboniferous, however, it should be borne
in mind that the fossils were nearly all found in the northern part of the field, where
they have apparently come from near the lower part of the section, and since the
series is possibly 8,000 to 10,000 feet in thickness, it may extend not only into
Upper Carboniferous but possibly into Lower Mesozoic.

Correlation.—Carboniferous fossils have been collected by Spurr® and Collier
on the Yukon above Circle, by Mendenhall and the writer in the northern part of
the Copper Basin, and by Dall in southeastern Alaska, on Kuiu Island, but these all
seem to be Upper or Permo-Carboniferous, and therefore afford no ground for close
correlation of the rock occurring there with those of the section here considered.

Independent of paleontologic evidence, on purely lithologic grounds, some of the
gray schist, sandstone, and limestone beds of the series toward the northern part
were associated by the writer in the field with the West Fork series of Chandlar
River,? which is regarded as possibly the source of some of the Paleozoic fossils
found in the river gravels below that point, and which has been relegated by
Doctor Girty to Carboniferous or Devonian.

Carboniferous forms are reported to have been collected on Captain Beechey’s
yoyage,® 1825-1828, on the northwest coast between Cape Beaufort and Cape Thomp-
son (see Pl. V). More recently, in the Cape Lisburne region, plant remains have
been collected by Mr. Dumars which have been identified by Mr. David White as a
small species of Lepidodendron, related to L. chemungense, and a small form of
Stigmaria ficoides, indicative of Carboniferous age. This denotes at least the
presence of Carboniferous rocks in the Cape Lisburne region, which, on future
investigation, may be correlated with the Fickett series, and suggests that the rocks
of the two regions may be continuous in the mountains lying between them, as the
Devonian is supposed to be. (See p. 66.)

In fact, if topographic criteria be taken into account—namely, the continuation
of the mountains eastward beyond the international boundary—with what has been
said of the occurrence of the Lisburne formation, it may here be briefly stated, in
concluding the subject of Paleozoic rocks, that the present exploration, together
with the evidence previously collected in the region to the east and that to the
west, toward Cape Lisburne, seems to indicate beyond question the extension of
a well-developed belt of Paleozoic rocks across northern Alaska, coinciding with
the trend of the Rocky Mountains from the one hundred and thirty-fifth meridian,
near the Mackenzie, to the one hundred and sixty-sixth, at Cape Lisburne, a distance
of nearly 1,000 miles.

aSpurr, J. E., Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898.

bSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol.
Survey, pt. 2, 1900.

c Voyage of Captain Beechey to the Pacific and Behring’s Straits, London, 1836, pp. 378-405.

Se |
bo

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.
In the Cape Lisburne region, as noted, the belt has a known width of nearly 75
miles and the rocks terminate in abrupt sea cliffs. The thickness of the section here
is not known, but from what has been learned of the attitude of the rocks, it is
judged to be considerable, since nowhere do older rocks appear to be exposed beneath
these Paleozoics; from which it seems safe to infer that the latter probably extend
far seaward as a submarine feature; and as this part of the ocean is known in the
main to be shallow, it seems not unlikely that the same formations may extend across
its floor and appear on the Siberian coast. It may be noted, however, that Doctor
Dall, who visited this coast, reports that the rocks on portions of it are essentially
crystalline or igneous. Some lignite occurs on Wrangell Island, but we do not

know that Paleozoic or other formations occur there.

MESOZOIC ROCKS.

CORWIN SERIES (JURA-CRETACEOUS).

Character and occurrence. —The name Corwin is proposed for a series of sedi-
mentary rocks which are younger than the Fickett series and older than the Anak-
tuvuk series (next to be described). The name is taken from Corwin Bluff, in the
Cape Lisburne region (see Pl. VY), where the well-known coal mines of this name are
located, and where rocks typical of the series are well exposed.

The rocks in the main have a strong lithologic resemblance to the Anaktuvuk
series, and seem to be closely related to it in geographic and stratigraphic position,
but as they are not known to occur in the interior along the route followed by
this traverse, they will not be found represented on the geologic map nor in the
geologic section. However, suflicient has been seen of the rocks along the coast from
Wainwright Inlet to near Cape Lisburne to lead to the inference that they probably
form a part of the trans-Alaskan Rocky Mountain system; and on topographic,
geographic, and lithologic grounds, as shown in what follows, it has been con-
cluded that they are intermediate between the Fickett and Anaktuvuk series, a view
which is also supported by paleontologic evidence. The series contains the Wain--
wright, Cape Beaufort, Thetis, and Corwin coals, most of which are of good grade.
The inland extension of the series is also further suggested by the occurrence of coal
on the Colville, reported by Howard and by Reed (see p. 31).

As observed along the coast, the Corwin series seems to extend from near Wain-
wright Inlet, latitude 70° 37’, longitude 159° 45’, southwestward a distance of 180
miles or more, nearly to Cape Lisburne (see Pl. V). Beyond this point, farther
inland, it seems to give way with marked unconformity to the Paleozoic rocks
forming the core of the mountains terminating in the sea cliffs at Cape Lisburne and
the coast south of that point (fig 1, p. 40).

MESOZOIC ROCKS, CORWIN SERIES. 73

The series was first examined by the writer in the low coastal bluffs near Wain-
wright Inlet, where the rocks consist of layers of dense, earthy-colored or dark-gray,
soft, impure limestone or calcareous shale, and hard, bluish gray sandstone of
medium grain, all interbedded with dull-bluish, softer shale. Here the land mass,
composed in the main of these rocks, rises about 90 feet above sea level, and presents
a nearly flat or very gently undulatory surface extending as far as can be seen.

Cape Beaufort (see Pl. V) marks the southern termination of this very gently
undulatory or nearly flat lowland, which extends southwestward from Point Barrow,
and which is underlain by rocks belonging, in part at least, to the Corwin series.
As we near Cape Beaufort, in proceeding southward, the surface soon rises by a
succession of low, minor ridges, of which the cape itself is the chief. This ridge
is about 800 feet high, and is a portion of a warped and dissected plateau extending
inland to the southwest (see Pl. X, @). The rocks of this plateau, though resembling
the Corwin series, seem distinctly more indurated and bear the stamp of greater
age. For this reason it is thought that they may, on further research, prove to be as
old as Triassic or possibly Carboniferous, especially since Carboniferous fossils are
reported to have been found somewhere in the region. For the present, however,
the Cape Beaufort rocks are regarded as part of the Corwin series.

At Cape Beaufort the rocks consist essentially of thin-bedded, impure, gray and
brown sandstone and arkose, with sometimes a little conglomeratic material contain-
ing lignitic plant remains. The sandstone is occasionally hardened, almost to
quartzite. There is also some very impure limestone, and some coal.

Farther west, in the region of Cape Sabine (see Pl. V and Pl. X, (), considerable
shale is also known to occur; and still farther west, in the region of the Corwin coal
mines, the rocks, as exposed in the beach bluff, are mainly soft, impure, dull-greenish,
gray, or brownish sandstone, shale, slate, and coal. Some more typical hard, gray
sandstone, howeyer, is also present. In general, the rocks occur in thin beds, from
1 to 2 feet in thickness, but occasionally there are layers 4 to 8 feet thick. These
heavier members are usually sandstone.

Structure.—Excepting the tilt which the beds have received by uplift, giving
them a general southerly dip varying from a very low angle to 40° or more, they
haye been but little disturbed. Some folding, however, and apparently slight fault-
ing have taken place.

In the lowland near Wainwright Inlet the rocks are nearly horizontal or dip
very gently southeastward. At Cape Beaufort the strike is N. 25° W., with dip
southwestward at an angle of approximately 20°. In the region of the Corwin
mines the strike is N. 45° W., and the dip 36° or more southwestward. Here the
rocks are also cut by two systems of jointing, trending nearly at right angles. The
one trends nearly northeast and dips northwest at an angle of 60° to 70°, while the

74 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

other trends nearly northwest, approximately parallel with the strike of the rocks,
and dips northeastward at an angle of 60° to 70°. These jointings, however, do not
cut up the rock greatly, not nearly so much as do those in the Lower Cretaceous
rocks of the Anaktuvuk series in the interior.

Age.—Remains of fossil plants found in the Cape Beaufort region, and more
particularly in the shale near the Thetis mine at Cape Sabine, by Mr. Dumars, Mr.
Woolfe, and others, have been identified? by Professor Fontaine and Doctor Ward as
not older than the Oolitic of the Jurassic, nor younger than the Lower Cretaceous,
and as probably transitional between the two. Similar evidence is afforded by
fossil plants collected by the writer on the coast about 7 miles southwest of Wain-
wright Inlet, which have been identified by the same authorities as—

Nageiopsis longifolia Font.

Older Potomac of Virginia (Lower Cretaceous).
Podozamites distantinervis Font.

Older Potomac of Virginia (Lower Cretaceous).
Baiera gracilis (Bean) Bunbury.

Oolite of Yorkshire, England (Jurassic).

On the above evidence, therefore, the Corwin series is provisionally assigned to
the Jura-Cretaceous.

Correlation.—Except the Kennicott’ formation in the Copper River district, no
Jura-Cretaceous rocks with which the Corwin series can be correlated have thus
far been found in Alaska.

ANAKTUVUK SERIES (LOWER CRETACEOUS).

The Anaktuvuk series takes its name from the native

Character and occurrence.
name of the river along which it was observed by the writer. It underlies the
southern or principal part of the very gently rolling Anaktuvuk Plateau, along
the north side of the Endicott Range, whence, with surface sloping gently northward,
it continues to form the country rock for a distance of about 50 miles, where it is
succeeded by younger rocks.

Along the base of the mountains the series, judging from the topography (see
Pl. IV), is believed to rest unconformably on the Devonian, or Lisburne formation.
Of this, however, we have no conclusive evidence, as the actual relation between the
two rocks was not seen, because of the covering of glacial drift. The first exposure
of the series visited by the writer is about 8 miles from the mountains.

To the east the Anaktuvuk series is probably soon limited by the Paleozoic front
of the range, while to the west and northwest it probably constitutes in part the

aA full description of these collections, including the forms collected by the writer, will appear in Doctor Ward’s second
paper on the Older Mesozoic floras, to be published by the U. S. Geological Survey.

bSchrader, F. C., and Spencer, A. C., Geology and Mineral Resources of a Portion of the Copper River District, Alaska
(a special publication of the U. S. Geol. Survey), 1901, p. 48.

MESOZOIC ROCKS, ANAKTUVUK SERIES. 75

so-called Meade River Mountains, and, continuing northwestward, may extend to
the Arctic coast.

The series consists essentially of impure sandstone or arkose, with a little fine
conglomerate. The sandstone is usually heavy bedded, beds 6 to 8 feet in thickness
being common, and it is generally fine to medium grained, but in some localities
becomes so coarse as to be almost a grit. In color it ranges from dark or bluish gray
to dirty greenish, while the coarser grained rock often presents a speckled or salt-
and-pepper appearance, and is seen to be composed of grains of the variously colored
flints represented in the Stuver conglomerate. In fact, the color of the rock through-
out seems to be determined largely by the relative abundance of the different colored
sediments from the Stuver series.

Northward from the mountains the rocks, though distinctly sedimentary, contain
also some detritus of igneous rocks, as fragments of feldspar and some dark mineral,
apparently augite or hornblende. The igneous rocks from which such sediments
have been derived probably occur in the mountains lying far east or southeast of the
plateau, as none were observed in the mountains in the region of the Anaktuvuk.

Conglomerate is apparently rare in the series, having been observed at but a
single place—on the right bank of the Anaktuvuk about 2 miles below the mouth of
Willow Creek, where it is exposed in a low point, interbedded with a few lens-like
layers of sandstone. The conglomerate is typically rather fine, with scarcely a
pebble exceeding three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The pebbles and cement are
composed largely of sediments of the Stuver series, white quartz and dark or slate-
colored flint being the most conspicuous. The pebbles are noticeable for their
angularity, suggesting glaciation about the time the series was deposited. The
cementation is relatively firm for a young rock, but is not comparable with that in
the Stuver or Fickett series. The cement is mainly siliceous, but contains also
calcareous material, probably derived from the Lisburne formation.

Owing to the low relief and the covering of drift and moss, no accurate idea
can be formed of the thickness of the Anaktuvuk series, but it is estimated to be
at least 2,000 feet.

Structure.—The strike of the Anaktuvuk series is approximately east and west,
agreeing in this respect with the several series of rocks that compose the range to
the south. Broadly considered the structure seems monoclinal. The rocks in
general dip gently northward at varying angles, but subordinate gentle anticlinal
and synclinal folds are present, the latter being occasionally open. These were
probably caused by the same mountain-building forces that were exerted in the range
to the south. This is suggested by the fact that the trend of the more pronounced
folds in the plateau is parallel with the main folding of the range, as if all belonged
to the same system. Besides the east-west major flexures, the plateau is also

76 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

traversed by a subordinate or minor system of cross folds or warpings, with axes
trending north and south, giving rise to occasional low domes, as shown in fig. 3
(p. 46), which also shows that the region has been subjected to considerable denudation.

The series is freely traversed by two systems of jointing, as shown in Pl. XI, B.
Of these, what seems to be the dominant or major system trends nearly northwest
and dips southwest at an angle of 80°, while the minor system traverses the rocks at
nearly right angles to the major, trending northeast, with dip 80° SE. Both
systems seem to roughly correspond in trend with the similar structures in the
Paleozoic rocks in the mountains to the south.

Age.—It has been determined, on paleontologic evidence, that the Anaktuyuk
series is Lower Cretaceous. It contains typical Aucel/a beds of Alaska. The first
fossils collected by the writer were found 8 miles north of the foot of the mountains.
Subsequently others were found at several points farther north, principally at the
first cross ridge on the Anaktuyuk, and in the bluff at the mouth of Willow Creek.
Of these fossils the most characteristic, as determined by Doctor Stanton, are
** Aucella crassicollis Keyserling, or closely related forms, and are of Lower Creta-
ceous age.

It should be borne in mind, however, that while its Jurassic forms prevent the
Corwin series from being included with the Anaktuvuk series as Lower Cretaceous,
it is not improbable that the discovery of such forms in the future may place the
lower portion of the Anaktuvuk series, now assigned to the Lower Cretaceous, in
the Jura-Cretaceous, since no fossils have yet been found in the extreme basal por-
tion of the Anaktuvuk rocks.

Corredation.—On paleontologic grounds the Anaktuvyuk series may be directly
correlated with the Koyukuk series, next to be described. The rocks of the former,
however, are free from all trace of igneous intrusions, while the Koyukuk series is
associated with igneous rocks,“ as dikes, and probably also as flows.?

Lithologically the Anaktuvuk rocks bear little or no resemblance to the Mission
Creek series, assigned to the Cretaceous by Spurr,’ nor to the Kennicott formation
or the Orca series of the Copper River district. As shown in the table of provisional
correlation, several other series of rocks found elsewhere in Alaska have also been
referred to the Cretaceous—the Matanuska series by Mendenhall, between Resurrec-
tion Bay and Tanana River; the Tordrillo, Holiknuk, Kolmakof, and Oklune by
Spurr, in southwestern Alaska; and the Cantwell conglomerate by Eldridge, 7? in the
Sushitna River region.

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, p. 477.

bP. 78, this paper.

e Spurr, J. E., Geology of the Yukon gold district, Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898.

dEldridge, G. H., A reconnaissance in the Sushitna Basin, Alaska: Twentieth Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 7, 1898.

MESOZOIC ROCKS, KOYUKUK AND BERGMAN SERIES. (07
KOYUKUK SERIES (LOWER CRETACEOUS).

Character and occurrence.—Vhe rocks of the Koyukuk series consist of pink and
reddish impure limestone, dark shale, slates, and some sandstones or arkose, with
occasional associated igneous rocks. The latter include dioritic dikes, amygdaloids,
and andesitic tuffs, which denote volcanic activity during and subsequent to Lower
Cretaceous time.

The series is represented as occupying a small, roughly quadrangular area near
the southern edge of the geologic map, lying principally between the sixty-sixth
parallel and the Arctic Circle on Koyukuk River. It, however, is known to
extend southwestward considerably beyond the limits of the map, and may with
further investigation be found to occupy a large part of the Koyukuk Basin. It is
represented as limited on the northeast by the Bergman series, which in a general
way it seems to underlie, and with which further study may show it to be closely
connected in point of age.

Owing to wide breaks in the sequence of outcrops and the changing attitude of
the rocks, no attempt will be made at present to form an estimate of the thickness of
the series. It may be noted, however, that at one point where fossils were collected,
near the southern edge of the map, on the right (or west) bank of Koyukuk River,
the limestone exhibits a thickness of about 800 feet.

Structure.—Vhe Koyukuk series has been variously disturbed by folding and by
some faulting, but the prevailing dip, so far as observed, is northward, roughly
speaking, at an angle of 40° to 45°. A profuse jointing trends N. 25° W., and dips
steeply northeast, anda well-marked cleavage strikes northeast and dips 75° SE.

Age.—The age of the Koyukuk series is supposed by Doctor Stanton to be the
same as that of the Anaktuyuk series. This determination is based on fossils collected
by the writer in the impure limestone near the southern edge of the area mapped, on
the right bank of the river, and at another locality a few miles farther down the
stream, to the southwest. In each instance Doctor Stanton states that Lower
Cretaceous age is indicated by the presence of Awcella crassicollis Keyserling.

Correlation.—See ** Correlation” under Anaktuvuk series, page 76.
BERGMAN SERIES (CRETACEOUS?). @

Character and occurrence.—Vhe term Bergman is here employed to designate a
group of comparatively uniform rocks covering a large area in the Koyukuk Basin and
forming in large part the Koyukuk Plateau (see p. 44). This series lies north of the
Koyukuk series and bas a north-south extent of 60 to 70 miles. On the north
it rests unconformably on the schists of the Totsen series, while on the south it is
apparently infolded with the Koyukuk series, to which it is supposed to be closely
related and which it is supposed to succeed in geologic age.

aThe name Bergman is that of a trading post on Koyukuk River situated within the area occupied by the series, ata
point where its rocks have become exposed by the incision of the valley into the plateau.

78 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

The Bergman series consists essentially of thin- or medium-bedded, impure, gray
or brownish sandstone and dark slate, with some dark shale and occasionally con-
glomerate, but along the north it is bordered by a belt of conglomerate about 10
miles wide which is apparently the basal member. The sediments of the series have
been derived very largely from igneous rocks, as is shown by the generally feldspathic
constituents of the sandstones and the presence of basaltic, diabasic, and granitic
pebbles or finer detritus in the conglomerate on the lower part of Alatna River
and at Lookout Mountain. The supposed basal belt of conglomerate along the north-
ern border, howeyer, so far as it was observed in the John River region, is com-
posed essentially of the débris of limestone and mica-schist derived from the Skajit
formation and the Totsen series, on which latter it unconformably lies. This con-
glomerate is normally coarse, and in some instances contains bowlders.

Owing to the wide separation of the outcrops visited, data for forming an ade-
quate estimate of the thickness of the Bergman series have not been obtained. From
a general impression, however, it seems safe to suggest that it is probably at least
2,000 feet.

Structure.—The Bergman series, like the Koyukuk series to the south, has been
considerably folded and somewhat faulted, but apparently to a less degree than the
latter. Faulting has been observed on Koyukuk River just below Bergman and
farther downstream, below Kanuti River. Though local folding has been pronounced,
and the rocks are sometimes highly tilted and stand on edge, the prevailing dip of.
the series seems to be gently southward. On the whole the series does not seem to
have received from the geologically late crustal movement the widespread tilt exhib-
ited by both the Anaktuvuk series on the north of the range and the Koyukuk series
on the south. Lookout Mountain apparently represents part of an anticlinal fold
occurring in the series. Here the beds strike a little north of west and dip south
at an angle of about 80°. A pronounced jointing trends northwest and dips 80°
NE. A minor jointing trends north and dips east at an angle of 80°. On the north,
where the beds apparently rest against the Totsen series, the dip is south at an angle
of about 40°.

Age.—In 1899, owing to the presence of coal, lignite, and fragmentary plant
remains in the beds, notably above Tramway Bar, and the resemblance of the beds in
many instances to the Kenai formation occurring elsewhere in Alaska, it was con-
jectured that the rocks might be Tertiary and in part Kenai. The more extended
observations made during the last season, though a large area of the series was
traversed, have thrown no more definite light on the subject, for determining fossils
were not found. It has been shown, however, that between Bergman and John
River the series bears a marked resemblance lithologically to the Anaktuvuk series,
or Lower Cretaceous, and that its rocks, on the whole, are more indurated than the

MESOZOIC ROCKS, NANUSHUK SERIES. 79

coal-bearing Upper Cretaceous or Nanushuk series, both occurring in the Arctic slope
region. Judging from this, and from the seemingly close relationship of the Berg-
man series to the Lower Cretaceous or Koyukuk series, and the bituminous character
of its coal content (No. 187 in table of analyses, p. 114), it seems probable that on
further investigation the Bergman series is more likely to prove to be Cretaceous
than Tertiary.

NANUSHUK SERIES (UPPER CRETACEOUS).

Character and occurrence.—This series is named from Nanushuk River, the native
name of the stream on which it occurs, and which flows into the Anaktuvuk north of
the middle of the belt. The series lies north of the Anaktuvuk series, which it seems
to overlie unconformably, and is itself in turn overlain by the Tertiary Arctic coast
strata, with which its relations are apparently also unconformable. The unconform-
ity between the Anaktuvuk and the Nanushuk is inferred from the difference in the
topography and the marked change in the character and attitude of their rocks. In
the most northern observed exposure of the Anaktuyuk the dip is north, while in
the most southern of the Nanushuk itis steeply south. The north-south width of
the series, in the region of tbe Anaktuyuk, is about 30 miles, while its east-west
extent is not known. It is probable that to the east it is soon delimited by the
Anaktuyuk series, lying between it and the Paleozoics at the foot of the range.
Westward, or rather northwestward, it may possibly extend to the Arctic coast,
in the region between Point Barrow and Wainwright Inlet, but of this we have no
paleontologic evidence.

Along Anaktuyuk River the topography of the Nanushuk series is of a character
intermediate between that of the gently undulatory region of the Lower Cretaceous
or Anaktuyuk series and that of the flat Tertiary coastal plain, whose terranes will
be next described.

The rocks of the Nanushuk series are best exposed in the north bank of the
Anaktuyuk about 5 miles above the mouth of Tuluga River. The exposure occurs
in a bluff about three-eighths of a mile long that rises steeply 120 feet above the
river (Pl. XII, A). The rocks, which here have a steep dip, are mainly thin bedded
(Pl. XII, ). The beds range from 3 to 6 inches in thickness and exhibit rapid
alternation. They consist of gray and brown sandstone, generally fine grained and
sometimes friable, with some gray and impure fossiliferous limestone, dark shale,
fine-grained gray quartzite, drab-colored and green chert, and black slate, stained
reddish along the joints. Coal of good quality is also present (see analysis 107,
p- 114). The beds strike N. 82° E., and dip south at an angle of 80°.

The aboye exposure seems to represent part of the south or upstream limb of
an anticlinal fold which has been beveled off by erosion, for farther downstream the
dip is north. Similar beds, probably belonging to the same series, were encountered,

80 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

but not examined, about 10 or 12 miles above this point on the opposite side of the
valley. Northward toward the Colville, where they are finally succeeded by the
younger formation of the Tertiary coastal plain, the beds seem to lie more nearly
horizontal. They possibly floor the valley and form the bed of Colville River
down to about 5 miles below the mouth of the Anaktuyuk. Here are rapids which
probably mark the termination of the series in the river bed, though the rocks are
no longer exposed in the banks. Below this point the bed of the Colville appears to
lie in the younger and softer formations of the coastal plain, and the current continues
slack nearly all the way to the coast.

Structure.—So far as observed, the strike of the Nanushuk series is about east and
west, and though, from comparison with some of the older rock series, we might
expect the prevailing dip to be northward, observation has hardly been sufficient to
affirm that it is so. The apparent existence of at least one pronounced anticline has
been shown in the previous paragraph. The series is traversed by a system of
approximately horizontal jointing (Pl. XII, £).

Age.—On paleontologic evidence the Nanushuk series is assigned to the Upper
Cretaceous. The fossils were nearly all collected in the locality above described—on
the north bank of the Anaktuvuk 5 miles above the mouth of the Tuluga. They
have been identified by Dr. T. W. Stanton, who reports the lot to be certainly of
Upper Cretaceous age. The forms identified are as follows:

Fossiis of the Nanushuk series from bank af Anaktuvuk River 5 miles above mouth of Tuluga River.

Inoceramus, a rather large species, fragmentary specimens.
A small Astarte, numerous specimens.

Nucula, numerous specimens.

Avicula. e
Pectunculus, several specimens.

Thracia.

Tellina, 2 species.

Siliqua.

Modiola.

Scaphites.

Haminea.

Besides the above, there are casts and impressions of numerous bivaives not yet
determined. |

Concerning the above list, Doctor Stanton remarks that the species are all appar-
ently different from those with which he is familiar, but that several of them are of
types known only in the Upper Cretaceous.

Correlation.—Upper Cretaceous rocks occur also to the south of the Endicott
Mountains in the Koyukuk and Yukon Basin, between the southern edge of the

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XII

A. BASE-LEVEL FEATURE IN NANUSHUK SERIES ON ANAKTUVUK RIVER,

Looking N, 30° E.

B. STRUCTURE AND RAPID ALTERNATION IN BEDDING IN NANUSHUK SERIES ON ANAKTUVUK RIVER.

Looking N. 70° E.

TERTIARY ROCKS, COLVILLE SERIES. 81

area here discussed and Nulato, and include, in part at least, the so-called Nulato
sandstone. A description of this series was given in a previous report.“ The fossils
on which the assignment is made were collected by the writer in 1899 in the
Nulato sandstone between Pickart’s coal mine and Nulato, and are of interest as
being the first Upper Cretaceous fossils found in Alaska. Of this collection, Doctor
Stanton has reported the following forms, and refers the beds to about the same
horizon as the early Chico of the Pacific region in the United States:

Upper Cretaceous fossils from the Yukon Basin.
Ostrea.

Anomia.

Mytilus.

Cardium.

Opis?

Lucina.

Trigonia cf. T. leana Gabb.
Corbula.

Actaeonella cf. A. oviformis Gabb.

East of the international boundary both Upper and Lower Cretaceous fossils
have been found on the Porcupine by Mr. R. G. McConnell, of the Canadian geo-
logical survey.’

TERTIARY ROCKS.

COLVILLE SERIES (OLIGOCENE AND PLIOCENE).

Character and occurrence.—The Colville series is named from the large river
along which it occurs and is excellently exposed. It is a series of Tertiary terranes
which underlies the flat tundra country, or Arctic Coastal Plain, that succeeds the
more southerly rolling plain formed by the Upper Cretaceous or Nanushuk series,
which it apparently unconformably overlies, being itself in turn unconformably
overlain by the Gubik sands. The strata which have been thus grouped extend
along the Colville from some distance above the mouth of the Anaktuvuk nearly
to the Arctic coast, occupying a belt 80 to 100 miles wide. Judging from tho
topography, the series probably has a very considerable extent in an east-west
direction, possibly reaching the northwestern coast in the region of Point Barrow
and farther southward. It also appears along the northern coast in places between
Point Barrow and the mouth of the Colville, but has not been recognized.

The inland edge of the coastal plain, formed essentially by this series, has an
elevation of about 800 feet, from which, with very gradual slope, the surface descends
approximately to sea level at the coast. Beyond this, the very gradually deepening

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. 8.
Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900. ‘
+ Ann. Rept. Geol. and Nat. History Survey of Canada, vol. 4, 1888-1889, Montreal, 1890, pp. 122-125 D,

189—No,. 20—04 6

82 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901,

sea floor seems to be its continuation. Thus the subaerial tundra country and the
submarine coastal shelf almost appear to be parts of the same plain. Beneath the
sea, deposition is still active, while on most of the surface of the subaerial portion of
the plain the work of erosion has hardly yet begun.

The series consists principally of heavy-bedded silts, soft sandstone, limestone,
shale, and lignite. It is best exposed along the Colville in the region of the mouth
of the Anaktuvuk, where it forms steep-faced bluffs about 200 feet in height, extend-
ing for a number of miles both up and down the river (Pl. VII).

Structure.—The Colville series has been but little disturbed. The beds lie nearly
horizontal. On the left bank of the Anaktuvuk, 10 or 12 miles above its mouth,
they dip southward at an angle of 4° or 5°, but from near the mouth of the Anaktu-
vuk, along down the Colville nearly to the coast, they dip northward or northeast
ward (see Pl. VII), so gently that great care is required to detect the introduction of
successively newer and younger beds, as one ascends the geologic section in pro-
ceeding northward downstream. In the vicinity of the mouth of the Anaktuvuk
some very broad, shallow depressions or folds are revealed. Above the mouth the
dip is northward, at an angle of 8° to 10°, but a few miles below it is southward at
about the same angle, so that the lower part of Anaktuvuk River seems to lie in a
very shallow syncline.

Besides this gentle folding, the beds have also suffered slight faulting (see PI.
VII, 2). The maximum vertical throw in the faults observed is about 2 feet.
Lateral crowding has also taken place, producing local crumpling cr folds and small
overthrusts, as shown in Pl. VIII, &, C, and Pl. XIII, A. Im nearly all cases
the crowding or thrust seems to have come from the south, indicating that crustal
movements have apparently taken place in the mountain region in geologically
recent time. The inland or upstream side of any particular stratum which has been
broken or disturbed has been crowded or overthrust onto the coastal or downstream
side of the same, often producing a short overlap. Disturbance, however, is hardly
noticeable in the younger Pliocene portion of the beds toward the coast.

Observations made along Colville River indicate that the series has a thickness
of 500 or 600 feet.

On account of difference in degree of consolidation of the beds, together with
their fossil and lignite contents, the series has been separated by the writer into two
parts, upper Colville and lower Colville. It is possible that an unconformity may .
exist between the lower and upper parts of the series, but if present it must be very
slight.

Lower Colwille (Oligocene).—This constitutes the main portion or lower three-
fourths of the section exposed at the mouth of the Anaktuvuk. It is about 150 foet
thick, while the upper Colville at this same locality is about 40 to 50 feet thick.

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XIII

STRUCTURE IN COVILLE SERIES (TERTIARY).

A, Looking S. 50° W.; B, looking S. 65° W.

& COAL BED AND ROCKS OF CORWIN SERIES AT CORWIN MINES.

Looking S. 45° E

TERTIARY ROCKS, COLVILLE SERIES. 83

The lower Colville contains the more indurated class of rocks and consists mainly
of partially consolidated silts in beds 6 to 8 feet in thickness. They are usually light
siate-colored or ash-colored, and constitute about one-half of the lower Colville
section, and are generally much less consolidated toward the top than near the base.
The harder rocks, which increase in volume toward the base of the section, include
impure, dull gray, medium to fine grained sandstone with detrital lignitic plant
remains; slate-colored and brownish calcareous shale, with disseminated undeter-
minable vegetable detritus; lignitic coal in layers 1 to 5 feet in thickness; dark
slate-colored or brownish chert, containing cavities incrusted with chalcedonic silica;
rusty brown, very ferruginous sandstone or impure iron stone, and some iron-
stained siliceous conglomerate, which also contains lignitic vegetable remains.
There are also a few layers of hardened silts, forming a rock of very fine texture,
resembling soft, smooth hone stone.

The lower Colville is tentatively classed as Oligocene, on account of the presence
in it of lignite beds and vegetable remains, and from its resemblance to the Kenai
beds occurring elsewhere in Alaska, and also on the ground of its relation to the sup-
posed Pliocene silts which it immediately underlies. Several specimens of the shale
collected from it, bearing lignitic plant remains, were examined by Doctor Dall,
who reports that ‘‘the vegetable fragments are probably the needles of Seguoda
langsdorgit Heer. These beds containing vegetable remains in northern Alaska are
usually Upper Oligocene.”

Upper Colville (Pliocene).—This portion of the section is practically free from
indurated rock. It consists of nearly horizontally stratified beds of fine gray, slate-
colored, or ash-colored calcareous silts, containing faunal remains. It is tentatively
assigned to the Pliocene on the basis of fossils collected in place by the writer in the
bluff (near its top) on the west side of the Colville about a mile north of the seven-
tieth parallel (Pl. XIV, A). These have been reported on by Doctor Dall as follows:

Fossils from upper Colville series in bluff on west side of Colville River 1 mile north of seventieth parallel.

Chrysodomus, 2 species, both undescribed and very interesting; the first Tertiary arctic shells
(not Quaternary) Ihave ever seen. Perhaps they are Pliocene.

Amauropsis sp., fragments.

Tachyrhynchus polaris Beck.

Macoma frigida Hanley.

Macoma incongrua von Martens.

Astarte semisuicata Leach (possibly Quaternary intrusion).

Saxicaya arctica L,

io 4)
rs

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS.
GLACIAL DEPOSITS AND GLACIATION,

Glaciation in geologically recent time in northern Alaska has not been of a con-
tinental character comparable to that of the northern United States and of the Cor-
dijieran glacier, which oyerspread the vast field of the Pacific coast mountains in
southern Alaska between the Yukon and the coast. It has been far more extensive,
however, than has generally been supposed. In the valleys nearly everywhere
within the Endicott Range evidence of ice action is shown by bed-rock scorings,
tocal roches moutonnées, terminal moraines, and deposits of till on the lower valley
slopes and benches. It has modified preexisting topographic forms, both by erosion
of the rocks and by deposition of drift. In some cases, as revealed in places by
erosion of the glacial deposits, steep-faced bed-rock benches in the sides of the val-
leys were covered and concealed by the drift, whose surface slopes gently down from
the steep mountain side a distance of one-half mile or more, nearly to the present
stream (Pl. XIV, 3B). ;

In the lower part of the intramontane section of John River, where the valley
occasionally widens, it is sometimes floored by a till sheet, from 50 to 100 feet
thick, containing ponds and lakelets, some of which seem distinctly to be of glacial
origin. ‘Till is prominent also in the mouths of some of the side valleys, as Till Creek
Valley, which opens into that of John River on the east at about the sixty-eighth
parallel. Here good exposures show the deposit to be typical till. It has a thick-
ness of at least 100 feet, and forms a broad terrace or sort of small, triangular
plateau a mile or more in extent, occupying the mouth of the side valley. It slopes
westward, to where John River has been crowded to the bluffs on that side of the
valley. On the east it overspreads and conceals the lower benching and bed-rock
topography. ‘Till Creek, a torrential stream, flows in a small canyon whose steep
banks are formed of the bowlder clay or ground moraine.

In the region of Fork Peak, near the head of John River, at the confluence of
several of its tributaries, the valley is wide and open and is floored by a till sheet at
least 150 feet in thickness. The surface declines to the southwest, denoting that the
deposit has largely come from the northeast, a view which is supported by bed-rock
strie farther down the valley. The till ascends the northwest slope of Fork Peak to
an elevation of 2,500 feet, and may continue much higher, but becomes obscured by
younger talus and coarse débris of doubtful character, which, however, also exhibits
an ill-defined terminal moraine topography. At the elevation of about 3,500 feet is.
a bench overlain by talus and drift, which, judging from topography, was probably
largely deposited by a local hanging glacier.

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XIV

a. PLIOCENE FOSSIL LOCALITY IN COLVILLE RIVER BLUFFS (COLVILLE SERIES), TERTIARY COASTAL PLAIN.

Latitude 70° 1’; looking N. 25° W. Native Eskimo family in foreground.

B. GLACIATION IN UPPER JOHN RIVER VALLEY, IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.

Looking S, 25° W.

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, GLACIATION. 85

The John Valley till sheet extends across the divide by way of Anaktuvuk Pass
and is continuous with that of the Anaktuvuk Valley and the Arctic slope. At the
pass the valley is 3 miles wide and open, and its surface is so flattened with infilled
drift that the small streams descending from the mountains in this locality are
deflected by the merest obstacle to either side of the divide, flowing sometimes north-
ward by way of the Anaktuvuk to the Arctic, and at others southward to John River
and the Yukon.

At the pass occur lakelets of glacial origin. One of these, Cache Lake (Pl. X, 4),
just northeast of the divide, is 30 feet or more deep. Its surface lies about 100 feet
below that of the adjacent ground moraine, giving for the till sheet here a thickness
of at least 130 feet. Just south of the pass the till sheet formerly extended entirely
across the valley, as is shown by the flat-topped outlying remnants of ground moraine
in its middle. These rise to the height of more than 100 feet above the stream,
and accord in level with the ground-moraine terraces on either side.

On the whole, the till sheet in this northern part of the range seems rarely to
extend up the side slopes to more than 500 or 600 feet above the floor of the valley.
Judging, however, from the rounded and sometimes relatively flat-topped aspect of
the mountains near the middle of the range (Pls. XIV, B, and XV, A), certain areas
were not only occupied by an ice cap, but the tops of some of the lower mountains
were planed off by ice movement.

Naturally, the side valleys in this region were among the last to become free
from glaciers, some of which probably remained long after the disappearance of the
ice from the adjacent parts of main valleys. This is shown by the presence of rela-
tively fresh terminal moraines in the side valleys. Four miles northwest of the
middle of John River Valley the small valley of Contact Creek is crossed by such a
moraine. It is typical, being about 60 feet high and one-fourth of a mile in length,
measured parallel with the valley. A similar but older feature occurs in John River
Valley, near the middle of the range, about 12 miles in direct line south of the sixty-
eighth parallel. Here the valley flat is crossed by a terminal moraine about 60 feet
high, a portion of which is shown in Pl. XV, B. It still forms a continuous ridge or
dam across the valley, except where the river has cut a notch-like passage, 200 yards
wide, at the left. At the right the moraine seems to be continuous with the till sheet,
which is 10 to 20 feet thick, and rests on the bed-rock benching at a height of about
100 feet above the river. As seen in looking parallel with the valley, the ridge
presents an undulating profile and is sharp-crested, owing to its upstream side being
cut away by the river. Though it exhibits but little of the typical hummock-and-
kettle topography of a terminal moraine, it is composed mainly of typical bowlder
clay carrying striated pebbles and bowlders, some a foot or more in diameter. The
materials noted are of the same constitution as those of the river gravels, there being

56 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

no erratics. The principal surface or front of the moraine, which slopes southward,
supports a growth of spruce, some of the trees having a basal thickness of 14 feet.

A few miles above this moraine occurs the last lingering remnant of the John
Valley Glacier. It consists of a lone, roughly circular mass of ice about 300 feet in
diameter, rising from the middle of the gravel-covered valley flats to a height of 60
feet, as shown in Pl. XV, 4. At the top the ice terminates in several distinct knob-
like prominences, projecting 10 to 20 feet above the main mass. One of these is
cylindrical or pipe shaped. The others are crudely pyramidal. The ice is partially
capped and flanked by a deposit of genuine till from one to several feet thick, to
whose protection it doubtless in large measure owes its preservation. From three
sides small streamlets of light-colored muddy water, arising from the melting of the
ice and thickened with glacial rock flour from the tiJl, flow down and deposit their
load of fine, argillaceous sediment over the flats around the foot of the mass. This
glacial mud is of very light color. It is sticky, and differs decidedly from the present
stream deposits of the valley. This ice mass is undoubtedly a remnant of the John
Valley Glacier. Its presence at this late date, after apparently all the other glacial ice
has disappeared from the surrounding region, together with the rounded topography
of the adjacent mountains, already noted (Pl. XV, A), suggests that this locality is
probably near what was the belt of maximum precipitation, and consequently of
maximum ice accumulation, that traversed the mountains during Glacial time, and
is therefore among the last to become free from ice.

In the north slope of Anaktuvuk Pass, between John and Anaktuyuk rivers, the
till topography is locally rough and in part terminal morainic. North of Cache Lake
it contains occasional stretches of distinctly termino-lateral moraine, trending toward
Anaktuvuk River, and for the last 10 or 12 miles of its course, before leaving the
mountains, the Anaktuvuk meanders sluggishly through a belt of flats one-half mile or
more in width, which lie about 100 feet below the surface of the till sheet or ground
moraine on either side. This till sheet, with a slope that rises gently in the main, but
which is sometimes terraced, extends from the edge of the flats to the base of the
mountains, 14 miles distant. Near the flats the topography is often of a morainic
type, being composed of characteristic hummocks and kettles, and undoubtedly
represents a lateral moraine, deposited along the edges of the valley glacier that
occupied the flats toward the close of Glacial time.

The height to which the drift, as a sheet, rises along the northern edge of the
mountains away from the Anaktuyuk Valley was not determined. Judging from
distant observations, however, it in some cases probably ascends the valleys to 800
to 1,000 feet above the general level of the Anaktuvuk Plateau.

As Anaktuvuk River leaves the mountains its current becomes less sluggish and
its channel is soon beset with glacial bowlders. At about 43 miles from the edge

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XV

A. ICE REMNANT OF JOHN VALLEY GLACIER IN ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS.

Looking southwest.

B. TiIMBERED TERMINAL MORAINE RESTING ON FICKETT SERIES ON JOHN RIVER.

Looking southwest

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, GLACIATION. 87

of the mountains the river bluff on the left exposes a thickness of a little over 100
feet of typical till. From this point the deposit continues laterally up the side slopes
of the valley, and apparently overspreads the plateau indefinitely, while the lower
portions of the deposit, extending downstream, form terraces along the river. At
about 10 miles from the mountains and 24 miles east of the river, at an elevation of
2,400 feet, or nearly 700 feet above the valley floor, the top of a rounded sandstone
hill, which rises to the general level of the plateau, bears patches of till a foot or
more in thickness. Here, too, some of the less firm portions of the bed rock have
been disturbed, while others bear markings that have been interpreted as imperfect
glacial strie. These trend approximately parallel with the valley. A view of the
surface of the plateau from this point, as shown in Pl. IV, seems to indicate the
presence of drift almost everywhere, though the deposit is probably thin on the tops
of the higher ridges.

Till occurs farther down the Anaktuvuk, forming terraces and moraines similar
to those noted in the intramontane section of the valley. About 15 miles north of
the mountains, just below camp July 1, on the side of the valley, there is a
lateral moraine that rises to a height of about 150 feet above the valley flat, which is
here about three-fourths mile wide. The steep angle, 45° to 60°, at which the drift
materials lie, as exhibited in the face presented to the valley, clearly denotes that
they were deposited largely against an ice wall. Just in front of this moraine is a
characteristic oyerwash plain from whose upper edge an unquestionable terminal
moraine extends indefinitely, both to the east and to the west, away from the valley.

A little north of the above region, about 23 miles from the mountains, occurs the
first pronounced cross ridge of Lower Cretaceous beds, through which the river has cut
ashort canyon. A few miles east of the river this ridge attains an elevation of about
2,500 to 2,600 feet. On ascending the ridge in this vicinity, from the plateau on the
south, the till sheet was found to continue up to the elevation of about 2,250 feet,
where, on the slope becoming a little steep, it suddenly ceases and the bed rock
becomes exposed and continues so across the broad top of the ridge, while till is again
encountered on its north slope, which descends into Willow Creek Valley.

On the top of the above ridge, however, are glacial erratic bowlders, which,
though not abundant, are decisive in showing that an ice sheet passed over the ridge.
As these erratics occur 400 to 500 feet above the ground moraine, it is inferred that
they were probably transported as englacial or superglacial material. Here, also,
large blocks of bed-rock sandstone have been moved from their original position to
an extent that can not be accounted for by frost or weathering, so that their trans-
portation seems to have been the work of moving ice.

About 10 miles northward, on Willow Creek Ridge, a similar feature, no glacial
drift was found. At afew points the edges of the sandstone beds are disturbed, as

85 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

if by ice action, but the evidence as to the agency is not conclusive. On descending
the slope northwestward, however, toward the Anaktuvuk, erratics of the Stuver
conglomerate were found at an elevation of about 1,650 feet. The surface in this
locality, however, is so densely covered with moss that drift may extend above this
elevation and yet not be exposed. But on the whole, from this point northward, the
till seems rapidly to become restricted to the lower side slopes of the valley, where
it forms low bluffs and terraces.

About 14 miles below Willow Creek, near camp August 5, bluffs of probable
till, resting against the bed-rock sides of the valley, rise to a height of 125 feet
above the valley flats, and there, apparently as a thin veneer, the deposit over-
spreads the adjacent bed-rock bench. This bench is half a mile or more in width,
nearly flat topped, and densely covered with vegetation, so that away from its
river edge no satisfactory examination of the deposit could be made. A few
hundred feet above the upper or distal edge of the bench, however, are outcrops
of sandstone, presenting no drift or indication of ice action.

Twelve miles north of the above locality, about five miles above the mouth of
Tuluga River (see Pl. XII, A), a similar bench, lying at 100 feet above the river, is
capped by a deposit of gravel and sand 20 feet in thickness. Some -of the pebbles
approach the size of bowlderets, and even bowlders. Though they are waterworn,
no stratification is apparent in the deposit, which has much the aspect of a sandy till.
Its position suggests that it may have been deposited here by waters from the glacier
that possibly occupied the valley at this point. The deposit may, however, be
fluviatile.

Sixteen miles farther down the Anaktuvuk, about 10 miles above its mouth, the
bluff on the left is again capped by from 10 to 40 feet of sand and gravel, in which
the gravel is more distinctly washed and rounded than in the deposit above noted,
but the absence of stratification and the character of the material again suggest that
glacial waters may possibly have been an agency in its deposition. If this inference
is correct, the ice stream which occupied the Anaktuvuk valley must have extended
down nearly to this point. There is, however, no reason to suppose that it extended
below it. On the adjacent part of Colville River there seems to be no evidence of
glaciation within a score or more miles above the mouth of the Anaktuvuk. The
drainage of this section of the Colville does not seem to have been interrupted since
the Tertiary.

From the conditions above described it is concluded that in the region of the
Anaktuvuk Valley, in that portion of the Colville Basin embraced by the curving
front of the Endicott Mountains, an ice sheet in the form of a small regional or pied-
mont glacier, gradually thinning out toward the north, extended from the front of
the range northward across the inner part of the Anaktuvuk Plateau to the region of
Willow Creek, a distance of 30 or more railes. Beyond this point ice flowage seems

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, GLACIATION. 89

to have been confined substantially to the present drainage ways, in the form of valley
glaciers, of which that of the Anaktuvuk is the chief.

There is evidence that the Anaktuvuk glacier extended northward to the sixty-
ninth parallel, and there are some indications that it may possibly have extended 30
miles farther, to within 10 or 12 miles of the present mouth of Anaktuvuk River,
but it is not to be supposed that it crossed Colville River, if indeed it ever reached
it. This latter statement is probably also true of the ice streams to the west that
must haye occupied the valleys of Ninuluk, Killik, Kurupa, and Kucher creeks,
which enter the Colville a little north of the sixty-ninth parallel.

It does not seem probable that the drift sheet on the Arctic slope much exceeds
150 feet in thickness at any point. It apparently attains its maximum development
in the valleys, not far from the mountains, the source of supply. Elsewhere on the
slopes its surface seems to conform very largely to the preexisting topography of
the underlying terranes.

In the southern part of the Endicott Mountains, evidence of glaciation, as has
been shown, may be found up to an elevation of nearly 2,000 feet. From the point
where John River leaves the mountains, southward to the region of Kanuti River,
the Koyukuk Valley region exhibits a generally rounded topography, which suggests
former glaciation, up to a height of 1,600 or 1,800 feet. On John River, near the
base of the mountains, the drift, so far as observed, is essentially till. In some
localities the deposit is at least 100 feet thick, and is marked by several terraces that
rise successively from the river to the southeast, above which the surface continues
to have a rolling, apparently ground-moraine topography, that finally gives way to
low, rounded mountains or hills, which also are supposed to be glaciated.

Observations in the above region away from the immediate route of travel were
very limited. Along the route, however, glacial drift seems to be more or less
continuous all the way down the open flats of John River Valley, as is shown by the
topography and by occasional exposures of till rising to a height of 30 or 40 feet
above the river or resting in thinner sheets on the bed-rock benches at elevations of
from 30 to 100 feet above the stream.

Till is present near the mouth of John River and on the right or west bank of
the Koyukuk between Bettles and the mouth of Jane Creek, where it forms bluffs about
100 feet high. Similar conditions seem to prevail to the eastward, in the region of
Gold Bench” on South Fork, whence they apparently continue northeastward across
the divide into the Chandlar River Basin, where till deposits similar to those on John
River have been noted in a previous report, and have since been observed to extend
up Granite Creek.’

aWhen the only opportunity for making observations at Gold Bench was presented, 5 feet of snow lay on the ground.
+ Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska; Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol. Survey, pt. 2,
1900, p. 478.

90 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

No glacial drift was noted on the top of Lookout Mountain, and, as the surface
was deeply snow covered at the time it was visited, the elevation to which the drift
ascends on its slope could not be learned. Southward, on the northeast side of the
lower Alatna Valley, what seem to be till terraces occur along the south side of
Double Mountain up to a height of 1,600 feet.

Just below the mouth of the Alatna the right bank of the Koyukuk presents a
steep-faced exposure of clay and gravel, rising 80 to 100 feet above the river. The
lower 50 feet of this section seems to be till, and is distinctly separated by a well-
defined contact from the upper portion, which consists mostly of gravels and silts,
some of which are discordantly stratified.

From the character of the topography glacial drift is supposed also to occur on
the opposite side of the Koyukuk and to extend southward toward the mouth of
Kanuti River. Mr. Mendenhall reports that in the country lying north of this
region, on the upper waters of the Alatna and the Kowak, above the sixty-seventh
parallel there is evidence of glaciation similar to that in the same latitude-on John
River. Furthermore, in the recent gravels along the Koyukuk near Bergman,
notably on the south side of the river, there are large granitoid bowlders, totally
foreign to the country rock of the region. These may have been brought here
through the agency of river ice from far up the valley of South Fork, but it seems
equally probable that they may have been brought by glaciers from the mountains
to the north where similar rocks in place are known to occur.

The hill just west of Bergman consists of Bergman sandstone, but on its slope,
at a height of nearly 200 feet above the river, there is a gravel deposit composed of
heterogeneous materials. An examination, as thorough as could be made under
unfavorable conditions, indicates that ice action was concerned in its origin. It con-
tains characteristically angular and subangular ice-worn pebbles, with polished sur-
faces, often profusely striated. The striz are of distinctly glacial origin and can in
no wise be ascribed to the action of river ice.

From the above-enumerated observations in this southern part of the field it is
inferred that glaciation extended from the mountains southward into the Koyukuk
Basin across the Arctic Circle and beyond Bergman, but observation has not been
sufficient to determine whether this extension was in the form of a continuous ice
sheet, or merely as valley glaciers. From topographic. criteria, however, it seems
probable that most of the hills below 2,000 feet were covered by ice or névé, while
such peaks as Mount Lookout and its higher fellows appeared as nunataks above its
surface, and that glacial activity, or ice work, was largely restricted to the valleys
and lower reaches of the hill slopes.

In the John River and Anaktuvuk River portions of the Endicott Mountains the

aThis bluff is the Unatlotly of the natives.

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, GROUND-ICE FORMATION AND KOWAK CLAY. St

glacier ice (save the single instance cited on John River) has disappeared. To the

east, however, as noted under ‘‘ Previous explorations,” prospectors and whalers
who have crossed the range in the vicinity of the one hundred and forty-ninth
meridian report the presence of valley glaciers of considerable size.

The glacial phenomena that have been described tend to show that, although the
Endicott Mountains (Pl. VII) do not on the whole seem to have been overridden
en masse by a moving ice sheet, they were doubtless, especially in their northern
part, largely occupied by an ice cap or perennial névé, constituting a breeding ground
for glaciers. The zone of maximum snowfall, and consequently of maximum ice
accumulation, trending in an east-west direction, was apparently in the northern part
of the range at least somewhat north of its median line. From this zone the ice
moved off to the north and to the south, respectively, into the Colville and Koyukuk
basins. Its flowage, especially during the latter part of the Ice age, was confined
mainly to the yalleys and drainageways in the form of alpine glaciers, of which there
is ample evidence. But there is also good reason to believe, as shown by the till
sheet north of the mountains, that during the zenith of the Ice age the northern
edge of the range was occupied by a more or less extensive ice sheet, which, as a
small regional or piedmont glacier, thinning out toward the north, extended north-
ward over a considerable portion of the Anaktuvuk Plateau, its occurrence at that
time being, perhaps, similar to that of the Bering or Malaspina glaciers of to-day.

GROUND-ICE FORMATION AND KOWAK CLAY.

At some localities along the Arctic coast there are stretches of low bluffs or
banks of ground ice overlain by a deposit of dark muck and moss several feet in
thickness. Deposits of light-colored clay also are occasionally seen. The occurrence
and distribution of these deposits appear, in a measure, to be as represented by
Doctor Dall on his map of the ‘‘ Known distribution of the Neocene formations in
Alaska.” ?

The ground-ice formation was hitherto supposed to be of very widespread occur-
rence in this Arctic region. To give an idea of the evidence on which this supposi-
tion rests I shall here freely quote from Doctor Dall’s report.’

**From information gathered from several masters of vessels in the whaling
fleet, and derived from experience gained in the effort to dig graves for seamen who
had died aboard vessels on this shore from time to time during the last twenty years,
it would appear that somewhat north of Cape Beaufort the land between the low hills
and the sea is low and the soil chiefly a sort of gravel. ‘Ata depth of 2 feet is a
stratum of pure ice (not frozen soil) of unknown depth. This formation extends,
with occasional gaps, north to Point Barrow, and thence east to Return Reef, where

aDall, W. H., Correlation papers, Neocene: Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey No. 84, 1892, opposite p. 268. Becker, G. F., Recon-
naissance of the gold fields of southern Alaska: Eighteenth Ann. Rept. U. 8. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1898, pl. i.
5 Op. cit., p. 264.

92 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901. ;

the ice layer is about 6 feet above the level of the sea. It goes south at least as far
as Iey Cape without any decided break, and is found in different localities as far
south as Kotzebue Sound.’ At Point Barrow, near the international station, under
the direction of Lieut. P. H. Ray, U.S. Army, a shaft was sunk to a depth of 37
feet 6 inches, which passed through successive layers of mud, sand, and fine gravel,
with fragments of driftwood and marine shells, showing here and there large frag-
ments of pure fresh-water ice, but no continuous stratum of ice. The formation
here was clearly a beach alluvium, and relatively modern, a pair of Eskimo wooden
snow gogyles with sinew string still attached to them being found at a depth of 274
feet. The temperature of the earth yaried from —5° to +17.5° F.; below the
influence of the external air the temperature of the earth was quite steady at 12° F,
for nine months. ‘The earth was frozen and was extremely hard and tough. Blasts
put into the side of the shaft blew out without shattering the frozen earth around the
drill hole. Itis probable that excavations farther inland might have revealed the
ice layer, which at the locality of the station did not exist.”

The observations made by the writer, while boating along the coast, lead to the
inference that the ground ice is not of so widespread occurrence as the above quota-
tion indicates. Between the Colville and Point Barrow the ice is possibly more or
less continuous along the coast, but of its inland extension we have little evidence.
Even along the coast it is not extensively exposed. Here long stretches of the low
tundra country are apparently underlain by rock or earthy deposit.

Of the localities at which the ice was observed, the most important are Cape
Halkett and Cape Simpson, at each of which it seems to be practically continuous for
a distance of several miles. Cape Halkett, one of the most prominent promontories
along this part of the coast (Pl. X, Y), terminates in an ice cliff rising 30 feet above
tide level, and is overlain by a foot or two of muck, which in turn is carpeted by a
nap of moss and grass at the surface. Judging from topography, the ice at this
locality may extend inland several miles. Its thickness is not known, since its lower
limit lies below tide level. As shown in the view (Pl. X, 7), the cape is being rapidly
cut back by wave action, which undermines the cliff at tide level until by its own
weight the ice breaks off in large blocks and is ground up by the surf.

Coal occurs at Wainwright Inlet, between Point Barrow and Cape Beaufort. A
little southwest of that place the Jura-Cretaceous comes to the coast, and, judging
from topography, seems to continue nearly all the way to Cape Beaufort, omitting
a probable breach at Icy Cape. From Cape Beaufort to Cape Lisburne rocks of
the Corwin series (Mesozoic) are known to be almost continuous. It therefore
seems, from the above facts, that the southern boundary of the ground-ice area repre-
sented on Doctor Dall’s map should be shifted from the region of Icey Cape north-
ward, probably to at least beyond Wainwright Inlet, a distance of 60 to 75 miles.

Of the Kowak clay containing Pleistocene vertebrate remains, referred to by
Doctor Dall in connection with the ground ice, but little was seen by the writer.
Observation, however, has been sufficient to suggest that, if present along the coast

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, GROUND-ICE FORMATION AND GUBIK SAND. 93

between the Colville and Chipp (Ikpikpuk) River, they are not only far from con-
tinuous, but are probably of very limited occurrence. Along the northwest part
of the coast, the only locality at which what seems with certainty to be the Kowak
clay was observed, is at Woody Inlet, about 50 miles southwest of Point Barrow.
As this inlet is not far from the seventy-first degree of north latitude it is thought
that the deposit may be near that in which Captain Beechey’s party obtained elephant
remains.
GUBIK SAND.

Besides the Tertiary Colville series, which underlies the coastal plain along Col-
ville River, the section here also comprises deposits supposed to be Pleistocene. Of
these, probably the most important and interesting is a surficial deposit of brownish
sand or loam about 10 to 15 feet in thickness, which unconformably overlies the beds
of the Colville series, apparently as a continuous mantle.

This deposit seems to be distinct from the Colville series and to extend over a
large area of country. It not only forms the surficial terrane of the coastal plain
along the Colville, but seems to occur at some localities along the coast from the
mouth of the Colville westward, in some instances apparently overlying the ground
ice and probably the Kowak clay formation, while its inland margin probably over-
laps the coastal edge of the Upper Cretaceous of the Nanushuk series along the
Anaktuyuk nearly to the mouth of the Tuluga, where, in certain localities, judging
from topographic criteria, it also appears to overlie gravels which are very ten-
tatively referred to as glacial, but to which its relation is not definitely known.

The deposit consists of fine sand, with apparently an admixture of considerable
silt. In some localities it seems to be more sandy toward the base, and more earthy
toward the top, where it terminates in from one to several feet of dark brown or
black humus, clothed at the surface with moss and a little grass. It is ordinarily
free from gravel, but in several instances subangular cherty pebbles ranging from
mere sand grains to fragments as large as one-fourth inch in diameter were found.
These occur very scatteringly and are sometimes roughened, as if wind worn. In
some localities a fine gravel seems to intervene between the base of the deposit and
the underlying Tertiary beds, as if representing the basal part of the deposit.

The deposit as a rule is structureless or without stratification planes. Owing to
this fact, together with its surficial and widespread occurrence, and the homogeneity
of its materials for want of a better term in field work it was called loess, but in the
fear that this term may be undesirable, it is here named the Gubik sand, after the
Eskimo name of Colville River.

Various hypotheses have suggested themselves to account for the origin of the
deposit, of which no one alone seems to be satisfactory. To the writer, the fluviatile
delta theory, in conjunction with shallow coastal conditions and intense arctic freezing,
seems the most tenable.

94 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

RECENT MUD, MUCK, GROUND ICE, DUNE SAND, SILTS, AND GRAVELS.
INLAND REGION,

The deposits mentioned in this heading are all represented on the map by the
same color.

Along John River and the Koyukuk the color represents recent stream gravels,
together with alluvial sands, silt with ground ice, mud flats, and areas of till too
small to be represented on the scale of the accompanying map.

Along Anaktuvuk River the color denotes recent stream gravels, while along
Colville River it includes, besides the recent stream gravels, a large, triangular area
of flats extending from the mouth of the Anaktuvuk to the coast and eastward along
the coast a distance of thirty or more miles to beyond Gwydyr Bay. This large area,
as noted, is regarded as ground abandoned by the Colville in its lateral migration
westward since Tertiary time, as the river is supposed to have formerly flowed more
directly northeastward from the mouth of the Anaktuvuk, and to have entered the
sea through Gwydyr Bay, following the course indicated by the broken lines on the
map. (Pl. III.)

Though to the eye this area of flats seems a dead level the surface probably
rises very gently from the Colville eastward. It is dotted by numerous ponds and
lakelets. The monotony of the waste is somewhat relieved by occasional low mounds,
as shown in Pl. XVI, B. These are composed, in part at least, of gravel and sand.
Some of them rise as much as 40 feet above the flats. In shape they are low and
rounded. Some have a tapering train on the lee side toward the coast. Their
surface is usually scantily clothed with grass and other vegetation.

The origin of the mounds is not known. Only one of them was visited. Perhaps
the most plausible hypothesis is that they are remnants of beds belonging to the Ter-
tiary Colville series, which, chancing to be capped with some hard stratum, were not
worn down by the river to the level of the flats, and so formed nuclei favorable for
accumulation of gravel, and subsequently became bars, and, later still, islands in the
Colville, until the river abandoned its bed about their bases.

Along the Colville the edge of the flats often terminates in gravel bars, descend-
ing to the water’s edge, or in low, steep-faced banks of frozen black muck and ground
ice, showing that at least the surficial portion of the flats consists in the main of
recent stream deposits and the decayed products of marsh vegetation. The banks
decrease in height toward the coast, and finally vanish as the land surface passes into
the bars, reefs, and tidal mud flats at sea level.

The geologic work now being done by the river in its lateral migration shows
that the processes by which the flats were formed were essentially those of planation.
In the inland region, as the shifting stream, in its very gradual down-cutting and
relatively very rapid lateral cutting, sawed its way westward into the coastal plain, it

PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS. 95

planated farther and farther on the west the ground which by its destructional
work it claimed as its bed; while simultaneously, as it abandoned or receded from this
planated ground on the east, it built thereon, notably at high-water stages, flood-plain
and riparian deposits, which now constitute the surficial terrane of the flats. Thus,
while degradation or destructional work was in progress on the west, aggradation or
constructional work of flood-plain building was progressing on the east. At the
same time in the coastal region the large amount of sediments borne down by the
river was built into an-expansive delta plain, which landward merges into and is con-
tinuous with the inland subareal portion of the flats, and seaward merges into the
already mentioned expansive tidal mud flats, bars, and reefs at the coast.

The Colville Flats therefore appear to consist essentially of a Pleistocene veneer
of flood-plain, ground-ice, and deltoid deposits resting on Tertiary beds of the Colville
series that have been planated by the river in its Jateral migration toward the west.

Another type of recent deposits is seen in the sand dunes that occur fora distance
of a few miles along the upper part of the Anaktuvuk, just before it leaves the
Endicott Mountains, and also over the inland portion of the Colville delta and adjacent
mainland. The material of the dunes in both places is obviously river sand and silts
derived from the wind-swept bars and flats exposed during stages of low water.
This dune work is probably accomplished mostly during the dry, frozen periods of
winter, when the bare ice surface is favorable for wind transportation of the material.

COASTAL REGION.

From Colville River to Point Barrow.—Vhough the Tertiary beds of the Colville
series may come to the Arctic coast in some localities, they have not been positively
identified there. From Colville River to Point Barrow the shore line materials
consist mainly of recent beach deposits of mud, muck, some sand and gravel, and
deltoid mud flats, backed in places by low banks of older dark muck and ground ice
(see Pl. IX, A and Pl. X, D). West of the Colville, in Harrison Bay, deposits of
sand or loam are occasionally seen, which, from similarity in character of material,
seem to belong to the Gubik sand.

The eastward swing, or retreat, of Colville River in relatively recent time
from bluffs of its own cutting on the west, leaving a portion of the Colville Flats on
its west or left side, along the section extending from Ocean Point to the coast, a
distance of nearly 40 miles, suggests for this particular part of the region a local tilt
to the eastward in Pleistocene time, or at least subsequent to the production of the
bluffs and the Colville Flats, which must have been formed by the river. If this tilt
or differential uplift to the west of the Colville has been far-reaching in its westward
extent, it favors the existence of a coastal belt of late Pleistocene as far as it extends.

To local differentials in elevation along this costal line of uplift are to be ascribed
the occasional ground-ice cliffs as at Cape Halkett and Cape Simpson, alternating with

96 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

long stretches of low shelving beach. The ice cliffs appear merely to represent com-
pletely solidified bays, lagoons, lakelets, or perhaps other coastal bodies of ponded
water now raised into low anticlines and cut back by wave action.

From Point Barrow to Cape Lishurne.

line grows more marked. It is not so low, flat, and shelving as on the north, and the

Southwest of Point Barrow the coast

water is consequently less shoal. Here the long stretches of mud flats found on the
north are in the main wanting. The mainland bluffs at the edge of the tundra,
though still low, are not only higher than on the north but are almost continuous,
and are frequently composed of true bed rock (Mesozoic terranes); between the
base of these bluffs and tide water there is a narrow fringe of recent beach gravels
and sand, whose surface slopes steeply seaward. However, from Wainwright Inlet’
to near Cape Beaufort there are extensive wave-built barrier beaches or bars of
recent marine gravels and sand (see Pl. XVI, A), sheltering immense stretches of
brackish lagoons lying between the bars and the mainland. Toward Cape Lisburne,
the most bold and important promontory in this part of the northwest, the coast
becomes steep and rock bound (Pl. V) by the Mesozoics and Paleozoics that have
been described.

RECENT FOSSILS FROM THE ARCTIC COAST.

The following invertebrate fossils were collected along the Arctic coast between
Colville River and Cape Lisburne. The identifications are by Dr. W. H. Dall, of
the United States Geological Survey.

Chrysodomus fornicatus Gray, 649,¢ 650, 654.

C. despectus L., 639.

Admete couthouyi Jay, 652.

Margarites striatus Sowerby, 647.

Tellina lutea Gray, 647.

Macoma frigida Hanley, 636, 639, 647, 650.

M. tenuis Leach, 639, 652.

M. baltica var. inconspicua B. & §., 636.

Astarte arctica Gray, 636, 639.

A. borealis Schumacher, 636, 639, 650, 652, 654.

Venericardia alaskana Dall, 652.

Saxicava arctica L., 650.

Serripes gronlandicus Beck, 636, 654.

Cyrtodaria kiirriana (Mérch) Dunker, 639, 650.

Thracia beringi Dall, 654.

Mytilus edulis L., 650.

Modiolaria nigra Gray, 650.

Yoldia sp. fragm., 639.

aThe numbers refer to localities.

U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER NO. 20 PL. XVI

A. BARRIER REEF AND ESKIMO GRAVE ON ARCTIC COAST NEAR ICY CAPE,
vi

Looking S. 25° W.

B. ABANDONED PLEISTOCENE FLATS OF COLVILLE RIVER, SHOWING MOUNDS AND LAKELETS,

From 30 miles inland; looking N. 80° E,

lor)

PROVISIONAL CORRELATIONS.

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189—No. 20—04——_7

98 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

MINERAL RESOURCES.
GENERAL STATEMENT.

Under the head of geology, it has been shown that the rocks forming the moun-
tains about the head of the Koyukuk Basin comprise several metamorphic series,
namely, the Skajit, Totsen, Fickett, Bettles, Lake quartz-schist, and West Fork series.
In these mineralization has taken place. It is inthe southern part of the region that
the efforts of the prospector are being rewarded, and, in some cases, handsomely.

Though indications of mineralization occur to some extent nearly all the way
northward through the Endicott Mountains, the principal producing region is on the
upper parts of Middle and North forks of the Koyukuk. Though the region also
contains coal and some lead, copper, and antimony, thus far gold only has proved
to be of economic importance.

GOLD.

Placer gold has been known in the Koyukuk Basin since the early nineties, if
not before. It was first discovered in the bars of the river, of which the most noted
seem to have been Hughes and Florence bars, both far below the ‘present placer dig-
gings. Tramway Bar, above the sixty-seventh parallel, about 570 miles above the
mouth of the river, is among the earliest discoveries. The discovery of Slate, Myrtle,
and the other creeks that have been among the chief producers for the last four
years was made during and subsequent to the spring of 1899. These are mostly
above Tramway Bar.

Roughly considered, the Koyukuk gold district, or gold diggings, frequently
referred to as the most northern mining camp in the world, as known at present is
contained in a rectangular area of about 3,500 square miles, lying between latitudes
66° 55’ and 67° 55’ and longitudes 149° 30’ and 151° 20'.¢ lt accordingly trends
north and south. Its length is about 70 miles and its width about 50 miles.
Diagonally through it from northeast to southwest flows Middle Fork of
Koyukuk River, while the northwest portion is drained by North Fork and the
southeast portion by South Fork. The principal field of present operations is
near the middle of the district, on the middle drainages of Middle and North forks.

It is only in certain localities in this area, however, that profitable gold placers
have been found. The formations on which these placers lie, so far as known, are
the Lake quartz-schist, the West Fork schist, the Bergman series, and probably also
the Skajit formation, for some of the later discoveries are reported to occur on mica-
schist, limestone, and marble;’ but whether any or all of these formations are the
original source or mother rock of the gold can not yet definitely be stated, as
the season’s work afforded no facility for visiting the diggings. The Slate Creek

a¥or location and outline of the district, see geologic map, PI. III.
6 On Clara and Emma creeks the country rock is reported to be mica-schist and marble.

GOLD. 99

gold, however, is probably derived from the Lake quartz-schist.¢ These schists are
traversed by quartz veins of considerable size, the larger of which are not known to
carry more than a trace of gold, but a series of smaller veins or veinlets and small
lenticular quartz bodies or leaflets contained in the schist are to some extent aurif-
erous. Nearly all quartz specimens which have been assayed show at least a trace
of gold.

The principal diggings when the region was visited by the writer in 1899 were
those of Slate Creek and Myrtle Creek, which lie along the zone where the Lake
quartzite-schist gives way to the West Fork? series on the south. This zone is also
along the line where the mountains give way to the dissected supposed Yukon
Plateau. Here in March, 1899, coarse placer gold was discovered in paying quanti-
ties on Slate Creek, an east side tributary of Middle Fork of the Koyukuk, which it
joins 16 miles above Tramway Bar. The country rock is a series composed of mica-
schist, quartz-schist, and slate, and is cut by some igneous intrusives. It is uplifted
and stands on edge. The gold occurs as shallow creek and gulch diggings, and is
found principally near or on bed rock in joints, fissures, and crevices. The gravels
rarely exceed 33 feet in thickness. The diggings begin about 9 miles above the
mouth of Slate Creek, at the confluence of the two main forks, of which the north
one is known as Myrtle Creek, and the south one as Slate Creek proper. From
this point the diggings extend to the head of Myrtle Creek, a distance of 5 or 6
miles, and considerably farther up Slate Creek.

Two mining districts had been organized and are known as the Slate Creek
and Myrtle Creek districts. The gold, as seen here, is bright, clean looking, coarse,
and considerably rolled or flattened, denoting transportation. The largest nugget
taken out had a value of nearly $20. The bench gravels along these creeks are also
auriferous and are reported to prospect from 3 to 5 cents per pan. Considerable
mining was also being done near the sixty-seventh parallel on various tributaries of
South Fork with fair success; here at present the principal camp is that of Gold
Bench.

Though the Slate and Myrtle creek districts, with a few others, are reported
to have yielded well during the season of 1899 and 1900, and are still producing,
subsequent exploitation has resulted in the discovery of much richer deposits farther
up the river, all occurring, according to reports of the miners, in much the same
class of metamorphic rocks as those noted for Slate and Myrtle creeks.

Of these newer discoveries, the principal are Emma, Clara, and Gold creeks, and
other smaller streams tributary to Hammond Creek, while the discovery of gold on
Union Gulch, about 15 miles above Slate Creek, is reported to have been made

aSchrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899: Twenty-first Ann. Rept.
U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, pp. 474-483,
bIbid,, p. 475.

100 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

during the summer of 1901. Other new creeks, reported to be producing, are Ver-
mont, Swift, and Nolan. The two best producers thus far are reported to be Emma
and Gold creeks. The gravels on Hammond Creek are reported to contain much
iron pyrites, which, in sluicing, rapidly fills up the rifles, and in some specimens
visibly exhibits embedded bodies and particles of free gold—a fact of no
small economic importance, as it seems to point very strongly to deposits of gold-
bearing pyrites or ore probably present within the Hammond Creek Basin as the
source of the gold. During the summer of 1902 very promising prospects were
discovered also on North Fork of the Koyukuk about 35 miles above its mouth.
Here the belt containing gold-bearing gravels, locally considered, is said to have a
width of about 20 miles and to trend in a general east-west direction about parallel
with the mountains. The principal streams on the Fork are Mascot, Washington,
and Big Four creeks. The discoyery was made on Washington Creek in August,
but the principal producer seems to be Mascot, a west-side tributary, which was
discovered in September (1902), and during the season of 1903 yielded nearly
$100,000 in gold. This gold is coarse. It contains several S100 nuggets, and
other large ones of less value. The gravels are shallow; they range from
a few inches to several feet in thickness, and contain a little black sand. Their
shallowness enables the ground to be worked at a profit of about 70 per cent of
the yield, which is much greater than that in most of the creeks of the Koyukuk
district. The gold is found mostly on bed rock and in the extreme basal part
of the overlying gravels, and where the bed rock is rotten or decayed the gold
frequently extends a foot or more into it. The bed rock is mica-schist. It contains
stringers of quartz and is occasionally cut by porphyry dikes. Gold prospects
have also been found west of the above, on tributaries of the Hokotena.

The Tramway Bar diggings are bench placers, consisting apparently of deposits
ot auriferous river gravels resting on a bench of bed-rock conglomerate and sand-
stone, at about 80 to 100 feet above the level of the river. The gravels are mostly
coarse, consisting largely of rolled cobbles and pebbles of quartz-schist and other
rocks composing the mountains to the north. Several attempts have been made to
work these deposits, but thus far with only moderate success. This is owing appar-
ently to the remoteness of the region, the difficulty of transportation, and more
especially to the lack of capital to utilize the water supply, which could readily be
drawn from the river above the placers or from lakelets said to occur on higher
ground lying westward.

The Tramway conglomerate has not as yet been found to be a fossil placer, as
was formerly supposed, nor does it seem to- bear any relations to the richer diggings
occuring in the region of metamorphic rocks much farther up the river.

Prospects of gold are also reported to have been found on some of the tributaries

GOLD. 101

of John River. Colors were obtained here by the writer from gravels in the mouth
of a small creek near the north edge of the Totsen series, and specimens of vein
quartz collected in place from sandstone and schist near the middle of the Fickett
series assayed 0.03 ounce, or about 60 cents per ton. Though this may not be
promising from an economic point of view, it seems to denote the presence of gold
in the Endicott Mountains and points to the quartz as its probable source.

Coarse placer gold is reported to have been found by prospectors on the Arctic
side of the divide, opposite the head of the Koyukuk Basin and farther eastward.
Further investigations are contemplated here by men who have visited the region.
This reported occurrence suggests the northward continuation of the auriferous
schists of the Koyukuk district.

So far as observed by the writer, and learned from the accounts of prospectors,
some of whose observations in the district have been extensive, the Koyukuk diggings
in general are shallow, the gravels being but a few feet thick. Owing to this fact
the placers are essentially what is known as summer diggings. Burning and drift-
ing have been tried, but with only moderate success. About the only streams on
which any winter work was done during the winter of 1902-3 are Hammond and
Gold creeks. The richest placers are those in the creek beds and gulches; but
gold-bearing gravels, sometimes of promising grade, occur also at higher eleva-
tions on the benches. Much of the gold occurs in the bed-rock cavities or in joint
and cleayage crevices. It is coarse, much flattened, and ranges in size from that of
a lima bean down to small erains. It is of high grade, being much purer than most
of the Alaskan placer gold, and runs from $19 to $19.60 per ounce.

An exception to the flattened form of the gold occurs at Gold Bench on South
Fork. Here the principal diggings are on a gently sloping bench at from 30 to 60
feet above the stream. On the bench the gold is all flattened, similar to that of the
Koyukuk district in general, and is nearly all found within 8 to 10 feet of the sur-
face. At the foot of the bench, however, the gold found in the high-water gravels
of the present stream is of totally different character. It is not flatand smooth, but is
round or angular, some particles being so sharply angular, rough, and honeycombed
as to suggest little, if any, transportation since it was released from the mother rock.

Coarser gold than has been mentioned in the preceding paragraphs has also been
found at various localities in the Koyukuk district. The largest piece found in 1900
isan 18-ounce nugget, having a money value of about $350, and is reported to be
from Clara Creek. The largest found during the season of 1901 is a $660 nugget,
said to have come from Union Gulch. In 1902 a much larger nugget, having a
money yalue of about $1,100, was brought out.. It is reported to have been found
on Hammond Creek. This nugget was seen by the writer. It is flat, oblong in out-
line, haying somewhat the shape of a man’s hand. It consists of almost pure gold,

102 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

very little quartz being present. It presents a clean, bright surface and is of a deep,
rich color. Another nugget, nearly as large as the above, having a weight of 50
ounces and valued at about $1,000, was found on Hammond Creek during the same year,
but was not brought out of the country until this fall (1903). It is described by My.
Prindle as oblong and elongated in outline, flat on one side and rounded on the other.

According to the most reliable information obtained, the production of the
Koyukuk district from 1899 to 1903 was about $717,000, distributed among the

various creeks and gulches, principally as follows:

Production of gold in the Koyukuk district from 1900 to 1903.

| 1900. | 1901. 1902. 1903.
|
Miyrtle! Greek maa 25 2 eee faa ae tes = ae eee ee eae ee 540;,000) |) $7,000) |\e2 225222 5- eee sao
GOLGIBENC his eerie eo aren yt oy Ne Oe apa ane ee 25, 000 60, 000 peecesaqselssssccose=
RS) EW Rey ON aye) ee ees ee ey ee el Pa eee Geo we otoS 1; 0007). 2-2. s.ceslS.22 ose See eees
Pm Ma Cree kes ss ee oe eee ae eee om eee eene 27, 000 40;:000 }i=.45 55243) Saeeeeee
GlaraiGreek:= 0a sy te ao ae ee eee Nae CE ne 1, 000 2: 000% |e soe = | eee ea
Goldi@reekss 25a oP s as eres ce eee ae ee eee 2, 000 DIU 00 Rarrreerre socssdocos
Pramwaye Bain asia o Sete een ene ee ete aac 93000) soo. coke] 253 See a eee eee
iwelvemile: Creeks s=eee ye Sa es aed eae. Am ee ne 1, 000 USB) | poococsass | 2,3 ae ee
Porcupinel Greeks os oases sae ia oe sae oa eee 500 i O008 fae eeeeee beac eae
TronsidesBenchyandptacl ev ithe err sane ese eee 1000") Sss28ecre |aseee eee | eee
C@aliforniai Creek wees = 32 se ee we eo ae Say eee eae See L000.) | S538 Soe Pee
Winton’ Gulehis es Sys ae seine er ee ee ee ENS | eee ee 1,000 | ase ee Loe
TotalieaseSe see Seo aaah ee eesti eames See 103,500 | 164,000 | 7100, 000 | %300, 000
aSeason’s yield, including new discoveries. bSeason’s yield, including North Fork and hew discoveries.

The total of the above table is $667,500. To this should be added $40,000, which
is known to be the approximate output of sundry smaller diggings, not given in
the above list in 1901; about $6,000 output in 1899 derived mostly from Slate
and Myrtle creeks and various points on South Fork, and $3,000 to $4,000 won
from the Tramway and other bars in previous years, all of which to date gives
an aggregate yield for the Koyukuk district of about $717,000.

The relatively low yield, not much exceeding $100,000 for the year 1902, is
reported to be due to the exceptional dryness of the season and consequent lack
of water for operations on most of the creeks. On Gold Creek but little sluicing
could be done, but while the water lasted the yield was rich. On one claim the
owners are reported to have washed out $12,000 in ten days.

In connection with the above statement concerning gold should be mentioned
the reported recent discovery of supposedly promising pyritiferous gold-bearing ore
near the head of Alatna River, principally on the divide between it and Noatak
River, which flows westward into Kotzebue Sound. The locality is northwest of
Bergman, in approximate latitude 67° 40’, longitude 155°. The men who made the
discovery state that the locality is 170 miles from Bergman, but this must be by the
river route where the distance traveled is necessarily greatly increased by the very

GOLD. 103

tortuous course of the Alatna. Our knowledge concerning the geography of this
region is not definite, but the distance across country in a straight line from
Bergman to the Koyukuk can hardly exceed 100 miles, and it is probably less.

The discovery seems to have been made by a party of prospectors and miners
who visited the region by sled during the winter of 1902-3, and in company with
others continued to prospect there during the summer of 1903. At present a score
or more men are reported to be interested in the holdings.

The country rock is described as quartzite, slate, and schist, and is inferred by
the Writer to be in all probability a westward extension of the Fickett series (Car-
boniferous) which is prominently developed on John River, 60 miles distant, and in
which, as indicated on the map (PI. I) and on page 106, a mineralized zone in the slate
and quartzite was observed by the writer in 1901. Without here affirming that the
mineral deposits of these two regions are connected, it should be noted that the newly
discovered Alatna deposits seem to lie directly in the trend of the John River
deposits and have the same strike. This suggests that the deposits of the two regions
may represent the same mineral belt. .

The Alatna ore deposits are reported to consist of six or more veins, or ledges,
known as the Copper King, Copper Queen, Lucky Six, Mammoth, lowa, Gray Eagle,
Silver King, and Ground Hog. They are on an average about 1 mile apart, and are
7
parallel and trend in a northeast-southwesterly direction, and, so far as prospected,

accordingly included in a belt about 6 or 7 miles in width. They lie nearly
are in general nearly vertical, or dip about 75° NW.

About half of the veins are reported to have a width of approximately 75 feet,
while the minimum width of the smallest is given as 10 feet. Some of the veins
have been traced by croppings for distances varying from several thousand feet to 2
miles.

Through the courtesy of Mr. Prindle the writer has received for study six of
these Alatna ore specimens, brought out by the miners in the fall of 1903. In
these specimens the ore consists essentially of iron pyrites and quartz, with also
chalcopyrite (copper pyrites) which is conspicuous in two specimens. With the
chalcopyrite is associated a little bornite and a trace of malachite. Another specimen
is composed essentially of stibnite or sulphide of antimony and epidote. One speci-
men contains feldspar as a gangue mineral in addition to quartz, and is locally stained
reddish brown by hematite or iron oxide, which is seemingly an alteration product
of the pyrites.

The quartz is largely of the finely granular sugary type, and often remains
as a porous honeycombed or coralline-like mass where the metallic contents of the
ore haye been leached out of the more exposed croppings. This ‘‘skeletonized”
mass is occasionally traversed by small discontinuous stringers of firmer, greasy-
lustered, and evidently younger quartz, producing a semibanded appearance, which,

104 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

considered in connection with slickensiding and planes of weakness exhibited by
other specimens, shows that ore deposition was followed by rock movement and
consequent crushing, which produced fractures, into which the barren stringers
were subsequently deposited by silica-charged solutions.

The specimens at hand contain both white and yellow iron pyrites, which is mostly
fine-grained and normally occurs massive with the quartz, but in a few cases an
imperfect parallelism, or banding, apparently representing depositional layers of
quartz and pyrites in varying amounts, is perceptible.

The yalue of the ore rests in its auriferous content. At least three of the
larger yeins are reported, from assays made for the owners in San Francisco, to
carry from S40 to $90 per ton in gold.“ The gold seems to be contained, very finely
disseminated, in the pyrites, for so far as known no free gold is visible. None
was seen in the specimens examined by the writer.

Should these deposits prove to be of economic value, it is noteworthy that be-
sides being easily accessible by land, they can be approached at high water by way
of the Alatna River with flat-bottom steamboat to a point within 6 miles of the
locality, and at low water to a point within 20 miles. The region is reported to con-
tain a large amount of small timber haying a stumpage of about 1 foot in diameter.

COPPER.

The only indications of copper seen in this northern country by the writer were
in detached fragments of quartz, apparently derived from veins, and carrying some
iron pyrites, copper pyrites, malachite, and a trace of bornite. Such specimens were
found sparingly in the river gravels on the upper Chandlar in 1899.” Some, seen in
the possession of prospectors, were reported to have been collected on Mineral Creek,
at the head of Chandlar Lake, on the west side. A ledge is also reported to have
been found on East Fork of the Chandlar, which assayed well in copper. But the
ore is not known to occur in quantities of commercial value.

In the Koyukuk Basin the indications are much the same as above described, the
occurrences being on the upper waters or the tributaries heading in the limestone
mountains. The principal specimens seen by the writer during the recent work
consisted of waterworn fragments found in the John River gravels and derived appar-
ently from quartz veins. They contained some copper pyrites and a little bornite.
Similar specimens were seen in the hands of Kowak natives on John River. What is
supposed to be a vein of considerable size, containing iron and apparently copper
pyrites, was observed in a steep limestone cliff of the Skajit formation overlooking
the river, where no examination or collection could be made.

aThe Suryey has just completed the assay of four of the above-described ore specimens, with the following results, in
ounces per ton: Specimen B, gold 0.05; silver none. Specimens C and D, gold, trace; silver, trace. Specimen F, gold 0.10;
silver, 0.08. These results are not promising.

bOp. cit., p. 482.

LEAD AND ANTIMONY. 105

LEAD.

Galena is known to occur in the Bettles limestone on the upper waters of the
Chandlar and the Koyukuk. It is also reported on East Fork of the Chandlar.
Specimens have been seen from Bettles River. Some reported to be from the upper
part of Hokotena River or Wild Creek, which is the next large river above John
River, were presented to the writer by Messrs. Windrick and Bettles. In one
instance the Wild Creek galena is associated with, or partly incloses, quartz crystals
tive-eighths inch in diameter and an inch or more in length, while in another instance
the associated quartz seems to be chalcedonic. The ledge occurs on Michigan Creek
(the large east-side tributary of the Hokotena), 3 miles above its mouth, and is sup-
posed to be in the Skajit formation. It is reported to be of considerable size. Those
who have prospected it are hopeful that it may prove to be of economic value. It is
reported to assay some silver and several dollars in gold per ton.

On the east side of the divide between Middle Fork and South Fork, opposite
the head of Minnie Creek, a lhmestone mountain of considerable size is reported.
by prospectors, in which galena is said to occur in large quantity.

ANTIMONY.

Pebbles and angular fragments of antimony sulphide, sometimes several inches
in diameter, are found in the gravels of Gold Creek. A specimen of this mineral
was determined in the chemical laboratory of the Survey to be a good grade of rela-
tively pure stibnite. It is traversed by quartz stringers. Judging from the resem-
blance of the quartz to that seen in the Lake quartz-schists and the locality at which
the antimony occurs it is inferred that this rock is probably the source of the ore.

Owing to the remoteness of the region the copper, lead, and antimony ores are
not in themselves likely to prove of economic value unless the deposits are very
exceptional in quantity and character.

ZONES OF METALLIFEROUS MINERALIZATION.

In the Totsen series.—Ahbout 40 miles above the mouth of John River, near the
northern edge of the Totsen series, as shown on the geologic map (PI. II), the mica-
schists, in an area several miles wide trending northeast and southwest, across the
valley, are stained a pronounced reddish-brown or hematite color, denoting appar-
ently a zone in which iron pyrites and other sulphides occur more or less abun-
dantly in the schist. Though the rock could not be examined in detail, it seems
probable that the stain is due to iron oxide derived from the sulphides by oxidation.
The residuary soil formed by the disintegration of the schist in this belt is not nearly
so red as the rock itself, but is rather of a yellow-ocher or limonite color, which
seems to be due to more extensive oxidation and weathering or to leaching out of
the mineral matter.

106 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Tn the Fickett serics.—Yoward the northern edge of the Fickett series, east of
John River, in the Fork Peak region, where the country rock consists of heayy-
bedded gray and pinkish quartzite and slate, there is a belt about 2 miles wide which
is stained bright reddish brown, purple, and some other colors. As shown on the
map, this belt also trends northeastward a distance of apparently about 15 miles to
a point where the Fickett series gives way to the Lisburne formation. It seems also
to extend southwestward beyond John River, but in that direction it is apparently
not so conspicuous.

Here again the stain, which is surficial, is due to iron pyrites acted on by the
process of weathering. A fresh fracture surface in hand specimen shows the zone of
stain or weathering to be nearly always definitely marked, but in its penetration of
the rock it may vary in different cases from a mere film to a zone nearly one-fourth
inch in thickness. As the rock is known to contain iron pyrites very finely dissem-
inated, and all of the five stained specimens tested by the chemical laboratory were
found to contain ferric oxide (Fe,O,), with some sulphuric oxide (SO,) present in four
cases, the stain seems undoubtedly to be iron oxide derived from the pyrites by
process of weathering. The brilliant peacock or bornite color, which by the inexpe-
rienced prospector would readily be mistaken for indications of copper, is iridescent
hematite. The specimen in which no sulphuric oxide occurs was found to contain also
siderite (FeCO,).

Whether these zones of mineralization may prove to be of economic value can
not be affirmed at present, as the rapid progress of the party through the country
did not permit opportunity for examination. It may be noted, however, that both
zones are closely related to formational boundaries, the southern being near the
unconformable and probably deformational contact of the Totsen series with the
Skajit formation, while the northern lies along the fault contact of the Fickett series
with the Stuver series and Lisburne formation; and both zones trend in a general
way parallel with the dominant jointing or major structure of the mountain range.
The localities at which placer gold claims have been staked by prospectors, and gold
colors panned by the writer on John River, lie within the southern zone.

COAL.

GENERAL STATEMENT.

Coal in one form or another, and varying in age from Tertiary to possibly Car-
boniferous, is more or less widely distributed in northern Alaska. It occurs in the
Koyukuk drainage on the south side of the mountains, in the plateau on the Anak-
tuvuk, in the coastal plain on the Colville, and on the northwestern coast, in what is
commonly known as the Cape Lisburne region, at Wainwright Inlet, Cape Beaufort,
and several points between Cape Beaufort and Cape Lisburne (PI. VY).

COAL. 107

KOYUKUK REGION.

Koyukuk River.—On Koyukuk River, in what was formerly supposed to be the
Kenai“ series, lignite and coaly material in small amount is common in the sandstone,
grit, and especially in the conglomerate. The best occurrence is just above Tram-
way Bar, where there is a vein nearly 12 feet thick, of which the middle 9 or 10 feet
seems to be relatively pure fuel. Its analysis is given under No. 187 in the table on
page 114, which shows it to be a low grade of bituminous coal. There seems to be
no reason why with development this vein should not prove serviceable for local use.

John River.—Coal detritus in considerable quantity and of a character to suggest
the probable occurrence of coal of economic value somewhere in the region north of
this locality was seen in the John River gravels near the base of the Endicott Moun-
tains. This coal may apparently with safety be called a good grade of bituminous.
It breaks with a conchoidal fracture and has a bright shiny or glossy black surface.

ARCTIC SLOPE.

Coal has been found also at several points on the Arctic slope, notably on
Anaktuyuk and Colville rivers.

Anaktuvuk River.—Coal was first encountered by our party on the Anaktuvuk,
in the east bank, about 5 miles above the mouth of Tuluga River, about 130 miles
from the Arctic coast, in latitude 69° 11’, longitude 151° 4’.. This coal is of Upper
Cretaceous age, forming part of the Nanushuk series, from which the fossils at this
locality were collected. As shown in PI. XII, B, the rocks here dip steeply south,
at an angle varying from about 80° to nearly vertical, and rise to a height of 100 or
more feet above the river flats. The coal is conformable with the rocks of the series
of which it forms members and occurs in several beds, each a foot or more thick. It
is laminated parallel with the bedding, apparently denoting pressure. Though in
the weathered state it has the appearance of lignite, it is shown by No. 607 in the
table of analyses on page 114 to be a bituminous coal, having a fuel ratio of about
1.20. The quantity thus far observed, however, is hardly sufficient to lead to the
belief that the bed will prove of economic value in so remote a region.

Colville River.—At about 30 miles north of the above locality and at a distance
of 100 miles from the coast, on the Colville, in the region of the mouth of the Anak-
tuyuk, in latitude approximately 69° 32’, longitude 151° 30’, lignitic coal appears in
considerable quantity. It is found in the Colville series, which underlies the Arctic
Coastal Plain in this region, and here rises 200 feet above the river nearly to the sur-
face of the plain, forming bluffs along the left or west side of the river for 10 miles
both above and below the mouth of the Anaktuvuk. (See Pl. VIII.)

a Schrader, F. C., Reconnaissance along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol.
Survey, pt. 2, 1900, pp. 477 and 485,

108 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901

Here the coal is abundant and conspicuous. In the talus at the foot of the bluffs
it is strewn about in detached blocks and bowlders ranging from 1 to several feet
in diameter. Its occurrence in place in the bluffs is for the most part in the lower
half of the section, where it appears in half a dozen or more beds that are from 1 to
3 or more feet in thickness, and are conformable with the Colville series, of which
they form members. The beds lie for the most part nearly horizontal or dip very
gently northward, and are well exposed for a distance of probably 10 or more miles
along the river. They are represented by the dark or black layers in Pl. VIII.

The associated rocks, of which a fuller description is given under the head of
geology, consist in general of heavy beds of partially consolidated silt, soft shale, soft
sandstone, very impure limestone, and intermediate types of deposits.

So far as observed in ascending the geologic section, the coal layers in most
cases are underlain by a heavy bed of soft sandstone or shale 3 to 6 feet thick, with
an intervening thin 6 to 8 inch layer of shaly under clay. The shale bed often
contains fragmental lignitic plant remains.

As shown in the table of analysis (p. 114), where it is indicated by No. 620,
the coal seems to be a good quality of lignite, with volatile matter 30.33 and fixed
carbon 30.27. As the specimen was considerably weathered, it is probable that the
analysis here given may fall somewhat short of representing the average efliciency of
the coal. On several occasions the coal was used by the party in camp fires, and
gave good satisfaction. It burned readily and yielded considerable heat.

The coal in general presents a dull-black appearance, and at first appears massive,
but on closer observation is found to contain nearly horizontal, more or less discon-
tinuous beds and thin layers of highly metamorphosed material, which is of a deeper
black and has a somewhat high anthracitic luster. The main body of the coal seems
to be composed largely of a mass of similarly well-metamorphosed, short, and glisten-
ing needles or spicules, variously compressed together in horizontal arrangement,
presenting somewhat the appearance of an imperfect fibrous or woody structure.

From the known occurrence of such lignite and lignitic plant remains in the
Kenai (Oligocene) elsewhere in Alaska, and from the position of this coal in the beds
above the Upper Cretaceous and below fossil-bearing Pliocene beds, the coal is
inferred to be Oligocene. The vegetable fragments collected from the shale beneath
the coal were examined by Doctor Dall, who suggests that they are probably the
needles of Sequoia langsdorjii or some related conifer. He also suggests that the
mass of this coal is probably composed of the trunks of Seguoda.

From an economic point of view, it should be stated that this coal is probably
not suitable for export or for steaming purposes, and, though it is abundant it is
unlikely, from its remoteness, under present conditions of the country, to prove to
be of value for local use. It is not difficult of access, however, and could readily be

COAL. 109

brought to the coast on river barges by way of the Colville, and probably on river
steamers at high water; or over a cheaply constructed railroad across the coastal
plain. Owing to the shallowness of the coast, however, difficulty would probably be
experienced in loading it on ocean vessels.

Judging from the report of Howard, and that of Reed, coal or lignite apparently
occurs also on the headwaters of the Colville. Concerning the region above the
native village of Etivolipar, in latitude approximately 68° 20’, longitude 156°, Mr.
Howard makes the following statement:

**During the forenoon we passed a hill, about 500 feet in elevation, with out-
crops of coal. On the sides of this hill beyond the coal were also found pieces of
a substance called wood by the natives. It was hard, brittle, light brown in color,
very light in weight, and burned readily, giving out quantities of gas. This material
was scattered about in all shapes, sizes, and quantities.” “

Mr. Howard’s visit to the region was a hasty overland trip made in the closed
season when the ground was covered with snow and ice, and it embraced but a
small section, probably 40 to 50 miles, of the Colville. That of Mr. Reed was
made in the open season when conditions were most favorable for observing and
making investigations. Mr. Reed, who, in company with Mr. Lucas, is reported to
have explored and prospected along the river for a distance of 200 or more miles,
mostly downstream from the mouth of the ‘‘Killik” (see p. 31 of this paper),
likewise reports that thick veins of bituminous coal crop out in the sandstone
formation along most of the creeks, and states that the coal was burned by his party
also in their camp fires.

From the topographic description given by Messrs. Howard and Reed, and from
the geographic position of the region, being practically on a line with, and about
intermediate in distance between the Cape Beaufort and Corwin regions on the north-
west coast, and that of the upper Anaktuvuk in the interior, at which points the
rocks are known to be coal bearing, or at least of Mesozoic age, the writer infers the
sandstone formation in which the coal or lignite occurs on the upper Colville to be
in all probability Mesozoic, and possibly also like the Corwin series, Jura-Cretaceous.
And since the Mesozoic coals of the Territory are usually a good grade of bitu-
minous character, it would not be surprising to find the upper Colville region to
contain fuel of substantial economic value, similar to the coal produced by the Cor-
win and Thetis mines onthe northwest coast, next to be described.

NORTHWEST COAST.
Coal has been known in the vicinity of Cape Lisburne (see sketch map, Pi. V) for
half a century, and since 1879 whaling vessels have replenished their supply from
this locality. It oceurs also at several places along the coast to the northeast as far

aStoney, Lieut. George M., Naval explorations in Alaska, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md., 1900.

110 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

as Wainwright Inlet, a distance of about 200 miles. It is not certain, however, that
the beds at these various points represent the same coal field or even that they all
occur in the same formation. Though these coals have been somewhat exploited,
and numerous fossils, ranging from’early Paleozoic to Mesozoic, have been reported
from the region, no definite conclusion has been reached concerning the geologic age
of the rocks in which the coals occur.

Wainwright Inlet.—The most northerly occurrence of the coal yet reported along
this coast is at Wainwright Inlet, latitude 70° 37’, longitude 159° 45’. Here it is said
by Mr. Woolfe,” who discovered it in 1889, to occur on the banks of Koog River,
which flows into the inlet. As the river is shallow at its mouth, flat-bottomed boats
or lighters would be required for getting the coal to the sea. The coal is described
by Mr. Woolfe ‘‘as being of better quality and containing less detritus than the
Cape Lisburne mineral. It appears to be a light but hard lignite, burning briskly,
with but little ash.” It is somewhat surprising that this coal should excel the
Cape Lisburne coal in fuel efficiency, as the latter is believed to be the older, more
highly metamorphosed, and carbonized. Though the writer was not able to visit
the Wainwright Inlet exposure, at a point about 20 miles southwest of the inlet
paleontologic evidence showed the country rock to be probably Jura-Cretaceous
(p. 74). Judging from topographic criteria, the same formation seems to extend
beyond Wainwright Inlet. Samples of apparently good coal were found near the
place where the fossils were collected. Analysis of one of these, however, No.
653 in the table (p. 114), shows that it is a lignite.

Though coal float is found in the beach gravels at several localities along the
coast, actual outcrops of coal were not seen and are probably not numerous.

Cape Beaufort.—Cape Beaufort, in latitude about 69° 10’ and longitude 163° 36’
(see Pl. V), marks the coastal terminus of the line of demarcation between the very
gently rolling or nearly flat lowland tundra country on the north and the more hilly
and low mountainous region on the south which merges with mountains that termi-
nate in Cape Lisburne. It lies about 70 miles northeast of Cape Lisburne. The term
cape is hardly applicable to Beaufort, however, as there is here no real promontory,
but only a ridge rising to a height of about 800 feet above the uniform shore line.

A 6-foot vein of coal occurs in the folded and faulted sandstone of this ridge.
It is probably best exposed about one-eighth to one-fourth of a mile from the coast,
whence it seems to extend farther inland and with care can probably also be traced to
the coast. So far as observed, the vein dips gently southward with the rocks of the
region. As shown in the table of analyses under No. 665, page 114, this is a good
bituminous coal.

It may be well to note that Doctor Dall, in his report on Alaskan coal and

a Report on popnlation and resources of Alaska at the Eleventh Census, 1890, Washington, 1893, p. 183.

COAL. ILI

lignites, includes under the name of ‘‘Cape Beaufort coal measures” all the coal from
near Cape Lisburne to Cape Beaufort, inclusive, covering a stretch of more than 40
miles in extent. As the coal throughout this region may possibly, on further inves-
tigation, all be found to be of the same geologic age, it may for the present fittingly
be referred to under the one name. It should be remarked, however, that the vein
at Cape Beaufort, which is the extreme northern limit of the field, is relatively little
known,- while that which is most familiar as the source of supply for the whalers is
in the extreme southwestern part of the field. Doctor Dall’s basis for thus including
the coal of this entire region under one head is probably the description and extent
of the occurrence of the coal given by Mr. Henry D. Woolfe, whose report, as con-
densed by Doctor Dall, is here quoted:¢

** Along the beach and coast line from Cape Lisburne for at least 40 miles an
extensive and well-defined coal field exists. I was engaged for two seasons in
exploiting these deposits. Research developed the existence of a body of coal
extending over an area of 25 square miles. There are along the coast line for the
distance mentioned numerous veins of coal from which the whalemen obtain supplies
of fuel. The coal is of the type of semibituminous lignite. It makes steam quickly,
but there is a very large percentage of ash and clinker, and its constant use causes an
early burning out of the furnace bars. * * * At present the whalemen dig out
their supplies from the surface veins, climbing the cliffs to obtain it. * * * With
any wind, except from the coast or southeast, there is no protection on the coast
mentioned, and the work of boating the coal off to a vessel lying at some distance
from the shore is difficult, and in windy weather dangerous. With the ice pack
offshore a lee is obtained which makes smooth water and facilitates coaling. The
limit of the important coal-bearing area to the north is at Cape Beaufort, though
small seams are seen farther on. Between the seams bands of clear ice intervene,
and I haye noticed on the shelving banks of a small creek that runs through the
coal land an oily exudation resembling petroleum.”

Until the past few years Mr. Woolfe had seen more of this coal field than any
other man, and we are fortunate in having the benefit of his observations, though the
field may not prove so large or rich as he inferred.

Thetis and Corwin mines.—Turning our attention to the southwestern and appar-
ently most important part of the field, we find here the Thetis and Corwin coal
mines, old supply points of the whalers and United States revenue vessels. These
names, Thetis and Corwin, which have appeared on the charts for many years, are
taken from vessels of the revenue service which replenished their coal bunkers at
these mines on their annual cruises in the Arctic.

The Thetis mine is situated near the mouth of Thetis Creek and east of Cape
Sabine, a low and unimportant promontory, shown in Pls. Vand X, @. The coal
here is said to occur in sandstone and shale.

aDall, W. H., Report on coal and lignite of Alaska; Seventeenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 1, 1896, p. 820.
bTbid.

LE RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

The Corwin mines, which at present seem to be by far the most important,
accessible, and productive, are situated farther to the southwest, near the south-
western limit of the coal measures referred to by Dall, and about 30 miles east
of Cape Lisburne (see PI. V). Coal is reported to have been obtained here by the
whaling vessels as early as 1879. Its occurrence, so far as observed, is in 10 or 12
beds, varying from 1 to 16 feet in thickness, all being apparently quite persistent.
The edges of these beds are exposed for a distance of about three-eighths of a mile
along the coast, which cuts them diagonally, forming a steep cliff that rises from
30 feet on the west to more than 100 feet above tide on the east, where it attains its
maximum in a low prominence known as Corwin Bluff. The coal beds, conformable
with the country rock in which they occur, strike N. 45° W. and dip southwestward
at an angle of 36°, as shown in Pl. XIII, 2; but eastward, in Corwin Bluff, where
the rocks are more disturbed, the dip steepens.

The country rock in which the coal occurs, as shown in the above view, is
sandstone, shale, and slate, and is probably Jura-Cretaceous. It is more fully
described under the head of geology, page 72. As noted, it very much resembles
the rocks of the Anaktuvuk series, but is supposed to be older.

Some of the coal in the Corwin mines has been partially crushed, but not greatly
damaged, by rock movement. In mining much of it is taken out in large blocks,
1 to 2 or more feet in diameter, and nearly all of the beds are comparatively pure.
Average samples collected by the writer gave the analyses under numbers 669 and
671 in the accompanying table, page 114, showing the product to be a bituminous
coal of fair grade, with a fuel ratio of 1.10 and 1.30. It is, however, hardly satis-
factory for blacksmithing or steaming purposes. It was used on the steamship
Arctic, on which the party took passage for Nome, but with much the same results
as indicated by Mr. Woolfe. Though it burns readily and produces steam quickly,
it is of low specific gravity and not lasting. It takes about double the amount of this
coal as compared with Comax coal to maintain a given steam pressure. It burns
with little smoke, but produces a large amount of ash and clinker. This instance,
however, can hardly be considered a fair trial, as, owing to the want of timber, the
facilities for mining were so poor that much ‘‘bone,” rock, and dirt, or foreign
débris found its way into the coal and thence into the furnace. The coal is reported
to be good for cooking and household purposes.

Mr. Charles L. Norton,’ of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is said to
have made the following report to the Corwin Trading Company on ‘‘ Cape Lisburne
coal,” which was probably collected at or in the region of the Corwin mines:

‘TJ find that the specimens of Alaska coal which you recently sent me have a
calorific power of 7,560 calories per gram. This is quite as good as the average
western coal, and is not more than 10 per cent inferior to the best eastern coals.”

aBrooks, A. H., The coal resources of Alaska: Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 566.

COAL. 113

The Corwin mines were operated to some extent during the summer of 1901 by
the Arctic Development Company, who disposed of the coal in the Nome market,
mostly for domestic purposes, where it is said to readily command $18 or $20 per
ton in competition with the Comax or Washington coal at $25 per ton.

As it is only on the exposed edges of the veins in the face of the beach bluff that
mining has thus far been carried on, it may be that the quality of the coal will
improve somewhat with depth, but presumably not to an important extent, since at a
distance of 10 to 15 feet below the surface the coal appears bright, firm, dry,
and unweathered.

There is undoubtedly a large amount of coal in the region of the Corwin mines,
but there are no harbor facilities. The beach is exposed to heavy surfs, much as it
is at Nome, and the water is shallow, so that ocean vessels do not often approach
within three-eighths of a mile of the shore. The coal is loaded aboard the vessels by
hghters, as at Nome, which, as it can be accomplished only at periods of quiet weather
or favorable wind, is, to say the least, expensive, uncertain, and tedious. A project
of constructing an aerial tramway for loading purposes, from the bluff out to the
anchorage of the vessels, is said to be under consideration.

The claims in the vicinity of the mines have been taken up, mostly by the Arctic
Development Company of San Francisco, whose reported plan of future development
work includes the sinking of a shaft on one of the large middle veins, and cross-
cutting to the others.

Area south of Cape Lishurne.—Westward, toward Cape Lisburne, the Corwin
series, in which the coals of the Thetis and Corwin mines occur, is supposed to give
way to Paleozoic rocks, for the limestone cliffs 4 miles south of Cape Lisburne are
known to contain Devonian corals and other forms. At about one-third of a mile
north of this limestone locality, according to Mr. A. G. Maddren, who explored this
section of the coast in 1900, there is a 4- to 5-foot vein of coal in shale, which dips
north at an angle of 60°. This is at a point about one-third of a mile north of the
coral limestone locality. This coal, Mr. Maddren thinks, is considerably older than
that of the Corwin and Thetis localities. He reports:

‘‘Tt is hard and breaks with a bright fracture. It was tried in the galley stove
and gave a more intense fire than Nanaimo coal. The engineers said there was not
enough underdraft beneath the main boiler to burn this coal fast enough for steam-
ing purposes, that it was too hard and needed forced draft. The only point that
seems to be against this coal is its lack of weight. It seems to have a low specific
gravity, but this may be only at the surface, where it is leached out by the weather.”

The low specific gravity here mentioned would seem to place this coal in the
same class with the Corwin coals, and suggests its possibly being a specimen some-
what more highly altered by metamorphism. Whether it is of greater geologic age
than the Corwin, as supposed by Mr. Maddren, can not definitely be stated, but it

189—No. 20—04——8

114 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

should be noted that in the shale associated with the coal there is reported to have
been found by Mr. Dumars a small specimen of Zepidodendron, which has been
determined by Mr. David White, who states that it is related to Lepidodendron
chemungense, and that it indicates an age for the shale either of Upper Devonian or
Lower Carboniferous.

Mr. Maddren also reports that in the valley between Cape Dyer and The Ears
(shown in fig. 1) a syncline of shales occurs containing at least one exposure of coal
along the low sea bluff that rises from 50 to 100 feet above tide. He also states that
just south of Cape Lewis there is a bluff of shales that seem to contain ‘‘coal blossom.”

ANALYSES OF COAL.
The following analyses were made by Mr. George Steiger, chemist of the Survey:

Table of coal analyses.

187 607 620 653, 665 669 671
oats we : a
iver pee val Vain- C = Corwi _ Cape
pabove. lecirtnies,| Geivan® | wright | p.Ceps., | Somat | Comoe |risbumes
Bar. ~
Moistureye-seee sees 4.47 6. 85 11.50 10. 65 7.18 | 10.47 7.23 3. 75
Volatile matter -.---- 34. 32 36. 39 30. 33 42.99 36. 38 40.12 38. 68 43.75
Fixed carbon -------- 48. 26 43. 38 30. 27 42. 94 51. 23 46.16 50. 05 47.39
Wahine eanseeecscese 12.95 13. 38 27.90 3.42 5. 21 3. 25 4. 04 5. 11
a 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00} 100.00; 100.00} 100.00 100. 00
Sulphuriese ses ee eee| eee eee . 04 - 50 . 62 -48 2 .23 . 36

Phosphorus pentoxide}--_-_------ Trace. | Trace. | Trace. | Trace.) )Draces)|-iraces||s-s==eee
Coke enh aai Saale eee None. None. None. | None. None. Nones || ee aeeeee

huelgratioweees sees 1.40 20: || eae Poe ee See 1.4 1.10 1. 30 1.08

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

METEOROLOGIC RECORD FOR 1899.

The following is a record of meteorologic observations made by the writer on
a reconnaissance along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers in 1899, mainly in latitude 65°
to 68°, longitude 145° to 158°. The localities at or near which they were made are
designated by the position of the dates (month and day) on the map.’
The thermometer used in this work is an H. Green, cylindrical bulb, Fahrenheit
scale.
aBrooks, A. H., The coal resources of Alaska: Twenty-second Ann. Rept. U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1902, p. 565.
bSchrader, F. C., A reconnaissance along the Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers, Alaska, in 1899: Twenty-first Ann. Rept.
U.S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, 1900, opposite p. 448.
The localities refer to camps pitched by the party en route at the close of its day’s traverse. Hence the morning obser-

vation of any given date was usually made at the camp preceding the one of the date by which the observation is designated
on the map, and the 2 p. m. observation of the same date was made at a point about midway between the two camps.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 15)

The meaning of the abbreyiations used in the table to denote the kind and amount
of clouds is as follows:
A-cu =alto-cumulus.
A-s =alto-stratus.
Ci =cirrus.
Ci-cu=cirro-cumulus.
Ci-s =cirro-stratus.

Cu =cumulus.

Cu-n =cumulo-nimbus.
N =nimbus.

SS) =stratus.

S-cu =strato-cumulus.

0 =clear sky.

1 =sky one-tenth cloudy.

5 =sky five-tenths or one-half cloudy.
10 =sky all cloudy.

The wind velocities here given were determined by estimate, but as some judg-
ment had previously been acquired by the observer in forming estimates of wind
velocity by noting the impressions it makes upon the person and the speed of light
objects transported by it, and then comparing the estimates thus formed with the
readings of standard anemometers, with which he had several years’ experience, the
estimates here given are believed to be approximately correct.

Since the barometric readings here’ given were made on an aneroid, where there
were no field facilities for its comparison with a mercurial barometer, they purport
to be of minor value only.

In the preparation of the table for publication, suggestions have been contributed
by Dr. Cleveland Abbe, jr.

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a.m. and 2 and 9 p. m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899.

| col tac
Locality and date. eee Clouds: Band velocity an Coen Weather. Remarks.
| mous
Fort Yukon: Degr. F.
June 19........ 58 to 60 Cu:\9l=s----- High. 29.2 | Blustery..........
20,2 p.m. 59 Cu8>2-2---4 High. 29.15 | Blustery, showery
21,9 a.m. 58.9 | Ci-cu. 3...-.- Moderate. 29 siiey || hin ee seanseeeeoee
2p.m. 64 Ci-cu. 5...-- Moderate. 29:15) |... - (8 Sob psoboasod
9 p.m. 63 Ci-cu. 8 -.--.| 0 29.14 |..... dow ese here.
22,7 a.m- 63.8 | Ci-cu. 8-..-- | 0 PAY IO} | aoc (ee saomososon
Mouth of Chand-
lar River:
June 22,2 p.m. 74.5 | Ci-cu. 4..-.- | SW. 10. 29616))| Semen ( peseasacoses
9 p.m. 56.6 | Ci-cu. 7--...- 0 DiI. "|| TON bP Estee decdegad
23,7 a.m. 64.2 | Ci-cu. 4..... | SW. 15. 29.07 | Showery..........
2p.m. GY | Gee Baccce | SW. 15. 29.01 |..... dower a
9p.m. 55 Ci-cu. 7-.-.. 0 28.98 |---.. CO) so Readqaeed

116

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a.m. and 2 and 9 p. m., from
June 19 to September 28, 1899—Continued.

Wind: Diree-
Locality and date. peas me glands pang velocity in eCeeRERY Weather. Remarks.
mM hour.
Chandlar River: Degr. F.
June 24,7 a.m. 52 Citse----= SW. 15. 28.98 | Threatening....--
2p.m. 60 (HE Pnaagsce SW. 15. 29.05 | Bright and fine...
9p.m. 50 Cin4 22. SW. 20. 29.06 }..... dO an-eeeeen =
25,7 a.m. BYE | Ob tk es sc6e53 SW. 20. 29.15 |.-.-- does aera
2p.m. 6556)| Giv6i---- ete SW. 15. baby boca dOjseteecees
9p.m. Re “GEO SW. 10. 29.16 |..... do pee nets
26,7 a.m. 51 i SW. 5. DON 2 5 Semen Go} eee
2 p.m. 57.5 | N. SW. 4. 29.6 | Showeryand rain.
“9p.m. DANG DEN Seren cee SW. 15. 99:'6).)|2 2. bec cooseceseeece Temperature water, Chandlar
River = 54.5°.
27,7 a.m- 48 Ci ase e SW. 20. 29524 eBrightesscessesaas
2p.m. 55 Ci-cu. 8 -..-- SW. 10. 29.1 | Bright (?)..:...... (2).
9 p.m. 48 Ci-cu. 4... 0 2ONa eBrighteas==sseee=s
28,7 a.m. 53 Gi-cus2eeee= SW. 2. PAO) |Soss4 dO eee sae Two good showers last night.
2p.m. 59.5 | Threaten’g 8 SW. 3.
9 p.m. 53 NielO Seen eee NNW. 5. Stormy on mountains.
29,7 a.m. 54 W. 5. Do.
2p.m-. Wazs Mountains smoky; tempera-
ture river = 52°.
9p.m. SW. 20. 28.8 | Showery--.-..----- Blustery.
30,7 a,m- SW. 20. DO 1 Beaesacccsubencecede Do.
2 p.m. SW. 15. 28.85 | Steady rain.....-- Showery all a. m.
9 p.m. E SW. 10. PIRES | eas Om ssscccocee Rained all p. m.
July 1,7a.m. 44 SW. 5. 29" Sz i|eaee= dO eanso se Soe Rainy all night.
2p.m. 47 SW. 8. 29.06 | Showery.-.-.-.-.--- Clearing (?).
9 p.m. 49 0 295,05) == ==. Cleese ne eeaee Do.
2,7a.m.- 53 W. 20. 29NIS | Bright ssa: eeseee Temperature river = 49°.
2p.m. 54 SW. 30. 28.9 | Showery........-. Showers.
9 p.m. 52 SW. 20. EY |ecaa Cl sabsecascn=d Do.
3,7 a.m. o4 SW. 20. 295045 Poses teeter Blustery.
2p.m. 57 || Ci-cu. 2)... SWW. 20. PEI |) CNSR Ao ssce Sane Clear and fine; sunsetat10p.m.
9p.m-. 49 Sa772eWeadls 2982 ma leeeae dow: ss. Clear and fine.
4,7 a.m. 50 Cin 2h eteass SH77 Wb: 29.30 | Bright; hazy ..... Hazy; bright.
2p.m. (P35) 1) Oe Bissoecsoe S. 77° W. 20. PSO] Peeenonscaeneaccacnas Threatening.
9 p.m. 55 INASS2cncnsee SW.20. 29.0 | Threatening....--
5,7 a.m. GE || Ch Decstesse SW. 20. 28.90 | Bright.......:.--- Bright.
2p.m- 58 Ob eascasad W.30. PBL I henbd (sey eee Socuosad Bright. On lava butte at edge
of mountains and Yukon
flats,
9 p-m. 64 Cinsieeneses W. 20. 289lmlcea== (6 scasecosescs Bright.
6,7 a.m. 60.5 | Ci-eu. 4.-.... W. 20. 28595) tera GS s5-sooseeed Bright; temperature river be-
low Forks=55°, 11 a. m.; tem-
c perature Lake Fork =55.5,
11.30 a. m.
2p.m 66.5 | N. cu. 8..... W. 20. OY BS | Posreieecea seceares Cloudy; temperature above
Forks=55.8, 12 m.
9 p.m. EO Sseeeep actos W.1. Bright.
7,7 a.m. 52 W.10 Hazy.
2p.m- 65 WaDs Fine warm day.
9p.m 55 0 Do.
8,7 a.m.- 53 W. 2 Fine warm morning.
2p.m- 69 W. 10. Wan) day; temperature river

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

117

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a. m. and 2 and 9p. m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899—Continued.

Wind: Direc-
tion and

Locality and date. Penns wae plouds. Mind velocity in one Weather. Remarks.
H mous
Chandlar River—
Continued. Degr. F.
July 8,9p.m-. GLB Ueacaccscsods (0) teeter Warm day.
9,7a.m. 58 Hazy 9...... Oe [eee rence .| Sultry.
2p.m.} V EEO! Usscoacecoass W205 eee aoe eee Clear.
9 p.m. 61 Wiscossecssad Wise Ph — Nesoceeesosss Do.
10,7 a.m- D625) Ned Ol cenaeee M ~. Neacbossandes Dark and rainy.
2p.m. BS risy, RE Cbecceccad Vivoth — -Iesadaasdoced Location: Station 3 at 4,000’ on
Granite Creek.
9 p.m. 62.5 | N.9......--- W. 20.
11,7 a.m. 53 N. cu. 8..... SW. 20 Stormy and blustery.
2p.m- 56 Neel Obs eee SW. 10. Showery.
9p.m- 50 Noilescecace 0 Do.
12,7 a.m. 49 INGel OBSeeteeee SW. 5. Showery; temperature river=
2p.m. 55 N= Sacre ss (Raat laBeacesceee pease owasesosseces Showery.
9 p.m. 52 (HES Oescaced SW. 5. Showery till 5 p.m.
13,7 a.m. BSS OTA cece SW. 10.
2p.m- 54 (Ob Tb CSecasos SW. 15. Temperature river=49°.
9 p.m. Beh.) (bah eee SW.2.
14,7 a.m. S555) 7] Wseseasaaeece SW. 3.
2p.m. 58 SH foodbonece! SW. 10.
9p.m. 59 Wheleceacashe SW. 1.
15,7 a.m- 50 Neel OSSee eee (Pas dl See ert Raining steadily..| Rained during night.
2p.m- 53 Nel0Ssseeoee OQ |econedigsaced Raining ........-.
9p.m- 53 NeplOSseeeens 0 Bee Sileeeeaseccsaa Showery...-..--.-
16,7 a.m. IED PNeel 0 ssee ane S\WAjO sin | Seoeeeceeas Raining -- Rainy all night.
2p.m- 54 N-cu. 8 -..-. GiVvollbbs © edeaséonsacs Showery?....-.--- Temperature river=45°.
9 p.m. EEG) || Usncsecesesrc NGOS <llsecoaa) Gcoctlndoootdsaceadacctads
17,7 a.m- 48 Ci-cu. 2..... EN 60S 7 ol basesooseced Heaasadocsanbassanna Bright and sunny.
2p.m. 54 Da RICE Vivo 1M Wecécanccticds| poomaonssaoceooca6ds Do.
9 p.m. 48.5 | N.9.....---- SWalbep, [fash eescecs| set ccen cen secese ates Threatening.
18,7 a.m- 4D Os WN. Jasco cscs SWealOh 2 |eeeeseesee es Rainy and foggy .| Rained during night.
2p.m- 55 Na Qi ces ce-as Bold. | allbeeaccosssae HORRY ms: ooo Temperature river = 45°.
9 p.m. 51 Ne Oe Sau] O seme eee =e Rainy and foggy -
19,7 a.m. 47 ING Of ees SW GSvee|Ssa sean cee call te ee oe er Dubious.
2 p.m. 53 Wel Bateasseq EM WGPS |éresososcce Threatening; | Dubious. Location: Chandlar
showery. Lake.
9p.m-. 7 Ci-cu. 8....- Biviee Bint qbsdasecnaccs Dubious -......--- Showery in p. m.
20,7 a.m. 47 Ci-cu. 6..... Myoalby lca sdosessoa Clearing... .. somewhat eloudy on moun-
ains.
2p.m. 54 Oe scostad SWjet 20 sea | eee Brighthesesereeese Very windy.
9 p.m. 44 CECis3 eee Nilo fs. 1) -|pacatodotese bonododsccubssooseqe Cool.
21,7 a.m. 48 Ci-cu. 5... SIWesl ORs | Sees ama DUN eects Do.
2p.m. 59 Ci-cu. 4 ..... RAG) Nsecasooconed IBriphitieees eee Do.
9 p.m. 49 (ib Prossesed lboasccassaaace \posacocoteed|isecd CO Se consdseee Do.
22,7 a.m_ 59 OS a2- eee (Vinee Daa) ease ery base OOM seas ees Warming.
2p.m. 70 CinQaee =a SW. 2 eee ae Ree (GW) eacenoecsses Warm; temperature river = 50°.
9p.m- 55 IND asta on: 2 sole eedeesal badad OO Scoceonancse Cooling.
23,7 a.m. 59 Cig Deere. SPOR Nesescoaneasd| beoud GO ccosce .-| Warming.
2p.m. 67 Ci-cu. 2....- SWANS IB 5 Scescosed| based (8K) aponetntcsce Comfortable.
9 p.m. 56 Ci-cu. 5-.--- WEG 9 trl aed mecie COmeerer ene Cooling.
24,7 a.m. 51 Osea eee RIWAWSEoe |lGcasoocassaq| heeod (810) soopeiacosteo Warm.
2p.m. 74 Ci-cu. 4: ---- NIB ES 496 03) So zcecsiece sae ede Gonestacncc oe Do.
9 p.m. 55 Whilees=cccad ISPD Bb Ueceeso pessoa! onndoDaoboenaoSUSecs Cooling.

118

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at? a.m. and 2 and 9p. m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899—Continued.

Locality and date.

Chandlar River—
Continued.

July 25,7 a.m.
2p.m.
9p.m.

26,7 a.m.
2p.m.
9 p.m.
27,7 a.m-.
2p.m.

9p.m.
28,7 a.m-
2p.m.
9p.m.
29,7 a.m.
2 p.m.

9 p.m.
30,7 a.m-

2p.m-.

9 p.m.

31,7 a.m.

2p.m.

9p.m.

1,7a.m.

2p.m.

9 p.m.
Koyukuk River:

Aug. 2,7a.m.

2p.m.

Jp.m.

3,7 a.m.

Aug.

2p.m.
9 p.m.
4,7 a.m.
2 p.m.

9 p.m.
5,7 a.m.
2s). in

Tempera-
ture.

‘Clouds: Kind)
}and amount,

Wind: Direc-|
tion and
velocity in
miles per
hour.

Barometer.
(Aneroid.)

N. 9and fog.

N.9and fog.
Ci-cun 2S ase

SWW. 5.
sww.
0
sww.
SWW. 5.
0
NW. 10.
NW. 15.

vA
On

A
ctcocc coo dco

‘A
2
on

Weather,

Showery about
lake.

Showery in p.m.-

Showery...

Rain in night ..--.
Hazy; bright....-.

Showery

Rained hard 49
minutes.

Remarks.

Fine, comfortable day.
Do.
Fine; somewhat hazy.
Fine.
Fine; moonlight.
Fine; warm.
Do.

Fine; comfortable.
Warming.
Fine day.
Do.
Warming.

Location: Summit of Chandlar-
Koyukuk portage at 3,500’.

Clearing.
Fine.

Fair.

.| Cooling.

Comfortable.
Rainy and foggy.

Clearing and cool.
Warming fast (?).

Cold. Location: Mount Horace
at 5,600’,

Do.
Heavy frost.
Cool.
Comfortable.
Cool.
Comfortable.

Clearing (?) and colder; river
rose 2 inches.

Clear(?) warming (?).

Evening clearing (rained dur-
ing night).

Bright and warming.

Showery 5 to 8 p. m.
Bright.

Temperature creek=55°.
Cool.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

119

Meteorologie observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a.m. and 2 and 9 p. m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899—Continued.

wand. pitee
Locality and date. tember, proud eng velocity an Ga Weather. Remarks.
Tagine
= SoS ed
Koyukuk River—
Continued. Degr. F.
Aug. 10,7 a.m. 57 Gi-cu. 2..... IN Wide tol | soe ac ae rece een tee Comfortable.
2p.m- 68 Ci-cu. 3....-. IW 2h S| Doce eae Ee na eh ies ae oe Cool. Location: Fault Moun-
tain at 5,000’.
9p. m.| 58 | Gi-cu. 42... _- 0 Do.
11,7 a.m. 49 Giscun2se-- NW. 2. Do.
2p.m. 69 Ci-cu. 4..... NW. Fine day.
9 p.m. 58.5 | Ci-cu. 4....- W.4 Do.
12,7 a.m. 53.5 | Ci-cu. 6..... Wrdhione steer ea oes Rain little in| Fair morning,
| night.
2p.m.| TAS | OIC se Beret ete totes cl Queene etal lan ee gat ee OSLER Fine warm day.
9p.m Os KCI-cuspd aa bean (NUNG ES ye | 28 Ga ake et URLS a ceaee e naeal Fair evening.
13,7 a.m. 52.5 -| Sprinkled -....... Threatening.
2p.m. 5d Sprinkled ........ | Do:
9p.m- 56 Rain Byes ses Do.
14,7 a.m- 56.5 Clearing.
2p.m. 69
9 p.m. 48.5
15,7 a.m. 49 Jo Myrtle Creek.
2p.m. 68
9 p.m. 52
16,7 a.m- 50 Fog.
2p.m. 66.5
9 p.m. 57
17,7 a.m. 46 Rained all night.
2p.m. 52 Rainy day.
9 p.m. 50 (cael Reeeeeesnees Misty and fog ....| Rainy and foggy all day.
18,7 a.m. 46.5 0 = Rainy night .....- Misty and foggy.
9 p.m. 34 0 Some fog.
19,7 a.m. 48 0 Bright, temp. rising.
2p.m. 63 NE. 3. Do.
9 p.m. 53.5 NE. 3 Do.
20,7 a.m. 52.5 IND 4is 2 a RS sOce Lae |e ioese cree erates Do.
2p.m 61 ee eh esate esol sans ts seo aeee aca Fine day.
9p.m. 50.5 SW. ‘ Rainn Pyee eee Threatening.
21,7 a.m. 49.5 0 -| Rainy night ...-... Clearing (?).
2p.m. 59 Osuna kes eo hae 2a aS see Threatening SW.
9p.m-. 49 0
22,7 a.m. 44.5 SW. 4. Cool and clearing(?).
2p.m. 55 SW. 6. Fine day.
9p.m 46 0 Cool and dull.
23,7 a.m. 43 SW. 3. Do.
2p.m. 52 SW. 4 Do.
9 p.m- 43.5 0 Do.
24,7 a.m. 43 SW. 4 Do.
2p.m. 50.5 SW. 4 Cool; fine day.
9p.m-. 38 SW. 4 Do.
25,7 a.m. 43 SW. 10. Do.
2p.m. 52 SW. 9. Do.
9p.m. 45 0 Do.
26,7 a.m. 41 SW. 2. Hazy; cool; fine day.
2p.m. 53 sw. 4 Do.
26,9 p,m. 63 SW. 2 Warm; hazy.

120

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a. m. and 2 and 9 p. m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899—Continued.

Locality and date. RempaLes ona esng
Koyukuk River—
Continued. Dear. F.
Aug. 27,7a.m- MO
2p.m 56
9p.m 53
28,7 a.m. 4g |
2p.m.-. 48.5
9p.m_ 47.5 |
29,7 a.m. 47
2p.m. 52
9 p.m. 4704.
30,7 a.m- 42
2p.m. d+
9 p.m. 46.5
31,7 a.m. 43°
2p.m. 61
9p.m. 39
Sept. 1,7a.m. 36
2 p.m. 60 y
9p.m- 50.5 | Cu-n.8.....-.
2,7.a.m-~ 45.5 | Cu-n.7..-....
2p.m. 52.5 | Ci-cu.2 ....-
9p.m. 45 i
3,7 a.m.~ 45
2p.m. 61
9 p.m. 52
4,7 a.m- 51
2p.m. 57
9p.m. 51.5
5,7 a.m. 51
2p.m.-. 58
9 p.m.) 49.5
6,7 a.m.| 45 N=SiOee see
2p.m.| 55 | Cu-n.8.....-
9p.m. 47 (OESK) Sees se |
7,7 a.m.| 4715 | Cu-s.7 ......|
2p.m. Gl * | Chas .52
9 p.m. ATED CUs2eeeeeees
8,7 a.m. 44 Gish: 3822 5232
2p.m. 58.5 | Cu-s.7..-.--
9 p.m. 49 CrEshige ses
9,7 a.m. ALS | Cis) 2 eee
2p.m. 505 iS-ns Sie ees
9 p.m. 48.5 |
10,7 a.m. 44.5
2p.m. 54.5
9p.m. 48 No tkboassanes
11,7 a.m. 47 | Ne0!2e see
2p.m. 53 Cu-s. 4.2...
9 p.m. ZAG NS Secaasoas
12,7 a.m.! 34 Cics heen

Wind: Direc-
tion and
velocity in
miles per
hour.

SSW. 3.
SWW. 2.

NE. 12 (2).
NE. 12 (2).
NW. 2.
N.3.

E. 8.

Barometer.

(Aneroid.) Weather.

Rainy all night...
Showery

Showery during
~ night.

Rainy p.m.
Rainy all night...
Rainy alla, m ...
| Rainy p. m

| Rainy all night...

Fog, lowanddense

Remarks,

Warm.

Do.
Rainy all day.
Rainy morning and last night.
Rainy.
Clearing (river rising).
Clearing (?).
Clearing (?) (river rising).
| Showery all day; clearing.
Clearing (?).
Showers in a. m.
Stormy in p.m.
Fine morning; clearing (?).
Fair. i
Fine mackerel sky in north.
Fine morning; frost.
Fine mackerel skyin§. and SE.
Threatening.

Fair day, somewhat hazy.

-| Fair evening.

Fair morning.
Fair day.
Dubious.

Do.

Dubious (river 40°).
River fell 1 foot in 24 hours.

River still falling.

River still falling; fell several
inches since.

Do.

Fair day and cooler.

Cool.

Fine day (river 50°).

Fine day.

Fine morning.

Fine day a.m. (river 51.5°).
Fine eyening.

Fine a.m. (river 48°).

Fine a.m.; threatening now.
Moderately fair evening.
Dubious (river 49°}.

Cloudy a.m.; p.m. hazy, but
fine (river 49°).

Fine day.

Very foggy and misty.
Fair day (river 50°).
Fine, cool evening.
Fine morning (frost).

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

121

Meteorologic observations along Chandlar and Koyukuk rivers essentially at 7 a.m. and 2 and 9 p.m., from
June 19 to September 23, 1899—Continued.

Wind: pitee:
Locality and date.| Tempera Clouds: Kind! velocity in |Baromete
per
hour.
Koyukuk Riyer—
Continued. Degr. F.
Sept. 12,2 p.m- 62.5 | S-Cu-....--- E. 2.
9 p.m. 49.5 | Cu-n. 10 -... 0
13, 7 a.m- 44.5 | Ci-s. 2 ...... 0
2p.m. 52 S39 jsseccee SWApL2 © 5 | Soon eteaia|
Lower Yukon
River:
Sept.13,9 p.m. 47.5 | Cun. 6 ..... RING 1 Beasssacoase
14,7 a.m- ATES (Gu-s54 eee SW) 20 Sion | Seeece ase
2; pans| een OL Cu-s. 5...... ive PWh becescooscse
9p.m. 39 S-n. 6-.-...-.- SIWe-L0S wal ceeicaesce.
15,7 a.m. 37 Sn Siseesee | eS Wity Dik oal| noose conse
Nulato:
Sept. 15,2 p.m. 48 SW. 10.
9p.m. 32 NW. 3.
16,7 a.m- 21 NE. 2
2p.m. 33 NE. 9.
9p.m. 31 NE. 8
Steamer Weare:
Sept. 17,7 a.m. 20ND lO Saas aee ee NNW. 3. beavers Lees
2iDsiiie | see oases I coasddouse bodaosebosesad lcopacdebacde
9 p.m.
18,7 a.m.
2p.m.)
Holy Cross: |
Sept. 18;9\p.m-|------.--... Posse Coane seco Hoseanbedosaes SEabormedede
19,7 a.m. EP ABI Gacaeeaqaaece SWe2uaielesecteecceens
2p.m. 37 Qradecsdacead ENivedls < bcanceSaccad
Andreafski:
Sept. 19,9 p.m. 33.5 | Ci-cu.4....- 0
20,7 a.m. 27.5 | Ci-cu. 8-.... 0
Steamer Weare
50 miles below
Andreafski:
Sept. 20,2 p.m. 37 Ci-cu. 6...-. SEO el becdgooceate
9p.m. 34 I hecerinaccos IS = lenecocodedod
Aphoon mouth:
Sept. 21,7 a.m. BEER) Webb Sscacodd OV tea nseteenneser
Norton Sound:
Sept. 21,2 p.m. 39
St. Michael:
Sept. 21,9 p.m. 35
22,7 a.m. 34
2 p.m.) 35 Tp caesecese Nearly calm.|........-.--
9p. ipl escent I sBeseased Nearly calm.|....--..---.-
23,9 a. m.) Frozen Ci-eu: 7 .--..- | Nearly calm.|....---...--
2 p.m.| PMS WSL OS | Seem anes:
9p. m.| (Os AON Fescebocesse

.| Rainy

Weather.

Rained hard in
night.

Stormy (?).-.-----

ingly.

Some fog
Snowing hard ....

Snowing
paged do

Snowing

Remarks.

Threatening (river 48.5°).

Clearing; fair morning.
Showery and threatening.

Stormy. Location; Koyukuk
Station.

Stormy, but clearing.

Storming.
Stormy at Nulato.
Storming.

Do.
Cold.
Ice}-inch thick; fine morning.
Hazy.

-| Snowed since’ p. m., and snow-

ing hard now.

Snowed hardallnight; 3inches.
Snowed most of the day.

Clearing (?).

Do.

Fair, moonlight evening.
Boat stopped by fog.

Blustery.
Wintry.

Fog.

Fair p.m.

Threatening.
Snowed all a.m.
Cold.

Do.

Do.
Do.

122 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

METEOROLOGIC RECORD FOR 1g01, BY W. J. PETERS.

Snow was found to average about 6 feet deep in the Koyukuk Valley in April,
and as the preliminary expeditions ascended the north tributaries flowing from the
Endicott Mountains in April the depth was found to decrease until the grasses were
visible in the floor of the passes. By June this deep snow had practically disap-
peared from the lowlands. Natives report that north winds blow through the passes
of the Endicott Mountains with great force in winter, during which season it is
dangerous to travel. It is not only dangerous to face the wind, but there is risk of
the sled being broken by its being blown against projections in the smooth ice.
Fogs were found on the pass in April and dense haze in July. In both cases this
seems to have been blown in from the coast.

The following table, showing the temperatures at Uglaamie, 9 miles from Point
Barrow, is taken from the report of the Ray expedition, 1881-1883:

Temperature observations at Uglaamie.

[In degrees Fahrenheit.]

Month. Mean. Maximum. | Minimum.
1881.
November .....------- 0 30 —28
December --.-----.----. 8 Sosa 5: |b ceases 3
1882.
Januanye eee eee —15 20 —45
ebruatyeesessesse eee —23 —2 —52
Marchesa jane soe — 4 23 —30
April sesie: taaee sees — 4 2 —23
Maye css ener etescee 22 37 —2
UNE rs Sos see eee eee 34 53 24
Julysssesoeae sees 43 65 27
fAnigust ane eee ee 38 59 27
September .----.------ 31 51 19
Octobermesss=sesseeee 9 41 —22
Novembereenn=seeeeee —7 29 —35
December .......------ —17 8 —42
1883.
Januahy essere eee —17 12 —42
Rebruanye sees sesso — 6 ae —34
Marchi: a 228 cee seen —13 26 —51
HAT ee eee ae eee — 3 16 —30
Mayisecsccsea serene 23 38 —14
JUNE assesses ee 32 51 18
July pc eses so as ees 36 53 27
Auguste: ssosceeeo eee 37 60 22

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 123

The highness of the minimum temperatures given here for the winter months,
which are 30° to 40° above those of the Koyukuk country in the interior, is obviously
due to the moderating influence of the ocean. At Cape Bathurst, northeast of the
Mackenzie, in longitude 127° 30’, and latitude nearly as far north as that of Point
Barrow, the lowest temperature experienced for the past two winters is reported by
Mr. Fox, one of the white keepers of a trading post here, to be —36°.

Thunder is rare at Point Barrow, but is known by the natives to occur.

Precipitation at Uglaamie, 9 miles from Point Barrow; taken from the report of the Ray expedition, 1881-1883.

Month. 1881. 1882. 1883.
Inches. Inches. Inches.
Januarye- see oe ee cok | Saeee costs 0. 44 0. 14
IHeDTUaL Yas ee sean eee eee . 04 1.02
Mar chtss seen ee ae See aoe 51 14
Aprils areas ceil eer aL 39 55
WWE Spee searrccria se ams eee 44 31
JUNE estece cea aee oss esescionses .61 30
July Sono acto sees Mee eeeese 1.39 1. 04
PANO US bias Saree temie tale eee 1.46 1. 66
September22e = sacs ae| bees Level. Soe sees
October ese ese eae se eee ees LOS Fra See Sets see
November ......------ 0. 73 pS. ape | Seeiaes ees
December’ 26-242 =2- = 44 V2 \esioee sce

METEOROLOGIC RECORD FOR 1885-86, BY LIEUT. G. M. STONEY.»

The following temperatures and notes were taken by Stoney“ on upper Kowak
River, principally at Fort Cosmos, about 120 miles from the coast, in approximate
latitude 66° 53’, longitude 157° 23’. As they are continuous throughout a year,
they cover a more extended period of time than any other data yet made in the
interior of this northern country, and are regarded as one of our most important and
reliable records concerning it.

x Temperatures on Kowak (Putnam) River.
July, 1885:

iowestatemperatnreduringsmonthtsessssete nse -cee sane ae ameeere sees eee 32° F.

Eng hestsvempera ture during onthsseesesss sate eee eee eee see e ee teres eases 70

Meamitempera ture. duringamonthts seer steele esa ae ee eee ee eee eee ee ee eae 49
August, 1885:

Towest temperatureiduring month 22225. s-2.2-s5--- 225 -seeeeeeee hee Poe ate a 32° FB.

ee hestitempera ture durile month ees eee ee sae ee ae ee ee eee eee eee eS

Meanstemperacured uring ym On bby eatse epee esa eee aos eee eee eee eee eee 47

aStoney, Lieut. George M., Nayal Explorations in Alaska, U. S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md., 1900, pp. 104-105.

124 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

September, 1885:

Lowest temperature during month! 2822 ooo aes one ee eee ieee ee 5° F
Hiehest temperature: during month222-9 98 cosh oc ee aoe ee ene eae eee 69
Mean temperature during month -.......-..-.--------- SES AS ARR aSbannenosasaadons 39

October, 1885:

Towest: temperature:during» month 5555-2 -255- - pe saene eae eee eee eee eee eee — 4°F

Highestitemperature: durin gimonth see. 2. 2 eee eee ee eee ee ee 46

Mean temperature during month -_------ Soest Sassebeee hese = (sastsspacene 2octeeeeene 16
November, 1885:

Lowest temperature during month! 222222252 Sei ece soe ne ee ae soe eee eee —44° F,

Puiehestitemperature durne month! 225 sass 2 sae se eee eee see ee eee eee 15

Mean temperature during month eee sen ae nea ae eae eee ene ee = G8)
December, 1885: : a NS f

Towest temperature during month) 228225 sss senses eee seen eae eee eee —65° F.

icighestptemperature during monthesee sess seas eee ees ee eee eee eee eee es eeeeee 29

Meanttemperature;during mon this ses ese ee ee eee ee ae eee —12.4
January, 1886:

iowest temperature durmemonthyse = sesso eee ae eee eee ee eae eee eee —70° F.

ibighestitemperature;during monthee-ss=seee sane eee eee eee ee nee onan eee eee eee 31

Meanttemperatureiduring month sea sera a eee ee —13.5
February,@ 1886:

howestitemperature.durinpym onthe sees esses ee eee eee eae ee eee —65° F.

Biehest) temperatureduringsmonthess-2essese == =seee ses sees ee se eee eee eee 26

iWeani temperatures during monthssss sss eae se eae eee eee eee —22.5
March, 1886:

Mowestitemperature) durin gsm onthy sees sass eae nee eee eee eee eee er eee —38° F.

Hichestitemperaturerduringymontheee==e ee aee see eee ae eee eee eee eee 36

Meanitemperature duringymon ths see ose e eee een eae eee eee eee eee eee eae — 3.8
April, 1886:

Howestitemperatureiduring: month\s sss ss ee eee eee eee eee eee eee eee eee eee —22° F.

Eighestitemperature; duringam ontheers seen see tees eee Peres e ee ne eee aes 49

Meanttemperatureiduring) monthisss=seaeeeeeee rece eee eee ae ses e ee ease ee eee eee eae 13
May, 1886:

owestitemperature;durinesmonthiees sens eae eae eee ee see ee eee ee ease 14° F.

iEiehestitemperature during amon thee seer nessa = eres eae e ee eee nee Ree eee ae eee eee 65

iMeanktemperatureduringymon th) peep e sesso eee te ree eee ESSE eae eee eee 35
June, 1886:

owest temperature) durinpsmonthies sss) esas ne eee sasaki eee ee eee eee eee eee 322eRR

Alighestitemperature during mon theese eee ea = nee sane an eae eee eee 74

Mean temperature: during *montha 22. esse =see= sae eee eae ee eee eee eeeeeeeee 49

‘* WVote.—During the month of December, 1885, in one hour the temperature rose
29° F., barometer remaining quite steady. This sudden rise in temperature was
closely followed by a terrible gale of wind. The thermometer, not the barometer,
indicates an approaching gale. It is dead calm when the thermometer stands low,
and during the gales the temperature always goes above zero. The more sudden the
rise of thermometer the harder the wind blows and the more quickly it hauls. One
should watch the thermometer closely and get under shelter if a gale is coming; for
neither man nor dog can stand these gales. You must be under shelter. Have
seen it snowing—that is a fine snow falling—when there was not a cloud in the sky
and very light wind. It is advanced by some that there was a higher wind that
carried the snow from the mountain peak.

aMean temperature February 1 to 20 —33° F.

‘CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 125)

‘* When the thermometer is minus, it is denoted (—).

““The temperatures during the months of July and August were taken partly at
Fort Cosmos and while at work on the river. The others were taken at Fort Cosmos
and an accurate temperature taken every hour by spirit thermometers remaining out-
side. These were the best (registered) spirit thermometers, made specially for
the Government for arctic observation.

**A person can’t be too much impressed with the importance of watching the ther-
mometer. I would recommend that the spirit thermometer have the liquid colored,
as the white liquid is hard to read. The thermometer should also be protected by
a wooden case, leaving only the bulb exposed, and even that should be screened. My
observations were the mean of three excellent spirit thermometers.”

TEMPERATURES IN roor.

Following are lists of temperatures encountered by the party. The record
was kept by Gaston Philip.
obtained only by making daily moves, which were necessarily made at irregular

As the primary objects of the expedition could be

hours during the twenty-four, these notes are not so complete as might be desired,
but they will serve to give a fair idea of the general conditions that prevailed.

Temperatures on Dawson trail at 8 a. m., February to May, 1901.

Date. Deg. F. | State of atmosphere. Locality.
Feb. 19 =i) Cnn aca aceeceacs White Horse.

20 —40 |._..- Gh eseseausee Do.

21 = 2p) eeee oe eee Do.

22 —32 |... Gl eeeee aces Lake Laberge.

23 =) eae doysseees see Do.

24 oe eee doa seseiae: | Do.

25 —28 |.-.-- dows eee | On cut-off from Lake Laberge to Five Fingers.

26 —14 |__..- Glpeaoeaaeene | Do.

21 10) |e. 25 dO) eae eoe Five Fingers.

28 LOM Calin ees siesta Below Five Fingers.

Mar. 1 (0) Besos Clo) gokeadasbe Near Fort Selkirk.

2 0 | High wind_---.--- Fort Selkirk.
3 AO Nise ate veins reece Do.
4 = 105 |S Sse Ase ce ese as 30 miles below Fort Selkirk.
5 Ohi ee meas besser 50 miles below Fort Selkirk.
6 (0) ee ee eed Stewart River.
7 Qi ears eicta hs tyatateraes Near Dawson.
8 1H Semes Moemer ees Dawson.
9 LOW roses oo seni Do.

10 1 ie ee aa Do.

11 SII) es ae Se Nee Near Fortymile.

12 Onleasee ep see Shae Fortymile.

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Temperatures on Dawson trail at 8 a. m., February to May, 1901—Continued.

Date. | Seg. F. State of atmosphere.

Locality.

Mar.

Apr.

May

13
17
18

OOoONonar WNW FH

Co (NOP IROT INE IRS ODS Ne ee ee
CHOON DAF FW NH FH OS

Be Cw bo eH

Near Eagle City.
Mouth of Washington Creek.
Do.
Charlie River.
Do.
Circle.
Near Circle.~
Near Fort Yukon.
Do.
Fort Yukon.
Do.
Mouth of Chandlar River.
On Chandlar River.

Divide between Chandlar and South Fork, Koyukuk River.

On South Fork, Koyukuk River.
Slate Creek.

Koyukuk River near Bettles.
John River. ;

Do.

catia ile ed

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

Temperatures on Dawson trail at 8 a. m., February to May, 1901—Continued.

127

Deg. F. State of atmosphere. Locality.
203 Re Sees eee Bergman.
PA RR Se ay ett BEAT Do.
Pao SOLER au cee Do.
DY Bae et erates Serato Do.
TDi eae see ses eee at Do.

Temperature at morning, noon, and evening at localities between Bergman and Arctic coast.

Locality.

Date. a.m. Noon, p.m. Atmosphere.
Deg. F. Deg. F. Deg. F.

May 1 19 33 43 | lsccosssuseccopaceEesEeeco slecsasase Bergman.
2 14 AA WSR eee cea Seka sae Bae boas as Se eeieoe ae ts Do.
9 19 33 265) 2sbeenns See Sethe alee Sees Do.

10 14 44 Oe eae le ea it the antec eres ee Do.
11 14 34 240) 5. Sa Fe Sole ecm mic ee been! seemisiere= Do.
12 34 35 780) Re eS INS a oars epee yeeat Yt eh rsa Do.
18} 33 36 BU eee Ae eae ee ee ee a Do.
14 35 38 SU hie ose sees Sue Meee ee eer eens Do.
15 Gil Paaorase B30) | BE SiS sted onan aac anacoetassaseos Do.
16 0a bseen- SG eee eae sigan cea eel ece eee Do.
17 31 40 26 | Nester eee cee se ses ee See ee cise Do.
18 28 eesens 38) || pee sce a eee eee aaa ae ee aes Do.
19 35 39 AN Eee ems See au station se etiamehe see Do.
20 43 DG a Stee se poe ee ec eormis Ss uegee Bil tee Tore 2 Do.
21 48 44 AQ) ie Ssets SN NSS Sa 2 Cae Soa sere SB Do.
22 37 45 41 | Rain, 0.02 inch; light wind north ~~. Do.
23 37 45 SB bl eer arses aes eee So a as Gana Do.
24 40 45 43a ainbet ss oes als SS SSE es Do.
25 49 51 46 a|beses dog Tos eee ez s it Sete Do.
26 44 46 A2).|onsee CONE RO Ser SEs Hoeee ne aamBES Do.
27 46 52 AQM see OF e a ee oe ee are Nae Do.
28 43 49 ABN ORAM Sees Sooo a eee aur oes Do.
29 50 48 Bis) || (Sravonn7 scope Gia} NOV 4 Se ooeoeSossaes Do.
30 32 43 33 | Snow; precipitation to date, 0.67--- Do.
31 41 42 Ca 2 Gas Se Ape ame pero obaatedanos Do.

June 1 36 394 See Rains sess ee ees cee gees eee Stee ee Do.
2 42 45 ADAIR Santee notch OR ELOY Eh rant apes Do.
3 51 52 Od ee Mae eiisaew tis ake ce oe pe tee es Do.
4 53 57 din | Pacer Bie ass he 2 ok eee Leet Do.
5 58 50 45 Wind southwest, cloudy; rain, 0.03. Do.
6 38 44 SIME ISDOW SE te kejoe sae ae sie oa emeeee Do.

128 RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Temperature at morning, noon, and evening at localities between Bergman and Arctic coast—Continued.

Date. a.m. Noon. p.m. Atmosphere. Locality.
Deg. F. | Deg. F. Deg. F.

June 7 35 Ab 2 Shek SNOW so seo a ese ee ee cease Bergman.
134 byl soaecse, 403) Hair: os oe eh eee ee ees Do
14 CU ee 62h eee do ssls ss Se aa eee John River. 1
15 bi Gaseeeee DDs|eeene CONS Se hots eee eee eee Do.
16 60L/ Seeker. 63 | Fair, light wind southwest--------- Do.
V/ 67 67 52 | Rain 6. p. m. to 8 p. m., 0.01-_----- Do.
18 By (A Bepaod GON Cloudy. 222 s-se eee eee see Do.
19 62 68 G45 Shai sees aes 5 Bons SRE Do.
20 (BY eae case 642255 = do) Sees ses ean eee aee eee Do
21 Git esscocas 60): | 2}Cloudysi2 Sac 2cee ee see eee eee Do
22 DGH| sea ersecee 584), Halts. So 2 sear eee ene eee Do
23 ats}! Fe eecese GF |os5ce Ce eSoN asa aoe Cone Se Seeeee Do.
24 DG) |= se eee ZG) || Wen TEM, OM). sscocscosssscoscs: Do.
25 ASG | 3 Seat a 48: Rain X0226 20 wee ee eee nee aa Do.
26 42 52 52 | Rain 0:20;swindisouthwes=-eeee see Do.
27 48 68 625) Bair 22 Ses rs eee eee eee Do
28 58 71 62 | Fair; temperature (water) 52°____.- Do.
29 OLS Sas eee Sas Rais Of 02: ee eer ese Do.
30 58 GON| Pecan Wari. Sacco ste oe ae ae eee Do

July 1 Bit Reeeeees Of), le sco Os ee ee ee ee eee Do.

DA Ns leaa sso eae beeen Rain’ 0:04 oso e cern sae sen Do.
3 57d ieee: O(a Shightisnowereseereseeee aaa eee Do.
4 5) ence | Aas SR ain sO) OS Mee yan sae oa a! Do.
5 On ase eee 57 | Fair, wind northwest.........----- Do.
6 60 [Pieter 65)||\Wairst= eects sc saaen oe eee eeesee Do
7 (s}0)n) eee ore 54c)Lo.- Cote weet ee ames se ene sies Do
8 645535 s25- 64 | 2ose- 06 (oe ee aa ne ee ee Do
9 ES (es, aye Dane 52] Orizz iin arenes eee eee eee Do.
10 50 jnceoooe- CM essed COeistiesesceteet oe aSeee eee Do
11 CY fl Bee | 490 (boss scence e hoe emcee cee ceeeeeee Do
12 Dot ee asaenes 00) so Se cals wise sine tet aS e een et eeioe er Do.
14 AAS) Meee 42 | Rain, 0.20; strong wind north---.-- Do.
15 Adrel Ss ee | 51 | Fair, light wind north._--...--..-- Do.
16 Bhi[oe autos cls were i avs ys ee cata Be ep ea eee area Do
IS Rees sal Meo 61 | Fair, cloudy, wind south ---.-.----- Do
LOY | Pee See [Eee ce 63)|Pa5- ss eeeceee sees ens sees eee Do
20 62 a2 Soe cie | see 1 DC hh eee eee Oasis oe Oe Su Do
21 68 80 ZO. \osose OO iderect soe ase sae eC eee Koyukuk-Colville divide.
22 72 74 UF \lsboce GO-je sk Sosa eee ee eee | Do.
23 O8ilssescces (0) pao (0 ope Oe ese Senate sa weeice, Do.

«Most of the dates that follow appear on the accompanying maps, Pls, IT and II, and designate the localities at or near
which the respective observations were made.

CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

Temperature at morning, noon, and evening at localities between Bergman and Arctic coast—Continued.

Date. a.m. Noon. p- m. Atmosphere. Locality.
Deg. F. Deg. F. Deg. F.
July 24 | 76 | 85 SOs @lichtishowersieeeeee ease ee ceeee Anaktuyuk River.
Duly eeni6ce cae eee Sas cOloudyece ta beens Sten eee on Do.
pildees 66s sees GOL | aires eels Nae CRc ae! Do.
7 | 62: |Se-e8h sc p2ulgRainOr20 sens aes eae eee Ree Do.
28 ee eee BOR Rain mOSL 7-5 Seca ocean ern Do.
29 | 34 36 36 || Rain, 0:27 .2.-- Rae ee SAS Aa eaiaer Do.
30 | lal eeceiseee Bi))a|| leek OKs) Seagasacdooscanccaccsocs Do.
31) CU SSP een Soareee Bairnacee eee echo eseeacc ease Do.
Aug. 1) Ei eee GA esohe ORs, Seu cn ERR RM ie Do.
2 | 62 74 69 | BR ar whazyesee seseere esse een eee Do.
3 | 44 69 G4a|tiRairismokyes se cecee Saas seers Do.
4 52 67 G2 eee GOW Soe MSE eee Do.
5 | 54 63 HSAlishaire ts joan ease eet eee oa eos Do.
6| 60 65 GON ee fetes a eh ect Aaa Ne Do.
7 60 58 6457 Clouiyics js sos Seeetcae ae Seen Do.
8 | 44 52 48° Rain O04 5252 ese cee secs este ce Do.
9 46 50 44 | River temperature 52°........----- Colville River.
10 43 48 47 | Cloudy, drizzling rain; river tem- Do.
perature 50°.
11 48 52 ADI (OaaCbiics~ eG sone peaooeaeecossceccS Do.
12 43 52 GOs zeae COE GCS SCRE AGAR oe Tamrac tar Do.
13 48 55 Al eosee Ojz ose So ac et ocesece sano Colville River delta.
14 40 45 52h elbichtishowersipesseeeee ee serene = Do.
15 38 42 40 | Cloudy, sleet and rain; wind south- Do.
16 38 42 A? i Mains. casos Sates jess aelsaseie se Do.
17 38 40 51) Air Neen eee n(n Ce SEAS RE Ie Harrison Bay.
18 38 38 On|) ClOUG YA SNOW rence see eee Do.
19 | 52 44 AD Malta asec oe oacinsees ce ceeness Do.
20 dt 46 BA We Se ee eee ein eee ae tase Do.
21 39 50 Ie Walr essa chess ac te eecermceeh oases Near Cape Halkett.
22 38 42 AQh | Sec Ses ecem ce Cece eeee comes Pitt Point.
23 42 42 Oe Ee ere SRE ae Sea ne IRI me es ens Smith Bay.
24 42 39 39)| Cloudy, wind east. --- 2-22. =. 2 --- Do.
25 | 37 38 36 | Cloudy, rainy, strong wind east ---. Do.
26 36 36 33 | Snowsqualls, all day strong wind east Do.
27 3 33 32 | Snow squalls, strong wind ..._-..--- Do.
28 | 32 32 S2iistroneewindleaste cess eerie seems Do.
29 31 34 327 \@Cloudy, windieast=-ee.----eeeo ee Do.
30 32 32 SU ee see tse a eo Ae Me Ner Se Aee Saree Do.
31 33 33 32 | Cloudy, snow squalls..-...-..--.-- Do.
Sept. 1 32 32 32 | Wind northeast ...-.-----.--+.---- Do,

189—No. 20—04—— 9

130

RECONNAISSANCE

IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

Temperature at morning, noon, and evening at localities between Bergman and Arctic coast—Continued.

Date. a.m. Noon. p.m. Atmosphere. Locality.
Deg. F. Deg. F. Deg. F. |
Sept. 2 3 33 30m | SDOWsSqUallsee season | Sinclair River.
3 35 35 35.) Cleat: 222c,< ssc seee nl ee eee Off Dease Inlet.
4 36 36 36) 222s dO-s2h ss. Sioa eecee ne saat eee Cape Smyth.
5 36 36 Gi) |Saoce dO: 22.222 S828 Stes sess eee Near Refuge Inlet.
6 37 35 BY) |Baoes dO! hrs See eee ee Do.
7 34 34 34 | ye dor eee ene ears iene oma Do.
8 Boule sone BH) lleecac (6 (ore ee oe et ea ae ee Sarees Peard Bay.
9 $33 |Paogenec Gl ieenise 0%. 2 sss2) Seas eee eae eee Off Belcher Point.
10 Gi0)) eeencae 830) Isaac (0 (eee Se ee See AS ae ic Off Wainwright Inlet.
11 S73 eee aecee Sonleeeee Oss. .s2a8 Stee echoes eae Near Wainwright Inlet.
12 Gis eee eecs 683 |sccoc dO! 2 ahs sees ets te eee Do.
13 32 )||Seeeatee 92) [222801 2o See See ee eee eee ee Off Icey Cape.
14 Cys Weceaees 613} |bocsc dOwse522% jase enone: Sees Off Point Lay.
15 38h | Reese se Bh} |beese dow ass. os Se SA See sess Near Cape Beaufort.
16 BO esscosse 36 | osacek soe Soe see tee mecee a eee Do.
il7/ Sia eee BU Ree aceasta MaSeuE er asnEoerdasaodene Cape Beaufort.
18 Bit} | Romerohe pomaceas PESasosssannconnesceasesshacosscees Off Cape Sabine.

The minimum temperatures recorded for the Koyukuk district at Coldfoot are
reported to be —80° and even lower, but the instruments on which these records are
based are not known. It is hardly to be supposed, however, that it becomes much
colder here than at Circle, Dawson, and other points on the Yukon. Though grass
and other feed was scarce, a horse is reported to have wintered at large on North
Fork of the Koyukuk, on Mascot Creek, in 1902-3, and appeared to be in fair
condition in the spring.

ARCTIC PLANTS COLLECTED.

The following plants, collected on the trip mostly by G. H. Hartman, have been
identified, with the exception of the grasses, by Frederick V. Coville and W. F.
Wight, botanists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The grasses were identi-
fied by Mr. Elmer D. Merrill. The localities of collections are designated by camp
dates, which latter will be found on the topographic and geologic maps (Pls. II and
IIl).

Equtserace®. (Horsetail family. ) .
Equisetum arvense L.
At camp, August 12.

ARCTIC PLANTS COLLECTED. 131

Poacex. (Grass family.)

Arctagrostis latifolia (R. Br.) Griseb.
Point Barrow, September 4.
Poa arctica R. Br.
At camp, August 12.
Bromus arcticus Shear.
At camp, August 6.
Elymus innovatus Beal.
Cape Smyth, September 5..

MELANTHACE®. (Bunch-flower family. )

Zygadenus elegans Pursh.
At camp, August 5.

Saticacex. (Willow family.)
Salia.
Cape Smyth, September 5.
Salix.
Point Barrow, September 4.
Salix.
At camp, August 12.
Salia.
At camp, August 5.
Salix.
At camp, John River, altitude 1,800 feet, June 20-21.
Salix alaxensis (Anders. ) Coville.
John River, June 24; John River Valley flats, July 8; at camp, John River, July 10; at
camp, August 5; at camp, August 6; at camp, August 12.
Salix arbusculoides Anders.
At camp, John River, June 28; John River, 1,000 feet above valley, July 8; at camp, John
River, July 10; at camp, August 6.
Salix glauca L.
John River, 1,000 feet above valley, July 8; at camp, Arctic slope, July 21; at camp,
August 6; at camp, August 12.
Salix niphoclada Rydb. (apparently ).
At camp, John River, July 10; at camp, Anaktuvuk River, August 5.
Salix; ovalifolia Trauty.
At camp, Colville delta, August 14.
Salix pulchra Cham.
John River, June 24; John River, 1,000 feet above valley, July 8.
Salix richardsoni Hook. =
At camp, East Fork of John River, July 16-17.

BetuLacex, (Birch family.)
Betula.
At camp, Arctic slope, July 21.

132

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA LN 1901.

PotyGonace®. (Smartweed family.)

Polygonum plumosum Small.
At camp, July 21; at camp, August 12.
Polygonum viviparum L.
At camp, August 12.
SrtenacE®. (Pink family.)

Alsine longipes (Goldie) Colville.

At camp, Colville delta, August 14.
Arenaria laricifolia L.

At camp, John River, July 10.
Ammodenia.

Cape Smyth, September 5.

RANUNCULACES. (Buttercup family.)

Anemone.

At camp, Arctic slope, July 21.
Anemone.

Low ground near John River, June 15.
Anemone richardsoni Hook.

Low ground near John River, June 15.

PAPAVERACE®. (Poppy family.)
Papaver radicatum Rottb.

At camp, August 12.
BrassicacE®. (Mustard family.)
Cochlearia.

Cape Smyth, September 5.
Eutrema edwards R. Br.
At camp, Colville delta, August 14.

SAXIFRAGACER. (Saxifrage family.)

Saxifraga hirculus L.

At camp, Colville delta, August 14.
Saxifraga oppositifolia L.

At camp, John River, June 26 and 28.
Saxifraga tricuspidata Retz.

At camp, John River, July 10.
Parnassia palustris L.

At camp, Anaktuyuk River, August 5.

Rosacex®. (Rose family.)
Potentilla fruticosa L.
At camp, John River, July 10.
Potentilla villosa Pall.
At camp, John River, July 10.
Dryas integrifolia Vahl.
At camp, John River, June 26.

ee :
Li an

ARCTIC PLANTS COLLECTED.

Fasacem. (Bean family.)
Tupinus.
At camp, John River, June 28.
Astragalus.
At camp, August 6.
Astragalus.

John River, June 28.
Astragalus.

At camp, John River, June 28.
Astragalus alpinus L.

At camp, August 6.
Aragallus.

At camp, John River, June 28.
Aragallus.

At camp, July 21.
Aragallus.

John River, June 28.

ExmaGnacem. (Oleaster family.)

Lepargyrea canadensis (L.) Greene.

At camp, John River, June 28.

OnaGRACEm. (Evening primrose family.)

Chamaenerion latifolium (L.) Sweet.
At camp, August 5.
Apracem. (Celery family.)
Bupleurum americanum Coult. and Rose.
At camp, August 6.

Pyrotace®. (Wintergreen family.)
Pyrola rotundifolia L.

At camp, John River, June 28.

Ericacem, (Heather family.)
Ledum decumbens ( Ait.) Lodd.
At camp, Arctic drainage, July 21.
Rhododendron lapponicum (L.) Wahl.
At camp, John River, June 28.
Cassiope tetragona (L.) D. Don.

At camp, John River, altitude 1,800 feet, on north slope, June 20.

Andromeda polifolia L.

At camp, John River, altitude 1,800 feet, on north slope, June 20.

Arctous alpina (L.) Niedenzu.
At camp, August 12.

PriMuLAcE®. (Primrose family.)
Androsace.
At camp, John River, June 28. ;
Androsace.
At camp, John River, July 10.

Dodecatheon frigidum Cham. & Schlecht. Shooting star.

133

134

RECONNAISSANCE IN NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901.

: ScRoPHULARIACE®. (Figwort family.)
Pedicularis.
At camp, July 21.
Pedicularis verticillata L.
At camp, Anaktuvuk River, August 5.

CicHortacex. (Chicory family. )
Taraxacum.
At camp, Colville delta, August 14.
Crepis nana Richards.
At camp, August 6.

ASTERACE®. (Aster family.)

Solidago inultiradiata Ait.

At camp, Anaktuvuk River, August 5.
Aster.

At camp, Anaktuvuk River, August 5.
Aster gibiricus L.

At camp, August 12.
Brigeron.

At camp, John River, July 10.
Tanacetum.

At camp, August 12.
Artemisia. ‘

At camp, John River, July 10.
Artemisia norvegica Fries.

At camp, August 6.
Artemisia tilesii Ledeb.

At camp, August 12.
Petasites.

At camp, August 12.
Arnica.

At camp, John River, July 12.
Arnica.

At camp, August 12.
Arnica.

At camp, Arctic slope, July 21.
Arnica lessingii (Torr. and Gr.) Greene.

At camp, Anaktuvuk River, August 5.
Senecio.

Point Barrow, September 4.
Senecio lugens Richards. :

At camp, August 6.

JEAN I ee

Abbe, Cleveland, jr:, aid by.--..-.-----.-----2-2-------- 115

Al aSKASINVeSEPMOUSMM sea seas es ene Seen 11-14
Outlinesma pio hese eee eas eee i seisees esse ihe

Alaska Commercial Company, acknowledgments to... 13

Alatna River, gold-bearing ore on...........-.------ 102-104

7 TIEN XO POLC ON seem ieee sella 20
TeCONMAISSANCCiUP ee seen eee eee sees eee 20

Allen, H. T., cited on Endicott Mountains - 40
exploration by-..-------- = 29

Allen River, name of, note on.........-..-----2---+--+ 20
See Alatna River. i

Amphibole-schist. See Totsen series.

Anaktuvuk Pass, glacial deposits near -........--..-.- 86
elect alle) eS Gee aol 85
section west of, figure showing --..-.-.-.-.-------- 51
VAG AC Tit AR ecceA bact agsamabaauedoeanbenenaboodnres 56

Anaktuvuk Plateau, extent and character of ....-.-.- 45-46
WIE WSN OWEN One = oe eet Oe ere nee eS de 42

Anaktuvuk River, Anaktuvuk series on, plate show-

ing... 70

coal from, anal 114
COmlOnsOCCHITCNCE Ofer seen sane eneeeee es 107
Colville S@ries/ Ola a se eae aia a arate naan 82
distances along, table showing....-...-.-.-------- 37
HOSSHISHELOM LIST Olas sat eee aa ee reer rae 80
elacialdeposits ON see eee ee aa ee eta ee nee 86-88
Lisburne formation near .............---.--------- 63
Nanushuk series on..... 79
plate showing -.- 80
profile across -...-..---- = 46
Recent deposits along -- S294!
topographic features along .....-...- 48

Anaktuvyuk series, age and correlation of -........-.-- 76, 97
character and occurrence of ...---.-.------------- 74-75
SHIUIC HULL feet ane ee meee eee eer 75-76

LURES SHOWA Preeti rata tae ate aie ite 70
LOUIE ;SHOWAD Peete tae see sia ater 46

(ANIA VSS) COR as Saas ae ee omen ate eee oesee 114

Andreafski, meteorologic observations at and near... 121

Antimony, occurrence of 105

Arctic coast, barrier reef and Eskimo graye near, plate

SHOW iN Biers oo ee oar an et ieee oe 96
CATH CLOT Olea an seine toe nee ee eee 48-50
coal on
distances along, table showing..-.-.-..----.-.----- 38
fossils from 96
inhabitants along, number and condition of. -.-.- 35-36
meteorologic observations between Bergman

and... -- 127-130

Recent deposits along -- --- 95-96
VON One combo nde pb esenacoacde pacers 50
Arctic Coastal Plain, edge of, view of--.. - 50
Extend characterOf 22 = sees ne one ee 46,81

Page.
ActiciOceanhdepuhloheeseeeessese ane eee eee 49
Arctic slope province, coast line of...-.........--.---- 48-50 ~

drainage ofe sce tset ose ee cc Seca en noe eee 46-48
extentiandicharacteroteesee eee ter see ere eeecert 4546
Area discussed, climatic conditions in -............. 114-130
geopraph y.ol sects ss cece eee rece eee a ue 38-50
COLOLICHNISLOLYROLeeee merce eee cet eee eee eee 52-55
geologic map of. - 40
geolopysOln eee eee ae ae - 50-97
location and general features of -- 38-39
mineral resources of........-..-:- - 98-114
plants collectedsin’2)2---54-- ee . 180-134
topographic map of 38
Arkose. See Anaktuvuk series; Koyukuk series.
Barometer. See Climatic conditions.
Barrier reef on Arctic coast, plate showing.....-...-.- 96
Barrow, Point, coast between Cape Lisburne and, char-
EXcie Oeh oRaacancacassoressosoarsncacanosess 49-50
coast between Colville River and, character of -.. 48-49
Recent deposits between Colville River and ....-. 95
between Cape Lisburne and..........---.- 96,
Settlement Qt eee se eee ace eee eee ee eee eee 36
topographicifeaturesiatesssssesseaceeeeeee eee eee 49
trip from Bettles to, account of.......--.-....----- 21-24
Beaufort, Cape, coal at, occurrence of.......-------- 110-111
coaltfromyanalysisiofas-ccereseceseeseseeeneae aeeees 114
TOCKSiex posed ateesseeeeeer cece cscceecteceeeesecee 73
topographic features near - 50
Beechey, F. W., exploration by 26
Bell, J., exploration by .----- 27
Bennett, Ben, work of ..- 11
Bergman, glacial deposits near 90
meteorologic observations between Arctic coast
AN ease ow eee ice as esac rises eee ees 127-130
IBETE MAN Series wag el O lessee eee ese sees e eee aee 78-79
characteriand occurrence of2- 22. 2-22. 2. --- 77-78
Correlationlo fess assess scenes nase soe cn ee ceesee 97
SULUCTURCIO Dresses taeestae ee SOS RSdaRaopBASuSsea6 78

Bettles, G. C., acknowledgments to .............
Bettles, trip to Point Barrow from, account of -.
Bibliography faseosesss asses soe eae eee
Brauer, Charles, acknowledgments to....-.---....-.--

TELETENCE 6On noes etc s oes Sessile nina eee ee eee
Bremner, John, river named for Pe
Brooks, A. H., cited on fossils from Glacier Bay lime-

FUOROK < oppo pb noodoosot acon SqecHonodsesenenS 57
cited on fossils from southeastern Alaska ......... 67
letter of transmittal by -.......-....-....

work of 12
Burlingame, E. E. & Co., work of . 14
Busby, E.S., acknowledgments to ....---- te 18
Cache Lake, view from...............-.---- 56
California Creek, gold on, production of --.- 102

136 INDEX.
Page. Page.
Campbell, Robert, exploration by.......-.------------ 27 | Corwin mines, coal at, occurrence .............-.--- 112-113
Camping manner0fieeesse-eaee eee sansa esse ee 15 coal from;/analyses Of) oo. ele eee eee eee eee eee ee 1i4
Canadian DeyelopmentCompany, acknowledgments to 13 coalibediand TOcksiatasess=sees= esse aan eee 82
Cantwell; J. C., exploration’ by..--..-------.2-------4-- 29 | Cosmos, Fort, temperature at ....-.-:----.-.-..-.-.. 123-124
Cape. See next word of name. Cotter, R. D., and Dyer, J. T., exploration by sae 28
Cape Lisburne region, Fickett series in......-..-.----- 72 | Coville, F. V., plants identified by -. -- 1380-134
fossils from, list of 3505 66 | Cretaceous rocks, description of. ---- 74-81
Beoloricisectiony nes ses=se asses en ntee anne eee means 41 | Dall, W. H., exploration by -....- es 28
fossils identified by........ -- 96,83
quotedion\pround)icele pense sense eee 91-92
TefeTeN CeO tO S= = es enna eee eee eee ee 71
Chandlar Basin, copper in............-..-..--.-------- 104 work of 14
Chandlar River, meteorologic observations on .-..--- 115-118 | Dawson, G. M., cited on age of Yukon Plateau......-- 43
Chandlar River gravels, fossils from, list of........---- 66 | Dawson trail, meteorologic observations on.......-. 125-127
Chert. See Nanushuk series. Dease and Simpson, exploration by -..........-.-...-- 26
Chloritie schists. See Fickett series. reference {Ons cen ee ane nee eee 47,49
Clara Creek, gold on, production of 102 | Delta at mouth of Colville River, description of-.....- 4748
mugretHtromysize|Ofearanascessotae eases e see ae see 101 | Devonian rocks, description of ...........-.....- -- 62-67
Clay. See Kowak elay. Dikes on John River..-........ -= 58-54
Climatic conditions, tables showing.......---------- 114-130 | Distance, table of............ 5 37
Goal, analysis of -.-..-- Se ee een Se oe So ota sae eee! 114 | Dog sledding, description of....................---2--- 14-15
OCCUTTEN COL eeercae ee eat eee cee Soe 106-114 | Double Mountain, till terraces on...............-..-.-- 90
Coast along Arctic Ocean, character of.......-..------ 48-50 | Drainage of Arctic slope province..............-..---- 4648
Coastal region, recent deposits in ....-..-...---------- 95-96 Of Endicott, Plateau ea socene -eee ee eee eee 43
Collier, A. J., cited on fossils of Seward Peninsula. -.- 58 of Koyukukjprovincerss-s-- eee eee 45
TORE NOS HOS nao oe aoeenancooseSbaneenacae 508 71 | Dumars, H. D., fossils collected by -......-..... 66, 71, 74, 114
Collinson, R., exploration by......---..- 96 27 | Dyer, Cape, rocks exposed at........-.-...-..--2------ 67
Colville delta, extent and character of- - -- 47-48 | Dyer, J. T., and Cotter, R. D., exploration by ..---.... 28
Colville Flats, extent and character of.. 3 47 | Eagle Bluff and Ironside Bench, gold at, production 6f 102
Colville River, bluffs on, view of.....-.-- 48 | Edge, Joe, work of 12
coal from, analysis of....... 114 | Eldridge, G. H., cited on Cantwell conglomerate... .... 76
coal on, occurrence of 107-109 | Emma Creek, gold on, production of...............--- 102
coast between Point Barrow and, character of.... 48-49 | Endicott Mountains, Anaktuvuk series near........-- 74-75
distances along, table showing.....-..-.-...------ 37 ancient plateau of, features of..............-...... 42-43
between Cape Smyth and ............-.-----.- 38 Micke ttiseniesanien-eeseeee eee eee eee eee eee eee 68
fossilvlocality/ont sviewsOlsess ese-e seer eee ene 84 generalifeatures'0fssseeeessces aoe eee eee eee eee eee 40-41
MOUNASINCANseest essere es eee ae eee eee 94 glaciation in, plates showing ...-.......-.... 58, 70, 84, 86
Pleistocene flats on, plate showing. - = 96 Lisburne limestone and Fickett series in, plate
Recentidepositsalongpeesessseeee snes seeee ase ae 94-95 showing... - 42
topographic features along - - 46-48, 81, 94 Skajit formation in -- 56,57
Colville series, character and occurrence of......----- 81 plate showing -.... 2 56
COalsinike ess oe cee cm senescent es eects Stuveriseriesini coca ce ace seeks cen eee eee ee eee eee 60, 61
correlation of.... 97 VICWS Ol soo crocenesisecceesosecceses 42, 46, 50, 56, 70, 84, 86
fossililocalitysonswiewsOleessesess =e sees ee ase eee 84 | Endicott Plateau, drainage of....................-.--- 43
fossilsftromistyoleeoss se oe eee woe e ec emcee 83 features (Of. 2. -s3cc2 22s sc Suee eee e eee eee 42-43
Tver Pluss uavie weOleeemceteeesaenenece ances 48 profileshowing Yukon and Koyukuk plateaus and 44
Structure Ofeseecsseces seerece cco eee cose sence eas 82 VIGWIOLi oc ceenem eee meee suits hates ceeeeee 46
Dlateshowineeeralsese spears name le cee este 82 | Ericson, acknowledgments to ...........-..----------- 14
Conglomerate. See Bergman, Fickett, Stuver series. Eskimo graye on Arctic coast, plate showing 96
Contact Creek, Lisburne formation near -- Explorations, account of ....- - 5 -- 25-33
moraine in valley of.........--.-.--- Fickett series, age of....-.....- -- 70-71
Cook, James, exploration by ......-...---.------- character and occurrence of.....-..--- -- 67-69
Copper OCCUrrencejO fe. sees seeee eae ee sece ee a8 correlationlOf-e-sse esses se ee eee eee - 71-72, 97
Correlation of Anaktuvuk series ..........-.......---- fossils;from}plistiofjeese--e-n-ee eee eee eee eee ee 70
OM CORWIMSCLICS eee oreo eee reac tee ae eee eee metalliferous mineralization in, zones of........-- 106
Of Fickettiseriesh foe se sean co nsesc cn semen ecee 71-72, 97 moraine on, plate showing .-----..---.------------ 86
of formations, table showing .......-.--....------- 97 quartz stringers In, view Of. ....- 2... ------.<---- 76
of Lisburne formation .............---.--.------ 65-67, 97 structure of
CHINES CETOS ocansonaascossoqeabeasodsoe. 80-81, 97 view Of .:..---...-
ouSkajittormations-maseesesce ee eee eerie aeee 58,97 | Flats on Colville River, extent and character of .-...-.
OL Stiiveniseries e222 acnis oases ee eee eee eee 62,97 | Fontaine, W. M., fossils identified by............-- = 74
of Totsen series -- -- 59-60, 97 WOPK) Of 523 2 asec eee eee eae 2 14
Corwinjseriesiar ClOip-naoesenee se etee ees eas 740 \(SROrESP eae still a tosses er eee eee eeeeicee eee eee 84
character and occurrence of..-...-.-.--:---------- 72-73) || Kormations,stablelofessss--ce==ns-c esse eeeeseeeeee 53
coal bed and rocks of, plate showing.....-.---.-.-- 82 | Fort. See next word of name.
GO! Wits so cancosqoybodoonhoagaobaSobsenasecesaccas 111-113 | Hossils from: Arctic!coasts- ss cee «ase ee ee eee 96
correlation of -. --. 74,97 from Cape Lisburne region. es 66
SULTIC CULE O fee minctcmiceneriosteimemion sine c nae eeere 73 from Chandlar River gravels.......-.----.-------- 66

INDEX.

Fossils from Colville series ..........----+.----------=-
from Fickett series. -.....-..-..-..--
from Lisburne formation Pe
from Nanushuk series -.....:-.-.-.-----+----------
from oWainwnghtinleta 2... --s-sscces+c sss ene cee
from: Yukon Basin ........-../.-.---

Franklin, Sir John, exploration by

Geography of region, discussion of

Geology of region, discussion of..-........---------.---

GerdinesTGsreferenceito0. 2s. -.5- oon eee eee
work of

Glacial deposits, description of

Glacial lakes, occurrence of ....-..--.---
Glaciation, description of.............--.- =
in upper John River Valley, plate showing .-.-... 84
Gold in Koyukuk Basin, Hammond Creek........-.-- 100
WODNPRIV Cliesete =o el -- 100-101
Mascot Creek - 100
Myrtle Creek

ING AT INOS <n <A ocecmoc Jona ScnO A Sem EI OeRSRORG
Slater@reckseerere oe seeee sess cee eee eee
Tramway Bar.
occurrence of...
manner of -

THRO CMON sa see sooccenseonsnasc os qoospoNoaEad
Gold Bench, gold at, production of.........-..--.-.--- 102
Gold Creek, antimony on z 105
goldion;}, production: of. -------c-----=----=ee=------ 102
Greenstone. See Totsen series.
Grit. See Fickett series.
Ground ice, occurrence Of ------.---------...-:--.----- 91-92
Gubik sand, occurrence of Sd56 93
Halkett, Cape, ground ice at .........-.....-.-..------ 92
Va / Ci dice acm sec aSce COSCO SEG BAA ROE COCBORO COB UESSE 56
Hammond Creek, gold on........-..-- eee LOD,
nuggets from, size of.-........---- -- 101-102
Hartman, G. H., plants collected by - -- 130-184
TWKELLE(E poe ss ces cane ca re aT ASCO BD bec MRE SOa EL RHEOSCO SCS 11
eal ey Mev Atsaw Onis Ofer sneae selene ae ieee aiciere 28
Hearne, Samuel, exploration by.-.-..- Sime 25
Hokotena River, lead on ........---.--- sso 106)
Holy Cross, meteorologic observations at. soso PAL
Hope Point, description of .....-----...--.<.2--------- 51
MACLYEs POPUL blONy Bibs ete ae eee a sane 36
Howard, W. C., exploration by --...--- aoe 29
quoted on coal from Colville River. case, 10!)
MELCLEN CCM eee cee aine ine alae ar a 67
DAO EO eee eee on Sctic ToC BQO OCG SKOCTLOT COSEHOSOSaNS 11
Howard and Reed, reference to ......--.--....-------- 72
Hunt, T. M., work of
Ice, breaking up of.--.-.--.---..-.-
Icey Cape, barrier reef and Eskimo grave near..-.....-. 96
IeTeous TOCKS wap lelOfiees sass ena cis se eee eae 53
Inhabitants, number and conditions of .-....... 33-34, 35-36
Tronside Bench and Eagle Bluff, gold at, productionof. 102
JonneRi ver: ComliOn essere eaescicee sens eens em aeie ects 107
CHRO onde ece coca ce =em ORE CO CCCOCaneCACODDCEDAS 53-54
distances on, table showing -.-..-----.....--..---- 37
Fickett series on, plate showing..................- 70
PlacizlidepositseOWeeseese ae caenee se eee ce ee eee 89
MIAME OLMOle ONte= sees see sn aoe oan ee oon ee 17
LE COMMAISSATIC EM Deseret een ela seine ae oe 20-21
Skajit limestone on, views of..........-.-..------- 50, 56
fiilialon pessoa t ae cise ee oan eee oe eee 84-85
IROTSEINSELICSI ON ese nae a a eee ee 58, 59
TAO eeceosecononceecocnsec ater cneccoeudoseceese 50, 56

plate showing ...
topographic features of .

views of
Kennicott, Robert, cited on Devonian fossils from
owersRam parts ae ssee see ees eee 66
exploration by 3 28
Ketchum and Laberge, exploration by....-....--.---- 28

OOSPRIVeErN COMMON ester eae eee See eee ’
Kotzebue, O. von, exploration by
Kowak clay, occurrence of ....-.-..
Kowak River, temperature on ..-. :
Koyukulidistrictscoaltingse: sess. eer sees eeee eee eee
COPPETADY Aastra ee eee eee ee Eee ss
gold in, occurrence of
LOC UCtiOn; Oheerese see eee ee =e
Koyukuk Plateau, profileshowing Endicott and Yukon
Platesus/amdene eer eecmseeiessele seca eeass

relation to Endicott Plateau g
Koyukuk province, drainage of -....--.

general features of.........---.. be

Koyukuk River, coal from, analysis of - 2
coalion}occurrence/Ofensessec seen ee ee eee ae
icelon breakin SwuplOlee cee eeieeseeciese ee eseeeee
meteorologic observations along ...

THEO Ca ssdos coocdbosboconddasbeososoasspaseuns
populationialong acces sece meses eee eee eee
travelalongssmeansiofeeseseseeee eee ee eee eee nee

Koyukuk series, character, occurrence, structure, and

SLE COLE as Seeeinas Meese Pinon ieee eet 77

Laberge and Ketchum, exploration by ............--.. 28

Thay OONSWOCCUTTEN CEOs eeseeee ee teeeteectene eee sees 50

Mead yoccurrencelo fer seess see see eee eee 105

Lewis, Cape, limestone at 67

Limestone. See Corwin series; Fickett series; Lis-

burne formation; Nanushuk series; Koyu-
kuk series; Skajit formation. He

Lisburne, Cape, coal from, analysis of ....-.......-.-- 114
coal south of... 113-114
coast between Point Barrow and, character of -.-. 49-50
Recent deposits between Point Barrow and......- 96
section south of, figure showing.................-- 40
See also Cape Lisburne region.

Lisburne formation, age of ...-.-.-.-.. .... 64-65
character and occurrence of...... ---- 62-64
COWTIENIOM Cie so casoendosadaccopeducsoSebeeoesss
GiStribWwtilOnOheeess=nes eee eee eee eee eee eee
fossilsjorMistioheeeseseesee eee
limestone of, views of ........-..-

Structure Ofaesees eee eee ee csee =

Lukeen, I. S., exploration by

McClure, Robert; exploration by .-.............--...-- 27
TELETeEN Ce COz ease wees eee ea eee eee eee 48, 49

McConnell, R. G., cited on fossils from Lower Ram-

IAL Dooce qocogacequEesoeueEaebanSaseaISe05 66
cited on fossils from Porcupine River -..-..--..--.--- 81
explorationi Dyan secret oct eee eee et eee ee 29

McDougald, John, acknowledgments to - Bees 18

McLanigan,S. C., exploration by.......... ..-....---. 29

MeMurray, MEXDIOLALLONID Yee eeeeeeneoeisenceces 27

Mackenzie, Alexander, exploration by- 25

Mackenzie, D. A., reference to ....-.- 35

Maddren, A. G., aid by ...---.------.- 14

cited on fossils at Cape Lisburne .................. 67

138 INDEX.
Page. Page.
Maddren, A. G., quoted on coal near Cape Lisburne.. 113 | Rainfall. Sce Precipitation.

TELETED CE CO se sees tees ne ee a ean rate 66] SANs bay He NKONKS Of See nee 28
Maguire, Exploration Disease sees ence ee een eee gs | Raymond, C. W., work of 28
Malakoff, exploration De. scs-- ones a cnceeoee 97 | Reaburn, D. L., work of -...... ll
Marsh, S. J., and Carter, T. G., exploration by 30-31 | Recent deposits, occurrence of 94-96
Marshall, R. B., work of. ......--..-:- : 12 | Reed, J. L., reference to.....-. wsentcooss 109
Mascot.Greekpoldion:+--s.scen-25 onsen ee ee eee 100 | Reed and Howard, reference to............. 72
Mendenhall, W. C., cited on geology on Alatna and Reed, J. L., and Lueas, Walter, exploration by... 81

Kowalsrivers) sees en esate dae 51 | Rivers. See Drainage.

cited on glaciation on Alatna and Kowak rivers.. 90 | Route, account of...........2..2.2.-----2-2- 2-22 es eee 18-24

cited on igneous rock on Kanutiand Kowak rivers. 55 | Russell, Frank, exploration by-.......-.......--..-.-- 29

explora hloniDyer-see Meena ee eee Be 30 | Sabine, Cape, rocks exposed at...--............------- 73

TEFETENCELO sae ere Some ee eee Shs mG sae 71 | WIC Wi OL soon sree en ee ee eee 56
Merrill, E. D., plants identified by - . 130 | St. Michael, meteorologic observations at............. 121
Mesozoic rocks, description of.............-....------- 72-81 | Sand. See Gubik sand.

Metalliferous mineralization, zones of ....-- - 105-106 | Sandstone. See Anaktuyuk series; Bergman series;
Meteorologie record for 1899, table showing. - 114-121 | Colville series; Corwin series; Fickett
Mica-shist. See Skajit formation; Totsen series. series; Koyukuk series; Nanushuk series.
MichifaniGreekaleadioneess=sases te sce en n= aa eee 105 Schists, chloritic. See Fickett series.

Mineral resources, discussion of ............---------- Schrader, F. C., cited on benches on Koyukuk River. 43
Moraine on John River, plate showing............---- cited on Bettlesiseries\s-..-se ss =a ee anaes 58, 64, 65, 67
Moraines;;occurrenceiofsee a s-n = =e eee eee see 42
Mounds near Colville River --.--...----.-----..--.-.-- 65
Mountain province, description of ................-... cited on glacial deposits in Chandlar River Basin. 89
Myrtle Creek, gold on, occurrence of. | cited on gold at Slate Creek 99

gold on, production of. cited on intrusions in Koyukuk Basin.. 5 55
Mushing, description of ...........-.....------ cited on Lake quartz-schist of Chandlar River 59
Nanushuk series, character and occurrence of citedvonyenailseries == ses-ese see eee 107

COMI as he are ge SNe eS Sine pepe citedioniKovu kui Basins =e eee 44

COLTE a tlON Or ee a ae Se ee CitedionsKoyiuikqetW] ats sees senna ene 45

FOSSIISIOF LISHIOL snare eee a soe ee Ree citedonlKoyulkuiksseniesfeseeer eee eee ees 76

plate'showinges . fectc< eet ons eioae eee ee eee cited on Nulato sandstone...-..............-----.- 81

StrUCLULe andar ec: Osean a eeee eee ne eee cited on West Fork series of Chandlar River .....- 71

Natives, number and condition of. -
North Fork Koyukuk River, gold on -
Northwesticoast;coaliontescsso ene aes eee
Norton Sound, meteorologic observations on-.
INUSEetSiSIZeOfe tans eases et eee ee Meee ee eee ae
Nulato, meteorologic observations at..............-..-
Nulato sandstone, fossils of

Peneplain in Endicott Mountains -.-- --- 42-43
Peters, W. J., meteorologic observations by - 122-123
report on itinerary and topographic methods by .- 18-25

VWAOECH pea Saccqsesms aonb mess boasenebangaasetngeOes 11
Philip, Gaston, meteorologic observations by .---.-- 125-130
WOH Oi see cea aosseednccesesdoc soSecanencoedSannases 11
Phyllites. See Fickett series.
Pickarts Brothers, acknowledgments to_...-.........- 13
Placers on Koyukuk River ...---..-...-....--.-2-.---- 35
See also Gold.
Plantsicollected wistiOfes=-sa-s-e=ere -ceeee sence ees 130-134
Pleistocene deposits, description of -- --- 84-96
Pleistocene flats on Colville River, plates showing..--. 96

Point. See next word of name.

Population, number and conditions of .......--- 33-34, 35-36
Porcupine Creek, gold on, production of_........----- 102
PrecipitationjatUglaamie--—n2.6. scones ae eee 123
PrindlesbsMe aid byp=ss-- sees sees Se nae ee 103
Pililenvexplorationsbyjeses ces aera ena eae ee eeeeee 27
Putnam River. See Kowak River,

Quartz gash stringer, in Fickett series, view of-...-.-- 70

Quartz-mica-schist. See Totsen series.
Quartzite. See Fickett, Nanushuk, Stuver series.

citedronsyukoni Plateaus sss se ane een 44
Schrader, F. C., and Spencer, A.
Piateau 42

Schuchert, Charles, fossil identified by
TEFETENCE tO mee ce sae ene ray ee ee
WORKSOP Sor. sans coe eee se See eae ae eee

Sedimentary rocks, description of
table of

Shale.

See Bergman series; Colville series; Corwin
series; Koyukuk series; Nanushuk series;
Stuver series.

Silt. See Colville series.

Silurianjrocks; description oless- ee ee eee eee 56-62

Simpson and Dease, exploration by ................... 26
reference to 47,49

SEajitdormationyage bers. sese-eeesee eee eee eee 57-58
character and occurrence of..-...-............---- 56
Corre] a tlOnio fo meees) 22 eee ee 58, 97
structure Of sa. es. sate ao eee ee ee 56-57
limestone of, views of 50, 56

Slate. See Bergman, Fickett, Nanushuk, Stuver series.

Slate Creek, gold on, occurrence of 99
gold on, production of.....-....- “102

Sledding, description of --.-...........-. 14-15

Smyth, Cape, distances between Colville River and.... 38
Settlem en tiatiec csc iacessats sence en cee ere eae aan 36

Snow. See Precipitation.

Spencer, A. C., and Schrader, F. C., cited on Chugach

Plateau 42

cited on Kennicott formation 74
Spurr, J. E., cited on age of Yukon Plateau 43
cited on Carboniferous fossils from Yukon Basin... 71
cited on Devonian in Kuskokwim region 67
cited on Mission Creek series .......--....---. 76

INDEX. 139
Page. Page.
Spurr, J. E., exploration by...-......-- Totsen series, metalliferous mineralization in, zones
plan of exploration proposed by-. Ota Genoa rs JAB SE SEH ose eErearcanceaas 105
Stanton, T. W., fossils identified by... Totsenbet River, name of, note on . 58
MOLES OL. ac coat ene onan eseeeee See John River.
Steiger; George, analyses!by-<---- 2-22.25. 202s ee Tramway Bar, coal near, analysis of -...-.---.-.------ 114
NWORK OR Sess S225 ok oo seen cae Meee tne cea nae ease coalimears occurrencelOfssessees- eae eee eee
Stokes, H. N., work of Soldat OCCULLEDCelOlesee ee ee ease eee eee eee
Stoney, G. M., cited on break-up of ice......-.-..----- 16 LOGUCtIONTO Teme eee eee nee eee eee
cited on coal on Colville River Transportation, method of .----
cited on Endicott Range -. method of, on Arctic coast .
meteorologic observations by.....-..------------ ODE KOYUKUEIRLVChence eels eae
Streams. See Drainage. Travel. See Transportation.
Structure of Anaktuvuk series..-......--.-------------- 75-76 | Tuluga River, glacial deposits near--...-....---.--.---- 88
of Anaktuvuk series, plate showing -.........----- WO ADurner ai dub yan oes sae eee ase ai nent ers 20
MLOMletsho wine scsaeae se esc eee ee eae 46 | Turner, J. H., exploration by 29
OMBereMAITSCLIES sone eee ne one ware ek See ae 7 WOLK OLS aap bee Soom eee ce, 11
ORColyille|Seriese cease one oe ones se eee ne ees 82 | Twelvemile Creek, gold on, production of.-....-..--- 102
plate showing Uglaamie, precipitation at .............--.------------ 123
ofiCornwiniseries pescsesnan coe eae eee anes eee temperature observations at ..............-------- 122
of Fickett series -. Union Gulch, gold in, production of See 02)
of Koyukuk series nugget from, size of .... Bos, 1K
of Lisburne formation - Wainwright Inlet, coal at -. cam, Ll)
of Nanushuk series --.. 80 coalefrom analysis Ofseesease see oo eee eee 114
plate showing - = aD Conwanlseriesmeai ee cae sect eens eee ese see 73
OfshAleOZOlCMOCKS ee ese sates aes ee eee ae .--- 55-56 TOSSi Seirommplis hi Ofeeeeee eee ect esate se ire 74
ObSEajititormation~=-<-.-<. s-cce-ce ecco esameccee 56-57 | Ward, L. F., fossils identified by ...-.-.-.-..--.---.--- 74
Of StUVeHSerieS ios no <n tsa snes eee see ne sae 61-82 WO €O)i paconoa cass aSAcoKeeOSoDaeseHesSasobsooSsocaS 14
Of PORSCIUSEEIOS Sasori ne ae eat ae ee ieee 59 | Weather. See Climatic conditions.
Stuer) ClHe world of =<ss- cn .c5-1 << 22 c2- = ee ise 71 | White, David, fossils identified by..........-.--.----- 71,114
Stuver series, age and correlation of...-..-...-.....--. 62,97 | Wight, W. F., plants identified by..............-..-- 130-134
character and occurrence of.............-..-.---.. 60-61 | Wild Creek, lead on .........--- 105
SEPUCHUTE Offs nao s os ae sone eee ae meas anes ene 61-62 | Willow Creek, till near............-.--------- Aoasoune telFets}
Temperature. See Climatic conditions. Wind. See Climatic conditions.
Tertiary coastal plain, river bluffs in, view of......... 48 | Woolfe, H. D., cited on coal at Wainwright Inlet...-- 110
Tertiary rocks, description of -.. . 81-83 fossils:collectedibyaeessseee seca sees cece eee 74
anetis mines: coal ate. -- 2.22 on ssnss- so ose= Foe o ses an 111 quoted on coal at Cape Beaufort ....--..----.-.--- 111
Milles\onvArchclcoast: vas: -—. sea sae eee seen 49), paWorksm ethodsolereeeeeeeeseeceeseeeeeecee eee maciss 14-18
pH FOCCOTLENEE! Of sess eee ean eee eee ee ee eens 84-90 | Yukon, Fort, meteorologic observations at....-...---- 115
Mili Creeks ti on=22 2s ooss cece n eee ese ee asec 84) |S Yukon! Basin stossilsfrome-cee see eniee a eenese ceicee sees 81
MPimbers OCCULTENCE Clase 22 aes sean ee ses ewe oe ae eee 19) |swulkkonuPlateausag eiofaees-eeeeecee seems setlists esiseee 43
Topographic work, methods of.............-.-..-.---- 24-25 profile showing Endicott and Koyukuk plateaus
Totsen series, character and occurrence of. - 58-59 GHG) scar ocedecodasonSHosHasdocuecsbcuouseca 44
structure and age of... ae 59 | Yukon River, meteorologic observations on. 5 bal
CorrelsilOn) Ofee sce eens seer ae te seer eee 59,97 | Zagoskin, A., exploration by ..........---.---.-------- 27

PUBLICATIONS OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

[Professional Paper No. 20.]

The serial publications of the United States Geological Survey consist of (1) Annual Reports, (2)
Monographs, (3) Professional Papers, (4) Bulletins, (5) Mineral Resources, (6) Water-Supply and
Irrigation Papers, (7) Topographic Atlas of the United States—folios and separate sheets thereof, (8)
Geologie Atlas of the United States—folios thereof. ‘The classes numbered 2, 7, and 8 are sold at cost
of publication; the others are distributed free. A circular giving complete lists may be had on
application. .

The Bulletins, Professional Papers, and Water-Supply Papers treat of a variety of subjects, and the
total number issued is large. They have therefore been classified into the following series: A, Eco-
nomic geology; B, Descriptive geology; C, Systematic geology and paleontology; D, Petrography and
mineralogy; E, Chemistry and physics; F, Geography; G, Miscellaneous; H, Forestry; I, Irrigation;
J, Water storage; K, Pumping water; L, Quality of water; M, General hydrographic investiga-
tions; N, Water power; O, Underground waters; P, Hydrographic progress reports. This paper is
the twenty-eighth in Series A and the thirty-fourth in Series B, the complete lists vf which follow.
_ (B=Bulletin, PP=Professional Paper, WS=Water-Supply Paper. )

SERIES A, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.

B 21. Lignites of Great Sioux Reservation: Report on region between Grand and Moreau rivers, Dakota, by Bailey Willis.
1885. 16pp.,5 pls. (Out of stock.)

B 46. Nature and origin of deposits of phosphate of lime, by R. A. F. Penrose, jr., with introduction by N.S. Shaler. 1888.
143 pp. (Out of stock.) :

B 65. Stratigraphy of the bituminous coal field of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, by I. C. White. 1891. 212 pp.,
ll pls. (Out of stock.)

B 111. Geology of Big Stone Gap coal field of Virginia and Kentucky, by M. R. Campbell. 1893. 106 pp., 6 pls.

B 132. The disseminated lead ores of southeastern Missouri, by Arthur Winslow. 1896. 31 pp.

B 138. Artesian-well prospects in Atlantic Coastal Plain region, by N. H. Darton. 1896. 228 pp.,19 pls. (Out of stock.)

B 139. Geology of Castle Mountain mining district, Montana, by W. H. Weed and L. V. Pirsson. 1896. 164 pp., 17 pls.

B 143. Bibliography of clays and the ceramic arts, by J.C. Branner. 1896. 114 pp.

B 164. Reconnaissance on the Rio Grande coal fields of Texas, by T. W. Vaughan, including a report on igneous rocks from
the San Carlos coal field, by E. C. E. Lord. 1900. 100 pp., 11 pls.

B 178. El Paso tin deposits, by W. H. Weed. 1901. 15 pp., 1 pl.

B 180. Occurrence and distribution of corundum in United States, by J. H. Pratt. 1901. 98 pp., 14 pls.

B 182. A report on the economic geology of the Silverton quadrangle, Colorado, by F. L. Ransome. 1901. 266 pp., 16 pls.

B 184. Oil and gas fields of the western interior and northern Texas Coal Measures and of the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary
of the western Gulf coast, by G.I. Adams. 1901. 64pp.,10pls. (Out of stock.)

B 193. The geological relations and distribution of platinum and associated metals, by J. F. Kemp. 1902. 95 pp., 6 pls.

B 198. The Berea grit oil sand in the Cadiz quadrangle, Ohio, by W. T. Griswold. 1902. 43 pp., 1 pl.

PP 1. Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of south-
eastern Alaska, by Alfred Hulse Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pls.

B 200. Reconnaissance of the borax deposits of Death Valley and Mohave Desert, by M. R. Campbell. 1902. 23 pp., 1 pl.

B 202. Tests for gold and silver in shales from western Kansas, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1902. 21 pp. ,

PP 2. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A. J. Collier. 1902. 70 pp., 11 pls.

PP 10. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, and Kowak rivers,
by W. C. Mendenhall. 1902. 68 pp., 10 pls. i

PP 11. Clays of the United States east of the Mississippi River, by Heinrich Ries. 1903. 298 pp., 9 pls.

PP 12. Geology of the Globe copper district, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1903. 168 pp., 27 pls.

B 212. Oil fields of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coastal Plain, by C. W. Hayes and William Kennedy. 1903. 174 pp., 11 pls.

B 213. Contributions to economic geology, 1902. S. F. Emmons, C. W. Hayes, geologists in charge. 1903. 449 pp.

PP 15. The mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska, by W. C, Mendenhall and F. C. Schrader. 1903.
71 pp., 10 pls.

Il PUBLICATIONS OF UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

B 218. Coal resources of the Yukon, Alaska, by Arthur J. Collier. 1903. 71 pp., 6 pls.
B 219. The ore deposits of Tonopah, Nevada (preliminary report), by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 31 pp., 1 pl.
PP 20. A reconnaissance in northern Alaska in 1901, by F.C. Schrader. 1904. 139 pp., 16 pls.

SERIES B, DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY.

B 23. Observations on the junction between the Eastern sandstone and the Keweenaw series on Keweenaw Point, Lake
Superior, by R. D. Irving and T. C. Chamberlin. 1885, 124 pp., 17 pls.

B 38. Notes on geology of northern California, by J. S. Diller. 1886. 23 pp. (Out of stock.)

B 39. The upper beaches and deltas of Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham. 1887. 84 pp.,1 pl. (Out of stock.)

B 40. Changes in river courses in Washington Territory due to glaciation, by Bailey Willis. 1887. 10 pp., 4 pls.
(Out of stock.) -

B 45. The present condition of knowledge of the geology of Texas, by R. T. Hill. 1887. 94 pp. (Out of stock.)

B53. The geology of Nantucket, by N.S. Shaler. 1889. 55 pp.,10 pls. (Out of stock.) g

B57. A geological reconnaissance in southwestern Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1890. 49 pp., 2 pls.

B58. The glacial boundary in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, by G. F. Wright, with intro-
duction by T. C. Chamberlin. 1890. 112 pp.,8pls. (Out of stock.)

B 67. The relations of the traps of the Newark system in the New Jersey region, by N. H. Darton. 1890. 82 pp.

B 104. Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the Park, by W. H. Weed. 1893. 41 pp., 4 pls.

B 108. A geological reconnaissance in central Washington, by I. C. Russell. 1893. 108 pp., 12 pls. (Out of stock.)

B 119. A geological reconnaissance in northwest Wyoming, by G. H. Eldridge. 1894. 72 pp., 4 pls.

B 137. The geology of the Fort Riley Military Reservation and vicinity, Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1896. 35 pp., 8 pls.

B 144. The moraines of the Missouri Coteau and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1896. 71 pp., 21 pls.

B 158. The moraines of southeestern South Dakota and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1899. 171 pp., 27 pls.

B 159. The geology of eastern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, by B. K. Emerson. 1899. 139 pp., 9 pls.

B 165. Contributions to the geology of Maine, by H. S. Williams and H. E. Gregory. 1900. 212 pp., 14 pls.

WS 70. Geology and water resources of the Patrick and Goshen Hole quadrangles in eastern Wyoming and western
Nebraska, by G.I. Adams. 1902. 50 pp., 11 pls.

B 199. Geology and water resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, by I. C. Russell. 1902. 192 pp., 25 pls.

PP 1. Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of the geology of
southeastern Alaska, by A. H. Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pls.

PP 2. Reconnaissance of the northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A. J. Collier. 1902. 70 pp., 11 pls.

PP 3. Geology and petrography of Crater Lake National Park, by J. S. Diller and H. B. Patton. 1902. 167 pp.,19pls.

PP 10. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, and Kowak rivers,
by W. C. Mendenhall. 1902. 68 pp., 10 pls.

PP 11. Clays of the United States east of the Mississippi River, by Heinrich Ries. 1903. 298 pp., 9 pls.

PP 12. Geology of the Globe copper district, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1903. 168 pp., 27 pls.

PP 13. Drainage modifications in southeastern Ohio and adjacent parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, by W. G. Tight.
1908. 111 pp., 17 pls. q

B 208. Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent portions of California, by J. E. Spurr.
1903. 229 pp., 8 pls.

B 209. Geology of Ascutney Mountain, Vermont, by R. A. Daly. 1903. 122 pp., 7 pls.

WS 78. Preliminary report on artesian basins in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 1903.
51 pp., 2 pls.

PP 15. Mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska, by W. C. Mendenhall and F. C. Schrader. 1903. 71 pp.,
10 pls.

PP 17. Preliminary report on the geology.and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred and third meridian,
by N. H. Darton. 1903. 69 pp., 48 pls. :

B 217. Notes on the geology of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 1903. 83 pp., 18 pls.

B 219. The ore deposits of Tonopah, Nevada (preliminary report), by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 31 pp., 1 pl.

PP 20. A reconnaissance in northern Alaska in 1901, by F. C. Schrader. 1904. 189 pp., 16 pls.

Correspondence should be addressed to
Tue Drrecror,
Unirep States GEoLoGicaL SuRVEY,

Wasuineaton, D. C.
Ferpruary, 1904.

Author.

Subject.

Serles.

Roference.

- LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS.

[Mount each slip upon a separate card, placing the subject at the top of the
second slip. The name of the series should not be repeated on the series
card, but additional numbers should be added, as received, to the first
entry. ]

Schrader, Frank Charles.

...A reconnaissance in northern Alaska, across the
Rocky Mountains, along Koyukuk, John, Anaktuvuk,
and Colville rivers, and the Arctic coast to Cape Lis-
burne, in 1901; by Frank Charles Schrader, with notes
by W. J. Peters. Washington, Gov’t print. off., 1904.

139, III p. illus., 16 pl. (incl. maps). 293 x 23°. (U.8. Geological sur-
vey. Professional paper no. 20.)

Subject series: A, Economic geology, 28; B, Descriptive geology, 34.

““Chronologic list of works examined”’: p. 31-33.

Schrader, Frank Charles.

... A reconnaissance in northern Alaska, across the
Rocky Mountains, along Koyukuk, John, Anaktuvuk,
and Colville rivers, and the Arctic coast to Cape Lis-
burne, in 1901; by Frank Charles Schrader, with notes
by W. J. Peters. Washington, Gov’t print. off., 1904.

139, III p. illus., 16 pl. (incl. maps). 293 x 23°. (U.S. Geological sur-
vey. Professional paper no. 20.)

Subject series: A, Economic geology, 28; B, Descriptive geology, 34.

““Chronologic list of works examined”’: p. 31-33.

U.S. Geological survey.
Professional papers.

no. 20. Schrader, F. C. A reconnaissance in northern
Alaska. 1904.

U.S. Dept. of the Interior.
see also

U.S. Geological survey.

Tit

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