c 991 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 991 

FIELD-SURVEYING AND TOPOGRAPHIC 

MAPPING IN ALASKA: 1947-83 

FIELD SURVEYING AND TOPOGRAPHIC 

MAPPING IN ALASKA: 1947-83 

By Robert C. Foley 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 991 

A chronological review of surveying 

activities in Alaska from 194 7 to 

1983, including a brief description 

of camp life and some of the hardships 

and unusual experiences encountered 

1987 
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

DONALD PAUL HODEL, Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Free on application to the Books and Open-File Reports Section, 

U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Center, Box 25425, Denver, CO 80225 
Foreword 

Field surveying and mapping in Alaska over the years have provided a 

unique opportunity for many not-so-ordinary experiences worthy of being 

recorded before they are lost forever. The author, Robert C. Foley, has provided a historical recounting of the Geological Survey's Alaska field mapping activities and related experiences during the period 194 7-83. Robert 

retired from the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center in 1980 after 36 years of 

Federal service, including 16 field seasons spent in Alaska. He was hired 

as a reemployed annuitant until 1983. Robert is unquestionably this mapping center's foremost Alaska mapping authority and was awarded the Department of the Interior's Superior Service Award in 1983 in recognition of 

his contributions. 

Although some editorial changes have been made to improve the organization and flow of this publication, we have purposely avoided major 

changes in wording to preserve the author's style in recounting these 

events. 

Merle E. Southern 

Chief, Rocky Mountain Mapping Center 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Denver, Colorado 

iii 

Foreword ......................................... . 

Abstract .......................................... . 

Introduction ...................................... . 

Mapping activities before 1947 .................... . 

Mapping activities, 1947-83 ....................... . 

1947 ........................................... . 

1948 

1949 

1950 

1951 

1952 

1953 

1954 

1955 

1956 

1957 

1958 

1959 

1960 

1961 

1962 

1963 

1964 

1965 

1966 

1967 

1968 

Contents 

Page 

iii 

1 

2 

2 

3 

5 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

13 

15 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

22 

22 

23 

24 

24 

24 

25 

Mapping activities, 1947-83-Continued 

1969 ........................................... . 

1970 ........................................... . 

1971 

1972 

1973 

1974 

1975 

1976 

1977 

1978 

1979 

1980 

1981 

1982 

1983 

Summary ......................................... . 

Selected references ............................... . 

Appendix A-Alaska project campsites ............. . 

Appendix B-Alaska field crews ................... . 

Appendix C-Alaska geographic features named for 

U.S. Geological Survey employees ............. . 

Appendix D-History of explorations and surveys, by 

Alfred H. Brooks (1906) ....................... . 

Appendix E-Surveying and mapping in Alaska, by 

Gerald FitzGerald (1951) ...................... . 

Plate 

Page 

25 

25 

26 

26 

27 

28 

28 

28 

28 

29 

30 

31 

31 

32 

32 

34 

36 

38 

39 

43 

45 

75 

Page 

Map showing the location of project campsites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In pocket 

Figures 

Page 

First helicopter used in Alaska, near Big Delta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Author in small boat at Pelican Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 

Crew at Glader Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

''Hair stylist' on the Gulkana-Tok project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 

Triangulation station near Taku Harbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Fieldman going to work at Clarence Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 

Typical Survey camp in Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

All of the comforts of home-shower at Tanana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Inserting glass plate in phototheodolite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Bell Model476 helicopter after a bad landing near Northway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Changing damaged helicopter blades onsite, Gardiner Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

v 
Figures-Continued 

Page 

Widgeon after breaking through the ice at Schrader Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Preparing to haul fuel off Schrader Lake to designated areas for helicopter caches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Dog team hauling fuel off the ice at Old John Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Camp on Black River during the flood caused by heavy rains in Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Driving the Alcan Highway to Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

First electronic distance-measuring equipment in use at Bering Glacier......................................... 20 

Camp at Chisana, Wrangell Mountains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

R. E. Isto, the Survey's first Alaska Resident Engineer, on the Juneau Ice Cap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Damage from the Good Friday earthquake near Turnagain Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 

Amchitka Island showing quonset huts left from World War II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Geological Survey office in Fairbanks before the 1967 flood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Hiller 12-E helicopter, electrotape, and signal light on a map control point south of Bettles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 

Survey convoy on the Alcan Highway en route to Anchorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 

Satellite tracking instrument used for establishing geodetic positions from satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 

Field classification of mapworthy features in Alaska suburbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Mount McKinley as seen through the clouds from north of Talkeetna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Walter Cronkite inspecting equipment during filming of Survey operations for "Universe" 

TV series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 

Satellite tracking receiver set up near pumping station as part of 1983 control tie work along 

the Alaska Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 

Readying the Tiloma for a day's work near Juneau............................................................ 34 

vi 
Field Surveying and Topographic Mapping in 

Alaska: 194 7-83 

By Robert C. Foley 

Abstract 

The U.S. Geological Survey's earliest presence in Alaska 

dates back to 1889. A decade later, topographic mapping 

became an integral part of the Geological Survey's Alaska 

program, mostly as reconnaissance-type mapping and 

special-purpose mapping of specific sites. It was not until 

after World War II that the Survey's Alaska topographic 

mapping efforts began to bear fruit. 

This circular retraces surveying and topographic mapping 

by the Geological Survey in Alaska from 1947 to 1983 and 

describes camp life and some of the unusual happenings 

involved in working in virtually uninhabited country, adverse weather, and difficult terrain. A year-by-year recap of 

activities documents the transition from early small-scale 

mapping efforts to more accurate and detailed 1:63,360-

scale mapping for Alaska except the Aleutian Islands and 

isolated islands in the Bering Sea. Recent 1 :25,000-scale 

metric mapping and the preparation of orthophotographs 

and special mapping efforts for other Government agencies 

also are recounted. 

Introduction 

As early as 1889, U.S. Geological Survey personnel were sent to Alaska as members of various scientific expeditions. It was not until 1898 

that an organized and systematic topographic 

mapping effort became an integral part of the 

Geological Survey's Alaska program. This circular describes the field efforts expended by 

the Geological Survey from 1947 to 1983 in surveying and topographic mapping in Alaska, 

with emphasis on Alaska camp life and some of 

the hardships and unusual happenings not normally encountered in field mapping activities in 

the lower 48 States. 

Although attention is focused on the GeologiAny use of trade names and trademarks in this publication is for descriptive 

purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological 

Survey. 

1 

cal Survey's presence in Alaska, other Federal 

and State agencies were engaged in surveying, 

mapping, and charting activities in Alaska. The 

cooperative spirit and support that existed 

among these agencies made a difficult mapping task somewhat easier. 

Much of the early exploration work and mapping effort in Alaska has been ably documented by Alfred H. Brooks in The Geography 

and Geology of Alaska (p. 104-132 are reproduced as Appendix D in this circular) and by 

Gerald FitzGerald in Surveying and Mapping 

in Alaska (reproduced as Appendix E). 

The intent of this circular is not only to document Alaska field activities during the period 

from 1947 to 1983, but to preserve something of 

the past before all personal contact with the 

fieldmen involved is lost. The Geological Survey workforce has gone through a transition of 

sorts, where most of the older contingent of 

Alaska field personnel have assumed other 

duties or retired. This circular presents a 

chronological recap of the work of this seasoned group of fieldmen and something of their 

Alaska experiences-the favorite stories and 

anecdotes that could conceivably be lost 

forever. 

Photographs are from the Survey's collection 

and from private sources. Listings of project 

campsites, crew members, and Alaska geographic features named for Survey employees 

are included as appendixes to provide additional background information. 

Mapping Activities Before 194 7 

Mapping in Alaska from 1890 to 1941 consisted of reconnaissance and special maps. Re-
connaissance maps were made along the transportation corridors and main rivers. Special 

maps were made for mining areas, townsites 

and powersites, and for geologic studies. Many 

of these mapping expeditions were carried out 

using packhorses, dog teams, and river boats. It 

was not until the 1920's that airplanes were 

used to any extent. 

Panoramic photography was first available in 

the early 1900's to aid in mapping. In 1926, the 

U.S. Navy began acquiring aerial photography 

with a three-lens camera. Eventually all of 

southeastern Alaska was covered with this type 

of photography. 

During the 1930's, considerable photographic 

coverage was obtained over the territory. Most 

of this photography was taken with hand-held 

cameras, and the resulting photographs were 

oblique. During the 1940's, the U.S. Air Force 

covered most of the territory with trimetrogon 

photography. The military also obtained vertical photography over the Aleutian Islands and 

compiled 1 :25,000-scale maps of the strategic 

areas in the Aleutians by photogrammetric 

methods. During World War II, the Air Force 

established astronomic positions around the territory. Most of these positions were at villages 

that had landing strips. By using the astronomic 

positions and existing National Geodetic Survey horizontal control, the templet laydowns 

were controlled to make the planimetric bases 

for the 1:250,000-scale reconnaissance map 

series. 

The Survey had only a few field parties in 

Alaska during World War II. However, in 1945 

and 1946, several field parties were sent to 

Alaska to work on special maps and to establish horizontal control around Umiat for the 

Naval Petroleum Reserve No.4. 

The field season of 1946 was the last year 

that Geological Survey crews were sent to 

Alaska from the national headquarters offices 

in Washington, D.C. The Rocky Mountain Region office was established in Denver, Colorado, at the Federal Center in July 1946, and 

the Alaska Branch was transferred from Washington, D.C., to Denver. The four field parties 

in Alaska during the 1946 season reported to 

the new Rocky Mountain Region office in fall 

1946. During fall and winter 1946 and spring 

1947, Alaska materials were shipped to Denver 

from Washington, D.C. 

2 

Mapping Activities, 1947-83 

1947 

In 1947, the first field crews from the Denver 

office were sent to Alaska. Seven men were selected to work on small one-man projects. 

Three projects were in southeastern Alaska at 

Heceta Island, Chichagof Island, and Stikine 

River near Wrangell (see map in pocket), and 

three were at Homer, Healy, and Cantwell. 

One man was detailed to Fairbanks to act as liaison to the Air Force, which was obtaining 

vertical photography in priority areas. 

Planimetric bases were made for the three 

projects in southeastern Alaska using old 1926 

and 1929 Navy three-lens rectified photographs. Sufficient National Geodetic Survey 

horizontal shore control existed to make the 

planimetric bases with metal templet laydown. 

The existing control was identified on the photographs in the office from the field descriptions. The Navy photographs were annotated in 

the office delineating the ridges, roads, 

drainage, and any other information that might 

be useful to the fieldman. This information was 

transferred to the base made from the templet 

laydown using vertical and oblique sketchmasters. After the planimetric information was 

transferred from the photographs to the bases, 

the bases were reduced to scale and mounted 

on metal sheets to fit an 18- by 24-inch planetable board. The fieldman used these metalmounted planimetric sheets for planetable intersection work to establish elevations by 

vertical angles using a high-standard alidade. 

After the fieldwork was completed and elevations were established on ridges, drains, peaks, 

saddles, and anything else that could be identified, the contours were hand sketched. However, because of the availability of new photographs and stereoplotting equipment that 

changed mapping methods over the next 2 

years, very little of this planetable work was 

published. 

The fieldwork at Cantwell, Healy, and 

Homer was accomplished by establishing elevations on photoimages on existing vertical 

photographs. Utilizing this field control, the 

maps were compiled in the office by using the 

Mahan plotter and photoalidade. The fieldwork 
was completed on all the projects in September, and the crews returned to Denver. 

Incidental to this work, but of great significance to future Alaska mapping, was an experimental project conducted late in 1947 at 

Canon City, Colorado, to test whether a helicopter would be practical for transporting men 

and survey equipment. The test was conducted 

for a week and had favorable results. In spring 

1948, a helicopter was contracted to transport 

men and instruments for triangulation surveys 

on a project in western Colorado. 

1948 

The field season of 1948 began a new era in 

Alaska field operations. The Air Force and the 

Navy were acquiring new vertical photography. 

This was the first season that 1:63,360-scale 

standard quadrangle mapping projects were 

initiated. Projects in the interior of Alaska had 

new vertical photographs available, but the 

southeastern Alaska projects still had the old 

1926 and 1929 Navy rectified photographs. 

Photocontrof was planned on the new vertical 

photography to comply with the requirements 

for compiling the maps on the multiplex plotting instruments. Metal templet laydowns were 

used to make planimetric bases from the 1926 

and 1929 Navy photographs for the southeastern Alaska projects. Before the field season was 

over, however, the Navy had flown new vertical photography covering all southeastern 

Alaska, which was made available to the field 

parties. Most of the planetable-intersected 

points were transferred to the new aerial photographs, and the existing National Geodetic 

Survey shore control was photoidentified. This 

enabled the southeastern Alaska projects to be 

compiled by multiplex instrumentation along 

with the other projects. 

During the last week of April, 24 men from 

Region headquarters left Denver on a private 

pullman car for Seattle, Washington. After a 

week in Seattle purchasing camp supplies, groceries, tents, and other miscellaneous items, the 

crews boarded the Alaska Steamship Liner 

Aleutian for the trip up the inside passage to 

Alaska. The crews debarked at various ports 

from Ketchikan to Seldovia to start their assigned projects. From the time the crews left 

Denver until the field camps were built, it was 

3 

approximately a month before fieldwork was 

started. 

Based on the results of the successful helicopter test at Canon City and the actual field 

operations in western Colorado, two helicopters 

were contracted for use in Alaska. The helicopters arrived in Alaska about June 20 from 

Yakima, Washington. One helicopter was assigned to the project on Chichagof Island, and 

the other helicopter was assigned to the crew 

at Big Delta. Both helicopters were stripped 

down to the bare essentials to carry more payload and to be able to land at higher elevations. Neither helicopter had a bubble or cabin, 

but the one at Chichagof did have a small 

windshield that helped some, especially when 

it was raining. Raindrops felt like small buckshot when flying at 60 to 70 miles an hour. 

These were the first helicopters brought to 

Alaska by anyone, and they created a lot of excitement everywhere they went. For some reason, the dogs in the villages wanted to jump at 

the tail rotor, and the eagles on the Chichagof 

project were a constant threat. Many anxious 

moments were endured, but it was so much 

First helicopter used in Alaska, near Big Delta. This 

Bell helicopter was rated at 78 horsepower and 

carried Civil Aeronautics Administration license 

11-H, the eleventh helicopter certified in the 

United States (1948). 
better than backpacking in the thick underbrush and timber that the fieldmen tended to 

disregard the risks. From the beginning, it 

seemed as if the machines were being used to 

their maximum ceiling and load. Most of the 

higher landings were "controlled crashes," and 

the takeoffs were equally thrilling. 

After about a month of operation, the helicopter at Big Delta had a fuel pump failure and 

had to make an autorotation landing in a 

swamp. These early helicopters had four 

wheels for landing instead of skids or floats. 

One of the wheels sank into the swamp, and 

the helicopter turned over and burned. The 

pilot was alone, but was uninjured, and walked 

out to base camp 20 miles away. Because the 

accident happened near the end of the season, 

the helicopter was not replaced. 

The crews in southeastern Alaska used boats 

for most of their transportation needs. The Survey's navy consisted of small 16- and 18-foot 

boats with outboard motors. The motors were 

16 and 22 horsepower with auxiliary 5-horsepower motors for emergencies. Some of the 

boats were open, and some had small cabins. 

Many of the predicaments encountered with 

the small boats were probably much more dangerous than with the helicopters. 

The old outboard motors did not have a reverse gear. When making a landing on rocky 

shores or on lone rocks offshore where large 

ground swells were present, it was necessary to 

shut the motor off and to control the boat with 

oars. One man would work the oars, and the 

field engineer would stand in the bow in 

preparation for landing. When the boat hit the 

Author (right) in small boat at Pelican Camp (1948). 

4 

rocks, the field engineer would jump off, carrying his instruments and photographs. The man 

in the boat would then row back offshore and 

wait until the fieldman signaled that he was 

ready to reboard. The oarsman would row back 

in, and, as the boat hit the rocks, the field engineer would jump back in. This was extremely 

dangerous when working in offshore waters 

because the swells were usually 10 to 15 feet 

high. If the fieldman had ever slipped on the 

wet rocks, then he probably would have 

drowned because the large swells would have 

tossed him against the rocks, knocking him unconscious. The man working the oars also had 

to be very careful not to let the boat get sideways in the swell because the boat would have 

been crushed or capsized against the rocks. He 

had to be able to pick out a good swell and to 

ride it into the shore, keeping the boat straight 

at all times. 

Many landings were made under these conditions without any major mishaps. Occasionally, where a sandy beach was available to 

land on, the boat was shoved up on the beach 

by the swell and then filled with water over the 

stern. This was not dangerous; the men had to 

bail out the boat and shove it back off the 

beach. Occasionally, the men did not pay attention to the tide and would leave the boat 

unattended. When they came back after finishing their work, the boat would be high and dry. 

The boats were too heavy to carry back to the 

water, so the men would be stranded until the 

next tide came in. 

The Big Delta project in the interior of Alaska 

was located in low and swampy terrain that 

was covered partially with a dense growth of 

60- to 70-foot birch and spruce. The crews 

working at Chickaloon and Sheep Mountain 

were establishing a triangulation arc in very 

rugged country to extend horizontal and vertical control. They built signals on peaks and on 

points that were identifiable on the aerial 

photographs. These points then were intersected from stations of known position and elevation to provide the required new photocontrol. Backpacking 30 to 35 miles (one way) 

through thick underbrush and timber often was 

required to reach the worksite. The equipment 

for backpacking included a Trapper Nelson 

packboard and very few of the convenient 

lightweight niceties of today' s backpackers. 
Usually two men, carrying food, tent, sleeping 

bags, axe, saw, rifle, station marks, signal material, theodolite, and tripod, established and 

occupied the station. Swift glacial streams had 

to be forded by wading, by felling trees to form 

temporary bridges, or by using rubber rafts for 

the larger rivers. 

Weather was a controlling factor in the progress of the work. Sometimes at the more remote 

stations, 2 to 3 days would be spent packing in; 

then a week of inclement weather would arrive, and no surveying could be completed. The 

food supply would become depleted, compelling a return to base camp and the rescheduling of the pack for a later date. Fortunately, the 

use of helicopters solved most of the inefficiency of establishing triangulation using backpack methods. A 30-mile-distant station, requiring 2 to 3 days of backpacking, could be 

reached in about 30 minutes by helicopter. 

The party chief on the larger crews not only 

supervised mapping and surveying operations, 

but also acted as agency cashier for paying 

bills. Money for operating the party came directly to the party chief from the U.S. Treasury 

in $5,000 amounts, issued in $50 and $100 

checks. The party chief made direct payment 

for services rendered, such as boat and plane 

charter, equipment repair, groceries, temporary 

help, and so forth. This system necessitated 

that a large amount of cash be kept around 

camp; however, a safe place to keep it often 

was not available. Much time was expended by 

the party chief in obtaining properly documented receipts and in keeping detailed bookkeeping records. 

The crew at Homer used a boat for shore 

work and packhorses for inland work. The 

crews at Yakataga, Tanacross, and Ferry went 

on foot. The 1948 season was probably more of 

a training period than a production period. The 

area controlled for mapping by all the crews 

was small compared to that of later years. Most 

of the projects were completed or terminated 

about the middle of September, and the crews 

returned to Denver. 

1949 

Because of the experience gained in 1948 in 

the use of helicopters and of additional aerial 

photography coverage by the Air Force and 

5 

Navy, four major project areas were planned 

for the 1949 field season. In addition, one person was assigned a field completion project to 

check the military compilation on Kodiak Island. He had one field assistant and an 18-foot 

cabin boat. Three projects were worked from 

Ketchikan using small boats. A floatplane was 

chartered to establish water-level elevations 

with altimeters on the islands in some of the 

larger lakes. 

This was the first season that altimeters were 

used to establish supplemental vertical control. 

The first altimeter surveys done in Alaska were 

with Wallace & Tiernan altimeters using the 

high and low base methods. The altimeters 

were acquired from the military and were in 

wooden cases inside padded canvas carrying 

cases. The wooden cases were not airtight; so, 

to make a comparison test between instruments, the altimeters were carried up and 

down a mountain and read at every 100-foot 

change in elevation. 

A second project in southeastern Alaska was 

worked from Juneau. This project was controlled using one helicopter and two boats. 

The main base camp for this project was established at Bear Track Cove in Glacier Bay National Monument. One boat crew worked along 

the Lynn Canal from Point Howard to Skagway, and a second boat crew worked in Muir 

and Rendu Inlets, which are at the northern 

end of Glacier Bay National Monument. The 

helicopter operation was satisfactory except 

during adverse weather. The existing National 

Geodetic Survey control was photoidentified by 

the boat crews. Sea-level elevations were established on the existing control. The required 

vertical control for interior photopoints was established by altimetry. Sufficient horizontal 

control was established by triangulation, and 

reciprocal vertical angles were observed to 

establish good elevations for altimeter high 

bases. 

Because of adverse weather, field operations 

were very slow in the Glacier Bay area. About 

the first part of August, the Geological Survey 

received a request from the Bureau of Reclamation to do four mile-to-the-inch quadrangles at 

Skagway for a powerplant study. The crew 

moved from Glacier Bay to Skagway and set up 

a camp in an old Army barracks. The weather 

was better at Skagway, and the work was com-
Crew at Glacier Bay (1949). (Photograph by Ansel Adams. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. All rights reserved.) 

pleted in 3 weeks. The weather improved in 

the Glacier Bay area, and that fieldwork also 

was completed. The boat crews from Lynn 

Canal and Glacier Bay were moved to Tenakee 

Springs to establish a triangulation arc at 

Tenakee Inlet. 

The other two projects were in the interior of 

Alaska and were supplied from Fairbanks. Both 

project areas were along main highways. One 

area was near Gulkana, which is at the junction of the Richardson Highway and the SlanaTok Cutoff. The other area was at Tok Junction, which is located on the Alcan Highway. 

Both these projects were planned the same as 

the Glacier Bay project. The horizontal control 

was established by triangulation methods with 

reciprocal vertical angles, and the supplemental 

vertical control was established by high and 

low base altimetry methods. Both of the projects had helicopters. The Gulkana project had 

6 

a successful season with their helicopter, but 

the Tok Junction project had two accidents that 

destroyed two helicopters; one helicopter had 

an engine failure and crashed near a sand bar 

in the Tok River, and the second accident was 

caused by pilot error on a mountain peak. Although both helicopters were completely demolished, no one was injured. 

Even with the adverse weather in southeastern Alaska and helicopter accidents in the interior project, 1949 was a successful season. The 

crews were composed of 23 fieldmen, approximately 12 field assistants, and 6 helicopter crew 

personnel involved in the four areas. The 

square miles surveyed were considerably more 

than that accomplished in 1948. All work was 

completed about the middle of September. 

With the use of helicopters and with personnel camping alone on mountain peaks, radio 

communication was essential. The Survey pur-
chased several large radio transmitters and receiver units. The transmitters were 25-watt 

Globetrotters, and the receivers were Hallicrafters with shortwave bands. Each camp had 

a unit, and other units were set up in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Fairbanks. Radio schedules 

were maintained each evening between camps 

and with town. The crews were able to order 

groceries and supplies each week. 

Several small 5-watt radios were purchased 

for the field crews. These sets were not compatible with the large sets, but, under normal 

conditions, the men were able to talk to camp 

and between themselves. Many times when 

one man could not talk to camp, another could 

relay for him. 

1950 

The four projects scheduled for the 1950 field 

season were in central Alaska. Two projects 

were along the Alaska Railroad, and two were 

along the Richardson Highway. Each project 

had one helicopter. The projects along the 

highway had trucks to haul fuel and supplies; 

the projects along the railroad had to depend 

on train service. The work on the four projects 

consisted of establishing primary control by triangulation methods to extend horizontal and 

vertical photocontrol. All classification and 

"Hair stylist" on the Gulkana-Tok project (1949). 

7 

name information were done on the aerial 

photographs. 

As more experience was gained in helicopter 

operations, new methods were adopted for 

more efficient use of flying time. In the early 

years of helicopter operations, it became evident that the most efficient method was to 

transport the triangulators out to the survey 

stations and to leave them. Each fieldman had 

his own two-man mountain tent, sleeping bag, 

and cooking utensils. Most high peaks are dry, 

so it was necessary to carry water. In the early 

years, the Survey had acquired C- and Krations from the military. These, as well as supplements of commercial canned meats and 

fruits, were used for food supplies on the 

peaks. 

The helicopter could service three to four observers each day and occasionally accomplish 

some altimetry work in between moving observers. Usually, each observer would be out 

from base camp for about a week, then come in 

for a day to wash clothes, take a shower, and 

resupply and then go out again for another 

week. The observers on the peaks also would 

read the high base altimeters when needed. 

Sometimes an observer would be on a peak for 

1 day and then move; other times, depending 

on the weather, the observer might get 

stranded for several days on the same peak. 

Normally, only the party chief, cook, field assistant, and helicopter crew would be in the base 

camp. All the observers had radios, so the party 

chief knew when each one was ready to move. 

He kept in contact with all field parties on regular radio schedules. 

The field season of 1950 was a normal one. 

The weather is generally better in central 

Alaska than in many other areas of Alaska. 

Some time was lost because of the weather on 

the project on the southwestern side of the 

Talkeetna Mountains, where the crew started 

at Palmer and worked north to Talkeetna and 

Curry. Another crew, working along the highway, lost time due to smoke from forest fires. 

For a period of about 10 days, the smoke was 

so thick in the Tanana Valley that it was impossible to observe angles. 

Three of the four helicopters performed well 

all season. Although the fourth helicopter, 

which was based at Palmer and Talkeetna, 

made several forced landings because of en-
gine failure, no accidents were reported and no 

one was injured. Each crew made at least two 

moves, and two crews made three moves during the season. 

One crew ended their season at Broad Pass, 

along the Alaska Railroad. When their fieldwork was completed, the crew packed all their 

survey instruments and camp equipment to 

ship on the train to Anchorage. They hauled 

everything to the depot except a few tents, 

sleeping bags, field notes, and aerial photographs. That night the depot caught on fire, 

and all the instruments, radios, and camp 

equipment were destroyed. The only reason the 

field notes and aerial photographs were not 

packed was one of the fieldmen still had some 

work to do on the photographs, otherwise the 

whole season's work would have been lost. 

This was a very productive season. All the 

projects were completed about the middle of 

September, and everyone returned to Denver 

by the first part of October. 

1951 

In spring 1951, the Rocky Mountain Region 

made preparations for the largest field season 

to date in Alaska. Thirty fieldmen were selected for seven projects. Six helicopters and 

two large boats were contracted for the season. 

One helicopter was assigned to each project, 

with one of the helicopters going to the seventh 

project late in the season. The two boats were 

to be used in southeastern Alaska to support 

helicopter operations as well as being mother 

boats for the crews identifying National Geodetic Survey shore control around Baranof and 

Prince of Wales Islands. 

During the first week of April, an advance 

group of men left Denver for Alaska. One 

group left in a surplus heavy-duty military 

truck and three pickup trucks to drive up 

through Canada to Alaska. Two other men flew 

to Juneau to prepare camp equipment and 

boats for the summer work. The rest of the 

crews were to arrive during the last week of 

April, and helicopter and boat contracts were to 

start on May 1. The trucks were loaded with 

equipment and instruments. The heavy-duty 

truck also carried smoke grenades obtained 

from the U.S. Army at Fort Carson, Colorado. 

The grenades were to be used when landing 

8 

Triangulation station near Taku Harbor (1951). 

the old underpowered helicopters to indicate 

wind direction. Also, approximately 100 cases 

of C-rations were loaded on the trucks. The Crations were to be used by the fieldmen 

camped on the triangulation stations and altimeter bases. 

During the trip through Canada, the larger 

truck was found to be too heavy to drive on 

some of the highways where load limits were in 

effect during spring thaw, and the truck had to 

be shipped by rail from Edmonton to Dawson 

Creek. While in shipment, someone broke into 

the load and stole several typewriters and one 

man's duffle bag with all his work clothes. The 

Canadian Mounted Police at Dawson Creek 

said that the missing items probably never 

would be found. Later, while driving along the 

Alcan Highway, some of the smoke grenades 

caught on fire. As the men were throwing the 

burning cases off the truck, a Canadian motorist stopped to help. When he saw 

"Grenades" stamped on the cases, he ran back 

to his car, jumped in, and sped off. After about 

10 days on the road, the trucks arrived in 

Alaska. This advance group had to work hard 

to get the camps set up at Lake Louise, 

Clarence Lake, Chitina, and Cordova for the 

arrival of the crews before May 1. 

Meanwhile, the two men who had flown to 

Juneau earlier were busy painting boats and 

getting outboard motors running. Contracts 

were awarded for two large boats, but, about 

4 days before work was to begin, the U.S. 
Coast Guard inspected the boats and said neither one could be used in outside waters, although they could be used in inside waters. 

That caused a dilemma. After talking with 

other agencies in Juneau that used large boats, 

the men discovered the Bureau of Mines did 

not have any work scheduled for their boat 

during the summer. The boat and skipper were 

leased for the season for use in outside waters, 

and one of the contract boats was kept for use 

in inside waters. The contract was canceled for 

the other boat. After all the confusion, the boats 

were loaded, and the crews were moved to 

camps at Tenakee Springs and Baranof Hot 

Springs. The camps and crews were ready to 

start work on May 1 as soon as the helicopters 

arrived. When all the camps were set up and 

the crews moved in, approximately 60 men, including the field engineers, assistants, cooks, 

and helicopter crews, would be spending the 

season in Alaska. 

The season progressed very well with only 

minor mishaps. The four crews in the interior 

had good weather, and their helicopters performed well. They were able to complete the 

work that was scheduled by the first part of 

September. The crews in southeastern Alaska 

had exceptionally good weather for that area. 

One of their two helicopters had some engine 

trouble and made two forced autorotation landings in water; one landing was at Baranof Hot 

Springs at base camp, and the other was made 

in an inlet called Deep Bay, which was approximately 30 miles south of the base camp. The 

helicopter from Tenakee Springs was sent to 

bring the pilot and fieldman back to the 

Baranof Hot Springs camp. The Bureau of 

Mines boat was large enough and had a boom 

that could lift the helicopter on board, so it was 

sent to get the helicopter and take it back to 

Juneau where the engine was changed. Because of adverse weather, the rescue mission 

took 10 days instead of the planned 4 days. 

The pilot flying the helicopter at Tenakee 

Springs had a nervous breakdown about the 

middle of the season and had to be replaced. 

The fieldmen using the boats had a slow time 

during May. The first trip was planned to work 

the outside waters on the western side of 

Baranof Island. Work started about May 5 at 

Cape Ommaney and ended Memorial Day at 

Sitka, a distance of only 70 miles. High winds 

9 

Fieldman going to work at Clarence Lake (1951}. 

and heavy seas made it very difficult to land on 

shore or on offshore rocks with the smaller 

boat. Later in the summer, the larger boat was 

detailed to work the outside waters on Prince of 

Wales Island from Cape Muzon to Craig. This 

trip was almost as bad as the trip up the western side of Baranof Island. The rest of the boat 

work was on inside waters, and not many days 

were lost because of weather. 

The boat crews photoidentified existing National Geodetic Survey control and classified all 

the culture along the coasts, such as villages, 

canneries, and isolated cabins. They also gathered name information from local inhabitants. 

Both boat crews completed work by the first 

part of September, and the equipment and 

crews were brought back to Juneau. This was a 

very successful season, especially considering 

the number of men, helicopters, and boats 

working in all kinds of weather and terrain. 

Fortunately, no injuries occurred. 

1952 

During fall 1951, the Rocky Mountain Region 

decided to establish a permanent office in Fairbanks to complement the Geologic Division's 

Resident Geologist, who maintained an office at 

the University of Alaska. One man was assigned to this office and was known as the 

Alaska Resident Engineer. In the summer, 

when the field crews were in Alaska, the Resident Engineer coordinated all field mapping 
activities. In the winter, he gathered information for updating reprints of existing maps, answered questions from the local populace concerning horizontal and vertical control, and 

served as a liaison with other Geological Survey divisions. Along with office duties, the 

Resident Engineer made preparations for the 

summer camps, including arrangements for delivering helicopter fuel to camp areas. Many of 

the projects were located in areas where everything had to be transported in by air. Logistics 

are about 7 5 percent of surveying in Alaska, 

and, when you have to depend on charter aircraft and unpredictable weather, the logistics 

work takes a lot of patience and understanding. 

The field season of 1952 was a small effort 

compared to the previous season. Two projects 

were planned, and only eight men were assigned to work the projects. One project was to 

start at Sourdough Creek, northeast of Fairbanks, and then move to Dot Lake east of Big 

Delta along the Alcan Highway. The other 

project was to start at Central, near Circle Hot 

Springs, and to finish at Woodchopper. Two 

helicopters were contracted for the season. This 

was a normal season with only the usual difficulties. The work progressed very well, and 

both projects were completed on schedule. 

The project at Central had a near catastrophe 

with a grizzly bear. When the fieldman and 

helicopter arrived at a triangulation station to 

make observations, a grizzly bear was awaiting 

them at the station. The pilot chased the bear 

down the ridge with the helicopter and then 

dropped off the fieldman at the station. As the 

fieldman was making preparations to set up his 

camp, the bear returned, growling and acting 

very fierce. Luckily, the fieldman had a rifle 

with him, and he killed the bear. He then continued to set up camp and get ready to observe 

the station. When he removed the rock cairn 

that was holding up the signal, he found a bear 

cub. It was unfortunate that he had to kill the 

mother, but he was unaware of the cub. This 

was the only incident with bears where one of 

the fieldmen was in danger. Many incidents of 

black bears getting into camps and garbage 

pits occurred, but no lives were in danger. 

The only vehicle accident that occurred in 

Alaska happened near Dot Lake. Two of the 

fieldmen and the camp cook left camp on Saturday evening and drove to a roadhouse about 

10 

20 miles up the highway. On the way back to 

camp, the driver fell asleep, and the truck 

veered off the road and overturned. Sometime 

later, an Army convoy came along and found 

the wrecked truck and the three unconscious 

men. The Army personnel decided that two of 

the men were alive and one was dead. They 

put the two injured men inside an Army truck 

and laid the dead person on top of a trailer and 

lashed the body down with rope. The convoy 

proceeded about 50 miles to Big Delta Air 

Force Base, where they immediately took the 

two injured men to the base hospital. 

When they were taking the II dead rr person 

off the trailer, they discovered he was not dead 

after all! They immediately rushed him to the 

hospital also. One of the fieldmen did not respond to treatment very well, so they rushed 

him to Fairbanks' Ladd Field Hospital. 

The party chief in camp at Dot Lake did not 

know anything had happened for 3 days. The 

military people finally called the Geological 

Survey office in Fairbanks and inquired if the 

injured men worked for the Survey. By this 

time, it was determined that none of them were 

seriously hurt, other than concussions. The Resident Engineer in Fairbanks went to the two 

hospitals and got the men released and returned them to camp. 

The cook lost his false teeth in the accident. 

When some of the fellows in camp returned to 

the scene of the accident to look for his teeth, 

they found his upper plate in the frontyard of a 

homesteader's place about one-fourth of a mile 

away, where a dog had carried them. 

1953 

One large area was to be worked during the 

1953 field season. Two crews were selected to 

establish horizontal and vertical control for 

1:63,360-scale mapping of the Tanana and 

Kantishna 1 :250,000-scale quadrangles. One 

crew set up camp at Manly Hot Springs, and 

the other crew set up camp at the Lake 

Minchumina Civil Aeronautics Administration 

station. Each camp had one helicopter and 

chartered fixed-wing aircraft when needed. 

The season started badly at Manly Hot 

Springs because the helicopter had mechanical 

trouble before it arrived at camp. In fact, the 

whole season was plagued by mechanical fail-
ures of the helicopters and by pilots getting 

lost. By the first part of July it was decided to 

eliminate one camp and to combine the crews 

and helicopters. Several men returned to Denver early, and the rest flew from Manly Hot 

Springs to work out of Tanana for 3 weeks and 

then to Lake Minchumina. A lot of time was 

spent cutting down trees because many of the 

stations were in timbered areas or on mountaintops covered with trees. Several black bears 

were shot because of real or imagined threats. 

One bear tried to get into a tent, tearing it 

open, while the occupant was inside. In spite of 

all the helicopter trouble, considerable work 

was accomplished. Several phototheodolite stations were completed along the northern side of 

Mount McKinley, and a control tie was made 

into the Mount McKinley triangulation arc. 

One man was detailed to the National 

Geodetic Survey camp at Fort Yukon to work 

with the crew who were establishing horizontal 

control along the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers. 

The Yukon Valley is 50 to 60 miles wide, flat, 

and densely timbered. The timber is birch and 

reaches heights of 90 to 100 feet adjacent to 

the river. The National Geodetic Survey was 

establishing a triangulation arc along both 

sides of the river, which required towers that 

were 80 to 110 feet high. While the National 

Geodetic Survey was observing from their 

towers, the Geological Survey asked if they 

could establish a few horizontal stations on 

some of the pingos (small domed-shaped hills) 

scattered around the valleys. The Geological 

Typical Survey camp in Alaska (circa 1950's). 

11 

All the comforts of home-shower at Tanana (1953). 

Survey would then have control from which to 

extend photocontrol at a later date without having to go back and build towers. It was impossible to see anything from the ground at the existing stations established by the National 

Geodetic Survey along the rivers. 

The project area was not completed during 

the field season even though the crew worked 

until the middle of September. Miraculously, no 

one was injured, although there were many 

forced helicopter landings and mechanical failures. 

1954 

Three areas were planned for the field season of 1954. Two crews and two helicopters 

were scheduled. The first area to be worked 

was at Wells, north of Haines. The crews and 

the helicopters were combined for this area. 

The helicopters were new Hiller Model D helicopters. One pilot and a mechanic were on loan 

from the Hiller Company; the second pilot had 

been flight checked before coming to Alaska 

and was competent in the Hiller. This was the 

last year the field crews would come up on the 

Alaska Steamship Line. Passenger service was 

discontinued within a year after that summer. 

Work started about May 15 and was completed 

about June 10. 

The area of operation had vast snowfields 

and glaciers. The helicopters were equipped 

with duck feet or pads on the rear of the skids. 

During the first week, one helicopter with pilot 
and fieldman made a landing on a peak where 

some rock was exposed. The pilot had the front 

of the skids on the rock and the rear in the 

snow. When he turned off the power to the 

rotor and the ship's weight shifted to the skids, 

the rear of the skids broke through the snow 

crust and the helicopter turned over backward. 

Because the rotors were still turning, the helicopter was destroyed completely. The pilot and 

fieldman received only minor scratches. The 

other helicopter rescued the men, and, when 

time was available, the helicopter crew dismantled the wreckage and ferried it back to the 

Survey camp. When they had retrieved all the 

parts, the helicopter was shipped back to Seattle. The wrecked helicopter was replaced by an 

old open-cockpit Bell, which was used for the 

rest of the season. 

About June 10, when this part of the fieldwork was completed, the crews moved to the 

interior of Alaska by way of Fairbanks. Moving 

arrangements had been made for fuel caches 

for the helicopters so they could avoid Canadian customs. Canadian regulations require aircraft to clear customs if they land anywhere in 

Canada. 

The day the helicopters left Wells en route 

through Canada to the interior of Alaska, the 

pilots decided they wanted a cup of coffee at 

Haines Junction. They made the mistake of 

landing in the Canadian Mounties' compound. 

Immediately upon landing, the Mounties 

grounded the helicopters because they did not 

have clearance through Canadian customs to 

stop in Canada. After several telephone calls to 

Ottawa, the helicopters finally were released 

and were given permission to leave the following morning. After 3 days, the helicopters and 

crews arrived in Fairbanks. From Fairbanks, arrangements were made to ship the camp 

equipment to Mount McKinley National Park 

and Talkeetna by train. 

One crew was to set up camp at Wonder 

Lake in Mount McKinley National Park, which 

is about 90 miles by road from the Park headquarters on the railroad. The crew shipped a 

heavy-duty truck and two pickup trucks by 

train to Park headquarters and then used the 

trucks to haul camp equipment and personnel 

to Wonder Lake. The other crew unloaded all 

their camp equipment at Talkeetna and chartered a small plane to haul their equipment to 

12 

Skwentna, which was a Civil Aeronautics Administration station located 60 miles southwest 

of Talkeetna. After about 10 days of moving 

and setting up camps, work began on the project areas. 

The crew at Wonder Lake was concerned primarily with finishing the work started in 1953, 

which consisted of using phototheodolite equipment to control the northern side of the Alaska 

Range. Fuel caches established the previous 

season were used. The phototheodolite is an instrument constructed with a terrestrial camera 

and a T-2 theodolite mounted on top of the 

camera. Because the camera exposure covers 

40 degrees, it takes nine exposures to complete 

360 degrees of arc. Generally, only a few exposures are made from a given point. The camera 

is oriented by using the theodolite to fix on an 

existing horizontal station that is visible in the 

photograph. With the camera oriented on a true 

azimuth, a horizontal or vertical angle can be 

measured to any point visible on the photographs. By using the phototheodolite from a 

number of existing horizontal stations, it is possible to establish intersected stations and elevations on points that are common on photographs taken from several locations. 

The phototheodolite used glass plates with a 

soft emulsion on one side. The high-resolution 

fine-grain film was very slow, generally taking 

4 to 10 seconds per exposure. The camera does 

not have a shutter, so, to take an exposure, you 

merely take off the lens cap and count the seconds, based on a predetermined exposure time 

from test photographs of each new set of plates. 

Inserting glass plate in phototheodolite (1954). 
The measurements on the photographs were 

made in the office on an instrument called a 

goniometer. 

The crew at Skwentna was to establish horizontal control to be used for phototheodolite 

stations to control the southern side of the 

Alaska Range. The helicopters at this time 

were limited to approximately 5,000 feet in elevation. On days when wind and temperatures 

were favorable, higher landings could be made. 

Because of the high terrain in this area of the 

Alaska Range, the phototheodolite was used to 

control most of the Range from Mount McKinley National Park south to Lake Chakachamma, 

west of Anchorage. 

The crew at Wonder Lake had a difficult time 

trying to take pictures of the area around 

Mount McKinley because it was covered with 

clouds about 97 percent of the summer. Three 

of the men spent 6 weeks with the helicopter in 

a remote campsite at Amos Lake, which was 

about 50 miles west of Wonder Lake, trying to 

take pictures on the northwestern side of 

Mount McKinley and Mount Foraker. They 

never were able to finish their observations. 

The crew at Skwentna had poor weather also 

but did complete the triangulation arc from 

Curry, on the railroad, to Cook Inlet, near the 

mouth of the McArthur River. The arc was 

110 miles long, and enough stations were established to do the phototheodolite work on the 

southern side of the Alaska Range. The crew at 

Skwentna also were able to do the altimeter 

work and photocontrol for lowland areas in the 

Susitna Basin around Skwentna and Talkeetna. 

During the last week of August, the crew at 

Wonder Lake moved their camp back to the 

railroad. They had a temporary camp at the 

Civil Aeronautics Administration station at 

Summit for several days, doing phototheodolite 

work on the eastern side of Mount McKinley. 

After finishing the work at Summit, they moved 

to Curry where they were to stay at a riverside 

hotel operated by the Alaska Railroad. The 

crew rode the train from Summit to Curry with 

all the equipment. The helicopter pilot, accompanied by one Survey man, flew the helicopter 

to Curry. Approaching Curry in the helicopter, 

the pilot followed the river toward the hotel. As 

they flew around the back of the hotel, they 

ran into a cable that was stretched across the 

river from the hotel chimney to a tree. The 

13 

cable caught on a crossbar on the bubble of the 

helicopter. The pilot, reacting quickly, applied 

more power, hoping to break the cable. The 

cable did not break, but it did pull the chimney 

off the hotel. This occurred about noontime, 

and the people in the dining room ran out to 

see what was happening. Luckily, when the 

chimney came down, it pulled the cable away 

from the helicopter and did not catch on the 

skid. If the cable had caught, then it could have 

turned the helicopter upside down in the river. 

Had this happened, the deep, swift river would 

have claimed several lives. After the helicopter 

landed, it was determined that the only damage was a groove in the bubble where the 

cable had sawed back and forth. The hotel suffered considerable dainage because the brick 

chimney had disintegrated and made several 

holes in the roof. The helicopter company's insurance took care of the repairs. The hotel 

burned down in 1959. 

Very little work was accomplished at Curry 

because of adverse weather. Both crews terminated work on September 10 and moved their 

camps to Anchorage and stored the camp 

equipment. 

After working in the Susitna River Basin all 

summer, it became evident that phototheodolite 

work on the southern side of Mount McKinley 

and the Alaska Range in the summer was 

nearly impossible. After talking with local people who lived there the year around, it appeared that the latter part of April and all of 

May was the most favorable time for work on 

the southern side of Mount McKinley. At that 

time, the temperature of Cook Inlet and the 

Alaska Range are nearly the same, and the 

clouds do not build around the mountaintops. 

The warmer Cook Inlet becomes in the summer, the more the fog and clouds build up 

around the high peaks as the warm air meets 

the cold air off the glaciers. 

This season was not as successful as others 

because of the weather and working conditions 

around the highest terrain in North America. 

The crews returned to Denver about the middle 

of September. 

1955 

The field season in 1955 was a cleanup operation. Projects in several areas had not been 
completed, and several quadrangles needed 

control to fill in unmapped areas. 

Two crews consisting of eight men from the 

Denver office were scheduled for Alaska. The 

crews left Denver in early May for Ketchikan to 

prepare for two small projects, one north of 

Ketchikan at Bell Island and one east of Ketchikan. Two helicopters were contracted for the 

season, and a 52-foot boat was leased from the 

Forest Service at Petersburg. The boat was 

used to move the camp to Bell Island and then 

as a mother boat for the Ketchikan crew to 

photoidentify existing National Geodetic Survey control. The two helicopters were sent to 

Bell Island to start the season. During the first 

week in the Bradfield Canal, one helicopter 

was damaged due to pilot error. It was on floats 

and catapulted upside down during a bad 

takeoff. It remained floating for 11 hours 

before being located by the Coast Guard. The 

pilot and Survey man were not injured and 

were able to get out of the ship. They were 

sitting on top of the floats when the Coast 

Guard arrived. Both men were badly sunburned. 

The loss of the helicopter slowed down the 

work at Bell Island. The crew at Ketchikan had 

to bring in another helicopter to complete the 

work. Both projects were completed about 

July 4, and the crews were moved to the interior. One crew was scheduled to go to Dot 

Lake, and the second crew, to Gardiner Creek. 

The helicopter that was damaged in the 

Bradfield Canal accident was completely rebuilt and returned to work in time to move to 

the interior projects. The move was completed 

in about a week after clearing up a minor problem with Canadian customs at Whitehorse. The 

helicopters were grounded because the pilots 

did not report to the customs officer at his 

home in late evening. After the pilots each paid 

a $40 fine, the helicopters were released the 

following day. 

The project at Gardiner Creek was only five 

quadrangles. The work consisted of establishing primary control by triangulation to extend 

horizontal and vertical photocontrol, classifying 

culture, and gathering name information. During the second week of work, the helicopter 

was wrecked making an altimeter run. The accident was attributed to pilot error. The pilot 

was making a helicopter landing on a rounded 

14 

Bell Model 476 helicopter after a bad landing near 

Northway (1955). 

knoll and did not have sufficient engine power. 

He landed too hard, and the helicopter turned 

over. No one was injured, but the pilot and 

fieldman were lost for 26 hours. The other helicopter was brought in from Dot Lake and 

searched for about 8 hours but was unable to 

find them. A Search and Rescue Unit was 

called from Fairbanks. They arrived about 

4 hours later at Northway and were briefed on 

the area where the helicopter should be. They 

found the helicopter about 3 hours later. The 

other helicopter was sent to bring the men 

back. 

The wrecked helicopter was replaced by a 

leased ship from Anchorage. The leased ship 

was an old military Hiller that had been salvaged. The fieldwork was completed at 

Changing damaged helicopter blades onsite, Gardiner Creek (1955). 
Gardiner Creek about the first part of August, 

and the crew moved to the village of Central to 

finish the work started in 1952. The crew at Dot 

Lake had enough work to keep them busy until 

the last of August. 

The work at Central progressed well. Because the crew at Dot Lake had finished their 

helicopter work, both helicopters were available at Central. On the next to last day of helicopter work at Central, another helicopter accident caused by pilot error occurred. The wind 

had started to blow very hard and became very 

gusty. The helicopter was making an altimeter 

run and was approaching a peak. The approach angle was low, and it was caught in a 

downdraft on the lee side of the peak. The pilot 

did not have sufficient power to pull the helicopter out of the downdraft, and it hit the side 

of the peak just below the summit. The pilot, in 

trying to overcome the downdraft, had applied 

full power so that on impact, the helicopter literally bounded in the air at full power and did 

an airborne loop and landed upside down several hundred feet down the mountain. Because 

this landing would have been the last one before refueling from the cache down in the valley, no fire ignited in the almost-empty fuel 

tanks. Fortunately, the portable radio was undamaged, and the pilot and fieldman were able 

to contact base camp and to relay their circumstances and location. Shortly after the accident, 

darkness and a storm arrived. The next day, 

during a break in the weather, they were 

picked up in the valley below the peak where 

the crash had occurred. The altimeters and salvagable parts of the helicopter were picked up 

several weeks later. Work was completed in the 

next few days. 

The day the crew broke camp at the Alaska 

Road Commission central compound, it was 

raining and overcast. After they loaded everything into trucks, the crew started down the 

Steese Highway for Fairbanks. The helicopter, 

which had mechanical problems, proceeded 

them, flying along the road. As the crew approached Eagle Summit, they overtook the helicopter, which was parked on the highway because the pass was "closed in" with low clouds. 

The crew had borrowed an Alaska Road Commission dump truck, which was painted yellow, 

to make the move. By proceeding slowly down 

the road with the helicopter hovering along be15 

hind the dump truck, they were able to lead 

the helicopter over Eagle Summit and down the 

highway until they were out of the clouds. The 

helicopter made it back to Fairbanks without 

mishap. The camp equipment was stored, and 

the crew left for Denver about September 10. 

1956 

In 1955, the northern part of Alaska, known 

as the Brooks Range Project, was authorized for 

mapping. This mapping was funded by the Air 

Force. The Air Force was constructing the Dew 

Line and White Alice installations, which were 

radar and communication sites, and needed 

topographic maps to determine where blind 

areas on their radar screens might be. Preparations were made to fly transverse-oblique aerial 

photography, and a contract was awarded. The 

Geological Survey sent one man from the aerial 

photocontracting office in Washington, D.C., to 

inspect the photography as it was flown. The 

contractor had three P-38 military planes 

equipped with cameras. The planes were located at different sites to enable them to take 

advantage of clear weather. Although they 

were on site all summer, they did not complete 

the flying and had to return the following summer to finish. 

The project was authorized for 1:250,000-

scale mapping. The area to be mapped was 

about the size of the State of New Mexico, or 

120,000 square miles. This was the largest project to be undertaken in one season in Alaska 

by the Survey. Because of the remoteness of 

the project, logistics were by far the biggest 

challenge. 

The Resident Engineer in Fairbanks started 

making plans and arranging for charter aircraft 

in early spring to haul helicopter and plane fuel 

out to the different areas. He planned to use 

airstrips at Bettles, Fort Yukon, and Umiat, plus 

large lakes that were strategically located. The 

military at Ladd Field in Fairbanks hauled 

loads of fuel to Bettles, Umiat, and Fort Yukon 

in C-124 aircraft. C-46 planes, which could 

land on ice, were chartered to haul the fuel to 

the lakes. Conditions had to be right for the 

planes to land on the frozen lakes, so a small 

plane equipped with skis was sent out early to 

mark a runway on the ice, and several other 

flights with small planes were made to test the 
snow conditions. Large caches of fuel in drums 

and cases were established at Liberator Lake in 

the western Brooks Range, and an extra planeload was placed at Schrader Lake in the eastern Brooks Range after an attempt at another 

location was aborted because of adverse 

weather. This extra 6,000 gallons was in about 

60 drums and 200 cases. 

The first flight by Survey personnel was 

made in a Widgeon to Fort Yukon, where they 

left supplies for the Old John Lake camp that 

was being established. They then flew on to 

Schrader Lake, where the Widgeon broke 

through the ice on landing. Using materials 

from wooden fuel cases and pieces of plywood and lumber from an abandoned camp at 

the southern end of the lake, they were able to 

get the plane back on solid ice. The fuel supplies at Liberator Lake were moved off the ice 

by the pilots and Survey crew. The cases of 

fuel were cached at various locations in the 

Brooks Range along the proposed traverse 

lines. Everything eventually worked out, and 

all the fuel for the summer season was out before the spring thaw. 

Planning for the field operations started in 

January in Denver. The three men who were to 

be party chiefs were brought in the office and 

did all the planning for the horizontal and vertical control needed for the 1 :250,000-scale 

quadrangles. The area was divided into three 

projects, and each party chief planned his own 

area. This proved very helpful because each 

man could become familiar with the terrain and 

problem areas that he would encounter before 

Widgeon after breaking through the ice at Schrader 

Lake (1956). 

16 

Preparing to haul fuel off Schrader Lake to designated areas for helicopter caches (1956). 

going to the field. The aerial photography was 

flown east and west at 36,000 feet. The original 

plan was to scale the area with the twinplex instrument. The plan called for establishing vertical control lines in a north-south direction at 

40-mile intervals. These traverse lines were established by phototrig traverse and leap-frog 

altimetry. 

Each phototrig traverse line started from and 

closed on existing triangulation on which vertical angle elevations had been established. The 

distance between points along the traverse was 

not to exceed 2 miles, and the vertical angles 

were not to exceed 3 degrees. Each point was 

marked with an aluminum pipe and paneled. 

Panel photography was flown at approximately 

5,000 feet and used surplus Air Force K-20 

cameras. Vertical angles were observed simultaneously, and altimeter readings were taken. 

The drawback to phototrig traverse is that 

computations had to be made in the office after 

the horizontal scale solution was completed and 

the traverse points plotted on the base sheet. 

The distances were scaled from the base sheet 

and computations completed. One misidentified 

point would invalidate an entire line. Some of 

the lines closed well, and others, not so well. 

This method was adequate for 1:250,000-scale 

mapping at 100- and 200-foot contour intervals. 

If this project could have been worked 2 or 

3 years later when electronic distancemeasuring equipment was available, then the 

results probably would have been better. 

Twelve phototrig lines were planned north 

and south from the Canadian border on the 
east to the Misheguk Mountains on the west 

that joined the military mapping projects. 

These traverse lines varied from 72 to 

204 miles, with a total of 1, 700 miles for the 

12 traverses. Very little additional horizontal 

control was required because the area was 

surrounded completely by control established 

by the National Geodetic Survey, the International Boundary Commission, and the military. 

The National Geodetic Survey also had a triangulation arc that ran north and south from 

the Yukon River north of Fairbanks, through 

Bettles, and across the Brooks Range through 

Anaktuvuk Pass to the Arctic Ocean. This triangulation arc fell near the center of the project area. The National Geodetic Survey had 

started another arc northeast of Fort Yukon, on 

the Porcupine River, that extended to just south 

of Arctic Village. The crew on the eastern side 

of the project extended this arc up to the divide 

of the Brooks Range. The distances between 

horizontal control arcs averaged about 

120 miles. 

During the spring, contracts were initiated for 

helicopter and airplane support. Each camp 

would have two helicopters and one airplane. 

The airplane contract called for two Super 

Cubs, two Cessna 180's, and one Widgeon. The 

Super Cubs were equipped with tandem 

wheels, which were considered adequate for 

landings on gravel bars and unimproved airstrips. The Cessna 180's were on floats, and the 

Widgeon was an amphibian plane. The planes 

were moved around from one camp to the 

other, depending on needs. The Widgeon was 

used for hauling groceries and moving camps. 

The Cubs were used basically for caching fuel 

for helicopter operations. 

Thirteen men left Denver on May 15 and 

flew to Fairbanks. A week was spent in Fairbanks preparing the camp equipment and purchasing groceries and other miscellaneous 

camp needs. The Resident Engineer had made 

previous arrangements for campsites. The first 

campsites were located at Old John Lake, Bettles, and Hughes. C-46 cargo planes were arranged for transporting the camp equipment to 

the three sites. The helicopters arrived in Fairbanks from Yakima, Washington, on May 20 by 

way of commercial air carrier. They were assembled and ready to fly on May 25. The Widgeon had reported earlier and had made sev17 

eral flights to various campsites to prepare for 

the arrival of the equipment. 

The camps at Bettles and Hughes were set 

up along the airstrips in the villages. The camp 

at Old John Lake was located on the lakeshore, 

so the C-46 cargo planes landed on the lake 

ice. Five tons of camp equipment and 200 cases 

of aviation fuel were unloaded about one-half 

mile from shore. An Indian from Arctic Village 

with a dog team and sled was hired to haul the 

equipment and fuel to the campsite on shore. 

All three camps were set up and in operation 

by early June. Other than minor breakdowns 

and bad weather, the operations proceeded 

very well. 

The phototrig traverse method of establishing 

vertical control had not been used before, so 

each crew had to establish their own routine. 

Simultaneous reciprocal vertical angles were 

observed at each station. Each station was paneled, and photographs were taken from the airplane with a K-20 camera to aid in photoidentification. Originally, it was planned to take 

the photographs at 1,200 and 5,000 feet. After 

the first photographs were taken, it was decided that the low-altitude photographs were 

not practical, and only the higher altitude photographs were obtained. Also, it was necessary 

to panel and photograph selected existing horizontal control stations. 

All three crews had exceptionally good 

weather and very few mechanical failures with 

aircraft. Consequently, work progressed much 

faster than was anticipated. The crews at 

Bettles and Hughes had to move three or four 

Dog team hauling fuel off the ice at Old John Lake. 

Each load weighed approximately 1,500 pounds. 
times to ensure efficient helicopter use. The 

crew at Old John Lake was able to work the 

eastern one-third of the area from the one 

camp. One man, working out of each camp for 

short periods, spent the season gathering name 

and cultural information. Most of the time he 

used one of the Super Cubs to travel between 

villages. A K-20 camera was used to take pictures of isolated cabins and villages, and the 

pictures were later correlated with the aerial 

photographs. 

The fieldwork was completed on the three 

areas about the last week of July. The Resident 

Engineer in Fairbanks already had alerted the 

Denver office that more material was needed to 

keep the crews busy until the helicopter contracts ran out in September. 

The crew at Old John Lake moved their 

camp to a sandy beach on the Black River, 

about 60 miles east of Fort Yukon. Field material had been sent from Denver to establish 

horizontal and vertical control on the Black 

River quadrangle, portions of the Fort Yukon 

quadrangle, and the Charley River quadrangle. 

These 1 :250,000-scale quadrangles were photocontrolled for 1 :63,360-scale mapping. Work 

progressed rapidly, but, during the second 

week of August, it started to rain. The rain was 

not heavy at the campsite; apparently in 

Canada near the headwaters of the Black 

River, however, the rain was very heavy. After 

about 3 days of watching the river rise, it became apparent that the camp was going to be 

flooded, and no high ground was nearby on 

which to place the tents. The helicopters were 

sent to Fort Yukon for several days while the 

Survey crew moved the camp to Circle with the 

float-equipped Cessna 180. The plane made 13 

trips out of the flooded area. Several tents were 

lost, but all the survey instruments and field 

material were saved. The rest of the project 

area was completed from Circle after the 

weather cleared up. 

The crew that was working the central part 

of the Brooks Range finished at Umiat on the 

North Slope. They moved from Umiat into Fairbanks and then loaded their equipment on 

trucks and went to Chicken. The crew established horizontal and vertical photocontrol for 

1 :63,360-scale mapping of the Eagle 1:250,000-

scale quadrangle. Work progressed very well, 

except for some adverse weather. Several high 

18 

Camp on Black River, 60 miles east of Fort Yukon, 

during the flood caused by heavy rains in Canada 

(1956). 

peaks in the area were seldom clear. One of 

the fieldmen was fogged in on one of the high 

peaks for several days and ran out of food. He 

was rescued and found in good condition but 

hungry. This crew finished their work around 

September 15. 

The crew on the western side of the Brooks 

Range finished their work at a camp on the 

Killik River. From there, they moved to the village of Tanana, where they established the 

horizontal and vertical control necessary for 

1 :63,360-scale mapping to complete the Tanana 

1 :250,000-scale quadrangle. The work progressed rapidly, and they finished during the 

last week of August and moved their camp and 

equipment to Fairbanks. Both of their helicopters went to Chicken to help that crew finish 

their work. Two of the fieldmen went to the 

camps at Circle and Chicken. 

About September 20, all the crews were done 

with their fieldwork, and the camps and equipment were moved to Fairbanks and stored in 

the warehouse. The field material was assembled and sent to Denver. The two men working 

on names and culture continued to work, with 

one of them staying until Thanksgiving. 

The 1956 field season was one of the most 

productive seasons that the Survey has ever 

had in Alaska. Not only was the Brooks Range 

project completed early, but all the work 

scheduled for the 1957 season was completed. 

1957 

No Alaska projects were scheduled for 1957. 
However, the Air Force 1370th Mapping and 

Reconnaissance Squad took advantage of one 

of the most cloud-free summers on record to 

obtain aerial photography to fill existing gaps 

in coverage over the St. Elias and Alaska 

Ranges and the Chugach and Wrangell 

Mountains. 

1958 

The work scheduled for the 1958 season was 

mainly to finish fieldwork started in 1953 and 

1954 on the southern side of the Alaska Range 

and to join the military work on the western 

side of the Alaska Range. The phototheodolite 

work on the southern side of the Alaska Range 

from Curry to Cook Inlet still had not been 

completed. Other fieldwork needing completion 

included vertical control on the Tyonek 

1 :250,000-scale quadrangle and horizontal and 

vertical control on the Iliamna, Lake Clark, 

Lime Hills, McGrath, Medfra, and Mount 

McKinley quadrangles. 

One crew of five fieldmen and three field assistants with two helicopters started work on 

May 1 at Skwentna. Fieldwork was started 

early to take advantage of favorable weather in 

the Alaska Range to complete the phototheodolite stations. The snow was still deep on the 

foothills where the existing triangulation stations were located; but, with a lot of snow 

shoveling, the phototheodolite work was completed by June 1. The altimeter work also was 

completed on the Tyonek 1:250,000-scale 

quadrangle, and the crew moved camp from 

Skwentna to Lake Clark the first week of June. 

From the camp at Lake Clark, the photocontrol 

work was completed on the Iliamna, Lake 

Clark, Kenai, and Lime Hills 1 :250,000-scale 

quadrangles. These were only partial quadrangles because the military had controlled and 

mapped the western one-half of the quadrangles earlier. 

On August 1, the crew moved from Lake 

Clark to Farewell, where camp was set up at 

the Federal Aviation Administration airstrip. 

The crew was at Farewell for most of August 

and completed the McGrath, Medfra, and 

Mount McKinley 1:250,000-scale quadrangles. 

The military had done the western one-half of 

these quadrangles; consequently, the crew was 

19 

completing the area between the Survey work 

in 1953 and 1954 and the military work in 

1952, 1953, and 1954. 

Work was completed at the end of August. 

Part of the crew and both helicopters were sent 

ahead to Fairbanks to complete a portion of the 

Big Delta quadrangle. The crew was able to 

work from town, so a field camp was not necessary. The remaining crew at Farewell completed their field notes, packed the camp 

equipment, and moved to Fairbanks on a chartered C-46. The earlier moves from Skwentna 

to Lake Clark and from Lake Clark to Farewell 

were made with Bureau of Land Management 

and Fish and Wildlife Service Grumman Goose 

amphibian airplanes. The Bureau of Land Management was very cooperative with the Survey, 

and the crews were able to use their planes on 

a number of occasions. Often, if the Bureau had 

a plane going by one of the Survey camps, they 

would deliver groceries or personnel free of 

charge. If the crews needed them to move 

camps or to haul fuel or supplies, then the 

charge was only actual cost. The Survey used 

them whenever possible because it helped both 

agencies. The Fish and Wildlife Service planes 

also were used when possible. 

The Survey did not have a plane on contract 

during this season, but the crews were able to 

charter a Cessna 180 on floats while at Lake 

Clark and a Super Cub while at Farewell. The 

airplanes were used to cache fuel for the helicopters and to make a trip to Anchorage once a 

week for groceries and mail. 

The 1958 season was very good, considering 

the prevailing weather conditions of the area. 

The clouds that covered the Alaska Range most 

of the summer usually remained at the 3,500-

to 4,000-foot level. Many rainy periods each 

lasted several days, and the western side of the 

range was plagued by high winds. Later 

records referred to 1958 as having the wettest 

months on record for south -central Alaska. At 

Farewell, the wind seemed to be a constant 35 

to 40 miles an hour with gusts on some days 

reaching 7 5 to 80 miles an hour. The crews 

were told by the Federal Aviation Administration people that the tents would never last 

through the season. Several times the stability 

of the tents was in doubt, but none of them 

blew down or ripped apart. 
1959 

The work scheduled for 1959 was a combination of photocontrol for 1:63,360- and 

1 :250,000-scale mapping. Only one crew, consisting of five fieldmen and two field assistants, 

was scheduled for fieldwork. Two helicopters 

were contracted for the season. Two men drove 

two trucks from Denver, and the rest flew to 

Anchorage. 

The work started at Yakatat, and photocontrol was established for the 1:63,360-scale 

quadrangles. This was the first season that 

electronic distance-measuring equipment was 

used in Alaska to accomplish the horizontal 

and vertical control. The instruments had been 

used for 2 years on stateside projects. Electronic traverses were run by using the instruments to measure distances and the Wild T-2 

theodolites to observe angles. The traverses 

were started from and tied to existing known 

positions. Simultaneous reciprocal vertical angles were observed over all measured distances. However, for some areas, the only feasible method for establishing vertical control was 

by altimeters. 

After the work was completed in the Yakatat 

area, the crew moved to Yakataga. There, the 

crew worked on the Bering Glacier 1:250,000-

scale quadrangle. This area was very remote, 

with very little culture and few inhabitants. The 

fieldwork consisted of photoidentifying the existing International Boundary Commission control on the eastern side of the quadrangle. Horizontal and vertical control were established 

through the center of the quadrangle. 

Driving the Alcan Highway to Alaska (1959). 

20 

First electronic distance-measuring equipment in use 

at Bering Glacier (1959). 

Using the electronic distance-measuring 

equipment, the crew completed a traverse 

from the coast on the south, over the Bering 

Glacier, and down the northern side to existing 

control in the Chitina River valley. The traverse 

was approximately 150 miles long. To control 

such terrain by triangulation would have been 

extremely difficult, if not impossible. The crew 

also established a number of phototheodolite 

stations in the St. Elias Range, working out of 

Yakatat and Yakataga. 

The National Geodetic Survey also was establishing basic control simultaneously with 

our work. The Geological Survey and the National Geodetic Survey field camps were set up 

side by side at Yakataga. 

After this work was completed, the crew 

moved to McCarthy to establish horizontal 

and vertical control for the 1:63,360-scale maps 

for the McCarthy and Nabesna quadrangles. 

This area is almost as rugged as the Bering 

Glacier area. The Wrangell Mountains run east 

and west along the northern side of the McCarthy quadrangle and the southern side of the 

Nabesna quadrangle. From McCarthy, an 

electronic traverse was established over the 

top of the Wrangell Mountains to existing 

control along the Slana-Tok Highway. After 

the work on the southern side of the Wrangell 

Mountains was completed from McCarthy, the 

crew moved to Chisana to complete the area 

on the northern side of the mountains. 

This was a very good season, considering the 

terrain and weather conditions around the 
Camp at Chisana, Wrangell Mountains (1959). 

glaciers and high peaks. The project area contained elevations ranging from sea level to 

18,000-foot Mount St. Elias on the Canadian 

border. 

1960 

One crew was scheduled for the 1960 field 

season. The plan was to complete all the gaps 

that had not been covered by aerial photography before 1957. In addition, work was scheduled for the Juneau Ice Cap and an area just 

east of Petersburg. By using the phototheodolite, altimeter, and electronic traverse procedure and the higher altitude capabilities of the 

newer Bell G-3 and Hiller 35-E helicopters, 

the plan was to complete the most inaccessible 

areas left to map in Alaska (and North America)-inaccessible because of extensive cloud 

cover and high altitudes. 

The season started at Northway to complete 

several 1 :63,360-scale quadrangles on the 

Nabesna, Gulkana, Valdez, and McCarthy 

1 :250,000-scale quadrangles. The area was 

completed in 2 weeks, and the crew moved 

camp to Chistochina, where they stayed at a 

roadhouse while working the area to the east of 

Mount Drum and Mount Sanford. During the 

move to Chistochina, one of the helicopters had 

a clutch failure while landing at an elevation of 

7,500 feet. Repairs were made during a fierce 

snowstorm that deposited 4 feet of snow on the 

ground. 

21 

The work at Chistochina was completed in 

2 weeks, and the crew moved to Sheep Mountain Roadhouse on the Glenn Highway. From 

there, the crew established electronic traverse 

positions to support phototheodolite and altimetry photocontrol in the Chugach Mountains 

because the previous control along the Glenn 

Highway was not suitable for helicopter landing or phototheodolite work. This is a very bad 

weather area. The peaks are fogged in most of 

the time, and the whole area is covered by 

large glaciers and snowfields. 

The next 2 weeks were spent in Valdez controlling the remainder of the Anchorage and 

Valdez quadrangles, which cover the highest 

elevations of the Chugach Mountains around 

Mount Marcus Baker. 

The crew then moved to Juneau, where they 

were to finish controlling those portions of the 

Skagway, Mount Fairweather, Juneau, Atlin, 

Taku River, Petersburg, and Sum dum quadrangles that were most inaccessible and covered 

by ice. Camp equipment was shipped to 

Juneau, but, because camp work was not required, the equipment was eventually sent to 

the National Park Service at Gustavus, Glacier 

Bay National Park, for storage and use the following season. The work in controlling the 

Juneau Ice Cap was completed, but the work 

at Mount Fairweather and Sum dum-Petersburg 

was left for the next year because of the lateness of the season and adverse weather. 

In spite of the moving and adverse weather 

in the Chugach Mountains, it was a successful 

season. The helicopter crew was very good, 

R. E. lsto, the Survey's first Alaska Resident Engineer, on the Juneau Ice Cap (1960). 
and the ships performed well. Additionally, one 

drove up the Alcan Highway and field completed several military-compiled maps east of 

Anchorage. He also hauled supplies to the field 

crew when they were at Chistochina and 

Sheep Mountain. 

1961 

The area scheduled to be worked during the 

1961 field season was west of Juneau in the 

coastal mountains between Glacier Bay National Park and the Pacific Ocean and from 

Mount Fairweather in the north to Icy Straits in 

the south. The area was not very large, but the 

weather was very bad. The warm air off the 

water and the cold air from the large glaciers 

combined to produce mist and fog. 

The field and helicopter crews arrived in 

Juneau, and arrangements were made to establish a tent camp at Reid Inlet on the western 

side of Glacier Bay. The project started about 

the first week of June. Because of poor weather 

conditions and the high altitudes, the crew 

spent most of the season working this one area. 

They also spent some time working out of 

Petersburg, finishing control on the Sumdum 

and Petersburg quadrangles. 

In rugged areas such as this, where all the 

work was done with helicopters and the 

weather conditions were bad, the crew expected to work only about 30 percent of the 

time. It takes a lot of patience to spend a season in wet and cold tents waiting for a day to 

work. The work was completed about September 1, and the crew packed all the equipment 

and shipped it back to Fairbanks. 

The original Resident Engineer in Fairbanks 

was transferred to the Region office in Denver 

and was replaced by one of the project engineers from the Rocky Mountain Region. The 

new Resident Engineer spent the entire summer season in Alaska with the former Resident 

Engineer getting acquainted with people from 

other Government agencies and State and local 

agencies. The transition was smooth, and the 

moves by both men were accomplished during 

the fall season. 

1962 

The 1962 field season was the beginning of 

another innovation in Alaska mapping. The 

22 

area around Anchorage was selected for a special 1 :24,000-scale Anchorage and vicinity map. 

Because the map was to be published as a special, the map projection was selected to cover 

the town and the populated area surrounding 

the town. 

The crew arrived in early June to start work 

on the project. The crew lived in town, and, 

consequently, no camp equipment was needed. 

Methods for establishing horizontal and vertical 

control were the same as those used for 7.5-

minute quadrangle mapping in the conterminous United States. The work progressed very 

well and was completed about the first part of 

October. The helicopter work was done by 

charter through a local operator. 

This special map had not been published 

when a devastating earthquake occurred on 

Good Friday in 1964 but was ready for shipment to Washington to be printed when the 

earthquake hit. The decision was made to publish the map as compiled, rather than attempt 

to show the changes created by the earthquake. A statement was added to the map margin indicating that the culture and contours 

were preearthquake. 

1963 

The area to be worked during the 1963 field 

season was another cleanup-type project. The 

area was the Alaska Peninsula, which the Army 

had worked in 1953 but did not complete because of lack of aerial photography. A shortage 

of funds at the end of the 1963 fiscal year postponed the start of work until July 1. A threeman crew left Denver on June 15 and flew to 

Anchorage. Several days were spent in Anchorage getting equipment ready to ship to Port 

Heiden, which is on the Bristol Bay side of the 

Alaska Peninsula. The men and equipment arrived in Port Heiden the last week in June, and 

the helicopters arrived on July 1. 

Peninsula weather conditions are generally 

poor, with considerable fog and rain. Also, very 

high winds make flying treacherous. When 

work was completed around Port Heiden, the 

crew moved to Cold Bay, which is located at 

the southwestern end of the Peninsula. The 

weather gets worse the farther west you go toward the Aleutian Islands. 
Instead of tents, the crew was able to stay 

in buildings in Port Heiden and in a transient 

hotel at Cold Bay. These facilities were a real 

convenience because the tents were hard to 

maintain and keep dry in the constant wind 

and rain. After a wet and windy season, the 

work was completed in early September without any accidents or injuries. All the equipment and instruments were returned to 

Anchorage, and the personnel returned to 

Denver. 

1964 

No projects were scheduled for the 1964 season in Alaska. However, after the earthquake 

on Good Friday, March 27, the Geologic Division requested help in determining the damage 

in certain areas. Two men were detailed from 

Denver and reported to the Resident Engineer 

in Anchorage. The men spent about 2 weeks 

in Anchorage doing 1-foot-interval topography 

on the Turnagain Slide. The work was completed around the middle of May. 

On June 1, another fieldman was detailed 

to Anchorage to assist the Resident Engineer 

on another request from the Geologic Division. This was an unusual request because the 

work involved future earthquakes. The geologists had selected approximately 15 large 

lakes on which they wanted permanent bench 

marks set and a difference of elevation determined between the bench mark and water 

level. All the bench marks for a lake were set 

on the same day. Depending on the size of 

the lake, at least three bench marks were set 

on each lake, and up to five or six bench 

marks were set on the large lakes. The lakes 

were within a 400-mile radius of Anchorage. 

A floatplane was chartered and supplied 

with a gas-driven drill, cement, and bench 

mark tablets. Some of the lakes could be 

reached from Anchorage, so the work could be 

completed during the same day. Others on the 

Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak were too far to 

Damage from the Good Friday earthquake near Turnagain Slide (1964). 

23 
commute to from Anchorage, so arrangements 

were made to stay at lodges while working in 

those areas. Because of weather conditions, it 

took about 6 weeks to complete the operation. 

The theory of setting the permanent bench 

marks and measuring the difference of elevation between the bench mark and water level 

is analagous to using the lake as a spirit-level 

bubble to determine tilt. In the event of another 

devastating earthquake, these differences of 

elevations can be remeasured to determine if 

any tilting has occurred in the area. 

1965 

No regular mapping projects were scheduled 

for the 1965 season, but the Office of Special 

Projects in the Geologic Division requested our 

assistance in a geologic study on Amchitka 

Island. The Atomic Energy Commission was 

preparing to detonate their first nuclear device 

on Amchitka, and geologists were responsible 

for measuring the tectonic strain created by 

the blast. After discussing the project with the 

geologists in Denver, a plan was devised to 

gather information for their studies. 

One man left Denver in early October and 

reported to the Resident Engineer in Anchorage and then proceeded to Amchitka to do the 

predetonation measurements. A level line was 

run over ground zero and for several miles on 

either side of the site. Permanent bench marks 

were set around ground zero to several miles 

away, and horizontal distances were measured 

with a geodimeter. 

Amchitka Island showing quonset huts left from 

World War II (1965). 

24 

After the nuclear device was detonated, 

levels were rerun and the distances remeasured 

to determine what changes had occurred. 

The project was completed in early November, and the fieldman returned to Denver. 

1966 

A small project, consisting of five 1:24,000-

scale quadrangles, was scheduled for the 1966 

season to map the city of Fairbanks and the 

surrounding area. This was the first 1:24,000-

scale project in Alaska to be published in regular quadrangle format. The Fairbanks quadrangles were 7.5 minutes latitude by 15 minutes 

longitude and were designed as quarters of the 

1 :63,360-scale quadrangles. 

Three men drove from Denver and joined the 

Resident Engineer in Fairbanks to make up the 

crew. Work started in early June. The project 

was handled in the same manner as the special 

Anchorage and vicinity map. The horizontal 

and vertical control was established according 

to standards used for 7 .5-minute mapping in 

the lower 48 States. Classification of culture 

was completed on 2X enlarged photographs. 

Very little helicopter time was required on the 

project. 

The work was completed in early September, 

and the men drove back to Denver. 

1967 

No Alaska projects were scheduled in 1967. 

A flood occurred in Fairbanks that left waterGeological Survey office in Fairbanks before the 

1967 flood. 
marks near the top of four-drawer-high map filing cabinets in the Resident Engineer's office. 

Many hours were spent drying the maps that 

contained correction information for map 

reprinting. Some damaged records were sent to 

Seattle for special renovation. 

1968 

No Alaska projects were scheduled in 1968. 

The Resident Engineer in Fairbanks was transferred to Denver in the spring, and a new Resident Engineer was assigned to Alaska. The 

Resident Engineer's office was moved from 

Fairbanks to Anchorage in January 1969. 

1969 

No standard mapping projects were scheduled for Alaska in 1969. The Office of Special 

Projects, Geologic Division, again requested assistance at Amchitka Island to measure the tectonic strain from another device to be detonated by the Atomic Energy Commission. 

The Survey had completed several projects at 

the Nevada Test Site and had acquired more 

experience on how to position the test areas to 

provide better overall information on the movement caused by the underground blast. The instrumentation was the same as that used in 

1965 at Amchitka, except the geodimeter had a 

laser beam, and measurements were made easily in daylight. The first geodimeters had an incandescent light that had to be operated at 

night to measure any distance over one-half 

mile. 

In October, three men were sent from Denver 

to do the predetonation measurements. When 

the predetonation work was done, the crew returned to Denver. Two weeks later, after the 

device had been detonated, two men returned 

to Amchitka and remeasured all the courses to 

determine the extent of the tectonic strain. 

Work was completed in early November. 

1970 

After the oil discovery at Prudhoe Bay in 

1968, the interest in building a pipeline became 

very real. In 1969, the area covering the socalled transportation corridor was authorized 

for mapping at 1:63,360 scale. This corridor extended from the Yukon River in the south to 

Prudhoe Bay in the north. The area south of the 

Yukon River already had 1:63,360-scale map 

coverage from previous projects, whereas north 

of the Yukon River only the 1:250,000-scale 

maps existed. 

An aerial photography contract was awarded 

for new vertical photographs covering the project area. Flying started when the snow had 

melted and was completed in early September. 

One field party left Denver in early May for 

Fairbanks. Camp equipment was assembled at 

a warehouse in Fairbanks and shipped by air to 

Bettles, where the Resident Engineer had made 

arrangements to build a camp on the western 

side of the airstrip. During the winter, the Resident Engineer had driven a small jeep to 

Bettles over the Hickel Highway and across an 

ice bridge over the Yukon River for use at 

camp to haul fuel, water, and supplies. The 

camp was set up and ready to start work on 

June 1 when the helicopters arrived. 

Before the helicopters left Fairbanks, two 

men used the helicopters for 2 days to observe 

simultaneous reciprocal vertical angles between 

existing horizontal control stations from Fairbanks to the Yukon River. During the field season, vertical angle observations were continued 

along the existing National Geodetic Survey triangulation arc from the Yukon River through 

Bettles and north toward Anaktuvuk Pass. The 

work was continued the following year to complete a continuous simultaneous reciprocal vertical angle traverse from a first-order level line 

at Fairbanks to a tidal bench mark at Point 

Oliktok on the Arctic Ocean. This traverse was 

600 miles long. 

25 

The crew worked all season from the camp at 

Bettles. The work progressed very well in the 

lowlands south of Bettles, but, in the mountain 

areas north of Bettles, progress was slow due to 

the clouds that lay around the peaks at about 

3,500 feet. 

While most of the crew remained at Bettles, 

some members went to Prudhoe Bay for a week 

with the two helicopters and established control 

for twelve 1 :24,000-scale orthophotomaps. Arrangements were made with an oil company for 

room and board. Exceptionally good weather 

prevailed, and the project was completed in 

5 days, after which the crew returned to Bettles. 
Hiller 12-E helicopter, electrotape, and signal light 

on a map control point south of Bettles (1970). 

By August 15, all the work that could be 

done efficiently from Bettles was completed. 

Because of adverse weather and snow on the 

higher peaks, the decision was made to terminate the season rather than to set up another 

camp at Chandalar Lake. The time and expense to move a camp that late in the season 

would not have been offset by the work that 

might have been accomplished in the Brooks 

Range. The crew moved camp and equipment 

to Fairbanks, stored everything in the warehouse, and returned to Denver. 

1971 

The work scheduled for the 1971 season was 

a continuation of the work started in 1970 

along the transportation corridor. Two crews 

were selected, and four helicopters were contracted for the season. A Turbine-Beaver also 

was contracted to supply the two camps. 

One camp was set up at Chandalar Lake, 

and one camp, at Wiseman. C-130 Hercules 

airplanes were chartered to transport the camp 

equipment and fuel from Fairbanks to Chandalar Lake. The Turbine-Beaver was used to 

transport the camp equipment from Chandalar 

Lake to the Wiseman camp because the airstrip 

at Wiseman could not handle a C-130 airplane. 

The weather during June was favorable in 

the Brooks Range; both crews finished the map 

control on the southern side of the Range and 

were ready to move about the end of June. The 

crew at Chandalar moved to a sandbar on the 

26 

Ribdon River near Elusive Lake, on the northern side of the Brooks Range. The Wiseman 

crew moved to a small dirt strip built on a 

sandbar in the Itkillik River, about 50 miles 

north of Anaktuvuk Pass. 

Both camps were moved with the TurbineBeaver because the landing areas at the camps 

would not accommodate anything larger. Fuel 

for both camps was purchased at Sagwon and 

hauled to the camps in the Turbine-Beaver. 

The crew at Ribdon River had two turbine helicopters that used jet fuel. The Turbine-Beaver 

could haul four drums at a time. The crew at 

Itkillik had piston -engine helicopters and used 

aviation gasoline. The Turbine-Beaver could 

haul approximately forty 10-gallon cases of aviation gasoline in a trip. 

The weather was exceptionally good on the 

northern side of the Range, and the work progressed quickly. The area scheduled for the 

season was completed during the last week of 

July. 

The day before the crew at Itkillik was to 

move camp, a very strong wind came up and 

blew the tents down, destroying some of them. 

The Turbine-Beaver brought the men into Sagwon, where they stayed until they could return 

to Itkillik and bring the instruments and camp 

equipment to Sagwon. The camp at Ribdon 

River also was hauled in to Sagwon. After all 

the equipment was brought in, a C-46 transport airplane was chartered to haul the equipment to Fairbanks. 

The camp equipment was stored in the warehouse at Fairbanks, and the crew returned to 

Denver during the first week of August. 

1972 

The Air Force had acqUired new aerial photography during 1970 and 1971 over several 

areas of Alaska, including the northeastern section of Alaska covering the Arctic, Table Mountain, Mount Michelson, and Demarcation 

1 :250,000-scale quadrangles. The project 

scheduled for the 1972 season joined the transportation corridor work done in 1970 and 1971 

and extended east to the Canadian boundary. 

The project area covered both sides of the 

Brooks Range at the highest part of the range. 

Some of the worst weather in northern Alaska 

exists in this extreme northeastern corner of the 
State. Storms build along the Arctic coast and 

move into the mountains, making the northern 

side of the range very difficult to survey because of the fog and high winds. 

One crew was sent from Denver to Fairbanks 

in June. The crew consisted of six men and two 

field assistants. Camp equipment was assembled and hauled to Arctic Village by air, and a 

camp was set up along the airstrip. Three helicopters were contracted for the season andreported for duty on July 1. The chief pilot, who 

came from the Deep South, enlivened camp 

cooking with his Cajun gumbo made with 

northern pike and seasoning he was able to 

find in Fort Yukon. 

Most of the project was worked from the 

base camp at Arctic Village, but a temporary 

camp was set up at Peters Lake on the northern 

slope. The temporary camp was needed because it was impossible to predict what the 

weather conditions would be on the northern 

side of the range from the camp in Arctic Village. Most of the work on the northern slope 

was completed from the temporary camp. 

A considerable amount of electronic traverse 

was established to obtain the necessary photocontrol and to make horizontal ties between the 

National Geodetic Survey triangulation arc that 

extends from the Yukon River to the Arctic 

Ocean through Anaktuvuk Pass and to the International Boundary. During 1970, 1971, and 

1972, this large area, which covers the eastern 

one-half of the Brooks Range, was controlled 

with electronic traverses with ties to National 

Geodetic Survey arcs on all sides. This enabled 

the whole area to be computed under a unified 

adjustment. 

Work was slow on this project because of the 

weather and the large area to be covered. The 

addition of a third helicopter did not prove to 

be as successful as had been hoped. Helicopter 

operations should be used in pairs to be efficient. The high country was completed, but not 

some of the area on the southern side of the 

project. The weather was poor, and the helicopter contract had expired. Because of the uncertainty of the weather, the decision was made 

not to extend the helicopter contract, so the 

camp was closed, and the equipment and materials were shipped back to Fairbanks. The 

crew returned to Denver during the second 

week in September. 

27 

1973 

The season of 1973 included the first mapping done by the Survey in metric units. A 

project consisting of 31 quadrangles covering 

Anchorage and surrounding built-up areas was 

selected for mapping at 1:25,000 scale with 

metric contours. The contour intervals ranged 

from 5 to 20 meters, depending on terrain. Actually, three different projects were included in 

the 31 quadrangles-complete revision covering the city of Anchorage, new orthophotomaps 

for selected quadrangles, and standard topographic maps for the remainder. 

New aerial photography was flown during 

the 1972 season. The control planning was 

completed during spring 1973, in the same 

manner as a 7.5-minute quadrangle project in 

the lower 48 States. Photographs covering the 

city and other heavily developed areas were 

enlarged for classification work. The Resident 

Engineer in Anchorage had consulted with the 

local agencies and obtained the necessary 

boundary information concerning city limits, 

parks, military reservations, and other data pertinent to mapping. Six men were selected to 

work the project. Because of the amount of 

ground work required for this project, each 

man needed a vehicle. Six new carryalls were 

leased from the motor pool in Denver and 

loaded with all the field material and instruments necessary to do the project. 

The crew left Denver on May 14 and drove to 

Anchorage, arriving about a week later. The 

men were able to rent good housing in AnchorSurvey convoy on the Alcan Highway en route to 

Anchorage (1973). 
age and were ready to begin work immediately. The Resident Engineer had obtained the 

necessary office and storage space. A hellcopter was contracted from a local operator and 

was based at the contractor's hangar at one of 

the local airports in town, so fuel and mechanical maintenance were available. Also, during 

flight operations, the pilot was in constant radio 

contact with his home base as well as with the 

control tower at the airport, which made for a 

safer operation than was usually available in 

the remote camps. 

This was a very relaxed project because the 

crew worked a regular 5-day week and did not 

have the constant pressure of a camp. No logistics problems, such as fuel for helicopters and 

aircraft, mail for camp, and food supplies, were 

encountered. The work progressed very well 

and was completed in early September. The 

crew loaded all their vehicles and returned to 

Denver during the first week of September. 

1974 

No Alaska projects were scheduled in 1974. 

1975 

No Alaska projects were scheduled. The Resident Engineer in Anchorage transferred back 

to Region headquarters in Denver. The office in 

Anchorage was vacant until late summer, when 

another Resident Engineer was assigned. The 

new Resident Engineer worked on completing 

the loose ends of the Anchorage mapping. 

1976 

The Bureau of Land Management office in 

Anchorage requested help in establishing horizontal control to support cadastral surveys with 

their inertial guidance system. The areas that 

they needed help with were near Chandalar 

and on the Hughes, Survey Pass, Shungnak, 

and Ambler River 1 :250,000-scale quadrangles. 

The area at Chandalar was a small project, and 

two men worked from Fort Yukon with two 

helicopters establishing horizontal control by 

electronic traverse methods. Because of poor 

weather and considerable snow, the project 

took longer to complete than planned. The men 

28 

completed the Chandalar work about June 20 

and reported to the camp at Dahl Creek, where 

the rest of the crew were set up to work the 

other area. Along with establishing control for 

the Bureau of Land Management's boundary 

surveys, the crew also established photocontrol 

for the Geological Survey mile-to-inch quadrangle mapping on the Hughes, Shungnak, and 

Ambler River quadrangles. All the work for the 

Bureau of Land Management was completed, 

and horizontal and vertical control was completed on the Shungnak quadrangle. Horizontal 

control on the Hughes quadrangle was completed, but not the vertical control because of 

adverse weather and expiration of the helicopter contract. 

This was the first season that the Survey had 

helicopters contracted through the Office of 

Aircraft Services. The Office of Aircraft Services was established by the Department of the 

Interior several years earlier to handle all the 

contracting of helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft 

for Interior agencies. Office personnel made 

several inspection trips to camp and had only 

minor complaints concerning Survey operations. Considerable work was accomplished, 

and this was a very good season. The camp 

equipment was returned to the warehouse in 

Fairbanks, and the crew returned to Denver in 

early September. 

1977 

Four small projects were scheduled for the 

1977 field season. The areas, to be controlled 

for 1 :25,000-scale metric mapping, were at Cordova, Valdez, Whittier, and Seward. Two men 

from Denver and the Resident Engineer in 

Anchorage were assigned to do the fieldwork, 

supported by a Hiller 35-E helicopter. 

The first area to be worked was Cordova. 

The crew arrived there in early June. Two 

trucks were shipped by Alaska State Ferry from 

Valdez, and the helicopter arrived about 

10 days later. Several delays occurred while the 

helicopter was being certified. 

After the helicopter arrived, it was plagued 

by mechanical troubles, and considerable time 

was lost. Just as the helicopter reached Cordova, a clutch failure, similar to what happened 

in 1960, necessitated an emergency landing on 

Eyak Lake. With the normal bad weather and 
the helicopter troubles, fieldwork in this project 

area was delayed. When the work finally was 

completed and the crew was ready to move to 

Valdez to begin the second project, the State 

Ferry system was on strike. Consequently, one 

of the trucks had to be left at Cordova. The 

crew was aware that a strike was imminent and 

had sent two trucks ahead. 

Work started about the first part of August on 

the Valdez project. Progress was slow on this 

project also. The normal bad weather hampered flying in the higher mountains that surround the town, and record snowfalls the previous winter hampered the recovery and 

photoidentification of control. When the fieldwork finally was completed in September, it 

was too late in the season to attempt working 

the Whittier and Seward areas. Helicopter operations, therefore, were terminated, and the 

crew returned to Denver. 

1978 

One small area, consisting of four 1:25,000-

scale quadrangles east of Willow and joining 

the northern edge of the Anchorage project, 

was authorized for mapping. The area was selected to provide larger scale map coverage for 

a possible new State capital for which the people of Alaska had voted. 

In conjunction with the fieldwork for these 

four quadrangles, the Bureau of Land Management had requested help in establishing horizontal control for their inertial guidance system 

for surveying the boundaries of State withdrawal lands in the Alaska Range. The Bureau 

of Land Management project area extended 

from Mount McKinley in the north to an area 

west of Iliamnq Lake in the south. Control stations were requested on both sides of the 

Alaska Range. Because of the inaccessibility of 

some of the requested stations, the Survey acquired two satellite tracking instruments to use 

in conjunction with the electronic distancemeasuring equipment. The Bureau of Land 

Management had been using the satellite 

tracking equipment for several years with varying degrees of success. 

These instruments track Navy navigation 

satellites. Two methods are available for establishing a geodetic position from the satellites. 

One method is called point positioning. When 

29 

using this method, only satellites that have the 

precise ephemeris programmed into their systems are tracked. Normally, it takes from 7 to 9 

days to acquire a sufficient number of satellite 

passes to establish an acceptable position. The 

other method, which the Bureau of Land Management and the Survey use, is called translocation. In this method, one instrument is placed 

on a known horizontal position, and the other 

instrument or instruments are set on the requested points. All satellites (5) then are 

tracked, and usually a sufficient number of 

passes are acquired to establish an acceptable 

position within 36 to 48 hours. 

Four men left Denver about May 20 for Anchorage. The Resident Engineer in Anchorage 

had made arrangements to base field operations for the Willow project in Talkeetna. Because arrangements were made at one of the 

local motels for meals and lodging, a camp was 

not necessary. One helicopter was contracted 

and reported for duty about June 1. Photocontrol for the Willow project was completed in 

about 10 days. 

The crew moved from Talkeetna to Skwentna 

where they found that the former Federal A viation Administration station had been converted 

to a borough school. Considerable other 

changes were noted from what had existed in 

1954. A camp was set up, and work began on 

establishing control for the Bureau of Land 

Management. The whole season was plagued 

with malfunctions of the satellite tracking 

equipment. The season also had very bad 

Satellite tracking instrument used for establishing 

geodetic positions from satellites. 
weather and near-record rainfall. The fieldwork 

that could be done with electronic distancemeasuring equipment was completed, but the 

satellite tracking work was not finished. 

About August 1, it became apparent that the 

Bureau of Land Management work was not 

going to be completed, so two men left camp 

and went back to Talkeetna to finish the field 

classification work on the Willow project, which 

took about a week. Upon completing the Willow project, they then went to Seward and did 

the field classification work on the Seward project, which originally had been scheduled in 

1977. 

The skeleton crew left at Skwentna finished 

what work could be done, then closed the 

camp, and moved to Anchorage, where they 

worked on establishing photocontrol for the 

Whittier project. The crew worked until the 

helicopter contract expired. 

A radio repeater was purchased in early 

spring for use on this project. The repeater was 

set up on Beluga Mountain and performed very 

well. The crew at Skwentna had direct radio 

contact with the Resident Engineer in Anchorage and with the helicopter in most areas of the 

project. 

In spite of all the equipment failures and bad 

weather, considerable work was accomplished 

by moving around and picking up unfinished 

projects. Work was shut down about September 1, and the crews returned to Denver. 

1979 

Two crews were selected to work in Alaska 

for the 1979 summer season. Contracts were let 

for helicopters and one fixed-wing airplane. 

Two helicopters were assigned to each crew, 

and the airplane was used to supply the camps. 

The airplane also was used to take photographs 

of the paneled stations and to move camps. 

One crew was to complete the requested 

control for the Bureau of Land Management in 

the Alaska Range. Their camp equipment and 

supplies were transported by chartered aircraft 

from Anchorage to Farewell. The Resident Engineer in Anchorage had made arrangements 

with the Federal Aviation Administration and 

State authorities to set up camp at Farewell 

along the airstrip. 

The Survey had purchased four new satellite 

30 

tracking instruments, which were used in conjunction with the electronic distance-measuring 

equipment to complete the Bureau of Land 

Management work. The four instruments increased production tremendously, and work 

was completed at Farewell in about a month. 

The crew then moved to a camp at the Sparrevohn Air Force station and continued work 

along the western side of the Alaska Range. 

When the work was completed at Sparrevohn, 

the camp was broken up, and two men and the 

helicopters moved to Port Alsworth, on Lake 

Clark, to finish the Bureau of Land Management control around Illiamna Lake. 

The remainder of the crew moved the camp 

equipment back to Anchorage and then to Seward to complete the photocontrol. When the 

two men at Port Alsworth finished their work, 

they also moved to the Seward project with the 

helicopters. Work was completed about the first 

week of September. 

The second crew was to establish horizontal 

control in two areas for the Geological Survey's 

Special Mapping Center. One area was near 

Fort Yukon and consisted of photoidentifying 

existing control. This control was paneled, and 

photographs were taken from the helicopters 

and the fixed-wing airplane with a 35-mm 

camera. While the crew was at Fort Yukon, two 

field assistants set up a camp at Dahl Creek. 

The work was completed at Fort Yukon in approximately a week, and the men and instruments moved to Dahl Creek, 5 miles north of 

Kobuk. 

Additional horizontal control had to be established in this area. The control was established 

by using electronic distance-measuring equipment and satellite tracking instruments. Existing control also was paneled, and photographs 

were taken from the fixed-wing airplane. While 

the crew was at Dahl Creek working on the 

control for Special Mapping Center, they were 

able to finish the vertical control and classification work on the Hughes 1:250,000-scale quadrangle that had been started during the 1976 

season. 

All the work was completed at the Dahl 

Creek camp about August 1, and the camp 

equipment was shipped back to the warehouse 

in Fairbanks. The field assistants were paid off, 

and the crew moved to Palmer. One helicopter 

was loaned to the Water Resources Division in 
Anchorage. From Palmer, the crew established 

several horizontal control points in the Talkeetna Mountains that had been requested by 

the Bureau of Land Management. About onehalf the points were established by electronic 

distance-measuring equipment, and theremainder, with the satellite tracking instruments. 

After a week in Palmer, the crew moved to 

Alyeska and completed the horizontal and vertical control plus the classification work on the 

Whittier project. 

The Seward and Whittier projects were 

mapped at 1:25,000 scale with metric contours. 

Although crews moved around considerably 

between partially completed projects, this was 

a very good field season. Both crews completed 

work about the first week in September and returned to Denver. 

1980 

One project was authorized for the 1980 field 

season. The project consisted of 34 quadrangles 

to be mapped at 1:25,000 scale with metric 

contours. The project area was on Kenai Peninsula, and the crew lived at Kenai. The Resident 

Engineer in Anchorage had made arrangements with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

for office space. Because the crew rented apartments, a camp was not needed. 

Five men and families drove up from Denver, 

leaving about May 20 and arriving in Kenai a 

week later. While part of the crew was getting 

the project started, two men were sent to 

Circle, where they were met by another fieldman from Denver, to establish horizontal control for the Bureau of Land Management. The 

helicopter was sent to Circle and arrived on 

June 2. The work was accomplished with the 

satellite tracking instruments and was completed about June 17. The men and equipment 

returned to Kenai. 

The horizontal and vertical control was established by various methods. The electronic distance-measuring equipment was used whenever possible, and the satellite tracking 

instruments were used for isolated points. The 

vertical control was established by vertical angles, planetable traverse, fly levels, and altimeters. 

Mapping photographs were not available 

when the project started. The State had color 

31 

photography flown in 1975 that covered the 

area. A set of these photographs was purchased 

and used to classify and identify the control. By 

the end of the season, new color-infrared 

photographs were available. Culture had 

changed considerably in some areas, which 

created a few problems, and the new photographs helped to resolve the problems. 

The project progressed very well. Helicopter 

work was completed about the first week of 

August, and the contract was terminated. Part 

of the crew left about September 1 to return to 

Denver. Two men stayed to finish odds and 

ends and then returned to Denver in late September. 

1981 

One project, which consisted of 26 quadrangles to be mapped at 1:25,000 scale with metric 

contours, was authorized for the 1981 field season. The project joined the southern part of the 

1980 work and continued south along Cook Inlet to include Kachemak Bay. Homer, Seldovia, 

Port Graham, and other small fishing villages 

were in the project. 

Four men and one field assistant were assigned to the project. One helicopter was contracted for the season, and a boat was chartered for a few days to use along the coastal 

areas where helicopter landings could not be 

made. 

The crew left Denver about May 20 and 

drove to Alaska, arriving about a week later. 

The Resident Engineer in Anchorage had made 

arrangements for an office in Homer. The crew 

was able to rent apartments in Homer. The 

contract helicopter was based in Homer, and 

fuel was readily available. Consequently, nologistics problems were anticipated. 

Fieldwork began about June 1. The weather 

was very good for about 3 weeks, and then the 

rains began. By the end of the summer, record 

rainfall had been measured for July and August. The crew took advantage of every break 

in the weather to establish the necessary photocontrol for mapping. Classification work was 

done when it was raining. All the work was 

completed except four quadrangles that did not 

have new mapping photography. During the 

season, a horizontal traverse was extended 

through some of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' control that had not been updated to the 
Field classification of mapworthy features in Alaska 

suburbia (1981). 

1964 earthquake datum. In addition, control 

was established for a Water Resources Division 

flood-plain mapping project. Work was completed in late August, and the crew returned to 

Denver. 

1982 

One small project was authorized for the 

1982 field season. The mapping was requested 

by the State, and the project area extended 

from Willow in the south to Curry in the north. 

The area encompassed the Parks Highway and 

the railroad, plus the town of Talkeetna. The 

project consisted of eight 1 :25,000-scale quadrangles. 

Two men were assigned to the project and 

were headquartered at Talkeetna. The Resident 

Engineer in Anchorage had made arrangements for lodging and office space. The men 

flew from Denver to Anchorage on May 20. 

Their equipment was shipped from Denver and 

was in Anchorage when they arrived. Their vehicles, stored in Anchorage from the previous 

season, already had been checked and were 

ready to use. A helicopter had been contracted 

for about 3 weeks, starting on May 27. On 

Memorial Day, TV journalist Walter Cronkite, 

his wife, and a film crew of three visited the 

project to film Survey field operations for use 

on CBS' ~~universe" program. 

The fieldwork was routine and was accomplished without any major incidents. Approximately one-half the requested horizontal con32 

trol was established by using the satellite 

tracking instruments. The rest of the horizontal 

control was established by electronic traverse 

by using the electronic distance-measuring 

equipment. Fly levels were run along the Parks 

Highway and used as bases for altimetry. Also, 

the existing levels established by the National 

Geodetic Survey along the railroad were photoidentified and used to check the elevations on 

horizontal stations by simultaneous reciprocal 

vertical angles. 

The weather was rainy during June and the 

first part of July. The crew took advantage of 

some marginal weather and were able to complete the project in late July. After completing 

the Talkeetna project, they moved to Homer 

and completed four quadrangles of classification work that the crew could not finish in 1981 

because of the lack of new photography. This 

work was completed in a week, and the two 

men returned to Denver about the first part of 

August. 

1983 

An ambitious program was authorized for the 

1983 summer field season. In southeastern 

Alaska, fourteen 1 :25,000-scale quadrangles in 

the Juneau area and two 1 :25,000-scale quadrangles at Sitka were scheduled for mapping. 

In addition, satellite tracking observations for 

point positioning were planned for the interior 

and western Alaska to strengthen the overall 

Mount McKinley as seen through the clouds from 

north of Talkeetna (1982). 
Walter Cronkite inspecting equipment during filming 

of Survey operations for "Universe" TV series 

(1982). 

control network for the Defense Mapping 

Agency and for orthophotocontrol needs. 

The three men assigned to the southeastern 

Alaska projects flew from Denver to Juneau on 

May 31. Their equipment was shipped by air 

from Denver a few days later after the crew 

had obtained vehicles from the General Services Administration and office space from the 

Water Resources Division. The two engineers 

and a field assistant assigned to the interior 

and western Alaska control projects also arrived in Anchorage on May 31 . 

The satellite tracking surveys proceeded at a 

rapid pace and were accomplished with only 

one major setback. The crew did not realize 

that permission was required from the operator 

of the Alaskan Pipeline and its Chief of Security in Fairbanks before working along the 

pipeline corridor. Two of the satellite tracking 

receiver instruments subsequently were confiscated by Alyeska security personnel. One unit 

had been placed directly beneath the pipeline 

at a point where the line is above ground, and 

the other unit had been placed on top of where 

the pipeline was buried. Security patrols, upon 

finding the receivers, assumed that they were 

radio-controlled bombs designed to sabotage 

the pipeline. While they were dismantling one 

of the units, an internal error alarm began to 

beep, and the security people scattered into the 

brush. About that same time, the Survey crew 

came back to check on the units. The security 

patrol was very understanding and cooperative 

while the field crew tried to talk their way out 

33 

of the predicament, but the Security Chief in 

Fairbanks directed the patrol to confiscate the 

receivers. The units were placed in a refrigerator at pipeline Pump Station Seven. Subsequent 

discussions between the crew and Chief of Security in Fairbanks proved fruitless, even when 

the crew tried to impress upon the Chief the 

cost to the taxpayer of not being able to continue their surveying operations. 

Finally, all was resolved, and the necessary 

permission was obtained. The units were returned with no loss of data, thanks to the cooperation of the security patrol, and were placed 

immediately in service. 

Another aspect of the control work was to tie 

a 1975 National Geodetic Survey first-order 

level line, run along the pipeline road from 

Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay, to a 600-mile vertiSatellite tracking receiver set up near pumping station as part of 1983 control tie work along the 

Alaskan Pipeline. 
Readying the Tiloma for a day's work near Juneau. 

The small dingy was used to go ashore to identify 

existing control (1983). 

cal angle traverse established during the 1970, 

1971, and 1972 field seasons in the same general area. Six ties were established from the 

level line to the traverse between Fairbanks 

and the North Slope. Based on this new data, a 

readjustment of about 190 vertical angle elevations on primary horizontal stations is underway. A total of 77 point positions were occupied-21 for the geodetic control ties, 9 on 

bench marks along the Alaskan Pipeline, 31 to 

satisfy Defense Mapping Agency requests, and 

16 for the Survey orthophoto program. 

On completion of all control survey operations, one engineer returned to Denver, the 

field assistant was paid off, and the other engineer was assigned to the mapping projects in 

southeastern Alaska, where record -setting rains 

were delaying progress. 

During August,. a record 19 days of continuous rain hampered helicopter operations. Finally, skies cleared the last 2 days of August 

and the first week of September so that the 

map control could be completed on the Juneau 

and Sitka projects. Vehicles were returned to 

the General Services Administration, and the 

crew arrived back in Denver the second week 

of September. 

Summary 

In attempting to recount Alaska field operations, we have referred to where and when we 

were working and to what was or was not accomplished. We have included some of the 

34 

problems encountered and have tried to recall 

various incidents of either a humorous or serious nature to provide an idea of what field life 

in Alaska was all about. Unfortunately, for 

those unfamiliar with Alaska or with working 

in virtually uninhabited country, it is almost impossible to appreciate the significance of what 

was accomplished or the hardships encountered. 

References to localities may gloss over the 

fact that they were actually several hundreds of 

miles apart and may ignore totally the adverse 

conditions that might be encountered en route. 

Few can envision a couple of men landing on 

an isoldted lakeshore with several tons of supplies to prepare a camp to house a crew of 10-

15 men who would arrive in 10 days. To say 

that the crew arrived on site on a certain date 

and returned to civilization so many days later 

infers accomplishment of the task during the 

intervening time. Yet, specific references may 

or may not have been made to the fact that the 

crew were holed up in their tents for days because of adverse weather or equipment failure 

without the benefit of modern conveniences. 

Field operations in Alaska have been challenging but highly successful. All of Alaska except the Aleutian Islands now has 1:250,000-

scale topographic coverage to replace the older 

reconnaissance series. As the 1:63,360-scale 

(1 inch= 1 mile) series is completed, the quadrangles are combined to make new or revised 

1 :250,000-scale topographic quadrangles. When 

completed, it will take approximately 2,900 

1 :63,360-stale quadrangles to cover the entire 

State of Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands 

and the islands in the Bering Sea. 

During the period from 1950 to 1955, the U.S. 

Army 30th Engineering Battalion sent survey 

crews to Alaska to establish aerial photocontrol 

for their 1:50,000-scale mapping needs, principally in the areas of Prince William Sound, 

Kenai Peninsula, Alaska Peninsula, western 

Alaska, and the Arctic Coast. The 30th Engineers controlled and classified 1,109 mile-tothe-inch quadrangles and compiled 869 of 

these quadrangles. The Geological Survey compiled the remaining 240 quadrangles and made 

civil editions of all 1,109 quadrangles for publication. The Survey assigned liaison personnel 

to the 30th Engineers during summers 1953 
and 1954 to ensure work compatibility between 

the two organizations. 

Additionally, the Geological Survey controlled, compiled, and published about 1,300 

other 1:63,360-scale topographic quadrangles, 

for a total coverage at this scale of approximating 88 percent of the State. Maps covering an 

additional 8 percent of the State, mostly in 

areas of the Brooks Range and Bering Glacier, 

are in various stages of production. Only the 

Aleutian Islands west of Unalaska and isolated 

islands in the Bering Sea lack 1:63,360-scale 

coverage. Mile-to-the-inch mapping should be 

adequate for 99 percent of Alaska's mapping 

needs for many years to come. 

At the present time, mapping authorizations 

are for 1:25,000-scale metric maps of the more 

settled areas and for orthophotoquads. The 

metric mapping projects are generally small 

areas around towns and do not require field 

camps or extensive helicopter or airplane 

operations. 

In recent years, considerable effort has been 

made in preparing orthophotoquads for the Bureau of Land Management and the State of 

Alaska from National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration high-altitude photography, in 

support of the Bureau's production of land plats 

of the public land surveys and the State's land 

disposal programs. Existing geodetic control 

and control photoidentification have minimized 

the requirement for additional Geological Survey fieldwork. 

Considering the remoteness of the project 

areas, the unpredictabilty of the weather, and 

the dangerous situations encountered, the Survey's safety record has been remarkable. While 

we recognize, with regret, that the Geological 

Survey has lost a number of people, the Rocky 

Mountain Mapping Center has not lost anyone 

engaged in Alaska topographic mapping. However, the dangers were ever present. 

Most everyone who went to Alaska was a 

volunteer. Some were better qualified than others either by experience or natural ability. During the first few seasons, when the crews were 

inexperienced, entire crews were composed of 

people who had never been to Alaska or who 

had never worked under camp conditions. 

After the first three or four seasons, however, 

operations became more efficient as people 

gained experience. Geological Survey Alaska 

35 

project campsites are listed in Appendix A, and 

Alaska field crews are listed in Appendix B by 

year as well as the different camps, villages, 

roadhouses, or town locations. 

Survey personnel were probably the least experienced in operating the boats than in any 

other phase of Alaska operations. The weather 

conditions in southeastern Alaska are very unpredictable. The crews did not have access to 

weather reports and had to interpret weather 

conditions for themselves. They not only had to 

interpret weather conditions, but also had to 

learn to read navigation charts and tide tables. 

Looking back on some of the situations the 

boat crews got into, it is truly remarkable that 

no one was lost, especially in the unprotected 

waters. 

Not only were the Survey personnel inexperienced, but many of the earlier helicopter pilots 

had less than 200 hours flying time, no experience in Alaska, and probably very little mountain experience because of altitude limitations 

inherent in the earliest helicopters. As pilots 

with more flying time became available, even 

some with several seasons' experience in 

Alaska, and with dramatic improvements in 

helicopter performance since 1956, helicopter 

support improved considerably. Approximately 

11,500 flying hours of helicopter support have 

been logged since 1948. Fifteen accidents occurred in which the helicopters were a total 

loss; most of the helicopters were salvaged or 

rebuilt. During this period, no one died, and no 

one was injured seriously. 

Fixed-wing aircraft have been used to some 

extent every year. Large cargo planes have 

been chartered for hauling fuel and camp 

equipment. It is difficult to estimate the number 

of hours that have been flown in fixed-wing 

aircraft, but the number probably exceeds 

5,000 hours, and with an accident-free record. 

Float planes and wheel planes have been used, 

depending on the need, and amphibians have 

been used where situations called for water 

and ground landings. The safety record using 

airplanes has been remarkable, considering 

that many landings and takeoffs were on small 

lakes, river sandbars, frozen lakes, glaciers, 

and unimproved dirt strips and in all kinds of 

weather. Many landings were made on lakes 

and sandbars that had never been landed on 

before. The pilot had to have good judgment as 
to the length of the lake or sandbar and 

whether his plane had the capabilities of takeoff, once he landed. Most of these types of 

landings were made to cache fuel for helicopter 

operations. 

Hopefully, the Survey's safety record in 

Alaska field operations will continue, for in no 

small way this remarkable safety record attests 

to the overall caliber and dedication of those 

who have served in Alaska in the past and will 

serve in the field seasons to come. 

36 

Selected References 

• Brooks, A. H., 1906, The geography and geology of 

Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 45, 

p. 104-132. 

*FitzGerald, Gerald, 1951, Surveying and mapping in 

Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 101, 24 p. 

Reed, K. M. (ed.), 1982, The U.S. Geological Survey in 

Alaska-1982 programs: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

867, p. 11-17. 

• Reproduced as Appendixes D and E, respectively. 
APPENDIXES 
Appendix A 

Alaska Project Campsites 

(Location Map in Pocket] 

1. Ketchikan-1949, 1955 

2. Craig-1948, 1949, 1951 

3. Bell Island-1955 

4. Wrangell-1947, 1951 

5. Petersburg-1951 

6. Baranof Hot Springs-1951 

7. Tenakee Springs-1949, 1951 

8. Taku Harbor-1951 

9. Juneau-1948, 1960, 1983 

10. Chichagof lsland-1947, 1948 

11. Glacier Bay-1949 

12. Mount Fairweather-1961 

13. Comet-1948 

14. Skagway-1949 

15. Wells-1954 

16. Yakatat-1959 

17. Yakataga-1948, 1959 

18. Katalla-1951 

19. Cordova-1951, 1977 

20. Seward-1979 

21. Homer-1948, 1981 

22. Kodiak-1948 

23. Port Heiden-1963 

24. Cold Bay-1963 

25. Amchitka-1965, 1969 

26. Kenai-1980 

27. AJyeska-1979 

28. Anchorage-1960, 1962, 1973 

29. Palmer-1950 

30. Chickaloon-1948 

31. Sheep Mountain-1948, 1960 

32. Valdez-1951, 1977 

33. Chitina-1951 

34. McCarthy-1959 

35. Chisana-1959 

36. Slana-1949 

37. Chistochina-1960 

38. Gulkana-1949 

39. Talkeetna-1950, 1982 

40. Skwentna-1954, 1958, 1978 

41. Lake Clark-1958, 1979 

42. Sparrevohn-1979 

43. Farewell-1958, 1979 

44. Lake Minchumina-1953 

45. Wonder Lake-1954 

46. Cantwell-Broad Pass-1947, 1950 

47. Paxson-1950 

48. Northway-1960 

49. Gardiner Creek-1955 

50. Tok Junction-1948, 1959 

51. Dot Lake-1952, 1955 

52. Black Rapids-1950 

53. Ferry-1948, 1950 

54. Big Delta-1948, 1950 

55. Tanana-1953, 1956 

56. Manly Hot Springs-1953 

57. Standard-1950 

58. Fairbanks-1950, 1966 

59. Shaw Creek-1950 

60. Chicken-1956 

61. Woodchopper-1952 

62. Central-1952, 1955 

63. Sourdough Roadhouse-1952 

64. Livengood-1952 

65. Bettles-1956, 1970 

66. Hughes-1956 

67. Dahl Creek-1956, 1976, 1979 

68. Wiseman-1971 

69. Chandalar Lake-1956, 1971 

70. Fort Yukon-1956, 1979 

71. Circle-1956, 1980 

72. Black River-1956 

73. Arctic Village-1956, 1972 

74. Galbraith Lake-1956 

75. Elusive Lake-1971 

76. Killik River-1956 

77. Itkillik River-1971 

78. Umiat-1956 

79. Prudhoe Bay-1970 

80. Sitka-1983 

38 
Appendix B 

Alaska Field Crews 

(By Year and Location] 

1947 

Joel Langhofer-Homer 

John Zydik-Healy-Cantwell 

Harold Werner-Heceta Island 

Morrison Rousseau-Chichagof Island 

Robert Lake-Chichagof Island 

John Lyles-Wrangell, Stikine River 

William Matheny-Liaison with Air Force, Fairbanks 

1948 

Joel Langhofer-Yakataga 

Lester Ganahl-Yakataga 

Irving Gessley-Homer 

Samuel Cleaver-Homer 

Garland Wilcoxen-Homer 

Morrison Rousseau-Chichagof Island 

Robert Foley-Chichagof Island 

William Matheny-Chichagof Island 

Roy Wendolin-Chichagof Island 

Richard Westfall-Chichagof Island 

Cornelius Reisdorf-Chichagof Island 

John Lyles-Comet 

Harold Werner-Craig 

Reynold lsto-Sheep Mountain-Chickaloon 

Woodrow Knox-Sheep Mountain-Chickaloon 

Jack Austin-Sheep Mountain-Chickaloon 

Ernest Miller-Sheep Mountain-Chickaloon 

John Zydik-Cathedral Bluffs 

Frank Cernich-Cathedral Bluffs 

Leo Hendrickson-Big Delta 

Fred Heintz-Big Delta 

James Jackson-Big Delta 

Arturo Martini-Big Delta 

Richard Larson-Ferry 

1949 

Reynold Isto-Central Alaska 

E. Burton Benson-Gulkana 

Leo Hendrickson-Gulkana 

Robert Bartheld-Gulkana 

Jesse Dyer-Gulkana 

John Zydik-Tok Junction 

Jerry Turner-Tok Junction 

Steven Bethea-Tok Junction 

Peter Johnson-Tok Junction 

Joel Langhofer-Southeast Alaska 

Harry McDermith-Ketchikan 

Lester Ganahl-Ketchikan 

James Dyer-Ketchikan 

39 

James Neff-Ketchikan 

Harold Werner-Craig 

Roy Wendolin-Craig 

Morrison Rousseau-Glacier Bay-Skagway 

Joseph Anderson-Glacier Bay-Skagway 

Arthur Gervais-Glacier Bay-Skagway 

Robert Foley-Glacier Bay-Skagway 

Kenneth McLean-Glacier Bay-Skagway 

John Lyles-Lynn Canal-Tenakee Springs 

Fred Heintz-Kodiak 

1950 

Joel Langhofer-Railroad corridor 

George Forney-Palmer-Rainbow Lake 

William Gallogly-Palmer-Rainbow Lake 

Joseph Anderson-Palmer-Rainbow Lake 

Louis Plansoen-Palmer-Rainbow Lake 

Floyd Bishop-Palmer-Rainbow Lake 

Arthur Gervais-Standard-Ferry-McKinley Park 

Robert Foley-Standard-Ferry-McKinley Park 

James Jackson-Standard-Ferry-McKinley Park 

Alvin Williams-Standard-Ferry-McKinley Park 

E. Burton Benson-Highway corridor-30th Engineers 

Louis Stevenson-Paxson-Black Rapids-Broad Pass 

Robert Bartheld-Paxson-Black Rapids-Broad Pass 

James Dyer-Paxson-Black Rapids-Broad Pass 

Jesse Dyer-Paxson-Black Rapids-Broad Pass 

Leo Hendrickson-Shaw Creek 

Kenneth McLean-Shaw Creek 

Grover Heinrichs-Shaw Creek 

1951 

E. Burton Benson-Central Alaska-30th Engineers 

Leo Hendrickson-Cordova-Katalla 

Jesse Dyer-Cordova-Katalla 

Alfred Terrazas-Cordova-Katalla 

Ned Druckenbrod-Cordova-Katalla 

Melvin Harmel-Tonsina-Chitina 

Irvin Benes-Tonsina-Chitina 

James Dyer-Tonsina-Chitina 

David Stubbe-Tonsina-Chitina 

George Forney-Lake Louise 

Peter Johnson-Lake Louise 

Jack Wonderly-Lake Louise 

Joseph Strange-Lake Louise 

Steven Bethea-Clarence Lake 

James Lee-Clarence Lake 

Waymon Choate-Clarence Lake 

Harold Werner-Clarence Lake 

Reynold Isto-Southeast Alaska 

Arthur Gervais-Tenakee Springs-Petersburg-WrangellKetchikan 

Robert Bartheld-Tenakee Springs-PetersburgWrangell-Ketchikan 
Richard Longworth-Tenakee Springs-PetersburgWrangell-Ketchikan 

Robert Foley-on a boat in southeastern Alaska 

Louis Plansoen-on a boat in southeastern Alaska 

Garland Wilcoxen-on a boat in southeastern Alaska 

Kenneth McLean-Baranof Hot Springs 

John Clemens-Baranof Hot Springs 

Joseph Anderson-Baranof Hot Springs 

John Lyles-Taku-Entrance Island 

Samuel Cleaver-Taku-Entrance Island 

James Jackson-Taku-Entrance Island 

1952 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Leo Hendrickson-Central-Woodchopper 

Jesse Dyer-Central-Woodchopper 

Charles O'Brien-Central-Woodchopper 

Jack Laird-Central-Woodchopper 

Joseph Strange-Central-Woodchopper 

Melvin Harmel-Dot Lake-Sourdough Roadhouse 

Andrew Kordziel-Dot Lake-Sourdough Roadhouse 

Richard Longworth-Dot Lake-Sourdough Roadhouse 

George Staeffler-Dot Lake-Sourdough Roadhouse 

1953 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Leo Hendrickson-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Melvin Harmel-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Irvin Benes-Manly Hot Springs-Fort Yukon 

Joseph Anderson-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Richard Longworth-Manly Hot Springs-Lake 

Minchumina 

Andrew Kordziel-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Louis Roberts-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Elias McClelland-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Thomas Taylor-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

Isaac Johnson-Manly Hot Springs-Lake Minchumina 

E. Burton Benson-30th Engineers 

1954 

Reynold lsto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Alvin Williams-Wells-Wonder Lake 

Thomas Williams-Wells-Wonder Lake 

Thomas O'Brien-Wells-Wonder Lake 

Robert Foley-Skwentna 

Thomas Taylor-Skwentna-Wells 

Joseph Anderson-Skwentna-Wells 

Richard Longworth-Skwentna-Wells 

E. Burton Benson-30th Engineers 

Arthur Gervais-30th Engineers 

Melvin Harmel-30th Engineers 

1955 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Robert Foley-Ketchikan-Gardiner Creek-Central 

Thomas Taylor-Ketchikan-Gardiner Creek-Central 

Louis Roberts-Ketchikan-Gardiner Creek-Central 

Leo Hendrickson-Bell Island-Dot Lake 

40 

George Staeffler-Bell Island-Dot Lake 

Thomas Williams-Bell Island-Dot Lake 

Thomas O'Brien-Bell Island-Gardiner Creek-Central 

E. Burton Benson-30th Engineers 

Arthur Gervais-30th Engineers 

1956 

Reynold lsto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Art Gervais-Western Brooks Range-Tanana 

Donald Orth-Western Brooks Range-Tanana 

Dean Newkirk-Western Brooks Range-Tanana 

Joseph Anderson-Western Brooks Range-Tanana 

Thomas Williams-Western Brooks Range-Tanana 

Thomas O'Brien-Central Brooks Range-Chicken 

Donald Cochran-Central Brooks Range-Chicken 

Charles Ewing-Central Brooks Range-Chicken 

George Staeffler-Central Brooks Range-Chicken 

Robert Foley-Eastern Brooks Range-Black River-Circle 

Louis Roberts-Eastern Brooks Range-Black River-Circle 

Edwin Murray-Eastern Brooks Range-Black RiverCircle 

Robert Spirk-Eastern Brooks Range-Black River-Circle 

Thomas Taylor-Roving between camps-Name and 

classification 

1957 

Reynold lsto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

No projects 

1958 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Robert Foley-Skwentna-Lake Clark-Farewell 

Andrew Kordziel-Skwentna-Lake Clark-Farewell 

George Staeffler-Skwentna-Lake Clark-Farewell 

Thomas Taylor-Skwentna-Lake Clark-Farewell 

Joel Swanson-Skwentna-Lake Clark-Farewell 

1959 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Arthur Gervais-Yakatat-McCarthy-Chisana 

Paul Antill-Yakatat-McCarthy-Chisana 

Kenneth McLean-Yakatat-McCarthy-Chisana 

George Staeffler-Yakatat-McCarthy-Chisana 

Thomas Taylor-Yakatat-McCarthy-Chisana 

1960 

Reynold Isto-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Robert Foley-Anchorage 

Thomas Taylor-Northway-Chistochina-Sheep 

Mountain-Juneau 

Kenneth McLean-Northway-Chistochina-Sheep 

Mountain-Juneau 

Doyle Smith-Northway-Chistochina-Sheep MountainJuneau 

Edwin Eckels-Northway-Chistochina-Sheep MountainJuneau 

1961 

Reynold Isto and Arthur Gervais-Resident EngineersFairbanks 
Elias McClelland-Mount Fairweather 

Kenneth McLean-Mount Fairweather 

Doyle Smith-Mount Fairweather 

Joel Swanson-Mount Fairweather 

1962 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Kenneth McLean-Anchorage 

William Runnels-Anchorage 

Joel Swanson-Anchorage 

Elias McClelland-Anchorage 

1963 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Louis Roberts-Alaska Peninsula 

Fred Weed-Alaska Peninsula 

Jack Harry-Alaska Peninsula 

1964 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

No mapping projects 

Robert Foley-Anchorage earthquake studies 

Alfred Dodd-Anchorage earthquake studies 

Jack Helm-Anchorage earthquake studies 

1965 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

No mapping projects 

Robert Foley-Amchitka Island (Geologic Division) 

1966 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

Kenneth McLean-Fairbanks 

Donald Adkins-Fairbanks 

Emery Miller-Fairbanks 

1967 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

No mapping projects 

1968 

Arthur Gervais-Resident Engineer-Fairbanks 

No mapping projects 

1969 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

No mapping projects 

Robert Foley-Amchitka Island (Geologic Division) 

Courtney Swanson-Amchitka Island (Geologic Division) 

lloyd Bentley-Amchitka Island (Geologic Division) 

1970 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Arthur Gervais-Bettles-Prudhoe Bay 

Robert Foley-Bettles-Prudhoe Bay 

Gary Palmer-Bettles-Prudhoe Bay 

Robert Spirk-Bettles-Prudhoe Bay 

Douglas Hardwick-Bettles-Prudhoe Bay 

1971 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Robert Foley-Chandalar Lake-Elusive Lake 

41 

Charles Lough-Chadalar Lake-Elusive Lake 

James Petzold-Chandalar Lake-Elusive Lake 

James Pratt-Chandalar Lake-Elusive Lake 

Courtney Swanson-Wiseman-Itkillik River 

Ronald Wolbach-Wiseman-Itkillik River 

Gary Palmer-Wiseman-Itkillik River 

John Wadleigh-Wiseman-Itkillik River 

Jack Harry-Wiseman-Itkillik River 

1972 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Courtney Swanson-Arctic Village 

Kenneth Palmer-Arctic Village 

Frank Aschert-Arctic Village 

Richard Roth-Arctic Village 

Leroy Sanford-Arctic Village 

1973 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Robert Foley-Anchorage 

Courtney Swanson-Anchorage 

Daniel West-Anchorage 

Lyle Kemper-Anchorage 

Larry Simmons-Anchorage 

David McNutt-Anchorage 

1974 

Thomas O'Brien-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

No mapping projects 

1975 

Thomas O'Brien and Thomas Taylor-Resident 

EngineersAnchorage 

No mapping projects 

1976 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Courtney Swanson-Dahl Creek (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Robert Searcy-Dahl Creek (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Leroy Sanford-Dahl Creek (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

1977 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Steven Crosby-Cordova-Valdez 

Leroy Sanford-Cordova-Valdez 

1978 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Courtney Swanson-Skwentna (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Andrew Hinely-Skwentna (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Leroy Sanford-Skwentna (Bureau of Land Management 

Repay) 

Jon Sorenson-Skwentna (Bureau of Land Management 

Repay) 
1979 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Wayne Gatson-Fort Yukon-Dahl Creek-Whittier 

Andrew Hinely-Fort Yukon-Dahl Creek-Whittier 

Daniel Hall-Fort Yukon-Dahl Creek-Whittier 

Robert Foley-Fort Yukon-Dahl Creek-Whittier 

Courtney Swanson-Farewell-Sparrevohn-Lake Clark 

(Bureau of Land Management 

Repay)-Seward 

Donald Lesovsky-Farewell-Sparrevohn-Lake Clark 

(Bureau of Land Management 

Repay)-Seward 

Steven Crosby-Farewell-Sparrevohn-Lake Clark 

(Bureau of Land Management Repay)-

Seward 

1980 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Wayne Gatson-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Steven Crosby-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

David Lough-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Carl Schoch-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

42 

Leroy Sanford-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

Robert Foley-North Kenai-Circle (Bureau of Land 

Management Repay) 

1981 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Courtney Swanson-Homer 

David Lough-Homer 

Abe Trimble-Homer 

Jeffrey Roche-Homer 

1982 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Abe Trimble-Talkeetna 

Jeffrey Roche-Talkeetna 

Courtney Swanson-Talkeetna 

1983 

Thomas Taylor-Resident Engineer-Anchorage 

Abe Trimble-Control 

David Laugh-Control 

Courtney Swanson-Juneau-Sitka 

Jeffrey Roche-Juneau-Sitka 

Phillip Ibarra-Juneau-Sitka 
Appendix C 

Alaska Geographic Features Named For 

U.S. Geological Survey Employees 

[Compiled by R. M. Chapman, 1982] 

Cleveland Abbe, Jr. 

J. W. Bagley 

Marcus Baker 

E. C. Barnard 

C. T. Bressler 

A. H. Brooks 

S. R. Capps 

Theodore Chapin 

W. H. Dall 

H. M. Eakin 

G. H. Eldridge 

R. E. Fellows 

Bernard Fisher 

Gerald FitzGerald 

G. M. Flint, Jr. 

T. G. Gerdine 

C. E. Giffin 

R. U. Goode 

E. C. Guerin 

C. W. Hayes 

R. E. Isto 

R. W. Juhle 

Adolph Knopf 

E. de K. Leffingwell 

R. S. MacColl 

Mount Abbe in Glacier Bay National Monument. 

Bagley Icefield in St. Elias Mountains area. 

Baker Glacier in Chugach Mountains; Baker Island in southeastern Alaska; Baker Point in 

Kasaan Bay; Mount Marcus Baker and Marcus Baker Glacier in Chugach Mountains. 

Mount Barnard in Glacier Bay; Barnard Glacier in St. Elias Mountains. Note: Barnard Glacier in 

College Fiord is named for Barnard College. 

Mount Bressler in Juneau Icefield. 

Brooks Range in northern Alaska; Mount Brooks and Brooks Glacier in Alaska Range; Brooks 

Mountain on Seward Peninsula; Brooks Lake and Brooks Falls in Katmai National Monument; 

Brooks also was used as a temporary early name for the village of Livengood. 

Capps Glacier near Tyonek; Mount Capps in Alaska Range. 

Chapin Peak on Gravina Island, southeastern Alaska. 

Mount Dall in Alaska Range; Dall Island in Dixon Entrance; Dall Point near Hooper Bay; Dall 

Ridge on Gravina Island; Dall River tributary to Yukon River. 

Mount Henry Eakin in Ray Mountains, Tanana quadrangle. 

Mount Eldridge and Eldridge Glacier in Alaska Range. 

Mount Fellows in McKinley Park area. 

Fisher Caldera on Unimak Island. 

Fitz Creek at Chinitna Bay, Alaska Peninsula. 

Flints Point near lyoukeen Cove, southeastern Alaska. 

Mount Gerdine in Tordrillo Mountains, near Tyonek. 

Giffin Glacier in St. Elias Mountains. 

Mount Goode near head of Knik Glacier, Chugach Mountains. 

Guerin Lake on Admiralty Island. Probably named for this topographer. 

Mount Hayes in Alaska Range; Hayes Glacier in Tordrillo Mountains. 

Mount Isto in eastern Brooks Range. 

Mount Juhle in Katmai National Monument. 

Mount Adolph Knopf near Giley Glacier and Juneau Icefield, southeastern Alaska. 

Leffingwell Glacier and Creek in eastern Brooks Range. (He was not an employee, but his work 

was published by the Geological Survey.) 

MacColl Ridge in St. Elias Mountains. 

43 
G. C. Martin 

J. B. Mertie, Jr. 

D. J. Miller 

F. H. Moffit 

Robert Muldrow 

W. J. Peters 

W. S. Post 

L. M. Prindle 

H. F. Reid 

I. C. Russell 

R. H. Sargent 

F. C. Schrader 

V. E. Shainin 

P. S. Smith 

A. C. Spencer 

J. E. Spurr 

R. S. Tarr 

Martin Webories 

D. C. Witherspoon 

W. E. Wrather 

C. W. Wright 

F. E. Wright 

Mount Martin and Martin Creek on Alaska Peninsula. Numerous other features with Martin name 

are named for others. 

Mount Mertie (or Mertie Mountains) in Eagle D-6 quadrangle near Charley River. Proposed in 

1981; is not yet approved. 

Don Miller Hills near Katana. 

Mount Moffit in Alaska Range. 

Muldrow Glacier on Mount McKinley. 

Peters Lake in Brooks Range; Peters Glacier at head of Muddy River in Alaska Range. 

Post River in Kuskokwim River area. 

Mount Prindle in White Mountains; Prindle Volcano in Fortymile area. 

Reid Glacier and Reid Inlet in Glacer Bay area. (He was an advisor on glaciology and earthquakes 

to the Geological Survey, 1901-1914.) 

Mount Russell in Alaska Range; Russell Fiord and Russell Island in St. Elias Mountains area; Russell 

Glacier in Wrangell Mountains. 

Sargent Icefield on Kenai Peninsula. 

Schrader Lake in Brooks Range; Schrader Bluff on Anaktuvuk River; Schrader Creek near Chandalar Lake; Mount Schrader near Valdez. 

Shainin Lake in Brooks Range. 

Philip Smith Mountains in Brooks Range. 

Spencer Peak near Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Icefield. Several more features with Spencer 

name are named for others. 

Mount Spurr near Tyonek. 

Tarr Inlet in Glacier Bay National Monument. Tarr was chiefly with National Geographic Society 

but was affiliated with the Geological Survey. 

Webories Creek (Tanana B-6 quadrangle). Webories accompanied J. B. Mertie between Poorman 

and Ophir in 1933, was a camphand for Mertie in 1934, and worked for a short time as horse 

packer for Chapman in 1943. 

Mount Witherspoon in Chugach Mountains near Valdez. 

Mount Wrather near Mendenhall Glacier and Juneau Icefield, southeastern Alaska. 

Mount Wright near Ketchikan, location uncertain and not shown on current maps. Probably named 

for these two geologists. 

44 
AppendixD 

104 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

HISTORY OF EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The following sketch is based on a rather desultory examination of the literatut·e at odd times during four or five years. While the value of the statements 

woul<l have been much enhanced by the citation of authorities thiH was not possible 

in the time available for preparation. 

The bibliography a appended to this report contains the titles of all the works 

eonsulted, which are only a small part of the voluminous literature upon Ala~ka. It 

has been possible to make a more or less careful study of the important publications 

relating to the Territory since its acquisition by the United States, but many of 

those which deal with the earlier period, particularly the Russian, were not consulted, and the writer has had to rely in part on the three standard works on Alaska 

which contain important summaries of its history. These are: Alaska and Its 

Resources, by '\\"~'illiam H. Dall, 1870; Report on Population, Industries, and 

Resources of Alaska, by Ivan Petro£~ Tenth Census, vol. 8, 188±, and History of 

Alaska, by Hubert Howe Bancroft, 1886. 

GEOGRAPHY A8 Rl~LATED TO DEVELOPMENT. 

The history of Alaska will be more easily understood if the avenues of approach 

for explorers and settlers are briefly discussed. Alaska's peninsular form and irregular shore line give a coast exposure of great extent (Ph;. II and VII). Some of this 

fronts upon the frozen sea and adds little to Lhe accessibility of the country, but much 

the larger part is washed by waters whieh are open to navigation throughout the year, 

and along this extensive seaboard the first explorations and settlements were made. 

An almost unbroken series of ranges--the Pacific Mountain system-lies near the 

Pacific shore line and offers a barrier which long prevented inland exploration or 

settlement; for only within recent years have passes through it been discm·ered. The 

broad, depressed interior area lying behind this ridge is again cut off from the coast 

region on the north and east by another mountain chain, here termed the Rocky 

l\1ountain system, which also retarded man's approach, because it interposed a 

barrier between the interior of Alaska and that extensive system of waterways of 

northern Canada which enabled the fur traders to find their way across the continent 

from the Atlantic seaboard. This Central Plateau region, as it has been called, 

opens out to Bering Sea, into which it pours most of its drainage through two 

great rivers, the Yukon and Kuskokwim, both of which are navigable and afford 

easy access to the interior. 

Another important geographic feature of Alaska in relation to its development 

is its juxtaposition to Asia. The westernmost point of its mainland is \risible from 

the Siberian coast across Bering Strait, only 60 miles wide; but as this strait is 

a The publication entitled, "Partial List of Charts, ::\Iaps, and Publications Relating to Alaska and Adjacent Regions, 

by W. H. Dall and Marcus Baker," Pacific Coast Pilot. Appendix 1, :Meteorology and Bibliography, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, l8i9, hai not yet been supplemented and remains to-day the only bibliography of works relating 

to Alaska. 

45 
HISTORY-RUSSIAN EXPLORATIONS. 10~ 

navigable only in summer, it is of less importance as a route of travel than the 

Aleutian Islands, which form a chain almost connecting the Asiatic and American 

continents. These islands are mostly intervisible, so that as soon as the western one 

had been reached from Asia even the Russian traders, who were usually entirely 

unskilled in navigation, could follow the archipelago eastward to the mainland. 

MAIN FEATURES OF HISTORY. 

A complete history of the discovery and exploration of Alaska would 

involve a consideration of the history of eastern Asia and western Canada, as well 

as of the explorations of the northern Pacific and the Arctic region, and is beyond 

the scope of the present paper. In the few pages here devoted to the subject 

it is possible only to broadly outline the progress of discovery, calling attention 

to a few of the more important expeditions which have added to the geographic 

knowledge of the country and the agencies which were operative in its exploration. 

During the two centuries which have elapsed since white men first obtained definite 

tidings of Alaska, exploration and surveys have been carried on spasmodically by 

various nationalities and under various auspices. Though the larger geographic 

features are now fairly well known, there still remain some unexplored areas, and 

the topographic mapping is hardly begun. 

Explorations of the northwestern corner of America may be said to have been 

made from three directions-from the west by the Russians, across Siberia and 

Bering Sea; from the east by the English, through the Mackenzie Valley, and 

from the south by navigators of various nationalities exploring the eastern shore 

of the Pacific. 

Before the end of the sixteenth century Russian fur traders crossed the Urals, 

gradually extended their operations eastward across northern Asia, and established 

themselves on the shores of Bering Sea. During this time the French voyageurs 

and their successors of English blood had been making their way westward from 

the Atlantic coast. Reaching the Rocky Mountain barrier they were there held 

in check for over a hundred years, but before the middle of the nineteenth century 

they had surmounted this obstacle and established trading posts on rivers tributary 

to the Pacific and the Bering Sea. Meanwhile the Russians crossed Bering Sea and 

had taken possession of Alaska. By the beginning of the nineteenth century the 

fur trade which had been developed by these two nationalities had left the hands of 

individuals and in both cases had come under the control of a strong company. The 

two rival fur-trading interests, which had been moving toward each other for upward of two centuries, after practically encircling the globe finally came into competition in Alaska. These facts are recited here because the desire to obtain control of 

and exploit the fur trade was directly or indirectly the prime motive for the early 

explorations of the territory. 

EARLY RUSSIAN EXPLORATIONS. a 

Less than a century after the discovery of the American Continent Y ermac 

Timofeief and a band of Cossack adventurers crossed the low barrier of the Ural 

Mountains and began that series of conquests in Siberia which was to make Russia 

a For the authorities consulted in preparing this sketch see pp. 298-008. 

46 
106 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF AI.ASKA. 

an Asiatic power. While the western nations of Europe were exploring the east 

coast of North America, and almost before they had obtained a foothold on its 

shores, the Russian Cossaeks had crossed northern Siberia and in 1638 reached the 

sea of Okhotsk. Step by step these Cossack adventurers made their way across 

the great lowlands of northern Siberia, traveling with horses by land and skin 

boats by water. The comparatively peaceful character of the natives and the 

absence of mountain barriers greatly facilitated the work of conquest. 

After reaching salt water it was but natural that the Cossacks should extend 

their explorations along the coast. In 1648 Deshnef sailed eastward from the 

mouth of the Kolyma on the Arctic, rounded East Cape, passed through the body 

of water afterwards named Bering Strait, and wintered at the Anadir River. 

}!ore than half a century elapsed before this exploration was extended by another 

Cossack, Popof, who, in 1711, was sent to East Cape to induce the natives to pay 

tribute. The warlike Chuckchees, who inhabited that part of the Siberian coast, 

refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of Ru!-isia, but Popof brought back an 

account of the Diomede Islands in Bering Strait and rumors of a continent said 

to lie to the east. 

In course of time news of this discovery was transmitted to St. Petersburg, 

and the reigning sovereign, Peter the Great, was quick to realize its importance. 

Spurred on, no doubt, by the knowledge he had of the discoveries and settlements 

made by the western nations of Europe in the New \Vorld, Peter ordered the 

organization of an expedition which should verify Popof's statements and extend his 

explorations. Vitus Bering, a Dane and fleet captain in the Russian navy, was 

placed in charge of the expedition. Peter did not live to see his plans executed, 

dying soon after signing Bering's orders; but his successor, the Empress Catharine, 

actively carried out the purpose of her husband. Bering's command, after crossing 

Siberia, built two small vessels at Okhotsk. In July, 1728, he sailed northward 

along the coast of Siberia as far as East Cape, passing through the strait which 

bears his name. From East Cape he stood to the northeast for a day and then 

returned to his port of embarkation without having sighted the American Continent. 

'Vhile Bering himself. believed that his short voyage definitely proved the 

absence of an eastern connection of Asia with North America, yet so meager was 

his edden(·e that most geographers refused to accept it, and it was not until Cook's 

voyage, half a century later, that convincing proof was obtained. Bering did, 

however, discover and name St. Lawrence Island, and may therefore be regarded 

as the first white man to look upon any part of what is now Alaska. 

Three years later a vessel in command of a Cossaek named Gwosdef, one of a 

small fleet sent to subdue the Chuckchees, was blown onto the American coast by a 

storm, probably somewhere in Norton Sound. The records of this voyage, vague 

as they are, contain the first reference to the mainland of Alaska based upon the 

actual observations of white men. In the following year (1729) Bering made a 

,second voyage, which was even less fruitful of results. 

The interest excited by these discoveries led to the organization at St. Petersburg of another expedition, of which Bering was again put in command. Such 

were the difficulties of travel that six years were spent in transporting the party 

and outfit across Siberia, which at that time afforded nothing except game, fish, 

47 
HISTORY--RUSSIAN }~XJ'J,OKATIONH. 107 

and furs, so that all supplies, including the ironwork nnd tooh~ nec!essary for the 

constr.u~tion ?f ships, had to be brought from .Europe. FinaJJy, in 1741, the 

expedition sailed from Okhotsk in two vessels, one commanded hy Bering himself and the other by Chirikof. These soon became separated, and Bering, sailing 

eastward, on July 18 fell in with the American coai'Jt near Mount St. Elias, 

which he named, and a few days later landed on what waH prohably Kayak 

Island. 

\Vith this discovery Bering seemed to consider that his mission was fulfilled, 

and after a very cursory examination became impatient to return to Asia. The 

expedition, which had taken years of preparation, turned westward without 

attempting surveys or investigations and without even making a landing on the 

mainland of the newly discovered continent. Sailing southwest they disco,yered 

the Shumagin Islands, and named them after a member of the crew who was 

buried there. 

Bering's ha-ste to return to Asia again prevented him from making an 

adequate exploration. He continued westward along the line of the Aleutian 

Islands, some of which he sighted, but without gaining more than a very superficial knowledge of them. Scurvy broke out among the crew, and the entire 

party seems to have been bewildered. They sailed hither and yon, now heading 

for the American, now for the Asiatic coast, at last wrecking their vessel upon 

Bering Island of the Commander group, now belonging to Siberia. Of those 

that reached the shore many died, among them Bering, a disheartened and 

despairing man. The cross over his grave was the first emblem marking the 

extension of Russian sovereignty eastward of Siberia. The survivors of the illfated expedition built a small vessel of the wreckage and returned to Kamchatka. 

Chirikof's voyage was even lesH successful. After becoming separated from 

Bering he sailed eastward, and on July 15 sighted the continent, probably near 

Cross Sound. An attempt to land ended disastrously, for both boats were lost, 

and nearly a third of the crew were killed by the natives. Chirikof hastily put 

to sea and returned to the Asiatic coast, sighting some of the Aleutian Islands in 

his passage. 

The explorations made by these two navigators, while not fruitful of results 

commensurate with the elaborateness of the preparations, were yet of the utmost 

importance from a geographic standpoint. Two points on the American Continent were fixed with a fair degree of accuracy and the location of some of the 

Aleutian 181ands approximately established. These islands, which are part of the 

broken chain oonneding the Asiatic and North American continents, were to 

become an important factor in the early development of the fur trade of Alaska. 

The report'i by Boring's crew of the existence of valuable furs in the newly 

discovered hdanrls cast of Kamchatka soon led the hardy Siberian fur hunters, called 

promy~o~hleniki, to hruve the perils of an unknown sea. The first of these was Bassof, 

who two ycurs after Boring's return reached Bering Island in a small vessel. The 

rich harve~;t of fur~ with which he returned after a year's absence induced him to 

make a second, and ]atcr a third voyage. He was but the forerunner of a swarm of 

promyshleniki who gru.duaiiy pushed their way eastward along the Aleutian chain 

of islands to the mainland of Alaska. 

48 
108 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OE' ALASKA. 

These Siberian fur hunters had up to this time but little knowledge of deep-sea 

navigation, an ignorance which fitted them in a measure for the task which they had 

undertaken, for experienced seamen would have refused to take part is such utterly 

hazardous and foolhardy enterprises. As all iron for shipbuilding on the Bering 

Sea had to he transported across Siberia to Kamchatka, the result was that a species 

of vessel was devised which could be constructed without iron, the planks being 

sewed together with thongs of rawhide in lieu of nailing. Provisions also were 

scarce in Kamchatka, and these roving traders depended largely on such food as 

could be obtained from the sea. 

In these crude crafts, manned by crews which knew little of seamanship, 

and usually but ill-equipped and provisioned~ these intrepid fur traders boldly 

pushed out into unknown stormy seas. Many lives were lost by wrecks, starvation, 

and scun·y, and many of the adventurers met deserved death a.t the hands of the 

outraged natives. The risks were great, but when the expeditions were successful 

the profits were enormous, and the necessary capital for :-~uch enterprises was easily 

procured among the merchants of eastern Siberia. 

This vanguard of civilization was made up of men who had no virtues other 

than valor and intrepidity. Their gradual mastery of the Aleutian Islands, which 

led to Russia's becoming a North American power~ i~ a tale of blood and rapine, of 

murder and outrage. Under plea of exacting tribute from the natives they took 

their furs by force and not by barter, practically reducing the natives to slavery. 

Their :firearms gave them an incalculable advantage over these people, whose arrows 

and spears were still tipped with bone. The Aleuts, at first friendly to the strangers, 

only too soon learned their true character; and though not so warlike as the true 

Eskimos to the north, or the Haidas and Thlinkets of southeastern Alaska, with 

\vhom the Russians later came in conflict, did not give up without resistance. Many 

a bloody and well-deserved reprisal did they inflict on their oppressors. The struggle 

was, however, hopeless; ravages of the barbaric Siberian fur traders during the half 

century succeeding Bering's discoveries threatened to exterminate the indigenous 

population of the Aleutian Islands. While the outrages were largely the work of 

private individuals they received a certain sanction from the Russian Government, which allowed the traders to plunder and murder the natives at will, but 

was ready enough to exact tribute on the ill-gotten furs. The cry of the murdered 

and outraged Aleut did not reach St. Petersburg, or if it did was not heeded. 

It was through this murderous crew of traders that the civilized world learned 

of the Aleutian Islands and the adjacent mainland. Russia was to owe her American 

colony to the initiation and enterprise of private individuals, for the Court of St. 

Petersburg paid little heed to its American possessions for more than half a century 

after Bering's last voy~ge. But two attempts at official investigation were made, 

both more or les~ abortive. In 1767 Lieutenant Synd, of the Russian Navy, was 

sent out to explore the American coaHt, and though his results were meager and his 

statements unreliable, there seems no reason to doubt that he landed on the southern 

coast of Seward Peninsula. About the same time Captain Krenitzin reached the 

Alaska Peninsula on a similar mission. 

When the Spanish and English first appeared on this coast Russia had no permanent settlement in Alaska. Bering's expedition had discovered a new continent; 

49 
EXPLORATIONS OF ALASKA. 109 

yet though a third of a century had passed during which private enterprise had 

developed a lucrative fur trade in the adjacent islands, no effective attempt had been 

made to extend his discoveries or to exploit the resources of the main continent. 

The trading voyages had approximately established the relative location and configuration of the Aleutian Islands and Kodiak. Krenitzin had astronomically determined 

a few positions in the eastern part of the chain and along the southern coast of the 

Alaska Peninsula. These, together with Bering's discovery, and a less definite 

knowledge of the mainland lying adjacent to Bering Strait, comprised Russia's investigations in North America previous to the advent of other nations. 

EXPLORATION BY RIVAL NATIONALITIES. 

"\Yhile the Russian influence was extending over Alaska from the west the 

Spaniards were approaching it from the south, where they had established themselves 

on the coast of California. Reports of these Russian encroachments led the viceroy 

of Mexico to send out several successive expeditions to explore the coast and where 

they found it uninhabited to plant the arms of Spain. Perez, a Spanish ensign, discovered the Queen Charlotte Islands in 177 4, and the following year Lieutenant 

Quadra explored as far north as Cross Sound. 

The first important systematic survey of any part of what is now known as 

Alaska was made by Captain Cook, the great English navigator. Cook sailed from 

England with two vessels in 1776. His first landfall on the Alaskan coast was in 

May, 1778, near Mount Edgecumbe, previously discovered by Bodega y Quadra. 

Thence he sailed westward, exploring Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet as far as 

Unalaska, where he was received very kindly by a band of Russian traders. It is of 

interest to note that an American in Cook's vessel, John Ledyard, was the first to 

interview the Russians. 

Cook now entered Bering Sea and continued his surveys of the coast toward 

the north, through ~ristol Bay, Norton Sound, and Bering Strait, until he was 

checked by the Arctic ice paclL This he skirted westward to where it impinged on 

the Siberian mainland at a point which he named Cape North, whence he returned 

to the south along the Siberian coast. The winter was spent in the Hawaiian 

Islands, and there the famous navigator met his death. The following year his 

vessels set out again under the command of Clerke, in an attempt to extend the 

surveys farther north, but the ice pack again interfered before they had penetrated 

much farther than before. 

Cook had been unsuccessful in finding the water passage to Hudson Bay which 

he sought, but in the course of a single summer he had accomplished many times as 

much as all previous explorers. His voyage outlined the larger coastal features of 

Alaska, from about latitude 58° to 70°; definitely established the fact that there 

was no land connection between America and Asia, and convinced the navigator 

himself of the futility of seeking a waterway to the Atlantic, a conclusion which 

was in part based on Hearne's exploration in 1771 from Hudson Bay to the mout~ 

of the Coppermine River. This last result wa-, not generally acknowledged, and It 

remained for one of Cook's officers, Vancouver, to bring the final proof-not even 

then accepted by the theoretical geographers-about fifteen years later. 

17211-No. 45-06-8 

50 
110 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

Great as was Cook,s contribution to the geography of the Alaskan coast, 

perhaps of still more lasting importance was his inauguration of a new era in the 

explorations of the Alaskan seaboard. The vague and haphazard reports of the 

pr·evious explorers were replaced by concise charts and accurate observations, many 

of which have stood the test of more detailed investigation. Several officers who 

accompanied Cook and were trained in his methods returned in later years to the 

Alaskan coast and continued the work of exploration. 

Though some of the promyshleniki had reaehed Kodiak as early as 1762, it was 

not until after Cook's voyage that, finding the sea otters were becoming relatively 

scarce among the Aleutians and the voyages less profitable, they began to seek new 

hunting grounds to the northeast. Up to this time the fur gathering had been in 

the hands of individuals or small, weak companies, and hence but little concerted 

effort had been made. In 1781 a company of eastern Siberian merchants was 

formed for exploiting the American fur trade. The leader of this organization wa~ 

Gregor I vanovich Shelikof, who, with I van Golikof, controlled a majority of the 

shares. Under Shelikofs leadership an expedition was ~;ent out, which, in 1783, 

founded a colony at Three Saints Bay, near the southern end of Kodiak Island. 

This was the first settlement within the limits of Alaska and was the pioneer of the 

Russian occupation, which was to last for three-quarters of a century, until the territory was transferred to the United States. 

In the year this colony was founded a group of trading vessels, under the command of Potan Zaikof, reached Prince William Sound. He attem-pted the same 

high-handecl proceedings which had been so successful among the Aleuts, but found 

to his cost that he was dealing· with a fierce, warlike population, and the expedition 

ended disastrously. The event was noteworthy, as it was the first time the Russian 

traders are definitely known to have reached the mainland. Nagaief, a member of 

this party, discovered the Copper River and ascended it a short distance. 

In the meantime the published account of Cook's voyage had aroused other 

nations to the fact that the rich fur trade in the northwestern extremity of the 

American continent was rapidly passing into the hands of the Russians. The English traders were the first to follow it up. In 1785 James Hanna visited the west 

coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, and in the suceeeding years made 

several voyages to the coast of what is now Alaska. Similar trips were made by 

English and American trading vessels and ships of other nationalities. The published logs and track charts of a number of these vessels added to the general 

knowledge of the northwest coast. All of these the Russians regarded as unlawful 

intruders, and many petitions were sent to St. Petersburg protesting against foreign 

ships engaging in this trade. 

While merchants and traders of various nationalities were struggling for commercial supremacy in Alaskan waters, their home governments were not unmindful 

of the political side of the controversy. The English, Spanish, and French govern. 

ments :showed a desire to wrest some of these new discoveries from the Russians. 

The Spaniards claimed the coast, because it was a northern extension of their California possessions, and also by right of the discoveries of Bodega y Quadra. The 

English claim rested on Cook's discoveries. 

51 
EXPLORATIONS OF ALASKA. 111 

The Spanish claims were strengthened by an expedition led by Arteaga, with 

Quadra as second in command, which sailed northward from Mexico in 1779 and 

visited and surveyed Port Bucareli on the west side of Prince of Wales Isiand. 

Later they entered Prince William Sound and, in obedience to their instructions, 

took formal possession of what they believed were newly discovered lands. They 

~ittle realized that Cook in the previous year had gone through the same ceremony 

In the name of the British sovereign almost at the same spot. After extending their 

explorations to the southwest as far as the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula they 

returned to Mexico. 

The French had no part in the discovery or in the exploitations of the new 

country; but to gain a valid claim, La Perouse, a naval officer, was dispatched 

to the north west coast in 1785. In the following year he landed at Lituya Bay, 

of which he made a detailed examination and took formal possession. Then, 

ignoring his instructions to survey the Aleutian Islands, he sailed southward 

without landing again on the Alaskan coast. 

The Spaniards, apparently satisfied that Arteaga's explorations established 

their territorial claims, took no further action for several years. The publication 

of Cook's voyages a.nd the report of the numerous trading vessels that visited the 

northwest coast, however, aroused them again from their lethargy. In 1188, two 

vessels, commanded by Estevan Martinez and Gonzalez Haro, were dispatched 

northward to gain further information. While Martinez explored :Prince, William Sound, Haro visited the Russian establishments on Kodiak Island, and 

obtained full knowledge of the Russian occupation. Delarof, the director of the 

colony, took pains to impress the Spaniard with the wide extent and importance 

of the Russian settlements, of which at that time there were only Hix. After 

visiting Unalaska and going through the absurd performance of taking possession 

in the name of His Most Catholic Majesty of an island which contained a Russian 

colony and had been under Muscovite influence for upward of a quarter of a 

century, the expedition sailed for Mexico. 

Martinez's report of the Russian occupation showed the viceroy of Mexico 

that Spanish claims to the northwest coast must be enforced by more decisive 

action. Both vessels were therefore again dispatched to take immediate possession of Nootka Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island, which had been 

discovered by Cook and had been used as a rendezvous by English, American, 

and Portuguese traders. The Spaniards did not molest the American ships, but 

warned off all those flying English colors. This high-handed action led to an 

immediate protest by .the British Government, and commissioners were appointed 

by both governments to come to an understanding. The first meeting at Nootka 

led to a disagreement; but subsequently the Spaniards receded from their position 

and withdrew their forces, leaving the region in the possession of the traders 

and natives. 

In 1791 Malaspina, an Italian navigator, in command of two Spanish corvettes, engaged in a scientific exploration which was to encircle the globe. He 

was sent to the northwest coast to explore for a northwest passage, rumors of 

which were again gaining credence. He made landfall near Mount Edgecumbe, 

52 
112 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

and tracing the coast to the northwest entered Yakutat Bay, then known as Port 

.Mulgrave. The eeremony of taking possession of the newly discoYered land was 

not omitted, though Portlock and Dixon had surveyed and published a chart of 

the bay some years before, and the Russians had long used it as a rendezvou~ 

in their fur-trading expeditions. Malaspina made a cur~ory examination of Prin(·e 

William and Cross sounds, and then turned southward. 

Georg-e Vancou\rer, one of Cook's midshipmen~ was the English representative 

in the Nootka dispute, and while his eonferenees with the Spaniards had no 

immediate result, his later explorations were of the utmost importance. He 

received orders to survey the coast between the thirty-fifth and sixtieth parallels 

of latitude, a task which he faithfully executed with his two vessels in 1793 

and 1794. In the course of two seasons he accurately delineated thousands of 

miles of the coast line of southeastern Alaska, and supplemented the work of 

previous explorers westward as far as Cook Inlet. Not an indentation of the 

mainland, hardly a break in the shore line of the numerous islands, escaped his 

notice. His would have been a difficult task even in the days of steam, and to 

thread the intricate waterways of the Alexander Archipelago and make such surveys as he did within so short a period was little short of marvelous. He was 

a worthy successor of the great Cook, under whom he had learned navigation 

and geodesy. After his task was completed the general features of the entire 

coast line of the mainland of Alaska from Dixon Entrance as far north as Cape 

Belcher were charted with a fair degree of accuracy. 

While the Russians and the Spaniards were attempting to dispossess all other 

nations of commercial and territorial rights in the coastal zone of Alaska~ the 

English, their most aggressive rivals, were steadily approaching the region from 

the east. The French pioneers, following the route of the Great Lakes, had 

crossed half of the American continent long before the Russians had knowledge 

of the Aleutian Islands, and about the time of Bering's discovery of the mainland of Alaska, V erandrye had reached the foothills of the Rockies near the 

headwaters of the Missouri. Ten years later another pioneer trader established 

a post at the present sight of Calgary (Alberta), at the very base of the Rocky 

Mountains and only 500 miles from the Pacific waters. This post, with many 

others, was abandoned when Canada passed into the hands of the English. 

Henceforth the English fur trade gradually expanded into the region which 

had been pioneered by the French. The Rocky Mountain barrier for a long 

time marked the limits of this western fur trade. It remained for Alexander 

Mackenzie to surmount this harrier, and to introduce a new factor in the de,·elopment of Alaska. Mackenzie, who was a member of the Northwestern Fur 

Company, the great rival of the Hudson Bay Company, ascended the Peace River 

from Lake Athabasca, crossed the Rocky Mountains, then tra\rersed the headwaters 

of the Fraser, and after crossing the Coast Range reached Pacific waters in the 

latitude of Queen Charlotte Sound. This journey, which was the first made across 

the continent north of Mexico, was accomplished in 1793, at the same time that 

Vancouver was surveying adjacent waters. It was the forerunner of the fierce 

rivalry which was to spring up between the two great competitors in the fur 

trade, the Ruls~ian-American and Hudson Bay companies. 

53 
RUSSIAN OCCUPATION. 113 

In spi~e. of the small degree of success achieved by previous official explorations, 

the authorities at St. Petersburg in 1785 determined on anot~1er. This was placed in 

charge of Joseph Billings, who seems to have been chosen more because he had been 

attached to one of Cook's vessels than becn.use of n.ny particular merit or experience. 

Billings sailed from Kamchatka in 1789, n.nd passing through Bering Strait penetrated the Arctic Ocean to about latitude 69° and then returned to Kamchatka. In 

1790 he made a second start, and the two vessels of the expedition, stopping at 

Unalaska and Kodiak, reached Prince William Sound, and then again returned to the 

point of debarkation. In the following year a third start was made and Billings 

once more reached Unalaska, whence he sailed northward, touching at Pribilof 

Islands, Seward Peninsula, and St. Lawrence Island. Billings himself afterwards 

landed on the Chuckchee Peninsula, Siberia, where he made a hazardous but 

apparently bootless journey inland. The two vessels wintered at Iliuliuk, Unalaska 

Island, and the following year returned to Kamchatka. The expedition, which in 

its preparation and execution had cost seven years of time and large sums of money, 

accomplished almost nothing beyond gaining some information regarding the abuse 

of the natives by Russian traders. 

RUSSIAN OCCUPATION. 

The last two decades of the eighteenth century were to witness important 

changes in the Russian fur trade. The Shelikof Company, after its settlement on 

Kodiak in 1783, gradually extended the sphere of its trading operations to the 

neighboring islands and mainland. In 1788 an imperial ukase granted to this company the exclusive control of the regions actually occupied by its agents. In 1792 

an important step was taken in appointing Alexander Andreivich Baranof, chief 

director of the company's American interests. Baranof, who held this post for 

twenty-five years, showed himself to be a far-sighted, energetic man, though coarse 

and unscrupulous. The early years of his administration were a fitting introduction 

to the stormy ones to follow. At Cook Inlet rival traders had established themselves, who for some time quarreled and fought among themselves, but finally united 

to oppose their common enemy, the Shelikof Company. At length Baranof was 

forced to assume authority which he did not legally possess, and restored some 

measure of peace by arresting and imprisoning the ringleader. 

In the meantime Baranof was energetically looking after the interests of the 

company in other directions. A shipyard was established on Prince William Sound, 

and attempts were made at agriculture at Kodiak and Yakutat Bay, while the fur 

trade was pushed vigorously. The first Greek Catholic missionaries arrived from 

Siberia in 1794, and at the same time the first convicts were imported and settled at 

Yakutat. 

At the close of the century the court at St. Petersburg was beginning to be 

moved bv reports of the disorders and outrages committed by the irresponsible fur 

traders ~nd was becoming weary of the quarrels of the rival companies. It was, 

moreo;er desirous of maintaining Russian prestige in America by a responsible 

represent~tion. Thus it happene~ that the Shelikof Company, with the aid. of 

financial backing, was able to obtam a new charter under the name of the Russian54 
114 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALARKA. 

American Company.. The imperial ukase which established this company was dated 

1799, and granted exclusive privileges of trade and occupation of northwe8tern 

America, lying north of latitude 55° and including the Aleutian Islands. The 

original grant was for twenty years, but two extensions placed Alaska in the hands 

of this company for sixty years. From this time on the history of Alaska up to its 

transfer to the United States is practically the history of this company which 

controlled this great monopoly. The region being now definitely in the hands of the 

Russians, the limits of whose possessions were determined by treaty with England 

in 1825, other nations discontinued their explorations. 

In its early history the Russian-American Company was too much engrossed in 

developing the commercial resources of its grant to make any attempts at extensive 

explorations or surveys. However, as its agents gradually enlarged their field of 

operations, they gained some knowledge of new areas. The hunting trips had 

already reached southeastern Alaska, and in 1799 Fort Archangel Gabriel was built 

on Baranof Island, in Sitka Bay. The warlike Thlinkets of this region were far 

from submitting to Russian transgressions as did the Aleuts, and during the entire 

Russian occupation they proved themselves aggressive neighbors. In 1802 they 

attacked and demolished Fort Archangel Gabriel, and the few survivors were only 

saved by the timely arrival of an English vessel. Two years later Baranof set upon 

the Thlinkets in force and drove them out of their stronghold, Sitka, of which he 

took possession. He soon moved the capital of the colony from Kodiak to this new 

post, which he called New Archangel. 

During the early part of the nineteenth century the activities of the colony, 

under Baranof's directorship, were in the main confined to commercial lines. But 

several minor explorations were undertaken, chiefly by naval officers who were in 

the service of the company. Thus it happened that Khwostof and Davidof made 

investigations among the Aleutian Islands in 1802. In the following year Bassanof 

visited the Copper River; and surveys were made in the Alexander Archipelago 

and the vicinity of Kodiak by Captains Krusenstern and Lisiansky in 1804 and 1805. 

When Captain Golofnin of the Russian Navy was sent out by the home 

government in 1810, and a second time in '1818, for the purpose of investigating the 

affairs of the company and the status of the natives, some contribution was again 

made to geographic knowledge, though only incidentally. 

The most important exploring voyage of this period was undertaken in the brig 

Rurik by Otto von Kotzebue, of the Russian navy. His purpose was the general 

advancement of scientific knowledge, including the discovery of a northeast waterway, in the existence of which many geographers still obstinately believed. Sailing 

from Kronstadt in 1815, Kotzebue reached Kamchatka the following year, whence 

he headed for Bering Strait. He touched at St. Lawrence Island, rounded Cape 

Prince of Wales, and coasting alo~g the north side of the Seward Peninsula entered 

and surveyed the great sound which bears his name. On his return passage he 

visited Unalaska. After wintering in the Hawaiian Islands Kotzebue made a second 

trip to Alaska, but did not extend his former surveys. 

No systematic explorations or surveys had been attempted under Baranof, but a 

change came about when the directorship of the Russian-American colony was 

transferred to naval officers, several of whom were men of scientific tastes and 

55 
.RUSSIAN OCCUPATION. 115 

training and did much to foster geographic investigations. Other sciences were not 

neglected.; sys~matic meteorologic records were kept at Sitka for many years, and 

a magnetic statwn was also maintained. Of the directors of the colony Baron F. P. 

v.on Wrangell was most prominent. Coming to his post fresh from Aretic explorations, he naturally looked with favor on all geographic investigations, and it was 

under his regime that the most important of the explorations carried on by the 

company were undertaken. This work was actively furthered by one of "'"'rangell's 

successors, Capt. Michael D. Tebenkof, who was also an explorer. Tebenkof's atlas 

of the northwestern coast of America, comprising a summary of all previous investigations, is the most important contribution to the geography of Alaska made 

during the entire Russian occupation. 

In 1826 began the most valuable coastal exploration made by the RussianAmerican Company. This expedition, under the direction of Kramchenko, Etolin, 

and Vasilief, spent two years in examining the shore line of Bristol Bay and Norton 

Sound. In the following year Captain Liitke, sent out by the authorities at St. 

Petersburg, visited Unalaska and tbe Pribilof Islands and made a careful surve,· of 

the northern coast of the Alaska Peninsula. The southern coast of the Al~ska 

Peninsula was mapped a few years later by Vasilief. 

Among the lesser expeditions made under the direction of the company may be 

mentioned the explorations of the Bristol Bay and Kuskokwim regions by Korsakof, 

V asilief, and Kolmakof from 1818 to 1832, and Malakof's exploration of the 

Sushitna in 1834. A more important expedition was one in charge of a creole by 

the name of Andrei Glasunof, who crossed from the Russian post at St. Michael, 

Norton Bay, to the Yukon and thence to the Kuskokwim. This, with Malakof's 

trip up the Yukon as far as Nulato, paved the way for the exploitation of the fur 

trade of the Yukon River. 

By far the most fruitful of the Russian inland explorations was that made by 

Lieutenant Zagoskin, of the Imperial navy, in 1842-43. Zagoskin ascended the 

Yukon as far as the mouth of the Tanana and explored the lower stretches of the 

Koyukuk. Under his auspices a post was built at Nulato. He also traversed the 

Innoko, an easterly tributary of the lower Yukon, and made his way eastward to 

Kuskokwim waters. As far as time and means would permit, Zagoskin made track 

surveys and astronomic determinations of position, meanwhile taking careful notes 

on th~ native population and the resources of the region traversed. In the light of 

subsequent developments it is of interest to note his statement that the Yukon, or 

K wickpack as he called it, was not navigable above the mouth of the Tanana. 

In the meantime activity in Arctic exploration once more drew the attention 

of English navigators to the northwest coast. In 1789 AlexandAr Mackenzie had 

followed to the Arctic Ocean the great river which bears his name. In 1826 Sir 

John Franklin had traversed the Arctic coast westward, from the mouth of the 

Macken?.ie as far as Return Reef on the north Alagkan coast; and Capt. F. W. 

Beechey, of H. M. S. Blossorn, who had been dispatched to cooperate with Franklin, 

carefully charted the souther-n coast of the Seward Peninsula to Cape Prince of 

Wales and added many details to the work of Kotzebue in Kotzebue Sound, 

extending his surveys northward until blocked by ice. A boat expedition under 

Beechey's mate Elson succeeded in reaching Point Barrow, which, it was hoped, 

56 
116 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

Franklin would be able to reach from the east. But as Franklin was blocked by 

the ice 100 miles east of Point Barrow, this part of the coast line represented a 

hiatus in the charts for ten years. 

In 1837 Peter W.arren Dease and Thomas Simpson, of the Hudson Bay Company, descended the Mackenzie and followed the coast we~tward. Like Franklin, 

they, too, were stopped by the ice, but Simpson continued on foot and in na.tive 

boats. He reached Point Barrow August 4, 1837, thus completing the exploration of the entire coast line of the mainland of Ala~ka, which was begun by 

Bering about one hundred years before. 

Another impetus to Alaskan exploration was given oy the series of Franklin 

relief expeditions which were sent out by the British Government between 1848 

and 1853. While the primary purpose of these expeditions was to find and bring 

relief to Franklin, yet the commanders incidentally accomplished considerable 

exploration and charting. An added stimulus was the hope of finding a northwest passage, which geographers were loath to give up. In 1849 Capt. Thomas 

E. L. Moore in H. M. S. Plover, Capt. Henry Kellett in H. M. S. Herald, and 

the yacht Nancy JJawson, reached Kotzebue Sound. A boat expedition under 

Lieutenant Pullen was sent northward, and rounding Point Barrow proceeded 

eastward to the Mackenzie River, which it ascended to a Hudson Bay post. A 

second expedition from these vessels explored the Buekland River. Other minor 

explorations were made by the crew of the Plover while she wintered in Kotzebue Sound. Thus Lieut. Bedford Pim crossed the. eastern end of Seward Peninsula to the Russian post at St. Michael, and Simpson, surgeon of the expedition, 

explored the Selawik River and made the first mention of the Kobuk River. 

The Plover spent the two following winters at Point Barrow, from which she 

continued to send out exploring parties. 

In 1850 Commander Robert S. M. McClure, in H. M. S. Investigator, sailed 

eastward past Point Barrow and beyond the mouth of the Mackenzie until he 

was stopped by the ice. His vessel was never brought through, but eventually 

his crew, by walking over the solid ice, was the first to make the northwest 

passage. The following year Capt. Richard Collinson, in H. M. S. Enterprise, also 

passed Point Barrow, and subsequently wintered at Walker Bay, on the north 

coast of Alaska. In 1853 H. M. S. Rattlesnake, Commander Trollope, wintered 

at Port Clarence, on the south side of the Seward Peninsula, which some of the 

crew crossed during the winter. 

The surveys of these Arctic expeditions were very carefully executed and are 

still the bases for most of the charts of the regions they cover. The accounts 

of the voyages are full and contain much valuable information, which up to very 

recent times was all that was available coneerning Arctic Alaska. 

In 1848 the American whaler Superim·, commanded by Captain Roys, ventured 

through Bering Strait, and was amply rewarded by a good catch. This example 

was followed by many others in succeeding years. The whaling industry along 

the Arctic coast of Alaska has continued to be an important one ·up to the 

present day, though it received a serious setback during the civil war by the 

ravages committed by the Confederate privateer Shenandoah, which captured 

and destroyed many vessels of the Ameriean whaling fleet. Stations are now 

51 
RUSSIAN OCCUPATION. 117 

maintained by the whaling companies at Point Barrow and Herschel Island east 

of the international boundary. The experienced seamen who usually comm~nded 

these whalers added not a little to the geographical knowledge of the Arctic 

coastal region of Alaska. 

The only other important American contribution during the period of Russian 

control was furnished by Lieut. William Gibson, U. S. Navy, who, in command of 

the schooner Feninw're Cooper, of the Rodgers United States Northern Pacific 

Exploring Expedition, made surveys and explorations among the Aleutian Islands 

in 1855. Some of the other vessels of the same fleet passed through Bering 

Strait and into the Arctic Ocean. 

Many years elapsed after Mackenzie made his explorations to the Pacific before 

the English fur trade was to establish itself near the bounds of what is now known 

as Alaska. Though the Hudson Bay Company was incessantly pushing its outposts 

to the west, it did not reach the drainage basins of rivers which emptied into the 

sea through the Russian American possessions until toward the middle of the 

nineteenth century. Campbell established a Hudson Bay post in 1840 on the 

headwaters of the Pelly, a branch of the Yukon, and eight years later (1848) built 

Fort Selkirk, at the mouth of the Pelly. In the previous year, however, Fort 

Yukon had been built at the mouth of the Porcupine by A. H. Murray, another 

Hudson Bay agent. The English traders of these posts soon learned through the 

natives that the Russians were in possession of the lower river, and, probably about 

1850, some of them made a trip down the Yukon to the mouth of the Tanana, which 

was the uppermost point reached by the Russians in their trading expeditions. 

This was also the point reached by the explorer Zagoskin in his ascent of the river 

in 1843. It can therefore be stated that the preliminary exploration of the main 

Yukon by white men was completed by this journey of the Hudson Bay traders, 

though its first mapping remained to be done by the members of the scientific 

corps of the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. 

In 1834 the Hudson Bay Company had by high-handed proceedings attempted 

to establish itself within Russian America, in what is now called southeastern 

Alaska, but it was promptly ejected by the Russian Company. After a conference 

this coastal belt was, in 1837, leased by the Russians to the Hudson Bay Company 

for a term of ten years. The Hudson Bay Company, from its two posts in the 

Yukon drainage basin, controlled the fur trade of the upper river, while the 

Russian-American Company controlled the trade on the lower river. 

One other expedition needs mention-the last of the Russian official surveys 

in America. In 1863, word having been received at Sitka that American prospectors 

had found gold on the Stikine River, it was decided to send out an expedition to 

find out whether these discoveries were in Russian territory. This party, in 

command of Commander Bassarguine, of the Imperial navy, and accompanied by the 

American geologist, William P. Blake, made a reconnaissance survey of the lower 

part of the Stikine. 

In 1863 the Western Union Telegraph Company determined to build an 

overland telegraph line from the western coast of the United States through British 

Columbia and what was then known as Russian America to Bering Strait. This 

line was to be connected by cable with a trans-Siberian line, and thus telegraphic 

58 
118 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

communication was to be established between America and Europe. The project, 

first conceived by Percy M. D. Collins, was a daring one, for it contemplated the 

building and maintaining of a telegraph line through thousands of miles of almost 

unexplored territory in America and Asia. The first es~ential to the project was 

preliminary exploration of the proposed route. The success of the Atlantic cable 

led to an abandonment of the enterprise only three years after its organization, 

but eYen in that short time important contributions were made to a geographic 

knowledge of Alaska and adjacent portions of Canadian territory. The explorations 

in Siberia were also fruitful of important results. 

The task which confronted the Western Union Telegraph survey in Russian 

America was not an easy one. The region to be explored was several thousand 

miles distant from the nearest port of the United States. While there were some 

Russian trading posts on Bering Sea and along the lower Yukon, they were widely 

separated and the Russian knowledge of the interior was practically limited to 

the lower part of the Yukon and the Kuskokwim. :Moreover, the Russian outposts 

were small and ill equipped, so that practically all supplies had to be takep from 

the Pacific coast ports of the United States. 

Robert Kennicott was chosen as head of the scientific corps, serving under 

Capt. Charles S. Buckley, engineer in chief of the expedition. Kennicott was a 

fortunate choice, as he was an able and enthusiastic worker and his previous expedition into the far northwest, in 1860-61, when he had reached Fort Yukon by 

following the Hudson Bay Company route from the Mackenzie, had fitted him well 

for the undertaking. He did not live to see the ex.ecution of his comprehensiv·e 

plans, for he died. at Nulato in 1866, his death being brought about by the incessant 

toil and exposure to which he had been subjected. William H. Dall, who took 

the leadership of the scientific corps, continued alone his researehes on Norton 

Sound and the lower Yukon after the telegraph survey party was disbanded. His 

book, based on these investigations, and the reports which he wrote later under the 

auspices of the Coast Survey, are still the standard works on Alaska. 

In 1865 Robert Kennicott, Frank Ketchum, and Michael Lebarge had started 

up the Yukon. After Kennicott's death at Nulato in 1866 Ketchum and Lebarge 

pushed on up the river to Fort Yukon. In the following year they continued 

their explorations as far as Fort Selkirk, at the junction of the Lewes and Pelly 

rivers. Dall and Frederick Whymper reached Fort Yukon in the summer of 1867, 

after making the first survey of the lower Yukon. In the meanwhile, in 1865, 

Baron Otto von Bendele ben and W. H. Ennis, also of the telegraph survey, made 

an exploration from Golofnin Bay to Port Clarence, and ,J. T. Dyer and Richard 

D. Cotter crossed overland from Norton Bay to the mouth of the Koyukuk, while 

Capt. E. E. Smith carried on surveys in the delta of the Yukon. 

The geographical results of this survey in Alaska are a map of the Yukon 

River, definitely establishing the identity of the Yukon of the Hudson Bay Company 

with the Kwikpak of the Russians, and important additions to the knowledge 

of the Yukon Delta, Seward Peninsula, and the Norton Bay region. It is interesting to note that the route which these first explorers selected has been practically 

adopted by the telegraph lines which are now being constructed in Alaska and in 

Canadian territory. Of still greater importance even than the actual surveys 

59 
AMERIOAN OCCUPATION. 119 

was the mor~ or less exact information" which the telegraph survey explorers were 

able .to furms? the American public during and after the negotiations by which 

Russian America became an American pos~::~ession. 

AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 

In 1867 the territory of Russian America passed into the hands of the United 

States, the tre~ty being ratified by the Senate on May 28. The territory, which 

at the suggestion of Secretary Seward was called Alaska, was purchased from 

Russia for $7,200,000. 

At the time of the transfer of Alaska to the United States the coast line had 

practically 'been explored throughout and much of it had been charted with· a fair 

degree of accuracy. 'Vhile the Russian explorations of the coast added many 

details, it can not be denied that the larger part of this work had been done by 

half a dozen English navigators-Cook, Vancouver, Beechey, Franklin, Dease, and 

Simpson. Many of the surveys made by these men have not been duplicated and 

are still the basis for all of the existing charts. Soon after the transfer the 

Coast and Geodetic Survey took up the task of charting the coast line of Alaska, 

on which it has been actively engaged ever since. The magnitude of this task is 

shown by the fact that the length of the coast line exceeds 20,000 miles. Other 

Government vessels, such as those of the Revenue-Marine Service, Fish Commission, 

and Navy, have at various times made contributions to the knowledge of Alaskan 

coastwise navigation. The results of all of these surveys are embodied in the charts 

and coast pilots published by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

Prior to the transfer in 1867, little was ·known of the interior of Alaska. The 

Russians had ascended the Yukon for 1,000 miles and the Kuskokwim for 500 

miles; had mapped the lower stretches of the Stikine; had ascended the Sushitna a 

short distance, and had made an abortive attempt to explore the Copper River. 

They were also familiar with the Alaska Peninsula and the Iliamna Lake region. 

Following the routes which had been marked out by such explorers as Franklin 

and Mackenzie, the Hudson Bay Company traders had reached the Mackenzie 

River, and in the middle of the nineteenth century crossed to the Yukon waters. 

The telegraph surveys explored the entire length of the Yukon as now defined 

and made some additions to the knowledge of the geography of the Seward 

Peninsula. Outside of these explorations, which were practically confined to the 

lower regions of some of the larger rivers, the newly acquired territory was an 

unknown land. 

On October 18, 1867, the Rus~ian flag was lowered. from the flagstaff in front 

of the governor's residence at Sitka and the United States flag hoisted amidst the 

booming of cannon. This was the act of formal transfer by which Russian 

America became Alaska and a possession of the United States. At a number of 

points in southeastern Alaska and Kodiak extensive barracks were erected and 

occupied by United States troops, while an army officer represented the Federal 

Governn1ent. But ten years later all troo~s were withdrawn and for a number 

of years the country was governed by a naval o:ffi~er s.tationed at Sitka. ~~en 

even this control lapsed, and Alaska was left for a time m the anomalous positiOn 

60 
120 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

of being without either military or civil government. Finally, in 1884, the first 

civil code for Alaska was enacted, and this has been modified from time to time 

by Congressional statute. Though Alaska has been in possession of the United 

States for upward of a third of a century and has a population of 62~000, it has 

not yet been granted even a Territorial form of government, being still to all 

intents and purposes a colony. 

As soon as Alaska was transferred to the United States the Coast Survey 

began to gather notes on its geography, and since has been steadily engaged in 

charting the shore line and compiling information valuable to navigation. Notable 

among the first officers of the Coast Survey to investigate Alaska are Prof. George 

Davidson and Dr. William H. Dall. Mr. Marcus Baker assisted Doctor Dall in 

this work for several years. He later took up the cartographic study of Alaska, 

and in 1900 made an important contribution to tlte knowledge of the Territory by 

his Geographic Dietionary of Alaska. 

Many of the reconnaissance surveys of the coast line were made by naval 

officers attached to naval or Coast Survey vessels. Much was added to the 

knowledge of the coast geography by the crub;es of the vessels of the RevenueMarine Service. Besides these surveys, other Government investigation led to 

reports on sea fisheries, fur trade, and resources in general, but it is not within 

the province of this paper to make mention of all of these. 

Americans were quick to seize the opportunity for trade which the resources 

of Alaska offered. The interests of the Russian-American Company were purchased 

by a strong corporation, and other ventures were made by individual merchants. 

In 1869 a steamboat was first used on the Yukon for trading purposes. During 

the succeeding decade several posts were established on the lower Yukon, which 

were annually visited by a steamer making one trip each season from the mouth 

of the river. 

When Alaska first passed Into the posses8ion of the United States, little 

attempt was made to explore the interior. In 1869 Capt. C. W. Raymond, U. S. 

Army, was sent up the Yukon to determine the approximate position of the 

international boundary, and thus settle the conflicting interest-, of American and 

British traders. The results of the expedition were published in the form of a 

report~ giving data in regard to natives and fur trade, and accompanied by a 

map of the lower Yukon which was an improvement on that of the telegraph 

survey, inasmuch as it included several points whose latitudes Raymond had fixed 

by astronomic observation. 

The names of a small group of pioneer traders who some time in the early 

seventies entered the Yukon basin via the Hudson Bay Company route from the 

Mackenzie are known throughout Alaska. Conspicuous among these were Jack 

1\IcQuesten, Arthur Harper, Fred l\1.ayo, Fred Hart, Joe Ladue, and Frank Densmore. 

These men made many hazardous journeys without any of the aids of the n10dern 

explorer, dependent simply on their own resources. They left but few records of 

these journeys, but we know that Harper visited the White and Tanana, McQuesten 

the Koyukuk, and Frank Densmore the Kuskokwim; and the knowledge obtained by 

them entirely through their own eff'orts or through their intercourse with the natives 

61 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 121 

was later in part embodied in maps of Alaska and in part preserved by word of 

mouth, and when the prospectors descended the Yukon, in the eighties, it proved of 

great assistance to them. 

Gold was reported on the Yukon as early as the telegraph survey of 1867, but 

does not seem to have been found in workable quantities for many years later. Just 

when the first systematic prospecting was done is somewhat uncertain, but it is 

known. that some time between 1873 and 1878 George Holt made his way inland over 

the Ch1lkoot Pass and descended the Lewes River. By some reports he is said to 

have descended the river below Fort Yukon at this time. It seems certain, however, 

whatever the date of his journey, that this was the first systematic attempt at 

prospecting on the Yukon. 

The Chilkoot Indians, fearing that their lucrative trade with the interior 

natives would be interfered with, were strongly opposed to allowing white men to 

cross the coast mountains by their trading route over the Chilkoot Pass. Through 

the intervention of Captain Beardslee, who commanded the U. S. S. Jamestmvn, this 

opposition was at length withdrawn, and in 1880 a party of 16 miners, under the 

leadership of Edmund Bean, crossed the Chilkoot Pass and descended the Lewes as 

far as the Teslin. These were followed by others who in the next few years 

traversed the entire length of the Lewes and the Yukon. It was not, however, 

until 1885 and 1886 that important finds of gold were made. 

In 1879 Mr. ,John Muir and Rev. S. Hall Young visited Muir Glacier and 

explored Glacier Bay. They were the first white men to examine the bay, though 

it had been seen in 1877 by Lieut. C. S. A. Wood, while making some explorations 

in the Fairweather Mountains in company with some native hunters. Muir's 

published descriptions of the wonders of Alaskan scenery drew much public notice 

and led in later years to the development of a favorite tourist route through 

southeastern Alaska. 

The most notable contribution to the knowledge of the geography and resources 

of Alaska was made by I ,~an Petrof, an agent of the Tenth Census, who had long 

been a resident of the territory. He spent two years in traveling along the coast 

and on the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim, his familiarity with the native tribes and 

the Ru~sian inhabitants enabling him to obtain much valuable data regarding regions 

not visited by him. His results and those of the several other experienced men who 

were employed in this work were compiled by Petrof in an admirable report and 

published by the Census Office. His general map of Alaska which accompanied 

this report, though largely based on the statements of natives and traders, w~s 

remarkably accurate in delineating the general features of the geography. He 

seems to have been the first man to have a clear conception of the distribution of 

the mountain ranges in Alaska. In judging Petrof's geography, it must be 

remembered that outside of rough traverses of the Yukon and the lower Kuskokwim the interior of Alaska was known only through the reports of a :few traders. 

The Indian route to the hea<;lwaters of the Yukon had been in use by prospectors 

for at least two years when Lieut. Frederick Schwatka traversed it in 1883. He 

cross~d the Chilkoot Pass (called by him Perrier Pass) with a small party, and 

built a raft at the headwaters of the Lewes and continued down the river in this 

62 
122 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

unmanageable craft, running the various rapids, a to Fort Selkirk at the junction of 

the Pelly and Lewes. From this point on he was traversing a river which had been 

explored by the Western Union Telegraph agents and was already occupied by the 

fur traders. Schwatka continued his trip to Fort Yukon and thence to the sea. 

To Charles W. Homan, who accompanied Schwatka as topographer and made sketch 

surveys throughout the entire journey, correcting them by observations for latitude, 

belongs the credit of having made the first actual survey of the Yukon and Lewes 

rivers. Crude as it was, it has only in very recent years been superseded by 

better work. Schwatka's rather spectacular account of his trip down Alaska's 

great river, a journey which had been made by many others, did much to rouse 

public interest in this far away region, and in the course of the following decade a 

number of exploring parties were sent out. 

During the years 1881-1883 a meteorological and magnetic station, in charge of 

Lieut. P. H. Ray, was maintained at Point Barrow ~y the United States Signal 

Service. No explorations or surveys of any importance were attempted. 

Dr. Arthur Krause of the Geographical Society of Bremen, G~rmany, in 1881, 

made a journey from the coast at Lynn Canal into the Chilkoot River basin. He 

subsequently published a map which for more than ten years was the basis for all 

other maps of the region visited by him. 

In 1884 Lieut. W. R. Abercrombie, U. S. Army, was detailed to make an 

exploration of the Copper River. He ascended it a short distanee, but his expedition 

may be looked upon as an entire failure. This work was taken up again in the 

following year by Lieut. Henry T. Allen, who made one of the most remarkable 

journeys in the amials of Alaskan explorations. Allen, with four men, landed at the 

mouth of the Copper River in March, 1885, and made his way up that stream by 

boat and sled for about 300 miles; then crossed to the Tanana by way of the Suslota 

Pass, and securing another boat from the natives, continued his journey to the 

mouth of the Tanana. During this part of the journey the party was dependent 

entirely upon the country for food, and were in a half-starved condition when they 

reached the Yukon about the end of June. With indefatigable energy Allen then, 

with one companion, crossed to the Koyukuk from near the mouth of the Melozi 

River, and explored it almost from the Arctic Circle to its junction with the Yukon. 

Crossing by portage from the lower Yukon to Norton Sound, he made his way to 

St. Michael, whence he returned by steamer to the United States. No man through 

his own explorations has added more to a geographic knowledge of the interior of 

Alaska than Lieutenant Allen. Throughout his journey he made careful sketch 

surveys and noted all facts which came within his observation; and within one 

season he made maps of three of the larger rivers of the Territory, which, until 

accurate surveys were made twelve years later, were the basis of all m~ps. His 

reports are the work of a careful, painstaking observer, who did his utmost to gain 

all the information possible. 

During the years 1883 to 1886 extensive explorations were made by officers of 

the Navy and of the Revenue-Marine Service along the rivers tributary to Kotzebue 

a Schwatka portaged his outfit around Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids. The raft was allowed to drift through 

and was caught below. 

63 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 123 

Sound. These led to a more general knowledge of this remote part of Alaska than 

of parts which were far more accessible. 

In 1883 Lieut. George M. Ston.ey, who was sent to the coast of northeastern 

s.iberia on t.he l'e\Tenue steamer Oorwin to distribute presents to the natives who had 

ai?ed the ~eannette relief expedition, examined the vicinity of Kotzebue Sound, and 

With the aid of some natives explored the delta of the Kobuk River, which Simpson 

had learned of in 1850. Having interested the Navy Department in these 

explorations, Stoney returned in the following year, and with the aid of a steam 

cutter and a native boat managed to ascend the Kobuk to the mouth of the 

Soolukpowaktoark River, and continued up that stream to its source in Walker 

Lake. In the same year Ensign Purcell of the Stoney party explored Selawik Lake. 

A third trip into this region was made by Stoney in 1886, this time accompanied 

by a large and well-equipped party, which established winter quarters on the 

Kobuk, about 250 n1iles from its mouth, and spent the winter in extensive explorati.ons. Stoney explored the headwaters of the Noatak and of the Alatna, the 

latter a tributary of the Koyukuk, and reached the head of the Selawik River, 

south of the Kobuk, and Chandler Lake, in which the Colville River has its source. 

Some of Stoney's officers made trips into the interior. Ensign Reed led a party 

from the winter camp to the Noatak River, and Assistant Engineer Zane reached 

the Yukon by way of the Pah and Koyukuk rivers ; but the most noteworthy 

trip was that made to Point Barrow by Ensign W. L. Howard. He left the winter 

camp in April with two white men and two natives and proceeded northeast across 

the Noatak to the valley of the Colville, followed this downstream in company 

with a party of natives for about 20 miles, and then crossed to the headwaters 

of Chipp River. Here he discarded the dog team.s used up to this point for 

transporting his supplies, and descended the Chipp River to the coast in native 

skin boats, arriving at Point Barrow on July 15, being the first white man to 

cross northern Alaska. The results of the expedition were a fairly accurate survey of the Kobuk Valley and sketch maps of the Selawik, upper Colville, upper 

Noatak, and Alatna rivers. Stoney's was the first attempt at instrumental surveys 

in the interior of Alaska. 

In 1884 Lieut. ,Tohn C. Cantwell, of the Revenue-Marine Service, explored the 

Kobuk as far as the mouth of the Black River. In the following year Cantwell 

succeeded, by using at first a steam launch and afterwards a skin boat, in reaching Walker Lake, near the head of the Kobuk. He was the first white man to 

reach the upper Kobuk, and, considering the conditions under which the trip was 

made, prepared a very creditable map of the river. Mr. Charles H. Townsend, 

of the United States Fish Commission, accompanied the party as naturalist. 

Another ·officer of the Revenue-Marine Service, S. B. McLenigan, made an exploration in this region in 1885. With one companion he ascended the Noatak River 

about 300 miles in a native skin boat, carrying out .Qis instructions in the face of 

many obstacles and maintaining a sketch survey throughout his journey. His 

map has not yet been superseded by more accurate surveys. 

Mount St. Elias has long been a subject of great popular interest, both because 

of its altitude, it being at one time considered the highest peak on the continent, 

64 
124 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

and because it was the first point sighted by a white man on the mainland oi 

Alaska. Bering~ who discovered and named it, knew it only as a distant peak 

which loomed above the clouds, for he made no attempt to get near it. The 

mountain was also noted by Cook, Dixon. and Vancouver during their explorations of the coast line. In 1786 La Perouse, while cruising along the coast, saw 

Mount St. Elias~ and Dagelet, his astronomer, calculated its altitude at 12,672 feet. 

Five years later Malaspina entered Yakutat Bay and surveyed Disenchantment 

Bay, its inland extension, which he hoped would prove to be a northeast passage. 

His determination of the altitude of the mountain as 17,851 feet came remarkably 

near the truth, considering the adverse conditions under which it was made. In 

1737 Sir Edward Belcher visited Yakutat Bay in H. M. S. 81tlph:ur. Tebenkof's 

Atlas, published in 1852, gives the altitude of the mountain as 17,000 feet. In 

1874 Dall and Baker, while cruising along the coast, made a rough triangulation 

and reported the altitude of the mountain at over 19,000 feet. 

It was nearly a century and a half after Bering's discovery before any attetnpt 

was made to ascend the mountain or even to approach its base. In 1886 Frederick 

Schwatka, with Prof. William Libbey and Lieut. H. W. Seton-Karr, led an expedition, which was supported by the New York Times, to make the ascent of the 

mountain. So little was known of the conditions of travel that the party was 

foredoomed to disaster. Schwatka and Seton-KarT, with a small party, reached 

a point about 20 miles inland and obtained considerable geographical information 

which was of great use to the subsequent explorers. Two years later an altitude of 

11,400 feet was attained by a party consisting of W. H. Topham, Edwin Topham, 

and George Broca, Englishmen, and "\\rilliam Williams, an American. A third 

attempt was made in 1890 by I. C. Russell and Mark B. Karr, with six camp 

hands, under the joint auspices of the National Geographic Society and the United 

States Geological Survey, which, though unsuccessful, resulted in some important 

contributions to the geographie knowledge of the region. Russell and Karr would 

undoubtedly have reached the top had not a r-;evere storm forced them to retreat 

after waiting four days in rude shelters in snow banks on the upper slopes of 

the mountain without fuel and almost without food. Russell, nothing daunted by 

this experience, in 1891 again essayed the ascent under the same auspices. During 

this attempt he succeeded in reaching a height of 14,500 feet, but was again forced 

to return by severe storms. The results of Russell's two expeditions were a large 

amount of data in regard to the glacial history of the region and a fairly accurate 

map of the slope of the mountain. His determination of 1~,100 feet as its height 

proved to be remarkably accurate, if one takes into account the conditions with 

which he had to contend. The Coast Survey triangulation of the following year 

shows the elevation to be 18,024. 

The summit of St. Elias was reached by an Italian, Prince Luigi, who followed 

the route which Russell had explored and very largely adopted the methods which 

Russell had recommended. Luigi, in 1897, landed at Yakutat Bay, and with a 

large, thoroughly equipped expedition made his way across the 40 miles of snow 

and ice between the coast and the base of the mountain. In his ascent he practically followed Russell's route, reaching the summit July 31, five weeks after 

leaving tidewater. Prince Luigi's expedition was carefully planned, and he showed 

65 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 125 

himself a capable leader as well as an experienced mountaineer. The reporta of 

the expedition contains much that is of geographic interest, but is chiefly valuable 

as a contribution to the literature of mountaineering . 

. The location of the international boundary on the Yukon became a question 

of Importance after the discovery of rich gold placers near it. The Canadians were 

first in the field. In 1888 William Ogilvie and George M. Dawson made surveys 

of the route from the head of Lynn Canal, in southeastern Alaska, to the mouth 

of the Lewes River. Ogilvie in the following year extended his surveys down 

the Yukon to the international boundary, and in 1890 continued his exploration 

to the head of the Porcupine, which had been surveyed in the previous year by 

R. G. McConnell, of the Canadian Survey. 

Mean while the United States Coast and. Geodetic Survey had dispatched two 

parties to the boundary. One of these, under J. E. McGrath, established an 

astronomic station near the boundary on the Yukon, and the other, under 

J. H. Turner, made a similar station where the boundary crossed the Porcupine. In 

connection with this work Turner's party in 1890 made a winter trip with dog teams 

from the camp on the Porcupine to the Arctic Ocean, following as nearly as possible 

the one hundred and forty-first meridian. This was the second time that northern 

Alaska was crossed by white men, the first being three years before by Ensign 

Howard. McGrath and Turner's surveys were limited to very small areas, but are 

of general geographic interest, as they represent the first geodetic surveys -·in the 

interior of Alaska. Besides the work to which they had been specially detailed, they 

also kept meteorologic records and made corrections from their route traverses in 

the existing maps of the Yukon. Prof. I. C. Russell, of the United States Geological Survey, accompanied McGrath to the boundary from the mouth of the river, 

and thence came to the coast with a party of prospectors by way of Lewes River 

and the Chilkoot Pass. 

In 1890 an expedition was sent out by Frank Leslie's Weekly for explorations 

in Alaska. The writer has been unable to discover any account of the work of this 

party. It apparently left the coast at Pyramid Harbor, ascended the Chilkat River, 

and after crossing the divide explored Lake Kusawa. There the party divided and 

A. B. Schanz and S. J. Wells descended to the Yukon, while E. J. Glave and tlack 

Dalton crossed the divide to Alsek waters, and followed the Alsek River to the coast. 

Later in the season Wells made a trip down the Tanana, and Schanz is said to have 

visited lakes Clark and Iliamna during the following winter. Glave and Dalton's 

exploration of the Alsek was a daring piece of work, as its character at that time 

was entirely unknown. Its course through the St. Elias Range has not even yet 

been surveyed. 

In 1891 Schwatka made his third trip to Alaska. Schwatka, C. Willard Hayes, 

of the United States Geological Survey, and Mark Russell, a prospector, ascended 

the Taku River, crossed the divide to Teslin Lake, and in folding canoes, which had 

been transported across the pass by natives, went downstream to the Lewes River 

and continued to Fort Selkirk, on the Yukon. Crossing overland to the White 

a It is somewhat surprising that in the account of this expedition it should be gravely stated that the barometric 

determination of the altitude of Mount St. Elias of 18,090 feet should be regarded as more accurate than the previous 

instrumental determinations by Russell. As a matter of fact, J. E. McGrath, of U. S. Co88t and Geodetic Survey in 

1892, had fixed the height of Mount St. Elias at 18,024 feet by triangulation. 

17211-~o. 4i'l-Oti-9 

66 
126 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

River, near the point where it is intersected by the international boundary, they 

then continued up the White to its source; and though they were deserted by all of 

their Indian packers, the three white men of the party went on through Skolai Pass, 

and, after ·reaching navigable waters on the Nizina, built a boat and continued 

down to the Copper River. Doctor Hayes's report and map, which are based on· a 

foot traverse, are remarkably complete and accurate considering the exceedingly 

trying conditions under which the field observations were made, and give much 

geologic and geographic information about a region which up to the time of its 

publication was practically unknown. 

In that same year Glave (who later lost his life on the Congo) and Dalton made 

a second trip into the Alsek basin. This time they are said to have extended their 

journey westward to the White River basin, but the map accompanying Glave's 

published account is very inaccurate. The exploit is of interest chiefly because it 

was the first time in the history of the country that horses were used on an extended 

journey. 

Congress, in 1895, tardily recognized the importance of an investigation of the 

mineral resources of Alaska, and by a small appropriation enabled the Geological 

Survey to send its first party to the north. Dr. George F. Becker, aided by C. W. 

Purington, made a preliminary investigation of the gold deposits, and W. H. Dall 

studied the coal deposits of the Pacific coastal belt. The following year J. E. Spurr, 

with H. B. Goodrich and F. C. Schrader, descended the Yukon and visited the more 

important placers of Alaska and did some topographic as well as geologic mapping. 

Even thirty years after its accession the mass of the public was still almost 

entirely ignorant of the geography, resources, or climate of Alaska. Well-informed 

people regarded it as a region of perpetual snow and ice, the land of the fur trader, 

Indian, and Eskimo. A great change was wrought by George W. Carmack's 

discovery of gold on the Klondike River, in Yukon Territory, during the summer of 

1896. This event led to the development of the famous Klondike placer field, which 

in one year brought more than 50,000 people into Alaska and the adjacent portions 

of Canadian territory, and made the name Klondike a household word in every 

civilized country on the globe. Hardly bad the Klondike excitement subsided 

somewhat when the discovery of the Nome placer fields in 1898 again attracted the 

attention of the world to Alaska, and a second exodus to this northern region took 

place. 

Of the thousands who entered the Yukon basin during the first years of the gold 

excitement, but a sn1all percentage had any conception of the difficulties with which 

they would be confronted, and still less had any previous training which fitted them 

for the work they had so rashly undertaken. Hundreds toiled over the Coast Range 

passes and made the mad dash to t·each the Eldorado their fancies had painted, but, 

discouraged at the outlook, continued down the Yukon to its mouth, having hardly 

been out of sight of its banks. The more venturesome prospector, however, found 

no risk too hazardous, no difficulty too great, and now there is hardly a stream which 

has not been panned by him, and hardly a forest which has not resounded to the 

blows of his ax. Evidences of his presence are to be found from the almost tropical 

jungles of southeastern Alaska to the barren grounds of the north which skirt the 

A:rctic Ocean. While the prospectors have traveled far and wide in Alaska, they 

67 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 127 

have as a class added little to the knowledge of its geography. As a rule they follow 

~ut two ~urposes, one to find gold and the other to get through the country. The 

InformatiOn obtained by them is seldom exact even when available for their concep- . ' ' tion of where they have been is often as vague as their ideas as to where they are 

going. Though their contribution to geographic knowledge is small, these pioneer 

prospectors, at the expense of hard toil and suffering, if not of their lives, have 

blazed the way for the settler, miner, and surveyor. 

The public interest aroused in Alaska by the finding of valuable placer mines 

in adjacent territory led to a demand for more definite information, and money 

was appropriated for investigation in Alaska under various bureaus of the Federal 

Government. The Coast and Geodetic Survey was enabled to expand its Alaskan 

surveys, which had been carried on ever since the purchase of the Territory. The 

Army established military posts to preserve order and to extend relief to the many 

ill-equipped and inexperienced Argonauts. It also built trails and telegraph lines, 

which were to become of immeasurable advantage to Alaska, and even attempted 

some explorations and surveys, but these were only partia1ly successful. 

When in 1898 the Geological Survey a began its systematic surveys and explorations in the interior of Alaska the problems which confronted it were not easy. 

The public demanded the immediate publication of maps of unexplored or only 

partially explored regions. Such maps would have far greater value if they 

could be furnished while the excitement was at its height, so there was not 

opportunity for extensive areal mapping. The problem was to make surveys 

of the main routes of travel, which were chiefly confined to the larger rivers, 

and to include with these as wide areas as possible. The first season's work 

resulted in about 3,000 miles of instrumental traverses, with reconnaissance maps 

of an area of nearly 30,000 square miles, besides more accurate survey of about 

2,000 square miles. These traverses were largely confined to the more important 

rivers. The work had to be planned with a very incomplete knowledge of the 

geography and of the climate and other conditions of travel of the region, and 

all supplies and equipment had to be transported from Puget Sound ports. 

After landing in Alaska the parties were entirely dependent on their own 

resources for transportation. The first year they made their way by following 

the waterways in canoes, which were carried on the backs of the men at 

portages, but after some knowledge of the country was gained it was found that 

horses could be used to advantage for the transportation of supplies. 

The general scheme of operations for the first year included exploration of 

the Kuskokwim, the Sushitna, and the Copper rivers, as all three of these 

streams offered possible routes into the interior. The Copper River work was 

carried on by members of the Geological Survey under the auspices of the War 

Department, which organized two expeditions for the purpose, one under Capt. 

Edwin F. Glenn and the other under Capt. William R. Abercrombie. 

Glenn, with a small detachment provided with pack horses, left the coast 

at Cook Inlet and made his way northward along the Matanuska, crossed the 

a Between 1898 and 1902 the following officers of the Geological Survey took part in the Alaskan work: E. C. Barnard, 

Alfred H. Brooks, ArthurJ. Collier, George H. Eldridge, T. G. Gerdine, W. C. Mendenhall, Robert Muldrow, W. J.Peters 

w. s. Post, D. L. Reaburn, G. B. Richardson, F. c. Schrader, Arthur C. Spencer, J. E. Spurr, and D. C. Witherspoon. 

68 
128 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

Copper River Plateau, and descended the Delta River to the Tanana, whence he 

returned to the coast by the same route. No surveys whatever were made by 

Glenn, but, fortunately, Mendenhall, of the Geological Survey, who had been 

detailed to his party, was enabled to carry on a route traverse throughout the 

journey. Mendenhall's map and report formed a valuable contribution to the 

knowledge of the geography of Alaska. At the Tanana Lieut .• T. C. Castner was 

detached from Glenn's party to continue the exploration to Circle, on the Yukon .. 

With two men he crossed the Tanana and attempted to make his way up Volkmar 

River, but the lateness of the season made the plan impracticable. After losing 

both their horses the three attempted to return to the Tanana on a raft. Their 

raft was wrecked and everything lost, including their shoes; they reached the 

Tanana half dead with hunger and exposure, and were fortunate enough to find 

some friendly Indians. The journey which had cost so much suffering and 

privation yielded practically nothing of value. Some minor explorations were 

carried on by Lieut. H. G. Learnard and Sergt. William Yanert, also of 

Glenn's party. 

The second army expedition, under Captain Abercrombie, landed at Valdez, on 

Prince 'V illiam Sound. The heavy snowfall prevented an early start, but eventually 

the entire party, including horses, made its way inland by the Valdez Glacier route, 

which that year was used by hundreds of prospectors. After reaching the Copper, 

Captain Abercrombie left the party for a hurried trip to the ~lentasta Pass along the 

trail established by prospectors. Lieut. P. G. Lowe, following a similar route, 

made his way to Fortymile, and returned to the coast by way of the Lewes River and 

the "rhite Pass Railway. The rest of the party, under the leadership of :F. C. 

Schrader, of the Geological Survey, did some very creditable work in making surveys and investigations in the lower part of the Copper River basin. 

The exploration of the Sushitna was undertaken by Eldridge and Muldrow, of 

the Geological Survey, with five men. They made their way up the river from 

Cook Inlet, dragging their ~upplies in canoes against the swift current. At Jack 

Ri yer the boats were left, and with packs on their backs the party pushed on to the 

Cantwell River, eonfluent to the Tanana, but at this point were forced to turn back 

by the failure of provisions, and reached their boats in a half-starved condition. 

Surveys were made throughout the journey, and the position and height of Mount 

McKinley were determined. 

The longest exploration of 1898 was that made by Spurr and Post, who ascended 

the Y entna, the left fork of the Sushitna, and portaging to Kuskokwim waters, 

descended the latter river to its mouth, and returned to Cook Inlet by a route which 

crossed the Alaska Peninsula. 

The same year the two most important southern branches of the Yukon-the 

Tanana and White rivers-were surveyed. A party led by Peters and Brooks 

crossed the Chilkoot Pass and went inland on the snow and ice to Lake Marsh, 

where, after delaying until the ice broke up, they embarked in canoes for the White 

River, at which point the surveys began. The ascent of the river was made by 

dragging the canoes against the rushing current. Six weeks of this toilsome task in 

the glacial waters bi·ought the party near the head of Snag River, a northern tribu69 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 129 

tary of the W.hite, whence the Tanana was reached by portage, after which the 

downstream tnp to t~e Yukon was comparatively easy. Exploratory surveys of 

abo?t 10,0?0.square mlles were made by this party. The same year Barnard, followmg a .slm~lar route from the coast to the Yukon, made a survey of about 2,000 

square miles In the Fortymile River basin. 

In 1899 Peters and Brooks continued their explorations by a survey extending 

westward from Lynn Canal along the northern base of the St. Elias Range to the 

headwaters of the White and Tanana rivers and northward to the Yukon at Fortymile. . The journey was made with horses, only five out of the original fifteen 

reaching the Yukon. 

In this year the work of exploring the great waterways was extended north of 

the Yukon to the Koyukuk, which was mapped by Schrader and Gerdine. Leaving 

Fort Yukon in canoes, they ascended the Chandlar River, and after making a 16-mile 

portage reached Koyukuk water·s and followed .them to the Yukon. 

In the fall Schrader and Brooks met at St. Michael and after the close of the 

work decided to visit the newly discovered placers at Nome. The investigations, 

while very hastily made, had their value, because they enabled the Geological Survey 

to publish a report containing authentic information before the exodus to the new 

gold fields, which took place in the following spring. 

The great demand for maps of important mining districts, in 1900, forced the 

Geological Survey to postpone further explorations. One party, under the leadership of Schrader, Gerdine, and Spencer, mapped a large area in the Copper River 

basin, both geologically and topographically, while Barnard, Brooks, Peters, and 

Mendenhall did similar work in Seward Peninsula. 

In 1901 the work in northern Alaska was resumed, and a network of surveys 

completed connecting the Yukon. Koyukuk, and Kobuk rivers, the Arctic Ocean 

and Kotzebue Sound. Schrader and Peters made a trip which included a journey 

the entire length of Alaska from its southernmost limit to Point Barrow, Starting 

in winter, they traveled to the Koyukuk with dog teams, thence ascended one of 

the north forks of that stream with canoes, crossed to a branch of the Colville, and 

followed it to its mouth. They then skirted the coast westward to Point Barrow 

and finally southward to Cape Lisburne, where they were so fortunate as to find a 

steamer. In course of their journey they traversed the Endicott Mountains, and 

brought back the first authentic information in regard to this great range. Theirs 

was probably the most notable exploration which has been made by the Geological 

Survey. In the same year Mendenhall and Reaburn also made surveys and explorations in this northern region. They reached the mouth of Dall River on the Yukon 

in June, ascended that stream in canoes, and then by an 18-mile :::>ortage reached 

Koyukuk waters. They descended the Koyukuk to the mouth of Alatna River, 

which they ascended for about 100 miles, and then made a second portage which 

brought them to the Kobuk River, which they followed to its mouth. This expedition is of particular interest in that it made the first instrumental survey from 

the Yukon to tide water. The topographic survey was begun at Fort Yukon and 

carried through to Kotzebue Sound. It established an altitude of 500 feet for the 

river at For.t Yukon, which is probably approximately correct. 

70 
130 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

During the same season Brooks was engaged in geologic studies in southeastern 

Alaska, and Gerdine, Collier, and Witherspoon did areal mapping in the Seward 

Penimmla. 

The work for 1902 was planned to include an exploration of the largest 

unexplored area in southern Alaska, and the running of a traverse to the Yukon 

which should connect the previous surveys of the Sushitna, Kuskokwim, and 

Tanana. To this end a party led by Brooks and Reaburn extended a survey 

northwest from Cook Inlet through the Alaska Range, and bending northeast 

passed close to the base of Mount McKinley and on to the Cantwell River, 

whence they took a northwesterly route across the Tanana to Rampart on the 

Yukon. During the same season the areal mapping of the Copper River basin was 

concluded by parties led by Schrader, Gerdine, Mendenhall, and Witherspoon, 

while Collier studied the geology of the Yukon, and Peters made a detailed 

topographic survey near J qneau. 

Of the twenty or more parties which the Geological Survey has sent to 

Alaska, hardly a single one has failed to execute the work allotted to it. This 

is largely because those who were intrusted with their leadership were specially 

fitted, by nature as well as by experience and training, for the undertaking. 

The parties have usually been made up of a few carefully chosen men, and the 

physical work and discomforts, as well as hardships, have been shared by leaders 

and men alike. In connection with the topographic surveys geologic investigations have gone hand in hand; in some instances somewhat detailed studies having 

been undertaken, while in others the work was purely of a preliminary character 

(see fig. 3). 

The topographic and geologic mapping carried on in various parts of Alaska 

since the organization of systematic surveys has resulted in the completion 

of a preliminary map of the Copper River basin and of the Seward Peninsula. 

A considerable area has also been surveyed in the region lying between the 

Yukon and the Tanana. A more detailed map of a part of the Juneau m1mng 

district has been finished, which is to serve as the basis for geologic studies 

during the coming season. 

Besides the geologic work already mentioned, it is planned to make a reconnaissance of the oil fields of the Pacific coast belt of Alaska, and to study the 

placer fields of both the Tanana-Yukon district and the Seward Peninsula. In 

addition to this economic work steps have been taken to make a detailed examination of some of the Tertiary and Mesozoic beds exposed along the Yukon. 

Subsequent to the work done in collaboration with member~::~ of the Geological Survey in 1898, the Army continued to send out expeditions. In the following year some more or less detailed surveys were carried on in connection with 

constructing the military trail across the Chugach Mountains from Valdez. 

These operations, as well as some minor explorations, were carried on under 

direction of Captain Abercrombie. Oscar Rohn, a civilian employee of Abercrombie's party, with one companion, made a daring journey, in which he 

crossed . the Wrangell Mountains to Tanana waters and then returned to Copper 

River, making a sketch map as well as geologic observations. 

71 
AMERICAN OCCUPATION. 131 

Another party, provided with horses and a large river steamer, was sent to 

Cook Inlet under command of Captain Glenn. The most notable contribution of 

this exp~diti?n to geographic know ledge of Alaska was Lieut. Joseph ~. Herron':s 

e~ploratwn In th~ upper Kuskokwim basin. Following the general route preVIOusly traversed by Spurr and Post Herron crossed the Alaska Range and entered ' ' the great lowland which lies to the northwest. Here considerable time was lost 

by a search for natives to act as guides, during which the early frosts killed the 

grass and the pack horses had to be abandoned. At length, with the aid of Indian 

guides, Herron's party reached the Yukon in the early winter. C. E. Griffith, a 

FIG. 3.-Map showing areas surveyed and explored by United States Geological Survey, 1898 to 1903. 

topographer of Glenn's command, led a small party from Knik Arm, Cook Inlet, 

to Eagle, on the Yukon. His route lay partly through the region previously 

explored by Glenn and Mendenhall, and partly over the well-traveled trail which 

leads from Valdez to Eagle. George W. Van Schoonhoven, also of Glenn's party, 

attempted, with a full equipment of horses, to reaeh the Tanana from Cook Inlet. 

He first followed the route surveyed by Eldridge and Muldrow in the previous 

year, but turned back at the Cantwell, reporting the route impassable. In this 

he was mistaken, for Brooks and Reaburn in 1902 crossed the Cantwell whet-e he 

turned back, and continued through to the Tanana without serious difficulty. 

72 
132 GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF ALASKA. 

During the past two years the Signal Corps of thn Army has been pushing the 

work of constructing telegraph lines, and as a rmmlt has connected by wire the 

most important a points, both inland and on the coa~t. Reconnaissance surveys 

have to a certain extent been carried on snb:·mrvient and preliminary to the construction of the telegraph lines. 

CONCLUSION. 

Over a century and a half has elapsed Him·<~ Bering and Chirikof first sighted 

the mainland of what is now known as Alaska, and during this time geographical 

discoveries have been steadily going on within its borders. First came the Russian 

trader, who in the course of his marauding voyage made his way step by step along 

the Aleutian Islands to the mainland. Then Cook and Vancouver and other navigators carried on systematic surveys of its shore line. \Vith the organization of 

the Russian-American Company, in 1799, a new epoch of permanent settlements 

and slight but important explorations was introduced, which continued until the 

transfer of Alaska to the United States. During this time the English contributed 

much toward a knowledge of Arctic Alaska through the sunTeys made by their 

Franklin relief expeditions. Mackenzie's famous journeys across the continent to 

the Arctic Ocean pointed out the way to lucrative fur trade to the English, and 

brought them to Alaska from the east. Their explorations on the upper Yukon 

were linked with those of the Russians below by the journey of Kennicott, Dall, 

and their associates of the telegraph survey. 

After Alaska became a United States possession there was a lull in explorations within its borders, though the Coast Survey beg·an to chart the coast line. 

Except for Raymond's trip up theY ukon and the efforts of Petro£ and of fur traders 

and prospectors no attempt was made at an extension of geographic knowledge in 

the interior until Schwatka made his trip down the Lewes and Yukon. This was 

followed by the less generally known though no less important explorations in the 

northern part by officers of the Navy, the Revenue-Marine Service, and the Coast 

Survey. Since Alaska attracted public notice through its placer gold resources 

important and extensive surveys and explorations have heen carried on by the 

Geological Survey. 

Alaskan surveys and explorations have never been and never will be easy. 

Throughout its history the geographic investigation has been a tale of hardship and 

suffering and not infrequently of death. Let those who are not personally familiar 

with the character of the difficulties not judge it too harshly. If the results have 

not always been commensurate with the expenditure of money, time, and even of 

human life, it should be remembered that the conditions of travel in the past have 

not been so favorable to the explorer as in some of the more temperate regions. 

The task is not yet complete. Reconnaissance surveys have been effected in but 

one-fifth of the territory, leaving large areas which are still practically unexplored. 

aNome, the Yukon, Tanana, and Copper River valleys are now connected with Dawson and with Valdez by 

telegraph. Dawson has outside telegraph connections through Canadian territory with the United States and to the 

coast at Skagway, Alaska. Skagway, Seward, and Valdez, all on the Pacific coast, are connected by cable with Seattle. 

73 

AppendixE 

SURVEYING AND MAPPING IN ALASKA 

by 

Gerald FitzGerald 

INTRODUCTION 

As the story of surveying and mapping in 

Alaska has never been written before, the following account is based on fragmentary published 

and unpublished material, principally from the 

files of the various Federal departments. Alfred H. Brooks, Chief Alaskan Geologist of the 

U. S. Geological Survey, in Professional Paper 

No. 45, published in 1906, summarized the 

early exploration of Alaska and described the 

first systematic topographic mapping undertaken 

by the Survey between 1895 and 1902. Other 

publications on the subject are for the most part 

comined to reports of the Federal Government 

or to popular magazine articles. 

Hydrographic, geodetic, and topographic surveying in Alaska has been carried on chiefly by 

three or four Federal agencies since the turn of 

the century. The writer has abstracted and 

compiled information from various official reports for the preparation of this sketch for the 

period from 1900 to the present time. It would 

be impossible in a single article to describe 

completely even the major surveying and mapping ex?editions conducted by the Federal Government. An attempt has been made, therefore, 

to select only those considered of outstanding 

importance or those which have made some real 

and lasting contribution to the geographic knowledge of the Territory. 

Partly because of its remoteness and partly 

because of the unusually difficult conditions encountered in conducting surveying operations in 

Alaska, the Territory has been the proving ground 

for many important developments in the art of 

1This paper was ori.ginalJ.¥ prepared for the 

Encyclopedia Arctica. 

1 

75 

surveying and mapping. Terrestrial photogrammetry was used successfully as early as 1893 

by the Canadian Government and the U. S. Coast 

and Geodetic Survey on the International Boundary Surveys in southeastern Alaska. A panoramic camera was developed by members of 

the Geological Survey in 1905 and used successfully for many years on topographic mapping of 

Alaska. The first American trilens aerial 

mapping camera and transforming printer were 

developed before World War I by J. W. Bagley 

and F. H. Moffit, members of the Geological 

Survey engaged in Alaskan work. The Navy 

Department, at the request of the Geological 

Survey, completed aerial photographic coverage 

of more than 20,000 square miles in southeastern Alaska during the period between the first 

and second world wars. 

During World War II "trimetrogon" mapping 

was developed, largely by Geological Survey 

personnel engaged in Alaskan mapping and by 

members of the Army Air Forces, to meet the 

urgent need for aeronautical charts of this vast 

area. Naval photographic squadrons returned 

to Alaska after the war and rephotographed the 

area of southeastern Alaska with new precisionmapping cameras. Still more recently the Department of the Air Force accomplished a successful photographic coverage of the principal 

transportation routes leading into the interior 

of Alaska. This photography was controlled by 11 shoran", an electronic method used to determine geographic positions within the area photographed. The airplane, helicopter, truck, and 

tractor have, to a considerable extent, replaced 

the canoe, dog team, and pack train, and solved 

the transportation problems connected with surveying in Alaska. Because of the Territory's 

recognized strategic position in the modern 
i 

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i 

I 

/ 

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Figure 1. --Unexplored areas in 1895. 

Figure 2. --Unexplored areas in 1905. 
Figure 3. --Exploratory and reconnaissance mapping completed by 1940. 

defense plans of the Nation, surveying and mapping activities have greatly increased since 

World War II. 

In order to achieve simplicity of arrangement 

and to avoid overlapping of narrative, this sketch 

has been arbitrarily divided into four periods 

between 1728 and 1950. Each of these divisions 

represents a significant phase in the history of 

the exploration, surveying, and mapping of 

Alaska. (See figs. 1, 2, and 3. ) 

The Russian occupation was mainly a period 

of maritime exploration of Alaskan coastal areas 

by expeditions sent out by the principal nations 

of the world. Stimulated by the fabulously rich 

fur trade developed and controlled by the Russians for more than 100 years, expeditions from 

England, France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal explored and charted in some manner most of 

Alaska's 26,000-mile coast line before the purchase of Alaska by the United States in 1867. 

The second period covers the American occupation from the date of transfer in 1867 to 

1895, and was marked by considerable activity 

in coastal charting and further exploration. The 

U. S. Army sent several parties into the new 

territory to explore the great river basins and 

to determine at least an approximate position 

for the international boundary between Canada 

and Alaska. The Navy Department and the 

Coast Guard conducted several important exploratory expeditions along the coast of Alaska 

and into the Arctic. The Coast and Geodetic 

Survey began coastal surveying and charting 

operations immediately after the purchase of 

Alaska and undertook triangulation and the 

establishment of astronomical positions for the 

International Boundary Commission. 

The third period marks the beginning of organized and systematic mapping and charting 

in the vast unfamiliar interior of the new Territory, and for the purpose of this report, includes the 45 years between 1895 and 1940. 

The increased activity in surveying and mapping 

during this period was due principally to the 

"gold rush" of 1898, which focused national attention on the almost-neglected Territory, and 

resulted in increased Congressional appropriations for Alaskan work. 

3 77 
With this renewed interest and with additional 

funds, the Coast and Geodetic Survey expanded 

its triangulation arcs and its charting operations 

of hydrographic conditions along the coast. The 

Geological Survey was able to send geologic and 

topographic field parties into ·many of the remote 

areas of Alaska. The survey of the International 

Boundary Commission was completed from Dixon 

Entrance to Demarcation Point. The General 

Land Office began field work in Alaska in 1899 

to establish a rectangular network of surveys 

necessary for the administration and disposal 

of public lands. Many private organizations and 

Federal agencies contributed materially to the 

geographic knowledge of the Territory. In this 

category should be included the work of the 

National Geographic Society, the Harriman Expedition, the Alaska Road Commission, the Army 

Air Corps, the Coast Guard, the Biological Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, and many others. 

The fourth period, while embracing only ten 

years, from 1940 to 1950, has been the most 

important in the history of surveying and mapping in Alaska. Defense plans for Alaska and 

the Pacific coast required modern maps and 

charts. In order to provide a more accurate 

framework for detailed surveying and mapping, 

the Coast and Geodetic Survey greatly increased 

its geodetic survey operations, as well as its 

coastal charting program. During World War II 

the Aeronautical Chart Service of the Air Force 

prepared small scale aeronautical charts of the 

entire Territory. The Corps of Engineers 

ma.pped, by modern methods, a number of quadrangles in the vicinity of Anchorage, and part 

of Unalaska Island. 

Postwar work involved the preparation of 

military maps of strategic areas in western 

Alaska. During this ten-year period the Geological Survey compiled trimetrogon photographs 

into maps and charts for the Aeronautical Chart 

Service, covering 80 percent of the area of the 

Territory, and expanded its own standard quadrangle-mapping program to include extensive 

areas in southeastern, central, and northern 

Alaska. To further the latter program the Department of the Navy cooperated by photographing all of southeastern Alaska, extensive areas 

in northern Alaska, Seward Peninsula, a.."ld 

4 

78 

Kodiak Island. Photographic units of the Air 

Force, in addition to providing trimetrogon 

coverage of nearly all of Alaska, completed 

shoran-controlled photography for nearly 

30, 000 square miles in central Alaska. The 

Bureau of Land Management and the Forest 

Service each made some contribution to the 

surveying and mapping of Alaska's 589, 870 

square miles. 

The following account of these four periods, 

outlined briefly in the preceding pages, presents 

a fairly comprehensive picture of the major 

surveying and mapping activities in Alaska for 

the past 200 years. 

RUSSIAN OCCUPATION (1728-1867) 

Although little information was available 

with which to compile a map of Alaska at the 

time the United States purchased the Territory 

from Russia in 1867, a brief review of early 

explorations is necessary to evaluate properly 

the slow progress made in surveying and mapping following the American acquisition. 

Beginning with the voyages of Vitus Bering 

in 1728 and 1729, Russian exploration of Alaska 

was principally from the west, across Siberia 

and the Bering Sea. Navigators and explorers 

of several nations approached Alaska from the 

south, across the Gulf of Alaska or through the 

meandering fiords of southeastern Alaska. 

These early navigators included the English, 

who also entered Alaska from the east through 

the Mackenzie River Valley. 

Vitus Bering, a captain in the Russian Navy, 

was sent by Peter the Great to determine the 

extent of land east of Siberia. His voyages were 

made in the period between 1728 and 1741, and, 

while not greatly productive, they established 

beyond any doubt that a great land mass existed 

east of Siberia, connected or nearly connected 

with Russia by a long chain of islands. The 

reports of Bering's voyages stimulated the development of the fur trade on the Aleutian Islands. As the supply there became depleted, 

the fur trade sp;read gradually to the mainland 

of Alaska. One of the principal headquarters 

for this trade was established at Kodiak in 1783 
under Alexander Baranof, general manager of 

the Russian-American Company. A grant from 

the Russian Government placed Alaska in the 

hands of this company for a period of 60 years. 

While the Russians were developing the valuable fur trade of the Aleutian Islands, the Alaska 

Peninsula, and western Alaska, the Spanish sent 

several expeditions to explore southeastern 

Alaska. During this same period, Captain James 

Cook and Captain George Vancouver also sailed 

north to explore southern Alaska. Commander 

Jean Francois LaPerouse was sent by the French 

to explore southeastern Alaska in 1786, but he 

covered much of the area seen by earlier Spanish and English explorers. England, in search 

of the Northwest Passage, sent several wellequipped expeditions farther north. Captain Cook 

made his famous voyage· into the Arc'tlc Ocean 

in 1778 and Captain F. W. Beechey charted the 

north coast of Alaska to Point Barrow in 1826. 

Vancouver, who had sailed with Cook in 1778, 

returned to Alaska in 1791 and spent much time 

preparing a chart of the complicated shorelines 

and fiords of southeastern Alaska. 

In the meantime, the Russians under Baranof 

had expanded in western, southern, and southeastern Alaska where, in addition to the earlier 

posts in the Aleutian Islands, the Russians established settlements em Cook Inlet, Sitka Sound, 

and Prince Willlam Sound. The whole of known 

Alaska was now: in the hands of the Russians. 

This was formally recognized by England in a 

treaty signed with Russia in 1825. After this 

time, exploratory expeditions of other nations to 

Alaska were limited. 

Baranof, who was not interested in exploration, 

was removed and Russian naval officers placed 

in charge of the Russian-American colony. Scientific work under the Navy was given more support and considerable progress was made in 

coastal exploration. Captain Michael Tebenkof 

of the Russian Navy prepared an atlas of the 

northwestern coast of America in which he compiled the results of all previous explorations. 

This atlas is considered the most important 

contribution to the geography of Alaska made 

during the Russian occupation. 

79 

Before 1826 the Russians had confined most 

of their activities to the coastal areas of Alaska, 

but as interest grew in the possibility of extending the fur trade into the interior, expeditions 

were authorized to continue surveys along the 

northern coast and as far inland as possible. 

The Bristol Bay and Kuskokwim River regions 

were visited in 1818 and 1832, and the Susitna 

River Basin explored by a Russian group in 

1834. The Yukon River was reached from the 

portage of St. Michael on Norton Bay by another small party, which then portaged to the 

Kuskokwim River. 

One of the most important of the Russian 

inland explorations was made by Lieutenant 

Zagoskin of the Imperial Navy in 1842-1843. 

This party ascended the Yukon River as far as 

the mouth of the Tanana River, and also explored the lower stretches of the Koyukuk River. 

On his return Zagoskin traversed the Innoko 

River, a tributary of the lower Yukon, and then 

portaged east to the Kuskokwim River. 

While the Russian treaty of 1825 with England considerably curtailed foreign exploration, 

particularly of southeastern and southern Alaska, 

English navigators continued their explorations 

of the northwest coast. Alexander Mackenzie 

had explored the great river that now bears his 

name to the Arctic coast from the mouth of the 

Mackenzie westward.· Captain Beechey, cooperating with Franklin, charted the southern coast 

of Seward Peninsula to Cape Prince of Wales 

and added much information to the earlier surveys of Kotzebue Sound. In 1834 the Hudson's 

Bay Company made several attempts to establish itself in southeastern Alaska, finally securinq a 10-year lease from the Russians in 

1837. In the meantime, this company had established posts on the upper Yukon River and was 

rapidly controlling the fur trade of that area. 

In the period between 1843 and 1853, the 

British Government sent out several expeditions 

to bring relief to the ill-fated expedition of Sir 

John Franklin on the Arctic coast. These expeditions resulted in maps and charts of the 

Arctic that have been superseded only by aerial 

photography taken during World War II. 
The Western Union Telegraph Company in 

1863 undertook preliminary explorations to establish a telegraph route from the west coast 

of the United States through British Columbia 

and Alaska to the Bering Strait, where a cable 

connection with a trans-Siberian line was planned 

to establish communications between America 

and Europe. The exploration work in connection 

with the establishment of this telegraph line contributed much to the knowledge of the interior of 

Alaska. William H. Da.ll, one of the leaders of 

the scientific corps of the expedition, continued 

his work after the telegraph-survey party was 

disbanded, and published the results of his investigations in several of the best-known earlier 

reports on Alaska. 

AMERICAN OCCUPATION (1867-95) 

After several years of negotiations, Alaska 

was purchased from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000. 

However, for the next 30 years exploration and 

surveying work were carried on in a small way 

with little coordination. 

During the Russian occupation much of the 

26, 000-mile coast line of Alaska had been explored and charted by expeditions of several nations. The most important work, however, was 

done by the English expeditions under Captain 

James Cook a"'l.d the relief expeditions sent to the 

aid of the Franklin party on the Arctic coast. 

The Coast and Geodetic Survey, soon after 

the transfer of Alaska, began the first system-· 

a tic survey work in the new Territory, and, behveen 1867 and 1882, compiled and published 

numerous charts of Alaskan waters. As these 

charts were based principally on the earlier surveys by English, Russian, French, and Portugese explorers and by the U. S. Navy, much of 

the early field work was done to control and 

piece together the fragmentary material already 

available. The Revenue Service, the Fishing 

Commission, and the Navy assisted in this work 

and each contributed in part to the charts and 

Coast Pilots published by the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey. 

In the summer of 1867, George Davidson and 

others made an extensive cruise of Alaskan 

waters in the Revenue Cutter Lincoln, and as a 

6 

80 

result prepared cruise charts of Sitka Harbor, 

Saint Paul Harbor, Kodiak Island, and Captain's 

Bay on Unalaska Island. The first two Coast 

Pilots of Alaska were published between 1869 

and 1883, based on the work of George Davidson, William H. Dall, and Marcus Baker. A 

third was prepared by Lieutenant Commander 

H. E. Nichols, U.S.N. in 1891. 

The first continuous survey work by the 

Coast Surv~y was started in 1882 when the 

Steamer Hassler was sent north under the command of Lieutenant Commander H. E. Nichols, 

U.S. N. and later under Lieutenant Commander 

A. S. Snow in 1884. The Steamer Patterson 

was assigned to Alaskan waters in 1885 under 

the command of Lieutenant Commander Richard 

Clover, U.S.N., and for the next 15 years field 

work consisted mainly of charting only those 

channels and harbors used by the Navy and for 

the very limited commercial shipping. 

One of the first inland explorations after the 

acquisition of Alaska was undertaken by a small 

party under Captain V. W. Raymond, sent by 

the Army to Fort Yukon in 1869 to determine 

the position of the international boundary between Canada and Alaska. As a result of Captain Raymond's astronomical observations at 

Fort Yukon, the Hudson's Bay Company was 

forced to move its important Fort Yukon post 

to a point more than 50 miles up the Porcupine 

River, where it remained for 15 years. In 

1889 the post was relocated farther up the Porcupine, at Rampart House, which was located 

on the 141st meridian, or the Alaska-Canada 

boundary. 

About 1880 prospectors began to enter Alaska 

and the Yukon Territories. This activity renewed interest in the geography of southeastern 

Alaska and the territory between the coast and 

the headwaters of the Yukon River. Glacier 

Bay, one of the outstanding scenic areas in 

Alaska, was explored uy John Muir and the 

ReverendS. Hall Young in 1879. Ivan Petrof, 

a census agent, in 1880 stated in his report 

that Alaska needed "a gradual but systematic 

exploration of the interior, and an immediate 

survey of the coast and harbors of the region 

now constantly frequented by trading and fishing 

vessels, in order to prevent the alarmingly 
frequent occurrences of wrecks upon unknown 

rocks and shoals." Petrof, a resident of Alaska, 

spent two years traveling along the southern 

coast of the Territory and on the lower Yukon 

and Kuskokwim Rivers. His map of Alaska published with the Tenth Census report, was o~e of 

the best general maps of the Territory that had 

been compiled at that time. 

In 1883 Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, accompanied by Charles W. Homan, followed the 

prospectors' trail from the coast over Chilkoot 

Pass and descended the Lewes ~iver through 

Lake Laberge down the main Yukon River through 

Canada and Alaska to its mouth at Norton Sound. 

Homan mapp·ed the entire route by sketch traverses and latitude observations. This was the 

first actual survey of the Yukon River. 

The U. S. Signal Service established a meteorologi~al and magnetic station in 1881 at Point 

Barrow where observations were made for latitude and longitude. During this same year a 

German geographer, Dr. Arthur Krause visited 

southeastern Alaska and the headwaters of the 

Yukon River and prepared a map of the area. 

During the period between 1883 and 1886 sev ... 

eral exploratory expeditions of note were made 

in Alaska by officers of the Army and Navy. In 

1883 Lieutenant George M. Stoney of the Navy 

Department explored parts of Kotzebue Sound at 

the mouth of the Kobuk River. As a result of 

this work the Department became more interested 

in northern exploration, and Lieutenant Stoney 

was returned to Alaska the next year to explore 

the Kobuk River. In 1886 he established headquarters on the upper Kobuk River and from this 

base explored the headwaters of the Noatak and 

Koyukuk Rivers. One of his officers, Ensign 

W. L. Howard, led a party of four men from the 

Noatak River northward through what now is 

known as Howard Pass, down the Etivuluk River 

to the Colville River, and to a point near the 

present site of Umiat. From this spot he portaged to the headwaters of the Chipp River, and 

arrived at Point Barrow in midsummer. He 

thus became the first white man to cross Arctic 

Alaska. The results of the Stoney expedition 

were sketch maps and some instrumental surveys 

of parts of the Kobuk Valley, Selawik Lake, the 

7 

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Colville, the upper Noatak River, and the 

Alatna, a tributary of the Koyukuk River. 

In 1884 a U. S. Army expedition, under the 

command of Lieutenant W. R. Abercrombie, 

was ordered to make an exploration of the Copper River area. This expedition was not entirely successful, and was undertaken again the 

following year by Lieutenant Henry T. Allen, 

who landed near the mouth of the Copper River 

in March 1885, and ascended that stream for 

several hundred miles. A portage was made 

through Suslota Pass to the Tanana River where 

he obtained a boat and finally reached the mouth 

of the river near the end of June. Allen then 

portaged to the Koyukuk River and reached a 

point near the mouth of the Melozi River. He 

next explored the Koyukuk River from its headwaters to its confluence with the Yukon River. 

Continuing down the Yukon River, he crossed 

the Kaltag portage to St. Michael on Norton 

Sound. Lieutenant Allen's journey is generally 

conceded to be one of the most outstanding exploratory trips ever made in the Territory of 

Alaska. Under extremely trying conditions, 

subsisting almost entirely on the country, he 

nevertheless made a careful record of his entire journey, and from his observations and 

sketches was able to compile an exploratory 

sketch map of the entire area traversed. 

During 1884 and 1885 Lieutenant John C. 

Cantwell and S. B. McLenigan of the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service explored the headwaters of 

the Kobuk and the lower Noatak and made sketch 

maps of both these important northern rivers. 

Surveys to locate and mark the international 

boundary between Alaska and Canada were begun 

in 1888 by the Canadian Government, which 

started work in .southeastern Alaska. In the 

years 1891 and 1895 the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey completed triangulation and astronomical 

work for the geodetic control, and Canadian surveyors introduced photo-topographic surveying 

for the preparation of boundary maps. During 

1889 J. H. Turner and J. E. McGrath had 

ascended the Yukon River to Fort Yukon where 

the party separated. Turner continued up the 

Porcupine to the Alaska-Canada boundary, 

where he established an astronomical observatory 
and then went north to the Arctic coast by dog 

team. McGrath, accompanied by Professor 

I. C. Russel of the Geological Survey, continued 

up the Yukon River to a point near Eagle, where 

he also established an astronomical position for 

the boundary. 

The discovery of gold was largely responsible 

for the greatly increased interest in Alaska and 

subsequent inauguration of the international 

boundary survey, and expansion of the Coast 

and Geodetic Survey's coastal charting program. 

In 1898 this increased interest resulted in appropriations to the Geological Survey that permitted the undertaking of a systematic program 

of geologic and topographic surveys of the interior of Alaska. Appropriations to the Geological Survey continued at a more or less uniform 

rate for the next 40 years. 

SYSTEMATIC MAPPING AND CHARTlliG 

IN ALASKA (1895-1940) 

The turn of the century was the beginning of 

a period in Alaska in which organized coastal 

surveys were continued at an accelerated pace 

to provide for water-borne navigation, and topographic maps of the interior at reconnaissance 

scales were made to keep pace with the development that followed the discovery of gold. Because of the climate and remoteness of Alaska, 

surveying and mapping were often carried on 

under extremely difficult conditions. Transportation and supplies, of course, presented the 

major problems and, owing to the shortness of 

the field season, the great variation in topography, 

and other factors, the surveyor and mapper were 

called upon to devise and develop new and ingenious methods for accomplishing their work. 

Terrestrial photogrammetry was employed on 

Alaskan surveys as early as 1893. The necessity of mapping large areas rapidly on a reconnaissance scale stimulated interest which resulted in the designing of the first Americanmade multiple-lens camera by J. W. Bagley and 

his associates of the Geological Survey before 

World War I. It was only natural, therefore, 

that the Navy Department, under cooperative 

agreement with the Geological Survey, photographed 20, 000 square miles in southeastern 

Alaska with the multiple-lens Bagley camera in 

1926 and 1929. 

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New and advanced methods and equipment 

were developed and used by the Coast and Geo .. 

detic Survey to prepare both general and detailed navigation charts of the coastal waters 

and the principal harbors of Alaska. The hand 

lead was superseded by the wire drag and the 

sonic depth finder. The Radio Acoustic Ranging, or "R. A. R." permitted more accurate 

positioning of ships on deep-water offshore 

sounding, and permitted operations even with 

land points obscured. Alaska became an ideal 

proving ground for the development of reconnaissance mapping by photogrammetric methods and it was here, in 1940, that "trimetrogon 

mapping" was first used. 

Work of the Geological Survey (1895-1940) 

1895-1902 

Annual appropriations by Congress for the 

work of the Geological Survey in Alaska, which 

included topographic mapping, fluctuated widely 

from $5,000 in 1895 to a peak of $100,000 during the years 1913 to 1917. The appropriation 

for 1940 was $60,000. This amount was for 

all of the Sur'Tey1 s operations in Alaska, and, 

consequently, less than half of it was available 

for topographic mapping. 

The extent of areas mapped in Alaska by the 

Geological Survey to January 1940 is shown in 

the following table: 

Exploratory mapping on 

Contour 

interval 

Square 

miles 

scale of 1:500,000. . • • 200 feet 8, 952 

Reconnaissance mapping 

on scale of 1:250, 000.. • 200 feet 185, 586 

Planimetric mapping on 

reconnaissance scale . • None 10,894 

Detailed mapping, commonly on scale of 

1:62, 500. . • . • . • . . • . 50 feet 4, 552 

Total . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . • . . . 209, 984 

Members of the Geological Survey were sent 

to Alaska prior to 1895 in connection with scientific expeditions. Professor I. c. Russel was 

assi<p1ed to a Coast and Geodetic Survey party 
in 1889 under J. E. McGrath who was ordered 

to the upper Yukon River to determine by astronomical observations the position of the boundary line between Alaska and Canada. In 1891, 

Dr. C. Willard Hayes of the Survey accompanied 

Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka to the headwaters 

of the Yukon River, via Taku River and Teslin 

Lake. This party portaged from Fort Selkirk 

on the Yukon to the White River which they 

ascended to Skolai Pass and, by portaging again 

to the Nizina River, they finally descended the 

Copper River. Dr. Hayes prepared an excellent exploratory map of the trip from his notes 

and observations. 

Prospectors for gold who entered Alaska 

through southeastern Alaska and from the Yukon 

Territory during the early 90's demanded information about the interior, and Congress in 1895 

appropriated$ 5, 000 to the Geological Survey for 

the "Investigation of the mineral resources of 

Alaska." Three Survey geologists, G. F. Becker, William H. Dall, and J. E. Spurr, were 

sent north to study the coal and gold deposits. 

Spurr returned to the Klondike in 1898 when 

gold was discovered there. New discoveries in 

the Yukon Territory and the great influx of prospectors lo Alaska caused Congress to increase 

appropriations to the Geological Survey for work 

in Alaska in 1898. From this date organized 

and systematic topographic mapping became an 

integral part of the Geological Survey's Alaskan 

mineral resources program. 

An attempt was made during the first years 

of this survey work to explore the main river 

valleys of the interior of Alaska since these were 

then the principal routes of transportation. In 

planning the 1898 field season it was decided, 

therefore, to make exploratory surveys of the 

Kuskokwim, the Susitna, and the Copper Rivers. 

One of these expeditions, headed by J. E. Spurr, 

qeologist, with W. S. Post, topographer, arrived 

at the upper end of Cook Inlet in the spring of 

1898. The party ascended the Yentna River, a 

tributary of the Susitna River, portaged through 

the Alaska Range to the headwaters of the Kuskokwim River, and descended that great river to 

its mouth. They then turned eastward and, traveling inland parallel to the coast, finally reached 

Bristol Bay. Using native skin boats the party 

crossed the bay and reached Naknek on the Alaska 

g 

83 

Peninsula. Continuing overland they at last 

reached Shelikof Strait and Kodiak Island. This 

was a remarkable trip considering the great 

distance traveled, the difficult portages, and 

the fact that almost the entire route was unexplored. Post prepared the map of the entire 

route which accompanied Spurr's report. 

During this same year the Susitna River 

was mapped by George H. Eldredge and Robert 

Muldrow, who, with a small party traveling by 

boat and backpack, reached the Cantwell or 

Nenana River, a tributary of the Tanana River. 

They returned to the coast via the Susitna River. 

Exploratory topographic maps were made of 

the route of this expedition, which included the 

first determination of the position and height 

of the continent's highest mountain, Mt. McKinley, 20, 300 f~et above sea level. 

A third party in 1898 explored and mapped 

the Tanana and White Rivers, headwater tributaries .of the Yukon. This party was under the 

charge of Alfred H. Brooks and W. J. Peters. 

It made exploratory surveys of about 10,000 

square miles. In addition, E. C. Barnard 

made a survey of about 2, 000 square miles of 

the Forty-Mile River basin, a tributary of the 

Tanana. 

The War Department sent two expeditions 

into Alaska during 1898. The first, under 

Captain Edwin F. Glenn, which left the coast 

at Cook Inlet, traversed the Matanuska Valley, 

crossed the Copper River Plateau, and drifted 

down the Delta River to the Tanana River. 

W. C. Mendenhall, of the Geological Survey, 

accompanied Captain Glenn and prepared an exploratory traverse map of the journey. 

The second expedition, under Captain W. R. 

Abercrombie, landed at Valdez and with the aid 

of pack horses traveled inland to the Copper 

River valley by the Valdez Glacier route. F. C. 

Schrader of the Geological Survey was attached 

to this expedition and conducted both geologic 

and exploratory surveys of the lower Copper 

River basin. The result of the work of 1898 was 

exploratory surveys of about 3, 000 square miles 

based on instrumental traverses and, in addition, more accurate reconnaissance maps of approXimately 2, 000 square miles. 
The experiences of the 1H98 parties set a pattern that was to be followed for a great many 

years in the conducting of exploratory and reconnaissance surveys in Alaska by the Geological 

Survey. In the interest of economy most expeditions of the Survey consisted of a combined 

topographic and geologic party, with the man 

senior in length of experience generally in command. Additional members of the party were 

recorders, boatmen, cooks, horse packers, 

and dog-mushers. 

For river work, Peterborough-type canoes 

were often used for transportation. These light 

cedar-strip canoes could carry a load of onehalf ton and were, without much difficulty, portaged many miles by the parties. Pack horses 

used for cross-country work were usually purchased in the western United States and shipped 

north with the field parties in the spring. "Wintering" a pack train in Alaska was often attempted 

in the interest of economy, but was not always 

successful. Dog teams were purchased in 

Alaska. On many of the eXpeditions dogs were 

used to haul sleds in winter and for packing 

during the summer months. 

Camp equipment consisted of small, light 

mosquito-proof tents, sleeping bags, cooking 

utensils, axes, guns, and ammunition. The 

equipment and feed for a party of 6 men, for a 

period of 4 months, would generally weigh between 1, 800 and 2, 000 pounds. Great care was 

llSed in outfitting a survey party for work in 

Alaska, either for winter or summer work. In 

addition to food, tents, beds, and cooking gear, 

medical supplies and carefully selected personal 

clothing were of importance, since most of the 

parties were "on their own" during the field 

season. During recent years, however, the 

airplane, helicopter, and radio have greatly 

changed all this. 

Topographic work was carried on by standard 

Geological Survey plane-table methods. accepted 

for reconnaissance mapping. The equipment 

consisted of a plane table, telescopic alidade, 

and a light mow1tain-transit theodolite. A micrometer eyepiece attachment for the alidade was 

often used in determining traverse distances. 

Graphic plane-table triangulation, checked by 

latitude and azimuth observations, was g~nerally 

10 

84 

used in conducting reconnaissance plane-table 

surveys, which in most cases originated from 

bases measured at the starting point of field 

work. (See fig. 4.) Elevations at the initial 

point were sometimes determined by aneroid 

barometers and carried throughout the survey 

by vertical angles. Special insulation was used 

on instruments where work in sub-zero weather 

was required, and most of the plane-table work 

was done on sheets of celluloid or painted zinc 

to prevent_ damage by rain or snow. 

Each of the early topographic parties was 

issued the following instructions: "An attempt 

will be made to carry a continuous instrumental survey line over the whole route traversed, 

starting from a position in latitude and longitude at sea level as nearly as may be determined and closing in the same way. The routes 

traversed will be critically inspected with a 

view to ascertaining the most practicable location for trails, wagon roads, or railroads; 

the character and extent of the timber will be 

noted and the rivers or streams will be examined as to the possibilities of navigation and 

the height of falls or rapids; and the rise and 

fall of tides will be reported." In general, the 

field scale for exploratory and reconnaissance 

surveys was 1:180,000 or about 3 miles to the 

lnch, with a 200-foot contour interval. 

In 1899 two major survey expeditions were 

outfitted for Alaska. Peters and Brooks continued their previous year's work by extending 

a survey westward from Lynn Canal along the 

northern base of the St. Elias Range to the 

headwaters of the White and Tanana. Rivers and 

thence northward to the Yukon at the FortyMile River. This was a pack-tratn expedition. 

During the same year F. C. Schrader, geologist, and T. G. Gerdine, topographer, started 

work at Fort Yukon. They ascended the very 

swift Chandalar River, and from its headwaters, 

portaged about 15 miles to the headwaters of 

the Koyukuk River, which they followed and 

mapped to its mouth. Eight thousand five hundred square miles were mapped during 1899. 

In 1900, eleven thousand square miles were 

mapped on a reconnaissance scale in the Copper 

River basin and on Seward Peninsula by Gerdine, 

Barnard, and Peters. In 1901 Schrader and 
Figure 4. --The plane-table method was employed by the Geological Survey for 

many years for Alaskan mapping, both reconnaissance and large scale. 

Peter~ left White Horse in the early spring and 

arrived at Alatna on the Koyukuk River with dog 

teams. After the break-up of the ice, they 

ascended John River, crossed the Anaktuvuk 

Pass, and descended Anaktuvuk River to the Colville River, which they traversed to its mouth. 

Here they obtained native skin boats for the 

coastal trip west to Point Barrow and then south 

to Cape Lisburne. Alfred H. Brooks considered 

this to be one of the most notable exploration 

trips by the Geological Survey to that date .. 

During this same year W. C. Mendenhall, 

geologist, and D. L. Rayburn, topographer, 

started work at the mouth of Dall River on the 

Yukon and, with the aid of canoes, ascended the 

Dall and portaged from its headwaters to a headwater tributary of the Koyukuk River. They descended the Koyukuk to the mouth of the Alatna 

River, which they" ascended for nearly 100 miles, 

making another portage to the headwaters of the 

Kobuk River, which they followed to its mouth 

on Kotzebue Sound. Topographic mapping on 

this trip was started at Fort Yukon, where an 

11 

elevation of 500 feet was assumed for the river. 

(This elevation is still used. ) A continuous 

traverse was made down the Yukon River, up 

the Dall River, down a portion of the Koyukuk 

River, up the Alatna River, and down the Kobuk 

River to Kotzebue Sound. During the 1901 season T. G. Gerdine. and D. C. Witherspoon 

made a topographic map of a large part of 

Seward Peninsula, which was then becoming of 

great importance because of the gold stampede 

to Nome, located on the southern side of the 

Peninsula. 

The field work for the season of 1902 included an exploratory trip, led by Brooks and Rayburn, from Cook Inlet through the Alaska Range 

and along its northwest flank through what is 

now Mount McKinley National Park to the Nenana River, and from there across the Tanana 

River in a northwesterly direction to Rampart 

on the Yukon. During this same year Gerdine 

and Witherspoon continued topographic mapping 

in the Copper River basin area, while Peters 

began a detailed topographic survey of the 

mining district near Juneau. 

85 
1902-1910 

During this period there was a departure from 

exploratory surveys and a majority of the field 

parties were requested to prepare reconnaissance 

maps for publication at a scale of 1:250,000, 

with a contour interval of 200 feet. At this time 

a start was also made toward preparing more or 

less detailed topographic maps of the major 

mining districts. Although there was some refinement in the execution of field surveys for 

mapping during this period, the inf'truments 

used were not materially changed. J. W. Bagley began experimental work on a panoramic 

camera that was to be used successfully for many 

years in Alaska. 

From 1902 until 1907, T. G. Gerdine was in 

general charge of topographic surveys in Alaska, 

under Alfred H. Brooks, Chief Alaskan Geologist. Gerdine was succeeded by R. H. Sargent 

in 1907. In addition to Gerdine and Saraent the 

following topographers worked in Alaska between 1902 and 1910: J. W. Peters, D. L. Rayburn, D. C. Witherspoon, E. G. Hamilton, 

J. W. Bagley, C. E. Giffin, R. B. Oliver, 

G. C. Anderson, J. B. Leavitt, and W. R. Hill. 

An exploratory survey covering more than 

10,000 square miles was made along the western 

front of the Alaska Range from Cook Inlet to the 

Yukon. Reconnaissance mapping was carried on 

in the Yukon-Tanana regions, Seward Peninsula, 

Kenai Peninsula, Cape Lisburne, Copper River, 

and the Susitna River Basin. Another party 

mapped the north flank of the Alaska Range between the Delta River and the Nenana valley. 

Reconnaissance mapping was also undertaken in 

the Innoko-Iditarod region, the Koyukuk-Kobuk 

River valley and the Yakutat-Alsek region. 

More than 100,000 square miles were mapped 

for publication at a scale of 1:250,000 during 

this period. It is estimated that this work cost 

about $3 per square mile. 

The detailed mapping of mining districts included the Juneau district, the Kasaan Peninsula 

in southeastern Alaska, the Kotsina-Chitina on 

the Copper River, Seward Peninsula near Nome, 

the Matanuska Coal Fields, thP. Fairbanks special, and The Rampart quadrangl':; b. be interior. 

These maps were prepared fo:r publication at a 

12 

86 

scale of 1:62, 500 with contour intervals of 25, 

50, or 100 feet, and cost about $30 per square 

mile. Between 1902 and 1910 nearly 3, 000 

square miles were mapped at this scale, which 

is approximately one mile to the inch. 

In 1910 Congress appropriated $100,000 for 

the survey of public lands in Alaska. This subdivision work was carried on in the vicinity of 

Fairbanks during the field season of 1910 by the 

Geological Survey under the direction of R. H. 

Sargent, in cooperation with the General Land 

Office. 

1911-1920 

R. H. Sargent supervised the topographic 

mapping operations of the Geological Survey in 

Alaska during this 10-year period. Other topographers assigned to the work included D. C. 

Witherspoon, J. W. Bagley, C. E. Giffin, T. 

P. Pendleton, and C. P. McKinley. 

Exploratory surveys for 1:500,000 scale 

publication were continued in northern Alaska 

on the Alatna and Noatak Rivers and on the 

Koyukuk River. They covered a total area of 

16,5 00 square miles. 

Reconnaissance maps were made on a scale 

of 1:250,000 of areas in the Copper River valley, Kenai Peninsula, the south flank of the 

Alaska Range near Broad Pass, along the Richardson Highway from Valdez to Thompson Pass, 

from Lake Clark across the Kuskowim valley 

to Iditarod, Tanana valley-White River, the 

Susitna River, from Ruby on the Yukon south 

to Iditarod, Prince William Sound, Kantishna 

district, Goodnews Bay area, and Tuxedni Bay. 

Twenty different field parties, or an average 

of two parties a year, carried on this reconnaissance mapping program between 1911 and 

1920, covering a total of 51,000 square miles. 

Detailed mapping at a scale of 1:62, 500 was 

undertaken for the following areas: Kotsina, 

Matanuska Coal Field, Willow Creek, Juneau, 

and Prince William Sound. The total area surveyed on this detq.iled scale was 1, 275 square 

miles, which included 350 square miles in the 

vicinity of Juneau mapped for publ.ication on a 

scale of 1:24,000. 
Between 1898 and 1920 the Geological Survey 

completed the following mapping in Alaska: exploratory surveys at 1:500,000 scale, 51,000 

square miles; reconnaissance mapping at 

1:250, 000 scale, 152,000 square miles; detailed 

mapping at 1:24,000 or 1:62, 500 scale, 3, 700 

square miles. Seventy-five permanent bench 

marks were established during 500 miles of 

spirit leveling. 

War activity during 1917 and 1918 sharply 

curtailed mapping operations in Alaska since a 

majority of the Geological Survvy staff were 

either commissioned in the Army or assigned to 

more important war work outside of Alaska. 

1921-1930 

Alfred H. Brooks died in 1923 and Phllip S. 

Smith became Chief Alaskan Geologist directing 

both geologic and topographic work in Alaska. 

R. H. Sargent continued to supervise the 

topographic mapping in Alaska. Other topographers assigned to the work were C. P. McKinley, 

Gerald FitzGerald, Richard K. Lynt, E. C. 

Guerin, H. A. Whitaker, 0. Lee Wix, K. W. 

Trimble, J. 0. Kilmartin, and R. M. Wilson. 

In this decade 4, 000 square miles of exploratory 

surveys were made in Arctic Alaska. Reconnaissance mapping of more than 60,000 square 

miles was completed for such areas as Naval 

Petrolelpll Reserve No. 4 in northwestern Alaska, 

the Alaska Peninsula, Nixon Fork of the Kuskokwim, the Skwentna River, the Porcupine River, 

the Mount Spurr region of the Alaska Range, 

Lake Clark-Mulchatna, Goodnews Bay, and 

southeastern Alaska. 

Two hundred and seventy miles of detailed 

mapping were completed for several widely-separated areas, including Juneau, Wrangell Narrows, the Hyder district, Iniskin Peninsula, and 

the lower Matanuska valley. 

Mapping of Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 

was started in 1923 in cooperation with the Navy 

Department and continued through the 1926 field 

season. Because of the remoteness of the area 

and the short summer, field parties were outfitted at Nenana on the Alaska Railroad during 

1.3 

87 

the winter months and used dog teams to transport food and equipment across the Brooks 

Range to the Colville River drainage on the Arctic slope. From 1924 to 1926 a conside:rable 

amount of geologic and topographic mapping 

was done during the winter and early spring 

months using dog team transportation. After 

the "break-up" about the first of June, Peterborough canoes were used on the principal 

rivers of the region and along the Arctic Coast. 

In 1928 an airplane was used for the first 

time by Geological Survey parties in Alaska to 

transport personnel and equipment to remote 

field assignments, thus better uttltzing the 

short field season. 

In 1926 the Navy Department, in cooperation 

with and at the request of the Interior Department (Geological Survey), started aerial photographic work in soutbeastern Alaska. A detail of three amphibian planes, an airplane tender, a housed-over 110-foot barge, photographic personnel and equipment, and five photographic pilots under the command of Lieutenant Ben H. Wyatt were assigned to the project. 

The results of this expedition were so successful that the work was continued in 1929 with a 

second outfit, under the command of Lieutenant Commander A. W. Radford. 

This project is considered an important 

milestone since it marked the first attempt to 

use aerial photography in Alaska as an aid to 

mappinq. Approximately 20,000 square miles 

were photographed with multiple-lens cameras, 

covering most of southeastern Alaska. The 

photographs were used by the Geological Survey 

to compile planimetric maps of the area. They 

were also used by the Forest Service, Coast 

Guard, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and other 

Federal agencies for special studies and reconnaissance work. 

1931-1940 

R. H. Sargent continued in charge of Alaskan mapping until 1935 when he became editor 

of topographic maps for the Geological Survey. 

Responsibility for the Alaskan work was turned 

over to Gerald FitzGerald. John Collins, 
Philip Erickson, C. F. Fuechsel, J. Mark Holmes, George Jensen, R. H. Lyddan, J. E. Mundine, T. W. Ranta, and Vernon Seward were assigned to Alaskan mapping during this 10-year 

period. 

Reconnaissance mapping was continued in 

southeastern Alaska, and included areas on Admiralty, Chichagof, Baranof, Kupreanof, Kuiu, 

Prince of Wales, and Revillagigedo Islands. 

New projects were undertaken in the Copper 

River valley near the Nabesna district, Slana, 

Mentasta Pass, and Copper Center, using pack 

trains for transportation. River boats were 

used by survey parties in mapping the Goodnews 

Bay area, Nushagak River, Porcupine River, 

and the Holitna River. A pack train was used 

by a party mapping the north base of the Alaska 

Range east of the Richardson Highway to the 

Tok River. 

Detailed surveys were made of Adak Island in 

the Aleutians, Chichagof, and Annette Islands 

in southeastern Alaska, the area near Yakutat 

on the Gulf of Alaska, and the Goodnews Mining 

District in western Alaska. Most of this largescale mapping was done by the Geological Survey for the War and Navy Departments, for use 

in locating sites for possible air bases. 

In addition, trilens aerial photography was 

obtained for the area between Nenana, Lake 

Minchumina, and a section of the upper Tanana 

valley in the Tetlin Lake area. 

After completion of the 1940 field season the 

Geological Survey had mapped a total of 210,000 

square miles, or about 46 percent of the total 

area of Alaska. Most of this work was published 

at a scale of 1:250, 000 since much of the exploratory mapping, as well as all of the reconnaissance mapping, was published at this scale. 

The older exploratory surveys were published 

at a scale of 1:500,000 in Survey bulletins with 

the exceptions of the Seward Peninsula sheet 

and the northwestern Alaska map, which were 

published as separate maps at the scale of 

1:500,000. 

The detailed maps were at scales of 1:12,000, 

1:24,000, and 1:31,680 for special mining maps 

and 1:62,500 for coverage of most of the important mining districts. By 1940, about 50 separate 

14 

88 

maps at the above scales had been published 

by the Geological Survey for general distribution, in addition to several small scale maps 

which had been compiled of the entire Territory. The best known and most popular of 

these general-purpose maps are Map A, at 

1:5,000,000; Map E, at 1:250,000; and Map B 

(in 2 sheets) at 1:500,000. 

Work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 

(1895-1940) 

As outlined in a preceding section, the work 

of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for the first 

twenty-odd years of the American occupation 

consisted chiefly of revising and completing 

much earlier surveys of Alaska in order to previde coa.Stal charts so urgently needed during 

this period of development. However, with the 

preliminary work on the international boundary 

undertaken in cooperation with Canada, and with 

increased charting and geodetic control activity 

as a result of the discovery of gold, the work 

of the Coast Survey was greatly accelerated 

during the nineties. From that time on, increased congressional appropriations made 

possible a continued proc;;ram of new charting 

and refinement of earlier charts and Coast 

Pilots, as well as the expansion of a control 

network. 

Among the early vessels used to perform 

this new work was the Steamer Patterson which 

saw service in Alaska from Dixon's Entrance 

to Norton Sound between 1885 and 1904, and 

was commanded by Lieutenant Commanders 

H. E. Nichols, C. M. Thomas, W. S. Moore, 

E. K. Moore, and Mr. J. F. Pratt. Under the 

command of Pratt, the Patterson (see fig. 5) 

was used in making surveys between 1899 and 

1904, in Norton Sound off Nunivak and St. Lawrence Islands, and at other points in the Beri:1q 

Sea and in the Aleutian Islands. During this 

period, Pratt also conducted triangulation and 

hydrographic and topographic surveys in southeastern Alaska and along the north shore of the 

Gulf of Alaska. 

In 1897, triangulation and topographic and 

astronomical surveys were made of the Pribilof Islands by W. W. Diffield. As a result of 

these detailed surveys, the Coast 'survey published charts at a scale of 1:20,000, with a 
contour interval of 20 feet, and at a scale of 

1:2,000, with a contour interval of 10 feet. 

The Survey Ship Pathfinder was built in 1898 

far Alaskan duty and was assigned to survey work 

in western Alaska during 1900 and 1901 under 

the command of J. J. Gilbert. In 1940, the 

name of this vessel was changed to the Research 

and should not be confused with the new Pathfinder. 

Hydrographic surveys of Prince William 

Sound, areas in the Aleutian Islands, and southeastern Alaska were made by Ferdinand Wesdahl, 

in command of the Coast Survey Steamer 

McArthur during the field seasons of 1900, 1901, 

and 1902. 

H. P. Ritter was in charge of a triangulation 

and hydrographic survey party which worked in 

the Copper River delta area and in the eastern 

portion of Prince William Sound during the field 

seasons from 1898 to 1903. 

From 1899 to 1905 the Steamer Gedney, under 

the command of E. F. Dickins, was engaged in 

I 

I 

.. 

various surveying operations in southeastern 

Alaskan waters. This work included triangulation, hydrography, and topography. 

The discovery of gold in Alaska and the 

rush to the Klondike region in 1897 created 

new interest in the long-neglected Territory of 

Alaska, and the Coast Survey, like the Geological Survey, was given increased appropriations with which to carry on and expand its 

Alaskan work. 

From 1900 until 1940 the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey continued operations in Alaska to provide navigation charts of the Territory's 

26,000 miles of coastline. The survey fleet 

operating during the early part of this period 

usually numbered six or more vessels, including the Taku, commanded by R. B. Derickson, 

and later G. T. Rude, operating in Prince 

William Sound; the Yukon, commanded by C. G. 

Quillian, and later F. H. Hardy, operating in 

the vicinity of Kodiak and in Cook Inlet; the old 

Explorer, commanded by W. C. Dibrell and 

others, operating in Bristol Bay; and the vessels previously mentioned. 

,_ · 

= ~-: 

Figure 5. --United States Coast and Geodetic Survey ship Patterson, 

Seattle, Wash. 1915. 

15 89 
General small scale charts were prepared 

for practically all of Alaska's coast line, with 

special attention given to the complicated channels and small bays of southeastern Alaska from 

Dixon Entrance to Cape Fairweather. Nautical 

charts were produced from the surveys of Prince 

William Sound, Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay, and 

Norton Sound. Both triangulation and hydrographic surveying were undertaken on Kodiak 

Island and on the south shore of the Alaska 

Peninsula. 

As travel to Alaska increased, surveys by 

wire drag were made of the main waterways of 

southeastern Alaska, and of the principal harbors used by ocean-borne shipping. From these 

surveys, large scale nautical charts were prepared and published for the rapidly expanding 

maritime traffic in Alaskan waters. Triangulation was extended in a continuous, unbroken line 

from Dixon Entrance through southeastern 

Alaska around the north shore of the Gulf of 

Alaska into Cook Inlet, Shelikof Strait, and 

around the south shore of the Alaska Peninsula 

to Unimak. 

Modern survey ships were specially designed 

and built for the Coast and Geodetic Survey fleet. 

The new ships included the Surveyor, Explorer, 

and Pathfinder. Echo-sounding equipment, developed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey, revolutionized hydrographic surveying, and became 

standar~ equipment for all survey ships and 

launches. To facilitate position fixing of survey 

ships engaged in offshore hydrography, Radio 

Acoustic Ranging was developed for use beyond 

the limit of visibility of shore objects, and for 

work where the use of buoys for three-point fix 

control was impracticable or unwarranted. 

Following World War I, combined operations 

were accelerated in Alaska with the survey fleet 

consisting of the following vessels: the Surveyor, 

commanded by F. H. Hardy; the Explorer, com .. 

manded by N H. Heck; the Wenonah, commanded 

by T. J. Maher and J. H. Hawley; the Lydonia, 

commanded by E. H. Pagenhart; the Discoverer, 

commanded by H. A. Seran; and the Pioneer, 

commanded by R. R. Lukens. Surveys were extended along the southeast coast, supplementary 

examinations were made in various parts of the 

16 

90 

main ship channels, and, in 1926, the preliminary reconnaissance of the Alaska Peninsula 

was completed. 

Before World War II there was little opportunity for the Coast and Geodetic Survey to extend its geodetic operations into the interior of 

Alaska. Precise levels were now run from the 

coast to Fairbanks along the Alaska Railroad 

and the Richardson Highway. An arc of secondorder triangulation was carried from the head 

of Cook Inlet along the Alaska Railroad to the 

vicinity of Broad Pass. Although reconnaissance work was completed to tie this line to 

Fair banks, and eventually to the international 

boundary, work was not undertaken until after 

World War II. 

The new Explorer and the motor vessel 

Lester Jones were commissioned in the spring 

of 1940 and assigned to Aleutian Island surveys. 

Surveys in the Aleutians by the ships Guide, 

Discoverer, and Pioneer were interrupted when 

the vessels were transferred to the Navy early 

in World War II. 

The early published charts of the Coast and 

Geodetic Survey, like the topographic maps of 

the Geological Survey, were rapidly compiled 

to meet urgent demands for maps and charts 

required in the development of the new Territory. Most of these exploratory reconnaissance 

charts either have been replaced or are to be 

replaced by modern up-to-date charts based on 

more accurate survey work. The strategic 

position of Alaska during the last war strongly 

emphasized the need for better maps and charts. 

The International Boundary Survey 

The generalized boundary definitions used 

in the Convention of 1825 between Great Britain and Russia had resulted in much confusion, 

and finally caused a s·erious controversy between Great Britain and the United States after 

the purchase of the Territory from Russia. At 

the time of the "gold rush" the location of the 

boundary line between southeastern Alaska and 

Canada became th~ subject of an international 

dispute that was finally settled by a Tribtmal 

in London in 1903. In accordance with the 
decision of this Tribunal the boundary was to be 

surveyed and monumented between Dixon Entrance and Mount St. Elias. A large amount of 

preliminary work had been accomplished along 

this portion of the boundary in the years 1891 to 

1895 by both the Canadian and the United States 

Governments. Field parties of the Coast and 

Geodetic Survey did triangulation and astronomical work along the inlets and up the rivers, and 

the Canadian Survey used terrestrial photogrammetry in the preparation of preliminary maps of 

the area between the coast and the vicinity of the 

boundary. 

The demarcation of this part of the boundary 

called for by the Tribunal of 1903 was undertaken during the years from 1904 to 1914, and 

was under the direction of two commissioners, 

Dr. 0. H. Tittmann, Superintendent of the 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, for the United States, 

and Dr. W. H. King, Chief Astronomer of Canada, for the Canadian Government. 

During the period of actual survey each 

country had an average of two field parties working independently to determine the geographic 

positions of principal peaks along the boundary, 

and to complete topographic maps along the 

boundary line. A 20-foot vista was cleared 

through all timber across the river valleys and 

on the mountain sides; this slash is still visible 

along the greater part of the line. Permanent 

monuments were established to mark the line 

in the valleys and on those mountain tops that 

were accessible. The total length of the boundary line was approximately 900 miles, of which 

about 700 miles was surveyed on land and approximately 200 miles across the water. 

The Boundary Commission published 11 topographic maps, Nos. 3 to 13, covering the section of the boundary from Portland Canal to 

Mount St. Elias. Sheets Nos. 1 and 2, which 

cover the area of Dixon Entrance and most of 

Portland Canal, have finally been completed, 

and are ready for printing. All the topographic 

maps are on a scale of 1:250,000, with a contour interval of 250 feet. 

The engineers in charge of field work on the 

southeastern Alaska boundary were: for the 

17 

91 

United States, J. A. Flemer and Fremont 

Morse of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and 

0. M. Leland, formerly of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and later Dean of Engineering 

of the University of Minnesota; for Canada, 

C. A. Bigger, D.L.S., andN. J. Ogilvie, 

D. L. S., later Director of the Geodetic Survey 

of Canada, and Boundary Commissioner. 

The boundary line from Mount St. Elias to 

the Arctic Ocean, along the 141st meridian, 

became the subject of considerable interest 

after the Klondike gold rush in 1898, although 

positions had been established for the line at 

the Yukon River crossing and on the Porcupine 

River ten years earlier. In 1887 William Ogilvie of the Canadian Survey carried a micrometer traverse from the head of Lynn Canal in 

southeastern Alaska down the Yukon to the 

vicinity of the boundary. There he built an observatory and made astronomical observations 

for a determination of the 141st meridian. 

This work was started in September 1887 and 

completed in March 1888, and the line was 

marked across the river. 

In 1889, J. H. Turner and J. E. McGrath, 

of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, arrived at Fort Yukon from St. Michael. Turner 

ascended the Porcupine to Rampart House on 

the boundary and established an astronomical 

station to determine the position of the boundary 

at that point. During the winter he made a dogteam trip from the Porcupine River to the 

Arctic Ocean along the 141st meridian. McGrath 

went to the boundary crossing of the Yukon River and made astronomical observations for 

the determination of the location of the boundary. The final location of the 141st meridian 

at the Yukon River was made in 1906 by the 

use of telegraphic time determination for the 

differences of longitude, and this result differed 

but little from those previously made. The 

observers participating in this work were Edwin Smith and J. E. McGrath of the U. S. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Dr. Otto J. 

Klotz and F. A. McDiarmid of the Dominion of 

Canada Observatory. 

In 1907 field parties started work on the 

actual surveying and monumentlng of the boundary 
along the 141st meridian. During this survey 

the United States and Canada conducted joint survey operations and, in the six years between 

1907 and 1913, the combined parties accomplished 

750 linear miles of trianguhtion covering an area 

of nearly 8, 000 square miles. The parties also 

ran 500 miles of leveling and mapped topographically, on a scale of approximately 1 mile to the 

inch, 3, 700 square miles along the boundary 

limits. In addition, 2, 500 square miles of rugged, mountainous terrain was mapped by phototopographic methods. Two hundred permanent 

monuments were on the boundary line between 

Mount St. Elias and Demarcation Point on the 

Arctic Ocean. Topographic maps of this part 

of the boundary were published in atlas form, on 

sheets 1 to 38, at a scale of 1:62, 500, with a 

contour interval of 100 feet. 

The engineers in charge of the work on the 

141st meridian were Thomas Riggs, later Governor of Alaska and Boundary Commissioner, for 

the United States; and J. D. Craig, D. L.S., who 

was later Surveyor General of Canada and 

Boundary Commissioner. 

The General Land Office in Alaska 

(1899-1940) 

The office of Surveyor General for the District of Alaska was created by the Act of July 24, 

1897. The first man appointed to this post was 

Wm. L. Dis tin. His office was first located at 

Sitka, but was moved to Juneau in 1907. 

An Act of March 3, 1899, made provision for 

the beginning of a rectangular system of surveys 

in Alaska. The first contract, for the survey of 

the Copper River base line and meridian, was 

dated March 22, 1904, but not executed until 

1905. On August 11, 1914 John P. Walker was 

appointed to take charge of surveys in Alaska 

and directed this work until 1924, except for 

military service during the first World War. He 

was succeeded by George A. Parks who remained 

in charge until his retirement in 1948, except 

for his period of service as Governor of Alaska 

from June 15, 1925 to April19, 1933. 

In 1910 Congress appropriated $100,000 for 

subdivision surveys of public lands in Alaska, 

18 

92 

and the Geological Survey was requested to 

cooperate in carrying out the program called 

for under this special appropriation. Work was 

started on subdivision surveys in the vicinity 

of Fairbanks during the field season of 1910 by 

four parties, under the direction of R. H. Sargent of the Geological Survey. Precise astronomical observations for latitude, longitude, 

and azimuth were made by a member of the 

Coast and Geodetic Survey at Fairbanks, Tanana, and <:;opper Center. 

Following the passage of the Act of October 

20, 1914, to provide for the leasing of coal 

lands in Alaska, the extension of the rectangular system of cadastral surveys to the Bering 

River, Matanuska and Nenana coal fields was 

undertaken. Fifteen field parties were organized for these surveys in 1915. The Bering 

River surveys near Katalla were based on the 

Copper River meridian; the Matanuska fields 

near Knik Arm were surveyed under the Seward 

base liRe and meridian; and the Nenana surveys 

were surveyed under the F ai:..~anks base line 

and meridian. 

In 1916 and subsequent years, the rectangular surveys were extended to include agricultural lands in the Cook Inlet district, the Susitna valley, and other areas adjacent to the 

Alaska Railroad, Kachemak Bay on the Kenai 

Peninsula, and the Chilkat valley near Haines. 

In this period the townsites of Haines, Douglas, Fairbanks, Eska, and Sitka, as well as 

additions to the townsites of Seward, Nenana, 

Fairbanks, Anchorage, and Juneau were surveyed. 

By 1922, 1, 550,000 acres had been surveyed 

under the rectangular system. In 1923 and subsequent years these surveys were extended to 

additional areas on the Kenai Peninsula, the 

Chulitna coal fields, and the Chignik oil fields 

on the Alaska Peninsula. During this period, 

the survey of Mount McKinley National Park 

was also completed. In all, nearly two and 

one-half million acres have been surveyed in 

Alaska by the General Land Office (Bureau of 

Land Management). 
Other Contributions (1895-1940) 

Although most of the mapping, charting, and 

surveying in Alaska during the period 1895-1940 

was accomplished by the U. S. Geological Survey, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the International Boundary Commission, and the General 

Land Office, important contributions were made 

to geographic knowledge of the Territory by other 

organizations, both governmental and private. 

The National Geographic Society sponsored a 

number of expeditions to Alaska during the past 

40 years. Among the most important were the 

Alaska Glacier Investigations, carried out in 

1909, 1910, 1911, and 1913. Also, several 

parties were sent to the Alaska Peninsula to 

study volcanoes. Some mapping was accomplished on each of these expeditions. The Society 

also published the results of a number of expeditions to Alaska sponsored by various other organizations, as well as work prepared by individuals 

on the subjects of exploration, mountain climbing, archeology, botany, geology, and ethnology. 

During the early 1930's tlie Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department made systematic 

hydrographic surveys and carried on geodetic 

work in the Aleutian Islands. These expeditions 

were organized for the purpose of determining 

the feasibility of establishlDg air bases on the 

various islands, and the locating of adequate 

ship anchorages at various points along the Aleutian chain. The resulting surveys, maps, and 

reports were of great value in preparing for the 

military occupation and defense of Alaska after 

Pearl Harbor. 

The Alaska Road Commission carried on 

many surveying activities in Alaska, principally in connection with road location. One of the 

largest expeditions of this kind undertaken by 

the Commission was a survey of a land route 

for a mail and pack trail from Fairbanks to 

Council City and Seward Peninsula. Field work 

on this project was accomplished during the 

summer of 1906 by civil engineers working under 

direction of the president of the Alaska Road 

Commission, Major W. P. Richardson. Recon-

~ssance surveys were prepared for this route, 

.and furnished valuable information for map 

compilation. 

19 

93 

The Revenue Cutter Service and the Coast 

Guard each made contributions to geographic 

information of Alaska which were utilized by 

the Coast and Geodetic Survey in compiling 

nautical charts, and by the Geological Survey 

in preparing reconnaissance topographic maps. 

Numerous newspaper men, adventurers, 

explorers, and mountain climbers, have made 

trips into various parts of the Territory of 

Alaska. Many of these expeditions were widely 

publicized and conveyed th~ impression to the 

public that a large amount of mapping was accomplished in this manner. Actually, the combined result of most of these so-called exploring expeditions was insignificant as far as 

usable map information was concerned. 

One exception to the unimportance of individual exploration in Alaska was the work of 

Robert Marshall during the summers of 1929, 

1930, and 1931, in the headwaters of the Koyukuk Rive'!". He prepared drainage maps of the 

Koyukuk River basin north of the Arctic Circle, 

from 10,000 to 15,000 square miles in area. 

Many geographic features were discovered and 

named on these expeditions. The results were 

published in report and map form by the Geological Survey in 1934. 

RECENT MAPPING (1940-50) 

From 1940 to 1950 more progress was made 

in surveying and mapping in Alaska than in any 

other period in the history of the Territory. 

Even before our entry into World War II it 

became increasingly apparent that the strategic 

position of Alaska would make the area important in a global war. Mapping and charting of 

the Territory, therefore, received attention by 

those responsible for national defense as early 

as 1940. Both reconnaissance and detailed surveys were necessary to determine suitable locations for military airports, as well as to determine problems connected with their construction. The Army Air Forces required navigation 

charts at different scales to facilitate air travel across the Territory. The Army, concerned 

with the defense of strategic areas in Alaska, 

particularly the land transportation routes, 

needed maps of both coastal and interior areas, 
and the Navy could not operate effectively in 

Alaskan waters without hydrographic charts. 

Surveying and mapping operations were continued by the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the 

Geological Survey throughout the war, principally to assist the military services which were 

at that time rapidly expanding their own facilities for producing military maps and charts. 

Much was accomplished during this war-time 

period, particularly in control and mapping at 

reconnaissance scales. Post-war defense plans, 

combined with a large scale program designed 

to develop the economy of Alaska, called for 

continued surveying and mapping. This work has 

been continued in a coordinated effort by the 

U. S. Geological Survey, the Coast and Geodetic 

Survey, the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of 

Land Management, and the Aeronautical Chart 

Service. 

Work of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 

(1940-50) 

Most of the normal operations of the Coast 

and Geodetic Survey in Alaska were sharply curtailed during the war. Survey ships were assigned to naval operations and personnel were 

either transferred to the armed services or were 

used directly on war mapping and charting acti vities. 

One of the first postwar operations undertaken by the Coast and Geodetic Survey was the 

connection by triangulation of control surveys of 

the Pacific Coast with those of Alaska, thus establishing a coordinated network of continental 

triangulation based on the North American Datum 

for 1927. This work required continuous arcs 

of triangulation from Puget Sound through British Columbia and southeastern Alaska,· and 

thence along the Alaska Highway through the 

Yukon Territory and the Tanana valley to Fairbanks. From there a connection was made with 

the earlier arc that extended from Cook Inlet to 

Broad Pass along the Alaska Railroad. A new 

arc was established along the Richardson Highway between Big Delta and Valdez, with a crosstie between Gulkana on the highway to Tok Junetion on the Tanana River. Another major arc 

was run from Nenana down the Tanana and Yukon 

20 

94 

Rivers to Norton Sound, via the Kaltag-Unalakleet portage. A tie was made to Little Diomede 

Island in Bering Strait by an arc along the 

south coast of Seward Peninsula. This· work is 

now being extended north and east along the 

Arctic Coast to Demarcation Point, the north 

end of the Alaska-Canada boundary on the 141st 

meridian. 

In southern Alaska another major arc was 

extended along the south side of the Alaska Peninsula through the Aleutian Islands to Attu 

Island. This arc is, in turn, connected with 

the northern work by a network from Iliamna 

Bay across the base of the Alaska Peninsula to 

Bristol Bay, thence northward along the coast 

and up the Kuskokwim River, where a tie is 

made between Aniak and Holy Cross. 

Concurrent with the expanded postwar geodetic work, the Coast and Geodetic Survey also 

increased hydrographic survey operations, 

particularly in the Aleutian Islands, Prince 

William Sound, along the south shore of the 

Alaska Peninsula, in Bristol Bay, and in the 

Bering Sea. Modern survey ships assigned to 

the Alaskan work since the war include the 

Explorer, Pathfinder, Lester Jones, Pioneer, 

Patton, Derickson, and the WeS'fci'ahl. Offshore hydrographic work has been greatly expedited by the use of the electronic position 

indicator, an adaptation of the war-developed 

shoran. 

Coast and Geodetic Survey operations include the maintenance of existing stations and 

the establishment of many new tidal stations in 

the coastal waters of Alaska. Magnetic surveys, 

which were begun by Professor Davidson in 

1867, are being expanded to provide isogonic 

information for use on aeronautical charts. 

Under a joint agreement among the Department of the Army, the Geological Survey, and 

the Coast and Geodetic Survey, topographic 

mapping of the Aleutian Islands west of 165 degrees, will be carried on by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in conjunction with nautical charting and geodetic work. These maps are required for military use, and will be published 

first by the Army Map Service at a scale of 
1:25,000, and later by the Geological Survey for 

civil use at a scale of 1:63, 360, as an integral 

part of the National Topographic Map Series. 

Work of the Corps of Engineers (1940-50) 

After the early explorations carried on by 

field parties under the sponsorship of the War 

Department between 1895 and 1902, little surveying or mapping was accomplished in Alaska 

by that Department before 1940. The Corps of 

Engineers requested the Geological Survey to 

make several detailed surveys in Alaska in connection with the location of proposed Army Air 

Bases. These included Annette and Yakutat. 

Early in World War II, the 29th Engineer Battalion, with headquarters in Portland, Oregon, 

dispatched field parties to Cook Inlet where control surveys were made as part of a training 

program. These covered several quadrangles 

which were later compiled by multiplex method 

from aerial photographs into maps published at 

a scale of 1: 50, 000. Several quadrangles were 

also compiled from photographs of part of Unalaska Island. Numerous· other isolated surveying and mapping jobs were performed by the 

Corps of Engineers during the war, principally 

in training programs or to assist in construction 

work. 

After the cessation of hostilities plans were 

formulated for an expanded mapping program in 

connect~on with hemispheric defense. Such a 

program obviously called for greatly expanded 

activity in Alaska. Although the mapping of 

Alaska for more than 50 years had been primarily a civilian responsibility under the Geological 

Survey, priorities established by the General 

Staff under the postwar defense program required 

an expansion beyond the capabilities of the Geological Survey. Mapping of extensive areas in 

western Alaska, including Seward Peninsula, was 

assigned to the Army Map Service, and work was 

undertaken during the field season of 1949 to 

establish control in Seward Peninsula for multiplex mapping of the area at relatively large 

scales. Upon completion of the Seward Peninsula 

work Army mapping will be extended to include 

coastal areas from Norton Sound to Bristol Bay. 

When completed, this work will be published in 

a military edition by the Army Map Service, 

21 

95 

and, as is required, in civilian edition by the 

Geological Survey at civilian scales. 

Work of the Aeronautical Chart Service 

of the Air Force (1941-50) 

The Aeronautical Chart Service, or the Map 

Chart Division as it was originally called, was 

organized in 1941 and almost immediately began the preparation of several series of charts 

for planning and operational use. These charts 

followed the general outline· and specifications 

recommended by the Federal Board of Surveys 

and Maps in 1929, when a special committee 

of the Board had studied the subject of aeronautical charting. However, the United States had 

declared war before the airlanes through the 

Northwest Territory of Canada and across 

Alaska were charted. In order to provide the 

minimum information necessary to compile 

aeronautical charts, the Aeronautical Chart 

Service, the First Photographic Group of the 

Army A1r Forces, and the Alaskan Branch of 

the Geological Survey began work in 1941 on 

reconnaissance mapping. A new and then-untested method using aerial photographs was 

employed. This new method was destined to 

become one of the most important contributions 

to mapping and charting developed during World 

War II. Because of the urgent need for pilotage 

charts covering northwest Canada and Alaska, 

it was natural that these vast unmapped areas 

should be the proving ground for the trimetrogon 

mapping system. The work carried on in Alaska 

by the Air Forces and the Geological Survey to 

develop trimetrogon mapping served not only 

to perfect a new technique in rapid mapping, 

but also to supply a vast amount of new geographic information covering the unmapped 

areas in the Territory. 

Between 1941, when the first experimental 

photographic flights were made in Alaska, and 

1946, most of Alaska was covered by trimetrogon photography, and charts had been compiled 

and published. The Aeronautical Chart Service 

prepared specifications and edited and published 

the final charts. The First Photographic Group 

and its successor~ the 311 th Wing, accomplished 

the photography and established astronomical 

positions for control in remote areas throughout 
the Territory. The Geological Survey compiled 

the base topographic information for the charts, 

using special techniques and instruments developed for mass production of trimetrogon mapping. Most of the charts of Alaska prepared 

and published by the Aeronautical Chart Service 

were at scales of 1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000. 

The millionth scale series was completed during 

the war and the half-million series is still being 

compiled for the lower priority areas. All existing information from earlier surveys by the 

Geological Survey, the Coast Survey, and others, 

supplemented by trimetrogon compilation, was 

used in the preparation of the aeronautical 

charts. A maintenance program provides for revision of individual charts as new control and 

topographic information.become available. 

Much of the original information compiled 

from aerial photography for the aeronautical 

charts of Alaska has been used by the Geological 

Survey to prepare a revised 1:250,000 scale 

series covering the entire Territory, which will, 

when completed, become a part of the National 

Topographic Map Series. The joint cooperative 

effort of the Aeronautical Chart Service, photographic units of the Air Force, and the Geological Survey has produced the greatest contribution to the surveying and mapping of Alaska made 

during the 200 years covered by this report. 

Alaska's strategic position for the effective use 

of air power in national defense requires accurate maps and charts. It appears certain, therefore, that the Department of the Air Force will 

continue to take an active part in photographing 

Alaska from the air, as an indispensable aid to 

the preparation of topographic maps and aeronautical charts. 

Mapping Activities of the Geological Survey 

(1940-50) 

For 45 years the work of the Geological Survey in Alaska has necessarily been connected 

with the development of the mining industry, and 

much of the topographic mapping has been undertaken in areas of potential mineral value. By 

1940, nearly one-half of the Territory had been 

mapped in some manner. A large part of this 

mapping could be classified as "exploratory reconnaissance", at scales ranging from 4 miles 

96 

to the inch to 8 miles to the inch. Mapping at 

larger scales, principally 1:62,500, had been 

accomplished for more than twenty widely separated areas. Most of these surveys covered 

established mining districts. A considerable 

portion of the area north of the Brooks Range 

and east of the Colville River remained unexplored at the beginning of World War II. 

In 1941 the Alaskan Branch of the Survey 

was requested by the Army Air Forces to develop a method for rapid exploratory reconnaissance mapping, for use in compiling aeronautical charts. Alaska, therefore, became a 

testing laboratory for trimetrogon mapping and 

a program was started by the Geological Survey, 

under the auspices of the Army Air Forces 

(Aeronautical Chart Service), that was ultimately to have a far-reaching effect on the mapping 

of Alaska and many other unmapped or poorlymapped areas throughout the world. 

After -the war the Survey continued to use the 

trimetrogon photography of Alaska, with some 

refinement of wartime 'methods, to produce 

reconnaissance maps of many areas, but because of a growing demand for maps at large 

scales, ways and means of obtaining singlelens mapping photography were studied. A relatively small amount of this type of photography 

had been obtained by units of the Air Force and 

the Navy in Alaska, and no program covering 

extensive areas was undertaken until 1948. At 

that time the Navy Department in cooperation 

with the Geological Survey and other Federal 

bureaus returned to southeastern Alaska and, 

with war-trained photographic squadtons, usinq 

the most modern equipment available, photographed more than 20,000 square miles, obtaining high-quality aerial photographs suitable for 

large scale topographic mapping. During the 

same summer other photographic units of the 

Navy covered large areas in the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 in northern Alaska. This 

coverage was required principally by geologists 

and geophysicists in the exploration for oil 

within the Reserve. 

One squadron, before returning to its California base in the fall, photographed an area 

covering the new highway between Anchorage and 

Tok Junction. 
During the war years the Geological Survey 

sent few topographic field parties to Alaska. 

Most of the available equipment and personnel 

were used to prepare maps and aeronautical 

charts from trimetrogon photography by officecompilation methods. Although this compilation 

eventually covered most of Alaska, the personnel of the Survey ordinarily engaged in Alaskan 

mapping devoted much of their effort during the 

war to preparing c_harts of foreign areas. After 

the war the trimetrogon mapping of Alaska was 

used to compile for republication the standard 

base map of Alaska, known as "Map E". This 

map was published in 194 7 at a scale of 

1:2, 500, 000 and a comparison with the edition 

of 1939 reveals the great amount of work accomplished in Alaskan reconnaissance mapping during the war. 

For some areas in Alaska the ''trimet" coverage is also used to compile and revise maps 

at a scale of 1:250,000. A program is planned 

to cover the entire Territory at that scale, with 

an estimated completion date for the entire series 

by the end of 1953. Immediately after the war, 

and before single-lens photography became 

available for photogrammetric mapping, field 

parties returned to Alaska and carried on mapping work for both civil and military use. Much 

of this new work was prepared for publication at 

a scale of 1:62, 500, and photo-topographic 

methods and trimetrogon photography were used 

to supplement the plane-table surveys made in 

the field. The area between Anchorage and Fairbanks was given a high priority because it covered the Territory's principal transportation 

routes. Therefore, several parties were sent 

to this area to establish horizontal arid vertical 

control for use in aerial photographic mapping. 

These parties used helicopters to speed up the 

field work. This was the first time this unique 

aircraft had been used for surveying operations 

and its use by the Geological Survey in Alaska 

has demonstrated its usefulness in transporting 

surveyors and equipment to remote stations on 

high mountains. The rate of progress has been 

increased to such an extent that a crew of six 

men and two helicopters can control one quadrangle per day (approximately 200 square miles), 

and a single engineer has established as many 

as fifty supplemental control points in one day. 

23 

97 

Prior to the use of helicopters 1t took an engineer an entire season to control a quadrangle 

for standard mile-to-the-inch mapping. Many 

other surveying organizations throughout the 

world have followed the Survey's lead and are 

now using helicopters to expedite survey operations. 

During the summer of 1949 photographic 

units of the Army Air Forces and the Navy continued photographic mapping operations in 

Alaska. Navy Squadron VP61, based at Nome, 

photographed additional areas in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, as well as a large part of 

Seward Peninsula. Air Force Reconnaissance 

Group 55, of the 311th Air Division based at 

Fairbanks, in spite of adverse weather conditions during that summer, photographed more 

than 30,000 square miles, covering much of 

the area between Anchorage and Fairbanks, including the Richardson Highway and the Alaska 

Railroad. This coverage Wa.s accomplished to 

rigid mapping specifications and, in addition, 

was controlled by shoran, an electronic method 

of measuring distances accurately from fixed 

ground stations to the aircraft in flight. Signals 

from ground stations are received in the plane 

and converted to distance measured in microseconds of time. They can be adjusted and 

synchronized with vertical mapping photography 

to compute a geographic position for the optical center of each aerial photograph. If final 

accuracy tests prove this method satisfactory, 

it will not only expedite mapping of many areas 

in Alaska, but will also eliminate the necessity 

of the very costly arcs of triangulation now 

being planned for mapping control in Alaska. 

The Geological Survey has requested the Department of the Air Force to continue this 

shoran-controlled photography of Alaska in 

order that standard quadrangle mapping of high 

priority areas may be completed. In response 

to this request photographic units of the Air 

Force covered an additional 20,000 square 

miles in south central Alaska during the summer 

season of 1950. A request has also been made 

for complete photographic coverage of all unmapped areas of Alaska at high altitudes (above 

35,000 feet), for use in the preparation andrevision of the 1:250,000 scale map series. 

laterle......o.pU.oatllll a.ouoa. I..U .. toa. D. c. 9l1ttl 
In order to provide elevations for topographic 

mapping the Geological Survey has investigated 

several methods being developed by private companies and the military services to prQvide airborne control. A contract was entered into with 

a Canadian company with specialized equipment 

to establish spot elevations over a large area 

during the summer of 1950. Radar altimetry 

has been used successfully in Canada to provide 

spot elevations for the control of aeronautical 

charts and it is believed if this method is successful it can be used effectively with shoran to 

provide both horizontal and vertical control for 

mapping at medium (1 :63, 360) and small 

(1 :250, 000) scales. This combination of airborne control methods should be ideal for reconnaissance mapping over large areas in Alaska, 

particularly north of the Arctic Circle. 

The contract radar altimetry project covering 

an area of approximately 60,000 square miles in 

central Alaska was completed late in the summer 

Preliminary computations indicate that this experimental coverage will provide vertical control of sufficient accuracy for the compilation 

of medium scale maps with a contour interval 

of about 100 feet. 

Topographic mapping in Alaska accomplished 

prior to World War II was published in sheets 

of varying sizes, generally to accomodate the 

work of one or two seasons or a specific mining 

area. More than 50 such sheets had been published without an attempt to provide a series 

of standard-sized quadrangles. After the war 

a new map-sheet layout was designed for 

Alaska, including scales of 1:24,000, 1:63,360, 

and 1:250, 000. Alaskan maps now being published are on standard format and are considered part of the National Topographic Map 

Series. Sheets originally prepared by the 

military services wEl later be published by 

the U. S. Geological Survey as part of this 

National Series. 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Abercrombie, W. R., Copper River Exploring Expedition: 56th Cong., 1st sess., S. Doc. 306, 1899. 

Baker, Marcus, Geographic Dictionary of Alaska (2d edition, prepared by James McCormick): U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 299, pp. 7-77, 1906. 

Bancroft, H. H., History of Alaska, 1730-1885, pp. 194-220, 510-530, San Francisco, 1886. 

Brooks, A. H., The Geography and Geology of Alaska: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 45, pp. 104-

132, 1906. 

Colbert, L. 0., Programming Field Operations in Alaska: Coast and Geodetic Survey Jour., vol. 2, 

pp. 3-7, 1949. 

General Land Office, Annual Reports of the Director. 

McPherson, J. L., Reconnaissance and Survey for a Land Route from Fairbanks to Council City, 

Alaska: 59th Cong., 2d sess., S. Doc. 214, 1907. 

U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Annual Reports of the Director. 

U. S. Geological Sm.·vey, Annual Reports of the Director, for 1905 to 1949. 

Wickersham, James, A Bibliography of Alaskan Literature 1724 to 1924,· Cordova Daily Times Print, 

pp. 1-37, Cordova, Alaska, 1927. 

24 oU.S. G.P.O. 1987-181-405:40067 

98