The Project Gutenberg EBook of The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II.,
No. 3, July, 1890, by Various
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Title: The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 3, July, 1890
Author: Various
Release Date: October 23, 2016 [EBook #53352]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, JULY 1890 ***
Produced by Ron Swanson
Vol. II. No. 3.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY,
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Price, 50 Cents.
CONTENTS.
The Arctic Cruise of the U. S. S. Thetis in the Summer and Autumn of
1889: Lieut. Comdr. Chas. H. Stockton, U. S. N.
(Illustrated with view of Herald Island, and one map.)
The Law of Storms, considered with special reference to the North
Atlantic: Everett Hayden, Marine Meteorologist, Navy Dept.
(One View and seven Illustrations.)
The Irrigation Problem in Montana: H. M. Wilson
PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.
Vol. II. 1890. No. 3.
THE ARCTIC CRUISE OF THE U. S. S. THETIS IN THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN OF
1889.
BY CHARLES H. STOCKTON.
A German writer of note once said, in the course of a discussion upon
certain French characteristics, that "the trouble with the French
people is,--they do not _know_ Geography."
Whether this is still true of the French, as a nation, or whether the
authority may be considered a good one, it is not pertinent for me here
to say; but I feel that of the nations of the world, this country,
above all others (England, perhaps, alone excepted), should not have
the want of knowledge of geography classed among its national failings.
We have, however, very much geography yet to learn, as individuals and
as a nation; not only of countries beyond our own but particularly of
our own continent and our own domain, while commercial geography is
almost an unknown and forbidden study.
Professional geographer as I am, as member of the naval service, I find
that every cruise adds to my geographic knowledge, and in giving an
account of the cruise during last summer of the ship which I had the
honor to command, I trust that I may be enabled to present some
geographic facts as interesting to my fellow-members of the Geographic
Society as they were novel and instructive to myself.
Before beginning my narrative, however, let me give you an idea of the
extent of the shore-line of the territory or semi-colonial province
along which so much of our cruise was made.
Alaska has an area of about 580,000 square miles, consisting of a large
mainland with a coast-line 6,650 miles in length, and also of more than
1,100 islands, with a coast-line of 2,950 miles, the entire coast-line
being 9,600 miles. The coast-line of the rest of the United States,
including islands, is only 6,580 miles, thus making the coast-line of
Alaska 3,020 miles more than the coast-line of all of the rest of the
United States.
Of this great country the part known best and visited annually by
tourists is that insignificant portion of southeastern Alaska which
consists of the Alexander archipelago and its neighboring main
coast-line, differing in its scenery, topography, climate, and native
inhabitants, from the greater part of this vast territory.
It is fortunate, however, that this corner of Alaska is so easily and
comfortably reached by the summer traveler, as, with the exception of
the coast-line and inlets between Sitka and Kodiak, which includes the
Fairweather ground and the St. Elias range of mountains, this portion
contains perhaps the finest and most striking scenery and the largest
and grandest glaciers in the territory, if not in all North and South
America.
The U. S. S. Thetis was assigned in 1889 to the duty of looking out for
the commercial and whaling interests of the United States in Bering sea
and the Arctic ocean, to which was subsequently added the duty of
assisting in the establishment and erection of a house of refuge in the
vicinity of Point Barrow, the most northerly point of our Arctic
possessions. The duty assigned to the Thetis did not include the
protection of the sealing interests of the United States, nor of those
interests enjoyed by the Alaska Commercial Company as the regular
lessees from the United States of the Pribyloff group of islands. This
was confided to the Revenue Marine Service of the Treasury Department.
[Illustration: The Arctic Cruise of the U. S. S. "Thetis" Lieut.
Comd'r. Chas. H. Stockton, U. S. N., Comd'g. in the summer and autumn
of 1889. The Norris Peters Co., Photo-litho., Washington, D. C.]
The Thetis left San Francisco on the 20th of April, 1889, and after a
detention of a month at Tacoma, upon the placid waters of Puget sound,
awaiting supplementary orders, reached Port Tongass, in extreme
southeastern Alaska, on the 31st of May, and Sitka, the territorial
capitol, upon the 2d of June. After a stay of six days at the latter
place the vessel left for the island of Ounalaska, one of the Aleutian
chain, which was safely reached, after a stormy passage, early on the
morning of the 17th of June.
The revenue-steamer Richard Rush, commanded by Captain Shepherd, was
found at anchor at this place, having arrived a few hours before the
Thetis; she had entered upon the duty of patrolling Bering sea, between
Ounalaska and the Pribyloff group, for the protection of the sealing
interests. The seals approach the hauling-out grounds and breeding
places upon the islands of St. Paul and St. George in lanes, as it
were, from the Pacific, reaching Bering sea by means of the various
passages between the Aleutian islands, and converging as they approach
the Seal islands, the position of which seems so well known to them.
The "marauders," as the men on the sealing schooners are called who
hunt them on their way north, shoot them from small boats, killing the
many in order to procure the few.
Ounalaska, or rather the village and harbor of Iliuliuk, upon the
island of Ounalaska, is the principal and most frequented harbor in the
Aleutian islands, and from its position is a most convenient port for
coaling, watering and provisioning en route to the Seal islands, St.
Michaels (at the mouth of the Yukon river), the anchorages in and near
Bering strait, and the Arctic ocean. This harbor is the headquarters of
all of the districts of the Alaska Commercial Company, and is the
principal coaling and distributing station and rendezvous of their
vessels in Alaska. The company here affords facilities in the way of
buoyage, wharfage, etc., which are not only useful to their own vessels
but of great service to government and other vessels whose duty or
interests call them to these waters.
The revenue steamer Bear was to be met by us at Ounalaska, in order
that we could take from her any portion of the stores and material to
be used in the constructing and provisioning of the house of refuge at
Point Barrow that her commanding officer desired to transfer to us.
While awaiting the arrival of the Bear, the Thetis was watered and
coaled and prepared for the northerly trip before her. An opportunity
offered me by the delay was availed of to inspect the store-houses of
the Alaska Commercial Company at this point. The most interesting of
the store-houses was that containing the skins and furs collected in
the various parts of the district of which this place was the dépôt.
The finest of the furs was that of the sea-otter, probably the most
valuable fur in the world, a very superior skin of that animal having
been sold at the great fur market in London for £170. Such otters are
found in the vicinity of Ounalaska and the outlying rocks and islands
as far east as Kodiak, and are becoming more and more difficult to
obtain, causing greater risk and hardships every year to the Aleuts,
who hunt these animals as a principal means of livelihood.
Besides the otters the store-house held the furs of the beautiful
silver-gray fox, and those of the blue, the cross, and the snowy white
Arctic fox. There were also black and brown bear skins, beaver, and
fur-seal, the latter, though the greatest and most profitable source of
revenue to the Company, being by no manner of means among the more
valuable of the raw furs.
To exchange for furs collected, either directly by natives or by
independent traders, the Alaska Commercial Company has a large
assortment of stores, provisions, and goods, worthy of a large
country-store, or a Macy's in miniature, which are sold to the natives
for money or in exchange for the furs they bring to the company. And
just here can be seen the commercial aspects of civilization: as the
natives become used to the luxuries and comforts of a civilized and
semi-civilized state of life, their wants and their purchases increase
and the securing of one otter-skin will not, as in times past, satisfy
their wants or the requirements of their wives and families. Hence they
become both greater producers and consumers, more otters are hunted
for, and the Company is the gainer.
The houses in which the Aleuts and Creoles reside at Ounalaska were
found to be well built of frame, sufficiently large and fairly clean.
The old houses of earth and sod standing near by show the great
improvement that has been made of late years in the method of living.
Upon the 22d of June the Revenue Steamer Bear came in to the anchorage,
and the Thetis and the Bear, once companion ships in the Greely Relief
Expedition, met again in the far north.
Upon conference with the commanding officer of the Bear, Captain M. A.
Healy, it was found that he did not consider it desirable to break the
bulk of his cargo and share the stores for the refuge-station with us;
hence, being free to pursue our course, we left on the 24th of June for
the island of St. Paul, one of the Seal (or Pribyloff) islands.
We arrived at these islands on the evening of the 25th of June, after
groping around in the heavy and almost constant fog and mist that
envelop them. During our short stay at St. Paul we were able to see a
drive of seals from a rookery and the killing, skinning, and packing,
which followed; but what we found to be the most interesting was the
visit to the rookeries, both from the inshore side and from boats along
the sea front. The systematic partition of the grounds, the formation
of the harems, the exclusion of the young males, and the aggressive
conduct of the older ones, all proved most interesting and novel. This,
however, has been described so often that I will not here repeat it.
Leaving these islands, so unlike any others in the world, we proceeded
to the north and west to St. Mathew Island, a large and uninhabited
island in the middle of Bering sea. The object in visiting this island
was twofold, the first being to ascertain if there were any shipwrecked
persons upon the island, the other being to verify the statement made
upon the chart we possessed that the island was infested with polar
bears. Upon our arrival and landing upon the island we found plenty of
old tracks but no recent evidences of the existence of polar bears.
This was ascertained after honest and fatiguing endeavor to find them
by parties of officers and men from the ship, who scoured the eastern
part of the island, both upon the hills and upon the low tundra, but
without success.
St. Mathew island is probably the southern limit of the solid ice in
winter in this part of Bering sea, the ice below it to the southward
and toward the Aleutian chain being made up of newer ice and detached
floes of well broken ice. It is surrounded by the ice during seven
months of the year, and generally enveloped with fog during the
remaining five months. Winds and rains sweep over it during the summer,
the low land being composed of wet, grassy tundra, while the higher
elevations are formed of scoriæ and volcanic rock.
A large quantity of drift-wood found piled up upon the steep shingle
beaches probably came down the Yukon river from the interior of Alaska,
there being no growth of trees upon this desolate land.
After leaving St. Mathew island we stood over to the Siberian side of
Bering sea, in order to ascertain the whereabouts of the whaling fleet,
and, if possible, to gather some news concerning the fate of the
whaling bark "Little Ohio," a vessel that had been missing since the
previous autumn.
Plover bay, Cape Tchaplin and St. Lawrence bay, upon the Siberian side,
were all visited in turn, but without success, and I then determined to
pass through Bering strait and enter the Arctic ocean. This was done
upon the 3d of July, after a heavy snow-storm in the morning, followed,
later in the day, by a fog so dense that we passed through the straits
without seeing land on either side, or the Diomede islands, in the
middle.
Entering the Arctic we pushed on toward Point Hope, to the northward of
which the "Little Ohio" had last been seen. On the morning of the 4th
of July the land about Point Hope was sighted and soon afterwards we
met our first ice, coming out in floes from Kotzebue sound, stretching
some distance from the shore and slowly moving to the northward and
westward with the current.
Skirting along this ice with the hope of getting around it to the
northward of Point Hope, without success, we entered it, and after
working through it for several miles with considerable difficulty we
finally cleared it and came to anchor off the native village at Point
Hope, finding there two whalers who had just preceded us, and obtaining
the news that the bark "Little Ohio" had been wrecked directly opposite
the point where we were then at anchor. Taking on board, the next day,
those survivors of this shipwreck who still remained at this place, we
left for St. Michaels, near the mouth of the Yukon river, there to
transfer the survivors to the steamer of the Alaska Commercial Company,
and to send the news of this sad disaster to the Navy Department and to
the world. In passing through the ice outside of Point Hope the first
polar bear of the season was sighted, posing upon a high floe of ice. A
few shots settled his case and his body was fortunately secured, his
skin now forming one of the trophies of the cruise.
On our way back through Bering strait we found the vexatious
combination (to be met with again and again in the cruise) of a heavy
fog, much drift ice, and an opposing current.
Reaching St. Michaels we found there two steamers of the Alaska
Commercial Company at anchor, besides several river-steamers, and a
summer rendezvous of natives from the coast, miners from the interior,
and traders and missionaries from the Yukon,--all here to meet their
annual mails and supplies. In addition there was a party of government
surveyors to determine the boundary-line, an account of whose early
journey has been given to the Society by Mr. Russell. There were
seventy-three tents, by actual count, pitched about St. Michaels at the
time of our stay, the abodes of these temporary residents.
St. Michaels is the most northerly settlement and trading post of the
Alaska Commercial Company. It is the outlet of the Yukon river trade
and also the source of supplies for the country bordering upon the
Yukon and its many tributaries, reaching in this way a portion of the
Northwest Territory of the Dominion of Canada, west of the Rocky
Mountains.
In the winter-time the post consists of the offices and store-houses of
the Alaska Commercial Company, with a few residences for their white
employees, and a small native village.
Small, light-draught, stern-wheel steamers ascend the Yukon and its
tributaries for a distance of 1,700 miles, reaching the mouth of that
river in part by an inside channel and in part by sixty miles of
outside coasting.
After a short stay at St. Michaels we proceeded to Port Clarence, where
a large number of the whaling fleet were met, consisting of seven
steam-whalers, six sailing whalers, one trading vessel, and a sailing
tender. From the tender these vessels receive coal, provisions, and
supplies, sending back to San Francisco the oil and whale-bone of the
spring catch.
Port Clarence is the best, as it is the last, harbor on the American
side before reaching the Arctic, where no harbors exist worthy of the
name, west of Herschel island. There is no native settlement of any
size on the bay, but natives assemble here from the surrounding country
and islands to trade with the whale-ships in summer.
Leaving Port Clarence we ran to the southward by King island to St.
Lawrence island, in search of a sailing tender that was long over-due;
returning, after a short stay off the village near Cape Prince of
Wales, we again entered the Arctic ocean. As it was too early to go to
Point Barrow we proceeded to Kotzebue sound and Hotham inlet. In the
vicinity of the latter place, every year, a summer rendezvous of
natives occurs for trading purposes, the Eskimos from the Diomedes and
Cape Prince of Wales bringing articles of trade from Siberia, while the
Eskimos from Point Hope bring articles obtained from the whalers; these
Eskimos are met by the inland natives from the rivers that flow into
Hotham inlet and Kotzebue sound, principally from the Kowak, the Noatak
and Salawik rivers. The nearest available anchorage we found was Cape
Blossom, from which place we visited the rendezvous and were visited in
turn by the natives. We had now been enjoying for some time
twenty-fours hours of daylight, the midnight-sun having lighted our way
to and from Point Hope during our first visit to that place.
Leaving Cape Blossom upon the 24th of July we stood out of Kotzebue
sound for the northward, running the greater part of the time in a
heavy fog. We passed Point Hope on the 25th, Cape Lisburne on the 26th,
and anchored off Cape Sabine early in the morning of the 27th of July.
Near by was a very wide vein of lignite coal, from which the Thetis had
been coaled the previous year and to which the name of "Thetis coal
mine" had been given. This had been worked during the present summer,
also, and a party of natives who were encamped near by had furnished
coal to some of the whalers.
Being now in the vicinity of a stream known to the natives as the
Pitmegea, I went in a whaleboat to examine its mouth and entrance, as
this stream was unknown to but few whites and did not exist upon any
charts or maps. It was found to have but three feet of water on the bar
at its entrance, but after crossing this a depth of six feet was found.
The stream was found so full of bars and shoals that we could ascend
but a short distance after entering it. The river and its narrow valley
were very winding, the general course being northwest from its source
to the coast. After the spring thaw, and the rains that follow, the
stream rises to a depth sufficient for the natives to ascend and
descend it with their light-draught skin-boats for a distance of about
forty miles. Its length is estimated to be over one hundred miles. The
river had been explored the previous year by John W. Kelly, who was
this summer employed on board the Thetis as the official interpreter,
and to him I am indebted for the following description of the ice-cliff
existing upon the banks of the Pitmegea, and also of a peculiarly built
stone hut near the source of one of the tributaries.
ICE-CLIFF ON THE PITMEGEA.
This ice-cliff is about twenty-five miles from the mouth of the
Pitmegea, at a place where the hills run their spurs out to the banks
of the river, closing the picturesque valley that stretches away to the
sea-coast in an almost unbroken width of a mile. A glacier faces
southward, and receives the full benefit of the sunlight during the
short polar summer. Gales have deposited particles of soil and débris
of plants, along with their seeds, upon the surface of the ice to a
depth of from four inches to a foot. The snow-fall of winter soon
vanishes before the June sun, while the light covering above the
glacier preserves it intact. Vegetation is warmed into life in a
remarkably short time, and the brown coat left by the receding snow is
almost miraculously transformed to a robe of green and studded here and
there with bright polar flowers, there being buttercups, dandelions,
yellow poppy, bright astragals, gentians, daffodils and marguerites.
The latter are small and unobtrusive, making a showing in a modest way
as if they wished to apologize to their sister flowers for their
appearance among them. Like beautiful orphan girls, one cannot resist a
compassionate tenderness of feeling toward them. But these innocent
little flowers, chaste as the ice field upon which they grow, bloom in
the polar garden with as much right as the glacier's gentian. Besides
flowers, there are the hardy grasses whose roots penetrate the light
covering of soil to the ice-bed, whence they derive their nourishment.
A few Arctic willows are to be seen, but they only grow about a foot in
length, and trail upon the ground. The Pitmegea river is gradually
cutting into the glacier, receding from its opposite bank and leaving a
bed of gravel behind. During the summer the ice melts away, leaving the
protruding soil above it like the eaves of a house; when it protrudes
too far for the strength of the grass roots, it topples over into the
river. At the freezing in September, icicles freeze from the
overhanging sod to the river ice below, forming a narrow portico four
miles in extent.
OLD STONE HUT.
On the highest peak at the source of Ikuk creek, a southerly tributary
of the Pitmegea, are the ruins of a hut and smaller outhouse, the like
of which has never been met with in Northwestern Alaska. Above the
grass line, past perpetual beds of snow, up where wild storms sweep
away ice, snow, and soil, where only a few gray lichens are to be seen,
man, at some former time, has placed a habitation. On the crest of the
mountain there is a ragged limestone comb twelve feet high, cracked and
shattered into flakes by the vigor of the polar winters. On the south
side of this comb, sheltered from the prevailing north winds,
excavations have been made into the rock. Taking the comb of rock for
one side of the house, the other side of the semicircle has been built
up with flat stones, laid up like bricks in masonry, but without
mortar. Moss and soil have been in all probability used here instead of
mortar, but years of fierce winds have blown it out from the crevices.
The structure is conic in shape, after the manner of a Greenlander's
snow-hut. This one is about seven feet in diameter. Facing its entrance
is a smaller house of similar construction, most likely used as a
shelter for game. Winter storms have crumbled away the roofs of both so
that they have fallen in, and the fragments of stones are partially
covered with soil. The whole bears the impression of age, and no
natives have been found who have ever heard of it. From the summit of
this peak a splendid view is obtained of the surrounding country, the
Arctic ocean, and herds of passing reindeer.
* * * * *
Gold has been found near the Pitmegea, at the head of the same creek
and tributary, it being contained in sulphurets of iron, which exist in
large quantities in that vicinity, there being from $3.50 to $8.00
worth of gold in a ton; the country is all but impassable, however, and
this, together with the shortness of the season, would prevent any
mining with profit.
Our party returned from the Pitmegea with a few ptarmigan and ducks,
and upon our arrival the ship was at once gotten under way and we stood
to the northward for Point Barrow. Drift-ice was constantly passed, but
fortunately so scattered as not to form any obstruction to free
navigation.
On the next day we enjoyed a superb Arctic summer's day, and began to
fall in with the whaling fleet on the way north to Point Barrow.
Fifteen vessels were sighted and passed, most of them vessels under
sail. Rounding the dangerous Blossom shoals and the Icy cape of Captain
Cook, we stood to the northeast, finding generally clear water, with
scattered drift-ice. Upon the floes we found great quantities of
walrus, in some cases stretched at full length, sound asleep. One huge
fellow remained so undisturbed at our approach that he was supposed to
be dead, but a well aimed Irish potato aroused him so rudely that he
quickly slid off the floe and disappeared beneath the water.
Pushing on we passed Pt. Belcher at 9.30 in the evening, in the fog and
rain, and came to heavy masses of ice over which a low fog had settled.
With some delay and difficulty we worked out of both the fog and the
ice and at five o'clock in the morning sighted four
vessels--steamers--at anchor off the village of Ootkavie at Cape Smyth,
8 miles from Point Barrow, and the site of Captain Ray's Signal Service
meteorologic station of some years ago, the house that sheltered the
party being still standing. One of the steamers proved to be our old
friend the "Bear," which had passed to the northward when we had
returned southward from the Arctic with the survivors of the "Little
Ohio." The other vessels were made out to be steam-whalers, and at
seven o'clock we anchored near them, off the site determined upon for
the house of refuge.
Finding the Bear had commenced to discharge her stores and materials,
all of our facilities were at once used in tending her assistance, our
steam launch Achilles (now, as of yore, the child of the Thetis) being
busily at work towing boats to and fro, while our men and mechanics,
with officers, were busily engaged in aiding the construction of the
house of refuge.
Our arrival at Cape Smyth and vicinity of Point Barrow was on the 29th
of July, the Bear having arrived on the 27th, the Saturday previous.
While we were lying at anchor engaged in the erection of the house of
refuge, the rest of the whaling fleet, both sail and steam, gradually
arrived and came to anchor off the coast, reaching from Cape Smyth to
Point Barrow. After a short stay the steamers went on to the eastward
of Point Barrow, following along the ice-pack, which was in sight from
Point Barrow, until they reached the heavier ice off Point Tangent.
When the last of the whaling vessels had arrived, a fleet of
forty-seven vessels carrying the American flag had assembled within
sight of the most northerly point of the United States, composed of
steamers, barks, brigantines and schooners. These vessels, manned by
about twelve hundred men, I venture to say formed the largest
assemblage of vessels and men under the American flag to be found
anywhere during that year. I cannot speak too highly of the skill,
seamanship, courage, and endurance of the whaling masters. They are a
fine body of American seamen.
The scene on shore was one of abnormal activity for this region, the
erection of the house of refuge, the hasty landing and transportation
of stores (in which the whalers assisted), the movements of the Eskimos
about their village (which was dotted with the white summer tents of
the residents and the visiting inland Eskimos), and the clustering and
trading about the Whaling Company's station (Ray's old station), gave a
life and movement which was as shortlived as the season. Fortunately
the weather proved most favorable and the heavy ice kept off shore
while the stores were landed; the wind then freshened, but
communication could still be kept up and the work of erection went on.
The site of the house of refuge is within a few hundred yards of Ray's
old house and near the village, and its keeper, Captain Borden (an old
New Bedford whaler) was busy in putting his house in order before the
autumn should come on. During our stay at this place we were enabled to
make a hydrographic survey of the anchorage, which demonstrated that
the contour of the bottom is constantly changed by the ploughing and
planing done by the heavy ice grounded and driven up by the pressure of
the mighty ice-pack, under the influence of northerly winds and gales.
And here let me say a word about the ice of this part of the Arctic
ocean. The ice in summer consists of floes and fields of various sizes,
which are cemented together in winter by the young or newly frozen ice.
No icebergs exist in this part of the Arctic, as there are no glaciers
near the sea coast to form them. The shore along the entire Arctic
coast of Alaska shows evidence of former glacial action, but the only
glaciers to be found are in the southeastern part of the territory.
The Arctic pack, which never melts, consists of hard blue ice, made up
of fields and floes of comparatively level ice, which are surrounded
and interspersed with hummocks varying from ten to forty feet in
height. These hummocks are formed by the broken and telescoped ice
resulting from the collision and grinding together of heavy ice-floes,
the hummocks being often rounded and smoothed in outline by heavy falls
of snow.
In the spring, under the influence of the prevailing southerly winds
and northerly currents, the packs break off from the shore and move to
the north, the position of the southern edge varying in latitude with
the season and the winds.
The shore-ice, which remains fast to the coast line after the pack
moves off, gradually breaks up as the season advances, and, becoming
scattered, is taken to the northeastward from the vicinity of Point
Barrow and northwestward from the vicinity of Herald island and Wrangel
land.
Sometimes a long line of heavy floe-ice from the pack grounds in the
shallow water near the shore during northerly winds, pressed from
behind by the force and weight of the entire northern pack. It is
gradually forced up, ploughing its way through the bottom, at the same
time rising gradually along the ascent of the bottom toward the land.
The effect of this solid wall of cold and relentless blue ice slowly
rising and advancing upon those imprisoned between the ice and the
shore is one of the most sublime and terrible things that can be
experienced.
The normal current running north through Bering strait forks a short
distance to the north, one branch going through Kotzebue Sound and
thence along the mainland by Cape Seppings, Point Hope, and Icy cape,
to Point Barrow, at which point it goes off to the unknown northeast;
the other branch, to the northwestward along the Siberian coast, and
thence to the northward toward Herald island. The whalers burned by the
Confederate vessel Shenandoah near Bering strait were found in the
vicinity of Herald island.
The only portion of the whalers at the time actively cruising had gone
to the eastward of Point Barrow. On that day a seaman named Tuckfield
returned from the Mackenzie in a whaleboat, and reported the ice
conditions unusually favorable as far east as Mackenzie Bay, in the
vicinity of which he had wintered. He was a seaman belonging to the
whaling station and had been reported to me by a missionary I met at
St. Michaels as having visited his station at Rampart house, upon the
Porcupine river, a branch of the Yukon.
Upon the 8th of August the house of refuge was virtually finished, and
as my orders were to devote my time to the whaling fleet, after the
completion of this structure, I concluded to cruise after and with the
vessel to the eastward of Point Barrow, leaving the Bear to remain with
the vessels lying at anchor off Cape Smyth and Point Barrow. As
Tuckfield wanted to go east with his Eskimo guide, I took him and his
whaleboat and whaling outfit on board, leaving Cape Smyth on the
evening of the 8th. The ice in sight at the time was somewhat
scattered, but plentiful, and entering it about nine o'clock we slowly
stood on a course parallel to the land. We were occupied in working
through this ice all night and all of the next day; it was not the pack
ice but shore ice broken off from the vicinity of Point Tangent, Smyth
bay, and Harrison bay. At times we found it so closely packed together
by current and wind that we had to turn back and work our way closer
inshore. Three vessels under sail were sighted during this time off
Tangent point, and by this time we had also demonstrated the
uselessness of Little Joe Tuckfield as an ice pilot or prophet. The
winds were very light and we had now gotten out of the strong northeast
current running off Point Barrow. On the night of the 9th we passed off
the north of the Colville river, the water offshore becoming very
muddy.
The first important error found in the charts and maps of this region
was found here by the observation of the non-existence of the Pelly
mountains. This observation was confirmed upon our return by the
concurrent testimony of the whaling masters who had cruised here, and
the natives who hunt in the neighborhood. The mountains certainly do
not exist where placed by the charts, and I judge that some small
hummocks near the beach were mistaken for a far off range of mountains,
when Dease and Simpson first explored this coast in 1837.
Early on the morning of the 10th of August we sighted the first steam
whaler, and as we steamed toward her we skirted along some long low
islands parallel to the coast line and stretching from the Return reef
of Sir John Franklin to the mouth of the Colville river. The islands,
one being about three miles long, are not shown upon the charts, and
not having any known names were designated as the Thetis islands.
The steam-whaler was found to be the Balæna, commanded by Captain
Everett Smith, one of the most intelligent of the whalemen of the
Arctic. He was anchored off Return reef, which he was enabled
definitely to locate by the traditions of the natives. It was at this
point that Sir John Franklin, in one of his earliest boat journeys, was
obliged to turn back while endeavoring to explore the coast from
Mackenzie bay to Point Barrow. After a long interview with Captain
Smith, from which I gathered much information as to the ice-conditions
and the probable positions of the steam-whalers to the eastward, he
returned on board of his ship, and the good ship Thetis once more
turned her head to the eastward.
Soon afterwards another steam-whaler was sighted, made fast by
ice-anchors to an ice-floe; we did not stop, but, exchanging colors,
proceeded on our way. The ice seemed to be getting thicker, and shortly
afterwards a third whaler was sighted, at anchor off a small low
island, with apparently heavy ice ahead. As the weather seemed
uncertain I determined to anchor for the night in the vicinity of the
island.
The steamer was found to be the whaler Beluga, commanded by Captain
Brooks, and the island, though nameless, was marked by a wooden cross,
from which fact it was called Cross island. Captain Brooks stated that
he had been struggling with the ice to the eastward of Cross island,
the day before, in company with some other steam-whalers who had left
him and gone to the eastward, so he had turned back and anchored off
Cross island. I sounded out the vicinity of the island, finding shoal
water to the southward, too shoal for the Thetis to anchor in, and so I
remained upon the west side. The wind shifting, our position became
insecure on account of the masses of ice drifting toward us; the whaler
left the anchorage, stood out into the heavy ice, and made fast to a
high hummocky floe. Seeing no good place near by, I held on with the
chain on the steam windlass, ready to leave in a moment. Heavy ice
coming down and grounding close by on both sides, we left and got out
the ice-anchors to a heavy floe, where we rode out the gale until early
in the morning, when we were obliged to move on, as the ice packed
about our rudder. After moving again and again the wind fell away, the
day cleared up, and the ice began to scatter and disappear about the
island, the leads to the eastward looking more promising.
The next day at 5 in the morning, in company with our whaling friend,
we left the vicinity of Cross island and, entering the ice, stood
toward the northeast. The ice-floes grew heavier and larger as we
progressed and the canal-like leads more confused, until at 10 o'clock
the lead stopped and we both made fast to a very large, long, hummocky
floe, at least ten miles in length, several miles in breadth, and
aground in 80 feet of water. The day was mild and clear, and, after
both of the ice-anchors had been secured and the rope-ladders lowered
over the bows, a number of the officers and men went on the ice, the
men playing foot-ball and snow balling, while the officers posed for
their photographs. This is the time that we were reported (by a
steam-whaler that we had passed) as being in a position of extreme
danger, and the news was taken to the outside world.
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we started ahead with the Beluga; the
Thetis, now taking the lead, rammed her way through some pack-ice and
reached another lead going inshore, the Beluga following very slowly
after us. We continued forcing our way until we got into clear water by
Lion reef. At midnight we made fast to a small floe and after an
anxious night (caused by ice-floes setting against our stern and
rudder) we proceeded, followed at along distance by the Beluga, which
joined us in the afternoon at Camden Bay, and we anchored there for the
night. We found that the Beluga in attempting to follow us had gotten
on an ice-foot, or protruding spur, and bent her propeller-blades, and
had finally to seek another lead out, to the westward of where we had
rammed through. As we ran from off Lion reef to Camden bay we sighted
the beautiful ranges of mountains close to the coast known as the
Franklin and Romanzoff mountains, making an agreeable change in the
topography of the shore, which had been low and monotonously flat since
leaving Point Hope and the vicinity of Cape Lisburne. We found here
that the shore-line was put upon the charts too far north, as our
position near Flaxman island, on the west side of Camden bay, was well
inland of the coast-line and reefs. Camden bay was the last wintering
place of Collinson, in the Enterprise, upon his return from his search
for Sir John Franklin, and here we fell in with the track of this
distinguished navigator, whose cruise is so little known and whose
efforts have been so much eclipsed by his fellow voyager, McClure, who
has the distinction given him of being the actual discoverer of the
Northwest passage, and who was, indeed, with his little body of men in
1850-1854, the first as well as the last to pass from the Pacific to
the Atlantic, north of the American continent.
Upon a long point named Collinson point, and upon the neighboring
island known as Barter island, are to be found, during the summer,
encampments and rendezvous of Eskimos, who meet there for purposes of
trade, similar to the same rendezvous in Kotzebue sound. Here the
Alaskan and the Mackenzie river Eskimos meet, also the Lucia or Prat
river Indians, who are nomads and come from the vicinity of the
Porcupine and Prat rivers, and whose winter rendezvous and habitation
is at the Rampart house, a Hudson Bay Company's station and Church of
England mission, upon the Porcupine. They are mostly professing
Christians and are related to the Athabascans, or Rock mountain
Indians, in family. There are no permanent settlements here or
elsewhere between the vicinity of Herschel island and Point Barrow. The
country is sterile, affording but little upon which to live, the sea
also having little or no animal life in its waters. The Eskimos give to
this part of the Arctic ocean a native name which signifies _the sea
where there is always ice_.
Early the next morning, August 14th, at 5 o'clock, we pushed on in
company with the Beluga, standing out of Camden bay and delaying a
short time off Barter island, to communicate with the natives. At noon,
while off Manning point, the smoke of several steamers was seen to the
eastward, and when they had come up we found all but two of the
steam-whalers that had gone east. They were led by the steamer William
Lewis, commanded by Captain Albert Sherman, probably the boldest and
most active of the Arctic whalers. They were all in the cabin of the
Thetis in a short time, and I found that they had reached Mackenzie bay
and the vicinity of the Mackenzie river. The two missing ones, the Orca
and Thrasher, had last been seen in the vicinity of Herschel island.
The ice-conditions were reported to be better than those we had passed
through. After reflection I considered it my duty, as it was my desire,
to go on to the eastward to ascertain the cause of the detention of the
two missing whalers, and as time was precious I determined to run on,
day and night. By this time night had assumed the conditions of
twilight, and the stars had begun to appear in the skies. The
threatening appearance of the weather detained us at first, but at 9
o'clock in the evening we got under way, and with her colors hoisted
the good ship started again on her easterly course, followed in about
half an hour by our old friend and companion, the Beluga. Before
leaving we had hoisted out the whale-boat with Joe and native friends,
who had been joined at this point by the women of the family. Joe was
uncertain about his movements here, and as he expected to secure stores
from some of the whalers I left him in their company.
We found the shore bolder as we progressed, and the mountains nearer
the coast; as a result, the ice generally sets directly and in heavy
masses on the shore without grounding, and this point has never been
passed before by the whalers, but fortunately a wide lane was open. The
sight of the mountains, standing in their silent and gloomy grandeur,
was peculiarly impressive, and our inability to make a closer
examination and exploration is to be regretted. So far as I can
ascertain, no white man has ever penetrated these mountainous regions,
which are known upon the maps in turn under the varying names of the
Romanzoff, British, Buckland and Richardson mountains, being so named
by Sir John Franklin during his boat journey along the coast. The
British mountains are at the extreme northeastern corner of our
territory of Alaska, reaching also across the boundary-line into
British America. We passed Demarcation point, where our boundary-line
reaches the Arctic ocean, early upon the morning of the 15th of August,
and commenced again our cruising in British waters. The character of
the shore remained the same, the mountains, however, showing little
traces of snow, testifying in this way both to the extreme mildness of
the winter and our approach to the valley of the Mackenzie. A few
Eskimo huts were seen as we came up to the shoal ground developed by
our lead in the vicinity of the mouth of the Malcolm river. The lead
was constantly going while we were in these waters, and the ship was
steered by it as much as by our compass. In fact the three L's
(latitude, lead, lookout) are the great necessities for navigation in
these unknown regions, as the three R's are supposed to be in
elementary schooling. At 11 o'clock in the morning Herschel island was
sighted, this large island forming the western boundary of Mackenzie
bay, or, as the ancient explorers often termed it, Mackenzie sea. At
1.30 in the afternoon we anchored off the southwest end of the island
inside some grounded ice and off a long gravelly spit, thickly covered
with heavy drift-wood from the Mackenzie river.
The island is about 500 feet in height and has a rounded outline,
sloping gradually down from the center upon all sides. It shows the
appearance of former glacial action, and appears to be an ancient
moraine covered with a black vegetable mould. The vegetation was
confined to grasses and small Arctic flowers, diminutive in size,
delicate in color, and evidently shortlived.
Soon after we anchored a party was sent on shore to erect a sign to
mark our visit; it consisted of a board with the name of the ship and
the date of the visit in brass letters; under the staff supporting it
there are placed in a glass bottle the names of the officers and men of
the ship. The Beluga joined us soon after our arrival, and when the
party from shore had returned we got under way to continue our look for
the two whalers. Captain Brooks came on board the Thetis and shared my
perch and lookout in the foretop, while his ship followed, in charge of
his mate. As we reached the bluffs at the north end of the island we
saw a noble expanse of open water stretching to the northward as far as
the eye could reach. The ice was still heavy to the westward and
northwestward, but to the north, beyond the light, scattering ice
through which we were going, was clear sea, the waves leaping in the
beautiful Arctic sunshine.
We looked with eagerness to the sea which stretched, apparently, to the
north pole, and then headed to the southward into Mackenzie bay.
After three hours' steaming from our first anchorage we reached the
southeast side of the island and found the two missing whalers lying
quietly at anchor, Captain Brooks giving a hearty and relieved cry of
_Sail ho!_, when the vessels were seen, and we were all pleased to see
them safe and secure. We came to anchor close by them and the two
captains were soon on board. They reported that they had remained
behind to watch for the return of whales from the northeastward, but so
far without any success. They had determined to remain until September,
and contemplated the possibility of wintering at this place. Soon after
we anchored, Eskimos who lived at the mouth of the Mackenzie came on
board, and they looked at the ship with the greatest surprise and
interest. They had not seen vessels before this summer, though the
traditions concerning the "Enterprise" and "Investigator," under
Collinson and McClure, still survived.
Sleeping soundly that night, for the first time in many days, the
following morning boat parties were dispatched to complete the
circumnavigation of the island and to make running surveys in the
vicinity.
A small, snug harbor was found and surveyed near-by our anchorage,
capable of receiving vessels of less than 16 feet draught; this was
named Pauline cove. It would prove a fairly good place for one of the
light-draught steamers going up this year to use as winter-quarters.
The waters between Herschel island and the mainland were found after
examination too full of shoals and sand- and gravel-bars to form a
ship-channel. A rise and fall of tide of three feet was found, and the
ship swung regularly to an ebb and flood.
While the boats were out sounding I went ashore and, climbing nearly to
the top of the island, had a beautiful view of the clear and open water
of Mackenzie bay, to the east and northeast; while to the southeastward
were the islands clustering about the shallow mouth of the Mackenzie,
and directly to the south were the British and Buckland mountains,
merging gradually into the Rocky mountains and the great chains which
form the backbone of the American continent.
The temperature of the water and air was found higher upon this side of
the island, and I have no doubt but that the climate of the vicinity of
Mackenzie bay is materially modified by the comparatively warm water
coming out in great volume from the Mackenzie river. The strong current
running to the northward from the river would naturally sweep the ice
out of the bay and to the northward, as far as the vicinity of
Banksland and the extreme northern Arctic.
Where it goes to and where it ceases is now a matter of conjecture. It
is to be hoped that the drift-floats which were launched by us from
this point, and from various points between here and Herald island, may
contribute something to the solution of this question.
As the chances of being shut in by the ice were easily among the
possibilities to the whalers who were in our company, and with whose
fate our companion the Beluga had joined for the time, the whole
question of supplies and retreat was gone over with the whaling
masters. A retreat up the valley of the Mackenzie, the Porcupine, and
Yukon, seemed feasible, as reindeer were to be found in this vicinity
in the winter months.
As the masters of the whalers would not return with me to the eastward,
I determined to start back, in order to make my westerly cruise with
the sailing fleet. Recalling the boats, we got underway, standing first
to the northeast to put over our first drift-float clear of the tidal
influence of the waters immediately about Herschel island, and in the
open water and northerly current of the Mackenzie. These floats were
made of wood about two feet long and nine inches thick, with the name
of the ship, the date, and the words, _for drift_, cut upon the face.
In a cavity at one end of the float, plugged with soft wood, there was
placed a copper cylinder containing a letter requesting the finder to
inform the U. S. Hydrographic office at Washington, the nearest U. S.
Consul, or the commanding officer of the Thetis, the time and place
where the float was found.
After launching the float upon its unknown journey, a lookout was sent
to the highest masthead: from there it was reported that to the
northward and northeastward there was nothing in sight but open water,
neither ice nor ice-blink was visible, and the western entrance to the
Northwest passage stretched before us invitingly, as clear and as free
as the waters of our own Chesapeake bay. But I had reached my limit,
and turning back, to the regret of many on board, faced once more the
icy sea that lay before us toward Point Barrow and the westward.
The weather, however, was superb, clear, cold, and sunny, during the
day, while in the now darkening shades of the evening for the first
time the moon appeared, silvering most beautifully the chain of
mountains along the coast and the fantastic shapes of the grounded ice.
On the 17th we began to meet and overtake the whalers, who still
delayed in the vicinity of Camden bay, waiting for whales. Five were
passed, some cruising and some fast to the ice-floes. After
communicating with them and informing them of our probable movements,
we kept on to the westward. The ice-conditions were favorable and we
made very good headway, making fast to an ice-floe, off our old
island-friends of the midway group, on the evening of the 17th of
August.
The wind is always a subject of constant watchfulness and anxiety in
this part of the Arctic; it virtually makes the currents and brings
down the ice, or sends it off and clears a narrow lane along the
shore-line. A northerly shift of wind caused a desire to push on, and
passing on we sighted Return reef again and skirted along the long and
narrow island which now bears the name of the Thetis. Passing the mouth
of the Colville we steamed at a good rate of speed through Harrison bay
and found there the wind blowing strong from the west, bringing much
ice with it and accompanied by a cold fog. The outlook being
discouraging I determined to press on for Point Barrow, not very far
distant. The early morning of the 19th of August opened cloudy,
overcast, and cold, with a gale and snow from the westward, the ice
increasing in quantity and size.
There being no protection from the wind this side of Point Barrow, I
ordered full speed so as to get to the point and beyond it before the
almost inevitable shift to the northward which would bring the ice down
and shut us out. The leads between the ice-floes became narrower and
fewer in number, and but little better outlook was found as we edged
inshore as far as the shoal water would allow us to go. At this time we
sighted as many as eight polar bears on the ice, but this was no time
to hunt "bear." Coming to the end of our lead we rammed through some
pack-ice into another one, which, however, again led into water too
shoal for us. Finding from my perch aloft that the ice seemed even
heavier to the west, I determined to stand back to the eastward into
the more open water we had left by the lead we had come through; but it
was too late: this lead had closed and we were prisoners in the pack.
There being no other place to go, I reluctantly selected the largest
pool, or pocket, got out our ice-anchors, and made fast to a heavy
floe, to await further developments. It was found to be in slow motion,
and four times during the night we had to move to avoid the heavy floes
closing in around us. From this time, the 19th, until the morning of
the 24th, we were close prisoners in the heavy pack which had set down
with the wind, now northerly, between Point Barrow and Point Tangent.
In the words of the Ancient Mariner of Coleridge:
"The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around;
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound."
By incessant watchfulness, almost constant movement, vigorous ramming,
faithful working of the engines, and (most important of all) a
favorable shift of wind, the good ship, under Divine Providence,
escaped without damage or accident. Fortunately within easy reach of
land and but twenty-five miles from Point Barrow refuge-station, I had
no undue anxiety for life; but I have no hesitation in stating that the
readiness, endurance, and subordination of the officers and men of the
ship shown in the bringing out of the ship intact from the ice pack,
after nearly five days' imprisonment, entitle them to great credit from
the proper authorities and justify their commanding officer in the
present expression of his high appreciation of their conduct and his
warm feelings toward themselves.
About noon of the 25th of August, after a night of hard ramming, we
anchored off the west side of Point Barrow, greeted by salutes from the
whalers anchored there and by the hearty congratulations of the
masters, who soon came on board and learned for the first time that
Mackenzie Bay had been reached.
We found that the sailing fleet had gone to the westward, after having
been shut in by the ice coming down on Point Barrow and Cape Smyth for
several days, during our absence. The few whalers that remained had
been watching us from their crows' nests during our imprisonment, but
were unable, of course, to afford us any assistance, each ship having
to work out her own salvation: companion-vessels are of great service
only in case of damage or abandonment. Fortunately, the steam-whalers
remaining behind us did not have the pack set down upon them in the
shallow bights in which they were cruising, and the long continued
north-easter which aided us in our escape enabled them to find leads to
get through, not very long after we had escaped. We remained at Point
Barrow for a week until they had all returned, except the two most
easterly ones, left at Herschel island. As their return was so
uncertain, at the end of a week I dropped down to the house of refuge
at Cape Smyth, landing provisions to fill the deficiency in their
stores, and went to the westward, first going to Icy cape to erect a
needed beacon as a warning of the vicinity of Blossom shoals.
Leaving this vicinity on the 5th of September for the northward and
westward, and rounding Blossom shoals, we stood to the north, reaching
the supposed vicinity of the edge of the ice pack that night. As the
nights were now dark we lay-to until morning, when the rapid fall of
the temperature of the water and the lessening wind gave indications of
its proximity, and a half hour's steaming brought us to the rugged
white outline of the pack. Along this we skirted, having reached our
highest north (less than 72° N. latitude).
All of that day and the next we continued our course, sighting a
portion of the sailing fleet of whalers on the 7th. Communicating with
them of our proposed movements and whereabouts during the rest of
September and the beginning of October, we then stood to the westward.
I must not forget to mention an interesting incident that occurred. A
schooner stood down to us from the fleet, and was recognized as the
schooner Jane Grey, picked up by the Thetis when under the command of
my predecessor the previous summer in the ice--abandoned. She had been
righted, pumped out, repaired, and restored to her owner, who had
literally sold his farm and put his all into the vessel. As he came
within hail our notification was given him, but I noticed that he
fairly danced with impatience during its delivery, which was accounted
for at the end of the message by his bringing out his men, who were
gathered behind the foresail, and giving hearty and prolonged cheers
for the Thetis which fairly rang in the silent Arctic air. To this we
responded and then went on our way.
We now left the pack and steered through open water for Herald island,
which we sighted at half past twelve the next day, the 8th of
September; as we approached it closely the bareness and forbidding
appearance, which had been concealed at first sight by the bluish
dimness of the outline, became very marked. Its sides were almost
inaccessible, except from the western end, and it was free from ice, an
almost exceptional state of affairs. In close seasons it is impossible
to reach it, and, even more than Point Barrow, it may be shut out of
the world by ice that refuses to move during the short summer.
[Illustration: Herald Island, bearing about W. by S. (magnetic). From a
photograph by Assistant Paymaster J. Q. Lovell, U. S. N.]
We passed the island late in the afternoon within a comparatively short
distance, standing on to the west with the hope of seeing Wrangel land
before dark. At half past five land was reported ahead from aloft, and
soon the high snowy peaks and mountainous outline of Wrangel land was
sighted from deck. It stood out beautifully in the late Arctic
afternoon, and as we approached it more closely its outline became more
and more fantastic and brilliant. At sunset we were a little over ten
miles distant, and at dark, as we turned to the southeast for Point
Hope, we exchanged hearty congratulations upon our successful passage
from Mackenzie Bay to Wrangel land. Arriving at Point Hope upon the
evening of the 10th of September, we found that many of the hunting
parties had returned from the interior, and preparations were going on
for the winter season.
The natives of Point Hope, like the Eskimos generally of northwestern
Alaska, have no tribal or other form of government except what exists
by control of the head man, oomalik, or chief, whose superiority arises
from his wealth and influence. The previous chief had lived a life that
made him a terror to the community. His rule was by force alone and by
the influence of the rifle, which was his inseparable companion. After
a career distinguished for license, murder and robbery, he had come to
a timely end by being assassinated by the brother of a wife he was
tormenting to death. Since his death, up to the time of our stay in
September, anarchy had prevailed. On account of the very indifferent
treatment received by the survivors of the wrecked whaler "Little Ohio"
from the Eskimos at Point Hope the previous winter, I determined to
appoint a head man or chief who would be charged with the
responsibility and duty of caring for any shipwrecked persons or
destitute whites. Anokolut, who was appointed by me and whose
appointment was afterwards confirmed by the Governor of Alaska, had
married the niece of the previous chief, and was the best whaleman and
hunter of the district. He had been in the employ of the whaling
station established the previous year at Point Hope, and had been
satisfactory in all his dealings with the whites. His wife was a very
superior woman, and their desire for civilized usages was so great that
a bread-pan of tin, some granite-ware bowls, and candles, were given
and eagerly accepted as contributing to make their domestic lives more
comfortable and civilized. An urgent request was made for a
cooking-stove, which I promised to give them if I should return the
following summer.
The Eskimo lamp which serves as a light, and to some extent as a stove,
is a crescent-shaped stone utensil with a shallow trough scooped out;
this is a receptacle for the whale-oil, the wick being some native moss
laid along the edge of the lamp and trimmed from time to time, the
supply of oil being kept up by a lump of blubber suspended over the
lamp. The light being indifferent, candles are welcomed as a great
improvement and a marked relief to the over-taxed eyes of the men and
women during the long nights of the Arctic winter.
During our stay at Point Hope we found much of interest in connection
with the Eskimos living there. Their long winters give them an
opportunity to keep alive their traditions in their daily meetings in
the council-house, and they give an account of their early days in this
wise: In the beginning the people had heads like ravens, with eyes in
the upper part of their breasts. All the world at this time was wrapt
in gloom, with no change of day and night. At that time there lived a
powerful chieftain on top of the highest peak. In his hut were
suspended two balls that were considered very precious and were
therefore carefully guarded. One day, the chief being absent and the
guards asleep, some children who had long admired the beautiful balls
knocked them down with a stick and they rolled across the floor of the
hut and down the side of the mountain. The noise awakened the guards,
who hurried after them, while their extraordinary beauty attracted the
attention of the people, who also rushed after them, a wild struggle
ensuing for their possession; this ended in the breaking of the balls.
Light sprang from one and darkness from the other; these spirits of
light and darkness claimed sole dominion, but, neither yielding, a
compromise was made by which they agreed to an alternate rule. The
violent struggle for the mastery so disturbed the world that the
anatomy of the people and the surface of the earth were both changed.
Light being upon the earth, men began to catch whales in the sea and to
carry the flesh and bones to their mountain-homes. One family wandering
over the country recently risen from the sea came down upon Point Hope:
finding vegetation springing up and whales abundant, they built a hut
and made it their home. From this originated the settlement at Point
Hope. Their modern history goes on in this wise: Point Hope being
favorably situated for whaling and hunting the seal and walrus and for
obtaining the reindeer, it naturally became a center of power and
population. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, as well as
can be determined, the village upon Point Hope, known by the natives as
Tigara, had a population of 2,000 souls, with six council-houses. At
that time the Eskimos residing upon the Noatok, or Inland river, began
to encroach upon the territory of the Tigaramutes until matters came to
the pass that about the beginning of this century a great land- and
boat-fight took place between the Tigaramutes and the Noatokmutes near
Cape Seppings, in which the Tigaramutes were defeated and forced to
yield a large portion of the territory formerly controlled by them. So
crushed were the Tigaramutes that they lost one-half of their
population, which led to the gradual abandonment of all the
out-standing villages. Since this time the population has gradually
decreased, the diminution being materially aided by the contact of
whites, who are principally represented here by the crews of the
whaling ships, rendezvousing during the early summer.
As a rule the Arctic coast Eskimos are short in stature, the average
height of ten men measured at Point Hope being 5 feet 5.8 inches, and
of ten women, 5 feet 2.4 inches. The legs are short in comparison to
the length of the body and are always much bowed, this being due to the
manner in which they are carried in infancy upon their mother's back,
the legs being brought tightly around under the mother's arms. The feet
and hands of the women are generally well shapen and small.
All of the Eskimos have good teeth, but as they are subjected to severe
usage they deteriorate in every way. They are used as substitutes for
pincers, carpenter's vices, and fluting machines. They are used in
drawing bolts, untying knots, holding the mouth-piece of a drill,
shaping boot-soles, and stretching skins. When they become uneven from
constant use in this way, the unevenness is corrected by a levelling
down by means of a file or a whetstone, until they finally reach a
level too low for mechanical purposes.
Between sixteen and twenty-two years of age the male natives have their
lips pierced under each corner of the mouth for labrets.[1] The
incision is made and at first sharp-pointed pieces of ivory are put in;
when the wound heals the hole is gradually stretched by inserting
larger labrets until half an inch in diameter is reached. The poorer
natives wear labrets made of coal, walrus ivory, common gravel, and
glass stoppers which they obtain from ships and adapt to this use. The
stopper of a Worcestershire sauce bottle is very useful for the
purpose. The richer ones have agate labrets, the most valued one,
however, consisting of a white porcelain-like disk 1½ inches wide, in
the center of which is mounted a turquoise nut, hemispherical in shape,
nearly an inch wide, fastened with a spruce gum obtained from the
interior. We could not ascertain where the turquoise or porcelain-like
disk was obtained. The Eskimos say they have always been in the
country, and sell them only with the greatest reluctance.
[Footnote 1: _Labrets_ is the name used along the coast for the
lip-ornaments worn by the natives.]
Tattooing is general among the women, and is apparently a custom of
great antiquity. At the age of six one narrow line is drawn down the
center of the chin from the lower lip downward, powdered charcoal being
used as coloring matter. At twelve years the line is broadened to half
an inch, and a narrow line made parallel to it on each side. But I will
not detain you by giving other particulars.
On the 20th of September the Thetis left Point Hope for the south, the
rugged season of the Arctic ocean having fully set in. Strong winds and
gales from the northeast had compelled us to move from the northern to
the southern side of Point Hope, where better protection and anchorage
had been found. On the 21st of September we passed out of the Arctic
ocean and through Bering Strait, reaching Ounalaska again on the 26th
of September. After remaining there until the beginning of October the
ship returned to Sitka, and after a prolonged stay in the waters of
southeastern Alaska we finally reached the Golden gate of San
Francisco, shortly after midnight on the 7th of December.
The cruise of the Thetis was remarkable in several respects, among
others in that, thanks to the open season, her stanch build, and
successful battling with the ice-pack, she was enabled to reach
Mackenzie bay, in British North America, the first government vessel to
carry the American flag in those waters. She also made the long stretch
from Mackenzie bay to Herald island and Wrangel land in one season,
never before done, and she had the honor of being the first vessel of
any kind to follow the entire main coast line of Alaska from Port
Tongass, in extreme southeastern Alaska, to Demarcation point, in the
Arctic ocean.
THE LAW OF STORMS, CONSIDERED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE NORTH
ATLANTIC.
BY EVERETT HAYDEN.
(Abstract of a paper read before the National Geographic Society, Nov.
15, 1889.)
In preparing an abstract of this paper it is of course difficult to
adhere very closely to the original, inasmuch as that was illustrated
by forty-five lantern slides, while it is only practicable to present a
few plates with this abstract. I may therefore be permitted to give
only a general outline of the subject, with perhaps a more detailed
discussion of one or two of the most notable recent hurricanes off our
Atlantic coast.
The term "Law of Storms" is applied to the code of rules that should
govern the action of the master of a vessel when he has reason to
suspect the approach of a dangerous storm. It will be seen that this
definition, like the code itself, is somewhat vague. So many
considerations enter as factors in the question that it is wholly
impossible to lay down any rules that shall be applicable alike to a
high-powered, well-manned steamship, and to a heavily-laden,
poorly-equipped and short-handed sailing vessel. Disregarding such
differences of conditions (which are, of course, of vital importance in
each individual case, but which cannot be discussed in a brief general
essay), the two grand divisions of the subject may be compared to
_grand strategy_ and _field tactics_. By this I mean that a broad,
comprehensive view of the whole subject of ocean storms--their regions,
seasons, size, severity, and tracks--is one very important part of the
navigator's duty in planning a long campaign, or voyage; and, secondly,
the handling of his vessel when actually in the fight--the coolness,
clear-headedness, and trained experience that utilizes every resource
of the best seamanship and navigation in a fearful struggle with the
fury of a hurricane--all of these are also an essential part of the
education of the ideal sea-captain.
Thanks to the progress of meteorologic research it is comparatively
easy nowadays for anyone to get a very good general idea of the great
hurricane regions of the globe, and the seasons when these dreaded
tropic cyclones prevail in each of these regions. The evidence on this
subject is cumulative and practically conclusive, so that it is
universally known and recognized that the hurricane months are the
summer months in each hemisphere; hurricanes originate in the tropics,
move westward, then poleward into the temperate zones, and finally
eastward in higher latitudes, receding gradually from the equator;
moreover, the essential difference between hurricanes north and south
of the line is as follows: In the Northern Hemisphere the rotation of
the cyclonic whirl is _against_ the hands of a watch, and in the
Southern, _with_. The noted hurricane regions are the West Indies,
coast of China and Japan, Bay of Bengal (especially in May and October,
at the time of the change of the monsoons), and the South Indian Ocean
(about Mauritius). Less noted regions are the South Pacific (East of
Australia), the North Pacific (west of the Mexican coast), and the
Arabian Sea. In planning a distant voyage a navigator should therefore
consider the hurricane regions through which he must pass, just as he
considers the prevailing winds--the trades, monsoons, and ocean
currents.
The handling of a ship in a hurricane is a very different sort of a
thing from this general survey of the entire field, and, without the
eminently practical qualities that we all associate with a good officer
of the navy or mercantile marine, no mere theoretic knowledge can avail
much. And yet this is one of those cases where practice and theory
should go hand in hand,--not theory as something vague and unreal, but
theory as based upon a firm foundation of observed facts. If a vessel
encounter a hurricane, certain conclusions can be drawn from
observations of the shifts of wind, the fluctuations of the barometer,
the appearance of the clouds, and the direction of the ocean swell; the
master of that vessel will undoubtedly draw such conclusions, and store
them away in his mind as part of his fund of experience upon which to
base action at some future time. But if he can consider his own
observations, while fresh in mind, in connection with the observations
made on board many other vessels that encountered the same storm, and
modify or verify his conclusions by such comparison, there cannot be a
doubt but that the lesson will be of far greater value. Sailors lead a
rough life, and their training is often acquired by experience alone.
Moreover, there are certain things that tend to discourage effort on
the part of junior officers, even on board naval vessels: they realize
that their duty is not to originate orders but to execute them, and
sooner or later they get out of the habit of reflecting upon the action
taken to avoid a storm or manoeuver in one, not knowing at the time
what considerations lead to the action that was taken, and not always
having anything brought forcibly to their attention to indicate with
certainty whether the action was well-considered or ill-advised. Upon
finally attaining command themselves they are not, therefore, as well
posted as they might otherwise have been. I mention these things to
explain the undoubted fact that comparatively few masters of vessels
are well posted in certain very important additions to the old law of
storms, as it was discovered by Redfield and enforced by Reid,
Piddington, Thom, and other early writers. In fact, of all the
navigators of various nationalities who have charge to-day of the
commerce of the world, probably four-fifths are wholly ignorant of the
progress that has been made in this direction in the past fifty years.
That such is the case is not, in my opinion, wholly their fault: it is
owing to the fact that far too little attention has been paid to clear,
forcible, and convincing explanation; it is the fault of the teachers,
no less than the scholars,--of meteorologists who talk over the heads
of their audiences, instead of stating facts and conclusions in a way
to command attention and respect from the practical men who furnish the
data, and who deserve some tangible results in return for their long
years of voluntary observation.
[Illustration: A ship in the heart of a cyclone. From Reid's "Law of
Storms."]
It is difficult to put this matter very clearly to those who are not
familiar with the conditions that govern the management of a vessel at
sea, and I shall only attempt to do so in a very general way. It should
be understood, first of all, that a hurricane is an enormous whirlwind,
so large, in fact, that its circular nature was generally recognized
only about fifty years ago. At the immediate center of the whirl there
is a calm space, from five or ten to thirty or forty miles in diameter,
generally with blue sky and bright sunlight. Within a short distance of
this central calm the wind blows with frightful violence, and here a
vessel is driven along in absolute helplessness, enveloped in midnight
darkness, buried in a flying mass of foam and spray, with every sound
annihilated by the roar and shrieks of the elements. The core of the
hurricane, as this region has been called, is small, relative to the
entire area, and it thus happens that a few miles may make all the
difference between shipwreck and safety. The question is, then, to
avoid getting into the core, or heart, of the hurricane. It is evident
enough that if the wind blow in a strictly circular direction around
the center, the bearing or direction of the center must be at exactly
right angles (eight points) to the right (or left) of the direction of
the wind. In other words, in the Northern Hemisphere (where the
direction of rotation is against the hands of a watch) the center bears
eight points to the right of the wind (that is, to the right of the
direction from which the wind blows); in the case of a hurricane off
our coast, for instance, if the wind be NE. at Hatteras the center
would bear (according to the 8-point rule) SE. Considering, further,
that the entire whirl has a progressive motion along a path, or track,
if an observer at Hatteras find that the NE. wind freshens rapidly,
without any shift or change of direction, it is equally evident that
the center of the storm is approaching directly toward that point. In a
similar situation at sea, a shipmaster would naturally see that his
vessel was in a position of great danger: evidently the best thing to
do would be to run before the wind, thus getting out of the way of the
approaching hurricane. This simple case will explain pretty clearly, I
think, how rules were at once formulated and adopted, as soon as
Redfield had proved the approximately circular character of these
storms.
Without going further into this subject, inasmuch as this 8-point rule
is perhaps the most important of all the rules--indeed, all of them
follow directly from it,--suppose that subsequent research, based upon
careful observation and the accurate charting of hundreds of reports
from vessels in similar storms in various oceans, proved conclusively
that the wind in a hurricane does not blow in strictly circular whirls,
but rather spirally inward, so that with a NE. wind off Hatteras the
center bears probably S SE., or even South: evidently this is a matter
of vital importance to the navigator, and all the old rules should be
remodeled to suit the discovery. Such is, indeed, actually the fact,
and in most cases nothing could be worse than to run directly before
the wind; in any event it would be dangerous, and in the case of a
slow-moving cyclone it might readily lead the vessel directly into the
core of the hurricane. This is known to have been the case in many
instances, and vessels have thus been drawn into the inner whirls of
hurricanes and kept there for several days, making one or more complete
revolutions around the center before they could extricate themselves.
In fact, they might never have gotten out, if the storm itself had not
moved off and left them.
The first of the accompanying plates, entitled,
WEST INDIAN HURRICANES, AND OTHER NORTH ATLANTIC STORMS,
gives a brief and yet complete résumé of what is perhaps the best
modern practice. In these brief statements the attempt has been made to
put concisely, intelligibly, and _completely_ (if one will but read
each and every sentence as carefully as they were written), the very
latest, most important, and best-established facts, with which every
navigator should be familiar. The paragraph entitled "Intensified
trade-wind belt," for instance, is very important. A close
consideration of the caution expressed in these few lines may prevent a
serious mistake that might be made by a too rigid adherence to the old
rules. The idea is as follows: It has been proved by Meldrum, from his
studies of Mauritius hurricanes, that the SE. trade-winds blow toward a
part of the _track_ of a hurricane, rather than at right angles to the
direction of its center, and it is therefore unsafe to assume that the
center bears at right angles to the wind, or that, because the trade
wind increases in strength without any decided change of direction, the
center is approaching directly toward the vessel. This principle might
naturally be expected to hold for similar storms in other regions, and
Abercromby, in a thorough study of the whole subject, has shown that
such is the case, although he states that "the position of this belt
[of intensified trades] differs in every hurricane region, so that a
special set of rules are necessary for each country." It seems to me, I
must say, that in the absence of such special rules the law may safely
be assumed to be general; its importance to navigators is certainly
very great, and its principal effect must be to urge the greatest
caution in making any attempt to cross the track of a hurricane, from
the dangerous to the navigable semicircle.
{PLATE: WEST INDIAN HURRICANES, AND OTHER NORTH ATLANTIC STORMS.
From the Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, August, 1889, with
Additional Paragraphs. [_Edition of July, 1890._]
Explanation.--These diagrams are for practical use in West Indian
hurricanes. The upper one will also answer for ordinary storms along
the transatlantic route. The small arrows fly with the wind, the
direction being stated at the end of each dotted line; the long arrow
on each diagram is the STORM TRACK, that is, the probable path of the
cyclone through the belt of latitude to which the diagram applies.
[Illustration: JUNE and OCTOBER, lat. 23° to 55°. JULY and SEPT., lat.
29° to 55°. AUGUST, lat. 33° to 55°. STORM TRACK, N NE. TO E NE. Motion
of storm center along track, 20 to 30 miles per hour.]
[Illustration: JUNE and OCTOBER, lat. 20° to 23°. JULY and SEPT., lat.
27° to 29°. AUGUST, lat. 30° to 33°. STORM TRACK, N NW. to N NE. Motion
of storm center along track, 5 to 10 miles per hour.]
[Illustration: JUNE and OCTOBER, lat. 10° to 20°. JULY and SEPT., lat.
10° to 27°. AUGUST, lat. 10° to 30°. STORM TRACK, W. by N. to N NW.
Motion of storm center along track, about 17 miles per hour.]
Use of the Diagrams.--When a falling barometer, freshening rain
squalls, &c., indicate a hurricane, select the proper diagram
(according to the MONTH and LATITUDE), plot your position upon it by
means of the direction of the wind, and thus ascertain the approximate
bearing of the storm center. The probable storm track is indicated by
the long arrow. If the wind shift, plot your position by means of the
new wind-direction (nearer the center if the wind has freshened and the
barometer has fallen). In this way you can readily observe every change
of position relative to the storm center, and decide what action to
take, according to the character of your vessel, the lay of the land,
&c. These storms vary greatly in size, but are smallest and most
violent in the tropics, where the cloud ring averages about 500 miles
in diameter and the region of stormy winds 300 miles, or even less. You
can therefore only roughly estimate the DISTANCE of the center,
although its BEARING can be obtained from the diagrams with a high
degree of probability. There is also considerable variation in the
direction of motion and the velocity of the storm along its track, but
the general tendency is as stated herewith.
Cyclonic Circulation.--One of the most important indications that an
approaching storm is of hurricane violence is the marked cyclonic
circulation of the wind, lower and upper clouds, etc. This may be
easily appreciated by remembering that a cyclone of any great intensity
is an ascending spiral whirl, with a rotary motion (in the Northern
Hemisphere) against the hands of a watch, as shown on the diagrams. The
surface wind, therefore, blows spirally inward (_not_ circularly,
except very near the center); the next upper current (carrying the low
scud and rain clouds), in almost an exact circle about the center; the
next higher current (the high cumulus), in an outward spiral--and so
on, up to the highest cirrus clouds, which radiate directly outward.
The angle of divergence between the successive currents is almost
exactly two points of the compass. Ordinarily, with a surface wind from
N., for instance, the low clouds come from N., also; on the edge of a
hurricane, however, they come from N NE., _invariably_. In rear of a
hurricane, the wind blows more nearly inward; with a SE. wind, for
instance, the center will bear about W., the low clouds coming from S
SE. (two points to the right of the wind), etc. Great activity of
movement of the upper clouds, while the storm is still distant,
indicates that the hurricane is of great violence. If the cirrus plumes
that radiate from the distant storm are faint and opalescent in tint,
fading gradually behind a slowly thickening haze or veil, the
approaching storm is an old one of large area; if of snowy whiteness,
projected against a clear blue sky, it is a young cyclone of small area
but great intensity.
Intensified Trade-wind Belt.--Another very important fact (established
by Meldrum, at Mauritius) may be stated thus: When a hurricane is
moving along the equatorial limits of a trade-wind region, there is a
belt of intensified trades to windward of its track: not until the
barometer has fallen about six-tenths of an inch it is safe to assume
that, because the trade-wind increases in force and remains steady in
direction, you are on the track of the storm. By attempting too early
to cross its track, running free as soon as the wind begins to freshen,
you are liable to plunge directly into the vortex of the hurricane.
General Information.--Hurricanes are especially liable to be
encountered from July to October, inclusive, in the tropics (north of
the 10th parallel), the Gulf of Mexico, and Gulf Stream region.
Earliest indications: Barometer above the normal, with cool, very
clear, pleasant weather; a long, low, ocean swell from the direction of
the distant storm; light, feathery cirrus clouds, radiating from a
point on the horizon where a whitish arc indicates the bearing of the
center. Unmistakable signs: Falling barometer; halos about the sun and
moon; increasing ocean swell; hot, moist weather, with light variable
winds; deep red and violet tints at dawn and sunset; a heavy,
mountainous cloud bank on the distant horizon; barometer falling more
rapidly, with passing rain squalls.
Brief Rules for Action.--If the squalls freshen without any shift of
wind, you are on the storm track: run off with the wind on the
starboard quarter and keep your compass course (see caution in
paragraph entitled "Intensified Trade-wind Belt"). If the wind shift to
the right, you are to the right of the storm track: put the ship on the
starboard tack and make as much headway as possible, until obliged to
lie-to. If the wind shift to the left, you are to the left of the storm
track: bring the wind on the starboard quarter and keep your compass
course; if obliged to lie-to, do so on the port tack. In scudding,
always keep the wind well on the starboard quarter, in order to run out
of the storm. Always lie-to on the coming-up tack. Use oil to prevent
heavy seas from breaking on board.}
The next plate,
THE HURRICANE OF NOVEMBER 25, 1888,
is a very instructive illustration of an actual hurricane, and one of
the most severe on record off our Atlantic coast. The spiral lines have
been added to bring out conspicuously the wind-circulation, and several
features will at once attract attention: the elongated shape of the
storm, along a north and south line (the direction of motion); the wide
region where there is a southeasterly gale (exactly analogous to the
belt of intensified trades); the long sweep of northeasterly winds
along the coast; and the marked variation from a strictly circular
whirl. The right-hand side is the dangerous semicircle, and it is here
that the navigator is called upon to decide whether he shall dare make
the attempt to run before the wind and cross the track of the storm;
the left-hand side is the navigable semicircle,--not very _navigable_
in this particular case, we may well believe, with no sea-room to the
westward, a fearful N NE. gale, and a terrific sea. This is a case
where every resource of seamanship and navigation may fail to save a
ship, as the loss of the steamship "Samana" and a dozen other strong
vessels, with all on board, bears sad testimony. Let me quote a few
lines from a thrilling report by Captain Drew, of the American ship
"Sea Witch" (this vessel's position is plotted on the chart about lat.
32° N., long. 75° W.): "Nov. 24: Hurricane from NE.; our position a
perilous one, the ship rolling heavily and filling the decks with
water; an awful gale, the worst we have ever had,--how will it end? At
3 P.M., the sun out a moment through the thick sky. Nov. 25: Still
blowing a hurricane, with awful squalls of rain; the seventh day of the
gale. No side-lights can burn; the binnacle-light goes out as fast as
we can light it. One blast from the north blew our brand-new
lower-maintopsail away like brown paper. We performed the critical
manoeuver of wearing ship, which saved the vessel: we were foundering."
Verily, this was "out of the jaws of death," and probably there were
few more sincere thanksgiving services than those held on board this
vessel on Nov. 29th, 1888, as recorded in her log. One other report may
be referred to here, as it is of especial interest. It is from the
British steamship "Effective," whose position is plotted about half way
between Bermuda and New York. At this time the wind was S SE., force 8,
and the storm center was moving directly toward her. We learn from
Captain Crosby's report that by noon, local time, the wind was strong
from south; at 4:30 P.M., a hard gale from east, moderating until
midnight, barometer falling very rapidly. Nov. 26th, very heavy gale
from NE., ship heading bow to sea; noon, wind east, barometer 28.60; 5
P.M., wind N NE., 28.20; 10 P.M., SW.; midnight, W., 28.20. This report
illustrates the experience of a vessel close to the line of sudden
shift of wind from SE. to N NE., and sustains very well the spiral
lines drawn on the chart, just where there is an absence of data on the
chart itself.
{PLATE: THE HURRICANE OF NOVEMBER 25, 1888: NOON, G. M. T.
THE HURRICANE SEASON.--June may be fairly said to be the first of the
five hurricane months in the North Atlantic, and the above diagram is
presented in order to call special attention to the Law of Storms,
especially to certain important modifications of the old laws. The
spiral lines indicate the general wind-circulation in this particular
hurricane, and the complete data presented on the Chart must convince
any one that conclusions based upon such evidence must be worthy of the
most careful consideration. This hurricane was one of the most severe
on record off our Atlantic coast, and, though much larger than a
hurricane in the tropics, similar evidence can be presented to show
that the 8-point rule is seldom a safe guide for obtaining the bearing
of the center; a 10-point or even a 12-point rule is generally better,
although the 8-point rule is fairly correct if applied to the direction
of the low clouds, rather than the wind. The long sweep of NE'ly winds
along the coast, when there is a hurricane below Hatteras, is a very
characteristic and important feature. With a NE'ly wind off Block
Island, for instance, it should not be assumed that the center bears
SE.: the Chart shows that it may be almost due south. There is likewise
a wide region where the wind is from the SE., and a vessel running
before this steady SE. wind would plunge deeper and deeper into the
hurricane. Similarly in the trades, to windward of the track of a
hurricane: not until the barometer has fallen about 6-tenths of an inch
is it safe to assume that, because the trade-wind increases in force
and remains steady in direction, you are on the track of the storm; by
attempting too early to cross its track, running free as soon as the
wind begins to freshen, you are liable to plunge directly into the
vortex.}
Lack of space does not allow of further details, and I must go on to
the next plate,
THE ST. THOMAS-HATTERAS HURRICANE OF SEPT. 3-12, 1889.
This plate is copied exactly from a Supplement issued with the Pilot
Chart for October, 1889 (published Sept. 27th), with only the addition
of the tracks of the two storms (as indicated by later data) and the
tracks of a few vessels (see small charts dated Sept. 3, 4-7, 10).
Considering the early date of publication, the wide expanse of ocean
covered by the charts, and their essential accuracy (as indicated by
later data), it must be acknowledged, I think, by anyone who is at all
acquainted with the difficulties incident to this sort of work, that
this supplement to the Pilot Chart hit more closely to the truth in
this matter than would probably be possible under similar circumstances
in one case out of ten. Had later data materially modified conclusions
drawn at such an early date, it could not have been a matter of
surprise, although this prompt publication would still have served a
most valuable purpose in interesting navigators to contribute data
likely to help us in establishing the facts. Indeed, the following
quotations from the Pilot Chart and Supplement illustrate exactly what
was desired, and what was actually accomplished by this publication:
"This preliminary publication, issued two weeks after the storm reached
our coast, well illustrates the cordial support this office receives
from masters of vessels in its efforts to collect and utilize data
regarding marine meteorology. It is desired to collect as complete data
as possible regarding this storm, in order to publish a final report,
and the present publication will be useful as a good working basis for
a more complete detailed study of the hurricane." Also, "Special
attention is called to the fact that this preliminary publication is
only intended to give a brief outline of the facts as indicated by data
received up to date of publication." Moreover, the name, nationality,
and rig of every vessel whose report had been received in time to be
used was published, and every statement made in the accompanying text
was based on an exhaustive study of all the data.
It is interesting to note how slightly the very complete data now at
hand have modified this hastily-prepared history, and all the
circumstances urge similar quick work and prompt publication in every
case, before other storms and other conditions have dulled public
interest and directed attention elsewhere. The track of the easternmost
of the two storms, as plotted on the first little chart, shows that it
moved more rapidly than was anticipated, and recurved farther north:
the fact is, its very existence was not even suspected till _two hours_
before the final draft of the maps was made, and then only because the
German steamship "Savona," from Baltimore for Brazil, suffered such
damage from the hurricane on Sept. 5th (see chart dated Sept. 3rd for
position) that she was obliged to run in to St. Thomas for repairs, and
our consul, Mr. M. A. Turner, forwarded her report by the first steamer
to New York. The following is a brief extract from this report,
beginning at 10 P.M., Sept. 4th: "Full hurricane, ship lying in trough
of sea, laboring heavily and shipping much water. Cargo shifted;
jettisoned 600 barrels of flour and 60 tons of coal. Broke steam
steering gear and wheel, found rudder adrift, 3 feet of water in the
hold, foundations of engines seriously loose and getting worse. Bore up
for St. Thomas."
It is impossible, in the space at my disposal, to refer even briefly to
the reports of the few vessels whose tracks are plotted on the charts:
the stanch steamship "Earnmoor," foundering in the heart of the
hurricane on Sept. 5th, eleven of her crew of thirty escaping in an
open boat, and of these only seven surviving that fearful drift of
twenty-three days; the "Sépet," between the two storms and escaping
both; the "Lassell," from the tropics to Block Island, all the way in
the grasp of the hurricane, without a sight of sun, moon, or stars, to
fix her position; the "Ada Bailey," rolling in the long swell off
Hatteras and watching the early indications of the approaching storm
for nearly a week before it struck her; the "Hernan Cortes," forced to
stand off into fearful danger by the still greater danger of a
lee-shore at Hatteras; and the "City of New York," "Teutonic," and
"City of Rome," starting on their Titanic race from Liverpool for New
York the day after this great hurricane swept past St. Thomas, and
reaching their goal with it, and in spite of all its fury. I must
dismiss this whole interesting history with the following abstract of
the report of Capt. Simmons, of the British brigantine "Victoria,"
whose original report is brief and to the point, like all the rest (see
track of the "Victoria," northwest from St. Thomas, on the first small
chart):
I passed through the cyclone, resulting in the total loss of the spars,
sails, etc., of my vessel. The SE. sea became so heavy that I was
obliged to heave-to. The sky was one sheet of dark gray, at times
approaching black. The lightning was excessive only during the latter
part of the storm; it appeared as a continuous quivering sheet around a
great part of the horizon, extending about 10° above it and lasting
many seconds, unaccompanied by thunder; the compass could not be read,
the card spinning so that the points were indistinguishable. The lowest
barometer reading was 27.86 (aneroid, corrected by comparison at Boston
shortly before and at Halifax the following month).
{PLATE: THE ST. THOMAS-HATTERAS HURRICANE OF SEPTEMBER 3-12, 1889.
[Illustration: _Sept. 3_.--A hurricane of great intensity is passing
close to the northward of St. Thomas, moving about W. NW. Lowest
barometer at St. Thomas during the day, 28.97. Steepest observed
barometric gradient (between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico), .75 inch in
65 miles. The cyclone is a large one, and of terrific energy,--an
enormous whirlwind more than 500 miles in diameter, with a central calm
area about 16 miles in diameter. It was experienced with destructive
violence amongst the Windward Islands, from Martinique to Barbuda, on
the 2d, and the vortex passed over St. Christopher's about midnight,
the central calm lasting from 10.15 p.m. of the 2d till 12.45 a.m. of
the 3d. There are evidences of another hurricane about 1,000 miles
eastward of the first, moving about W. NW.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 4_.--The hurricane is central north of Puerto
Rico, where strong northerly, westerly, and southerly gales are
experienced, but not of full hurricane force. During the forenoon its
massive, towering cloud-bank is clearly visible from Turk's island, 300
miles away, causing great alarm till it is seen to be moving well to
the northward of the island. A violent storm in Santo Domingo this
afternoon seems to be either an offshoot from the cyclone or the effect
of another storm crossing the island to join the great
hurricane--possibly a storm that was felt at Curaçao the previous day.
The second hurricane has continued its motion toward W. NW. and its
present position is clearly indicated about the eastern limits of the
Chart.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 5_.--The hurricane is moving rather slowly along
a northwesterly course, toward Hatteras. The enormous seas started by
the great whirlwind during its progress thus far have overspread almost
the entire western half of the Atlantic: heavy northeasterly swell at
Jamaica and through the Windward Channel; northeasterly and easterly,
all along the Bahama Islands and northern Florida; very heavy surf at
Bermuda; long rolling swell from S. SE. off Hatteras, perceptible as
early as the 2d and increasing daily; long, low southerly swell off
Nantucket as early as the 4th, when the storm-center was 1,300 miles
away. The second hurricane is moving northwestward, and is beginning to
recurve about 600 miles S. E. from Bermuda.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 6_.--The concentric isobars on the Chart show
that the hurricane is now central about midway between Bermuda and
Eastern Cuba, with barometric pressure at the center probably below
28.40. All the characteristics of a tropical cyclone are still
exhibited, and to a marked degree: storm area noticeably circular in
outline; very steep gradients and enormous wind velocities near the
center; sudden shifts of the wind in terrific squalls; heavy driving
rain mingled with foam caught up from the crests of the waves; sky of
inky blackness, with masses of flying scud so low as to touch the
masts. Close by, in front, and on either side, calm, sultry, hazy
weather, with a tremendous swell rolling in from the direction of the
distant but massive cloud-bank of the hurricane. A long ridge of high
pressure is building up to the northward of the hurricanes.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 7_.--The hurricane continues its slow but steady
march toward Hatteras. Yesterday morning the observer at Santiago de
Cuba reported the cyclone recurving. This morning the meteorologist at
Havana, 900 miles away, reports the cyclone's movements, guided by the
motions of the upper clouds,--the cirrus veil that overspreads the
entire sky with a thick haze, and the long feathery plumes of cirrus
cloud that are faintly visible above it, radiating from the distant
storm. The influence of the great hurricane begins to be felt along the
outer edge of the Gulf Stream, below Hatteras. A heavy surf is rolling
in on the coast all the way from Cape Florida to Block Island, and the
long southerly swell has reached beyond Sable Island to Cape Breton.
The second hurricane is moving NEd., and a ridge of high pressure is
extending Sd. between the two.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 8_.--The hurricane is central about the axis of
the Gulf Stream, off Hatteras. The area of high barometer in advance is
retarding its northward progress, and preventing it from recurving to
the northeastward. The heavy surf and the increased height of the
tides, due to the storm-wave of the hurricane, begin to attract general
attention and to cause damage along the low-lying portions of the coast
between Norfolk and Newport; warm, moist ocean air is being driven in
over the cold inshore current, and dense fogs are encountered off the
coast north of the 35th parallel. The storm is losing a little of its
tropical intensity, but its area is increasing and winds of hurricane
force are raging over a vast area between Hatteras and Bermuda.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 9_.--The storm is still raging with great
violence between Nantucket, Hatteras, and Bermuda. Tremendous seas and
tides are driving in on the coast. It is blowing with hurricane force
close in shore near Hatteras. The storm-center is still moving
northward, but more slowly, and the great area of high barometer into
which the hurricane has forced its way stands fast, the pressure rising
to 30.30 over the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the isobar of 30.00 reaching
south on either side well down toward the tropics. To the
northwestward, northward, and northeastward, close to the outer limits
of the great whirlwind, warm, sultry weather prevails, with calms or
light, variable winds, hazy weather, and barometer above the normal.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 10_.--The hurricane seems to be gathering all its
strength for a last desperate struggle to force its way along its
normal track to the northeast. The wind-arrows plotted on the Chart
illustrate very graphically the marked circular character of the great
whirlwind. The storm-wave, or general elevation of the oceanic surface
caused by the in-rushing and whirling winds, and the reduced barometric
pressure (acting as a partial vacuum), bank up the water in the bight
of the coast about Sandy Hook, and cause the greatest floods on record
at many places along the eastern coast of New Jersey and the southern
shore of Long Island.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 11_.--The barometric pressure at the storm-center
has increased noticeably. The low area is filled up, and the barometric
gradients are very much less steep. Very few winds of full hurricane
force are reported. The storm-center has moved in toward shore,
however, and stormy winds are still felt along the coast. The clouds
are breaking away in places, and the cyclonic circulation is no longer
so well marked. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream have been driven in
toward the coast off Block Island by the long-continued and furious
southeasterly gales on the right of the storm track, and, mingling with
the cold in-shore current, cause dense fogs and squally, unsettled
weather.]
[Illustration: _Sept. 12_.--The great hurricane has blown itself out,
and although a few reports still give a force of wind as high as 10 of
Beaufort's scale, the storm has practically ended. The remnants drift
inland during the 13th and 14th, with cloudy, rainy weather in eastern
Virginia and Maryland. It leaves a mountainous cross-sea that lasts for
several days, a coast line strewn with wreckage and already some twenty
additions have been made to the list of derelicts and drifting wrecks
whose positions are plotted on the Pilot Chart as a caution to
navigators. How many vessels it wrecked at sea can never be fully
known, but its entire track is marked by wrecks and wreckage.]}
The importance to navigators of a true appreciation of the law of
storms--not the mere memorization of a set of rules, but an intelligent
comprehension of the subject--is now perhaps clearly evident to the
reader: at any rate, that is the object I have aimed at, rather than a
mere formal statement of generally accepted principles and an abstruse
discussion of isobars and gradients.
It will be seen that _the probable bearing of the center, as indicated
by the direction of the wind at a single station_, is the great
question, so far as the navigator is concerned. There are men who want
and must have a hard-and-fast rule,--an 8-point, a 10-point, or a
12-point rule--something to act on without thought, while every nerve
is strained to save the ship's spars, sails, boats, engines, and cargo,
from damage or destruction. Under such circumstances, I think that
perhaps the safest general plan is to use the old 8-point rule, but
_applied to the low clouds, instead of to the wind_. This is
equivalent, generally speaking, to a 10-point rule, applied to the
wind. That any such rule, if intended for general application, is only
roughly approximate, goes without saying, or ought to do so, at least.
The angle of bearing changes in different parts of the storm, it varies
with the quadrant, with the latitude, with different storms, and with
various other conditions, too numerous to be mentioned or even wholly
known. One good general rule is that in rear of a hurricane the wind
blows somewhat decidedly toward it; and yet that there are marked
exceptions is well illustrated by the chart of the hurricane of
November 25, 1888, already referred to. As a good example of the wind
circulation in a hurricane in the tropics the accompanying diagram is
of interest. This represents two days (the 3d and 5th) of the great
Cuban hurricane of September, 1888, the intervening day (September 4th)
being omitted, for the sake of clearness. Its severity is sufficiently
indicated by the fact that it caused the loss of fully a thousand lives
in Cuba, and destroyed property of the estimated value of $5,000,000 in
the single province of Sagua. Now take any point on any one of these
spiral lines, and observe the bearing of the center: in rear of the
storm, especially, the 8-point rule is hardly applicable, and action
based upon it might result disastrously.
[Illustration: The Cuban Hurricane of September, 1888, illustrating the
surface wind-circulation on September 3d and 5th, at noon, Greenwich
mean time.]
The next and last plate, entitled,
HURRICANES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC.--TYPICAL CIRCULATION OF THE WIND,
FROM ACTUAL OBSERVATION,
gives a still more complete illustration of the wind-circulation in
hurricanes, with a brief discussion of the application of the 8-point
rule. Especial attention is called to the statement made thereon
(referring, of course, to hurricanes in the North Atlantic, but no
doubt true for the entire Northern Hemisphere) that
"although the 8-point rule is nearly true when the wind is anywhere
from north to south by way of west (that is, generally speaking, in the
navigable semicircle), it is liable to be a very poor guide when the
wind is from any point in the first or second quadrant."
Also to the following, which is applicable to the Southern Hemisphere
by the substitution of "to the left" for "to the right:"
"Perhaps the best general rule is that the center bears about eight
points to the right of the direction from which the low clouds come,
or, what is practically the same thing, eight points to the right of
the wind at the moment of a sudden shift in a heavy squall; after such
a shift the wind will remain steady in direction for a time, but the
center is meanwhile moving along and the angle of bearing changes until
the next shift, when it goes again to eight points, and so on."
Such diagrams, carefully prepared from complete and reliable data, are
of far greater practical value to navigators than volumes of
explanation: they appeal to the eye and will live in memory long after
ideas conveyed by printed words have been forgotten.
{PLATE: HURRICANES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC.--TYPICAL CIRCULATION OF THE
WIND, FROM ACTUAL OBSERVATION. [From the Pilot Chart of the North
Atlantic Ocean, July, 1890.]
The above diagrams have been prepared from a large number of
observations in order to illustrate the actual circulation of the wind
in hurricanes, as a practical guide for navigators during the present
hurricane season. The small chart that was presented on the Pilot Chart
last month gave all the observations upon which the spiral lines were
based for that particular hurricane (Nov. 25, 1888), and the same
method has been followed here, only the observations themselves are
omitted, for the sake of clearness. Perhaps the most important point to
notice is that the surface wind blows in an inward spiral curve, and
not circularly, except very near the center. The center therefore
generally bears more than eight points to the right of the wind.
Another very important point is the fact that although the 8-point rule
is nearly true when the wind is anywhere from _North to South by way of
West_ (that is, generally speaking, in the navigable semicircle), it is
liable to be a very poor guide when the wind is from any point in the
first or second quadrant. With the wind from NE., for instance, the
center may bear anywhere from South to SE.; with the wind East it may
bear from SW. to South; and with the wind SE. it may bear SW., West, or
even (in the tropics) W NW. Perhaps the best general rule is that the
center bears about eight points to the right of the direction from
which the low clouds come, or, what is practically the same thing,
eight points to the right of the wind at the moment of a sudden shift
in a heavy squall; after such a shift the wind will remain steady in
direction for a time, but the center is meanwhile moving along and the
angle of bearing changes until the next shift, when it goes again to
eight points, and so on.
It will be noticed that the northernmost of these two hurricanes was
moving very slowly during the two days selected for illustration: had
it been moving faster, the in-draught (or departure from the circular
direction) would no doubt have been somewhat less in advance and
considerably greater in rear than what is indicated. It is exceptional
also to find a storm in this region growing smaller, as this seems to
have done on Sept. 10th; it died out altogether in a few days, instead
of continuing its motion toward E NE., as is usually the case. In the
tropics the usual progressive motion is about W. by N., and this,
together with the steady increase in size, is well illustrated in the
case of the Cuban hurricane; it should be noted, however, that the
interval is here two days, and not one, as in the upper diagram.
Masters of vessels are earnestly requested to keep regular observations
for this Office during the hurricane season, even if only position,
wind, weather, and barometer, at noon, G. M. T., are noted. A single
additional report often adds greatly to the completeness of the data
used in preparing these diagrams.}
Finally, let us look for a moment at two sketches that I have made to
give a graphic and I hope not incorrect idea of the cloud formation and
the internal structure of a hurricane. In both sketches the vertical
scale is of course greatly exaggerated. The first illustrates
particularly the great cloud bank (with the "bull's eye," or clear
central space, shown in cross-section); the storm-wave or general
elevation of the surface of the ocean caused by the spirally in-blowing
winds and low barometric pressure (the cause, oftentimes, of fearful
floods along low-lying coasts); and the probable, or possible,
circulation of the upper atmosphere over the whirl, together with the
direct and reflected rays of a vertical sun as they pour into the
central calm. The second sketch is to aid a clear mental conception of
the actual motions of the particles of air as they flow inward below,
whirl about the central core and flow outward above; this may help to
free the mind from an erroneous idea that may be suggested by thinking
of or seeing the enormous, piled-up, apparently stationary mass that
constitutes the _barra_, or cloud-bank of the hurricane, but which is
really only the stationary and visible _locus_ where the conditions are
such that the whirling, rushing masses of humid atmosphere condense
their tons of aqueous vapor and leave it, as they pass upward and
outward. It is analogous to the cloud-cap, or banner, that hangs
stationary over a lofty mountain peak, although if you visit the peak
you may there find a living gale of wind.
[Illustration: Sketch, in cross-section, to illustrate the
cloud-formation, storm-wave, etc., in a hurricane. The dotted lines
represent the probable circulation of the upper atmosphere.]
[Illustration: Sketch, in perspective, to illustrate graphically the
lower-atmosphere-wind-circulation in a hurricane. The inward spiral at
the base is the surface wind.]
In both of these sketches my object has been to try to convey an idea
of the marked individuality, symmetry, and intensity of a tropic
cyclone, and its grasp upon and intimate connection with the ocean,
which it joins to the upper atmosphere by a huge, hollow trunk, with
widely extended roots and spreading branches,--no doubt an enormous and
effective conductor of atmospheric electricity, too, whose power is
quickly shattered and destroyed by contact with the land; the notable
absence of thunder (illustrated by the report of the "Victoria," quoted
above) is of interest in this connection. If I have succeeded in this,
and thereby given a clearer idea to the casual reader or suggested a
fertile train of thought to any physicist, I shall feel more than
repaid for the effort.
I have thus attempted little more than to touch upon the practical side
of this great question, and this in a popular way, to induce my readers
to follow me to the end. The many other interesting questions that
might be raised and discussed must here be left untouched. Our efforts
in the Hydrographic Office must be primarily to help the navigator, and
only secondarily to try to collect and publish facts for the scientist
to study at his leisure. The causes of these terrific storms are of
interest to us as they may help us to predict their coming, rather than
for the proof of any theory, or the gratification of any pet idea. And
if Science will but improve the Law of Storms, as practical men use it
for the guidance of their vessels and the safety of the lives and
cargoes intrusted to their care, it will be one more welcome proof that
theory and practice go hand in hand.
THE IRRIGATION PROBLEM IN MONTANA.
BY H. M. WILSON.
The development of the irrigation resources of a region under the
supervision of the Government, requires study of the social and
political conditions and of the industrial occupations of its
inhabitants.
The determination of the best plan for the utilization of its waters
and agricultural lands is a problem in irrigation engineering. The
solution of this problem calls for an intimate knowledge not only of
the best methods of construction, but also of the values of its various
agricultural products and soils; for a knowledge of its rainfall,
evaporation, and steam volumes and of the duty of water. It further
requires such an understanding of the topography of the region as will
enable the engineer to determine the area of the catchment basin of
each stream, and to intelligently select sites for the construction of
canals and storage reservoirs and to determine from what source of
water supply each district may be best irrigated.
Experience and practice in various parts of the world have already
proven that irrigation enterprises, undertaken on a large scale by
private capital have seldom been remunerative investments, in fact,
have frequently been financial failures. This is due to many causes
among which may be mentioned the fact that, though all the irrigable
land may be finally settled and the works made to do their highest
duty, taxes must be paid for many years and considerable sums expended
annually for maintenance before the entire amount of available water is
utilized, and interest is realized on the whole expenditure.
Most of the successful irrigation enterprises undertaken in the United
States owe their prosperity to the ownership and sale of lands under
their canals. In order to secure a proper remuneration to the capital
which provides the water, and an efficient water service to the farmer
who uses it with justice to both interests, State legislation must
fully define the rights and responsibilities of appropriators, the
units and methods of measuring the flow of streams, granting the right
of way and appointing proper officers to see that the various laws are
enforced.
That irrigation enterprises will have great and rapid development in
Montana in the near future will be readily perceived from the facts
shown later on in this article, while I am fully convinced that it is
now entering on that period. The histories of both California and
Colorado have shown that great mining activity have brought to them a
large population who were enabled to gain a livelihood by mining
pursuits, while the demand for farm products created by the miners,
caused these people to turn their attention to agriculture, which is
now rapidly surpassing in money value the output of the mines.
In California in the "fifties" mining was the supreme and only
occupation, to-day agriculture is her mainstay; in the early
"seventies" the same was true of Colorado, and now agriculture is
rapidly becoming her most important industry. While Montana is to-day
in the van in mining resources and output, the time for the supremacy
of agriculture within her borders has received an increased impetus by
her recent accession to Statehood.
In Montana the irrigation problem presents some features which are
scarcely encountered in any other country.
Usually irrigation is practiced in semi-tropic and desert regions where
though water is scarce, the climate is such that a great variety of
agricultural products usually of the better paying varieties can be
raised, in consequence of which enormous sums may be spent in
irrigation works, thus imposing a heavy tax per acre on the land for
their construction, and still, such is the productiveness of these
regions, that the lands will yield fair profits.
In Montana the reverse is the case, water is generally abundant though
sufficiently inaccessible in the larger streams to require extensive
works in order to render it available, while the land though equally
abundant also, will owing to the climate admit of the cultivation only
of the less profitable crops, mainly hay, grain and potatoes, in
consequence of which the cost of construction of the irrigation works
becomes a question of vital moment, since a tax of a few cents per acre
one way or the other will render the pursuit of agriculture a success
or a failure, and decide the fate of the irrigation enterprises.
It is probable that $10.00 per acre for a water right in perpetuity, or
$2.00 per acre per annum for the use of water is the maximum charge
which the crops will bear.
AGRICULTURAL AND MINERAL RESOURCES.
It will be advisable now to take a hasty glance at the State of
Montana, and see what are her agricultural capabilities and what need
exists for irrigation as a factor in their development.
According to the report of the State Auditor for 1888 there were in
that year 143,700 horses and mules valued at $4,900,000; 488,500 cattle
valued at $9,060,000; 1,153,000 sheep valued at $2,165,000; 3,741,000
acres of improved lands, valued inclusive of improvements at
$12,300,000; 55,000 town lots valued with improvements at $14,940,000;
and including all kinds of personal and real property a total
assessment for the State of $67,500,000.
There were raised in the State during the same year 770,000 bushels of
wheat on 26,000 acres, an average yield of about 30 bushels per acre;
3,000,000 bushels of oats on 85,000 acres, an average yield of over 35
bushels per acre; 843,000 bushels of potatoes on 3700 acres, or 230
bushels per acre; and 6,000,000 lbs. of all other vegetables on 450
acres; 235,000 tons of hay were cut, and 7,500 bushels of apples and
other fruits were raised, while 4,500,000 lbs. of wool were sheared.
The gross receipt of the quartz mills were $20,300,000, the value of
the product of the reduction furnaces was $15,900,000 in bullion, and
the coal mines produced 500,000 bushels of coal.
The wool product for the present year, 1889, exceeded in amount that of
any other State west of the Missouri River, and its quality was such
that it brought a higher price per pound than that of any other western
State, the price paid in California ranging from 15 to 17 cents per
pound against 20 to 23 cents paid in Montana.
The accompanying table will show the relative value of the production
of precious metals in the three leading States during 1887, from which
it will be seen that Montana led Colorado by $4,200,000, and California
by $15,580,000.
1887. Montana. Colorado. California.
Silver $15,500,000 $15,000,000 $1,500,000
Gold 5,230,000 4,000,000 13,000,000
Copper 8,970,000 400,000 180,000
Lead 630,000 6,730,000 70,000
----------- ----------- -----------
Totals $30,330,000 $26,130,000 $14,750,000
Since 1887 Montana has been rapidly gaining in its lead, especially in
the production of copper, and it now leads not only in the total value
of the precious metals produced, but also in the values of the silver
and copper products separately, and is only surpassed by California in
the production of gold.
While as shown above Montana produces large quantities of vegetables
and grain, its heavy mining population and vast herds of live stock
furnish a home market for all of its present product, in fact, during
this year many hundreds of tons of hay and carloads of grain are being
imported from the eastern States to feed the range stock during the
coming winter.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The topography of Montana is very different from what is generally
supposed by those who are not familiar with it, and this erroneous
impression is largely due to the fact that the country is very
mountainous in the older inhabited and better known portion of the
State, which lies in its southern corner near the Idaho and Wyoming
lines; this region was first inhabited by those pioneers of western
civilization, the prospector and miner, and in consequence of this and
of the wild grandeur of the Yellowstone National Park, the generally
preconceived notions of the topography and resources of the State are
of forests and streams teeming with game and fish, and rugged mountains
occupied by a few isolated mining camps and cattle ranches.
On the contrary there are scattered over various parts of the State
many large towns, two of which, Butte and Helena, have each about
20,000 inhabitants, while only one-fourth of the area of the State is
over 5,000 feet in altitude, and at least two-thirds of it is below
4,000 feet.
The mountainous district of the State, which occupies but two-fifths of
the total area, is in the southwestern portion; these mountains are in
fact but the last remnants of the great rockies breaking down from
Wyoming and Idaho and terminating in the broad flat plains of the
Saskatchewan River on the north, and of the Missouri River on the north
and east.
It is in these great mountain ranges that the Clarke's Fork and Snake
Rivers, two of the principal branches of the Columbia, after rising in
the western and southern portions of the State join the Columbia on its
way to the Pacific Ocean; among these mountains in the northern portion
of the State the Saskatchewan River rises and flows thence to the
Arctic Ocean; while the great Missouri and one of its principal
branches, the Yellowstone River, rise in these mountains and after
flowing northward nearly to the British line turn and flow eastward and
join the Mississippi on its way to the Atlantic.
The highest mountains in Montana are in Park, Gallatin, Madison and
Beaver Head Counties, in which latter the furthermost branches of the
Missouri, the Beaver Head and Big Hole Rivers, which form the Jefferson
river, have their sources at the summit of the Rocky mountains, and it
was here that those intrepid explorers, Lewis and Clarke, first crossed
the Continental Divide in 1805 to the headwaters of one of the branches
of the Snake river.
In these counties a few of the highest peaks reach an elevation of
11,000 feet, and from here the main range of the Rockies bears off to
the north in a long, continuous and rugged ridge of sandstone and
porphyry, with extensive beds of limestone north of the headwaters of
the Dearborn River, and gradually falling off in elevation, until near
the British line the highest peaks are less than 7,000 feet above the
sea.
From this same axial point in the southwest corner a main spur or
branch of the Rockies, called the Bitter Root Mountains, bears
northwesterly and falling away in height, gives out with an elevation
of 2,200 feet in northern Missoula County where the Clarke's Fork river
leaves the State, cutting across the foot of this range.
East of Madison and Jefferson Counties, and along the southern border
of the State, are numerous short mountain ranges, often 10,000 feet and
sometimes 11,000 feet in elevation, which have generally a north and
south trend and fall off near the middle of the State to a continuous,
broad, and nearly level high prairie, or as it is locally called "bench
land," which continues to fall slowly in the same direction.
Do not imagine that these great ranges of mountains are wild and
uninhabited for such is not the case; they are merely great mountain
masses, and between, among and on top of them are other minor ranges of
mountains, usually having symmetrical and regularly sloping sides,
which are separated by broad, level and very fertile valleys,
everywhere inhabited and cultivated by the aid of irrigation, while
herds of cattle, horses and sheep graze on the hillsides.
Even among the roughest mountains a man may travel alone on horseback
sure of finding shelter and food somewhere in the course of a day's
journey, as was done by the author during the past summer, when he rode
over 2,000 miles in various parts of the State. In the more rugged
places mining camps may be met with when everything else fails.
At present these mountain valleys are the more thickly inhabited
portions of the country, both because of the mines and because farming
pursuits are more cheaply and conveniently followed owing to the
greater abundance of small and easily controlled streams of water,
which render irrigation possible even by the poorest settler. Only in
the southern portions of Gallatin and Park Counties are the mountains
so forbidding as to be uninhabited, and then in limited areas only.
One of the remarkable characteristics of the Montana mountains is their
great regularity and smoothness of contour. It is probable that ice
action during the glacial period may have planed off the
irregularities, so characteristic of the elsewhere rugged outline of
the Rocky Mountains. Between these symmetrical ranges of mountains lie
the broad and fertile valleys before referred to. These are generally
valleys of construction, and in some former geologic period were
occupied by lakes whose beds have since been drained by the streams, as
they cut their way out of the mountains.
It is the extensive deposits from the ancient lakes which give to these
valleys their fertile soils, while the unusual mildness of their
climate is largely due to the fact that they are seldom over 5,000 feet
in altitude, and the high mountains surrounding them shelter them from
the severe winds which, sweeping over the plains of Dakota, become the
much dreaded "blizzards."
East of the Tongue River and north of the Yellowstone and Missouri
Rivers, the level bench lands are everywhere below 3,500 feet in
elevation, and often below 2,500 feet, and are very dry and devoid of
water, though covered by an abundant growth of fine bunch grass. These
bench lands are traversed by a few narrow, deep "couleés" or "washes"
having bluff banks 50 to 300 feet high, dry during most of the year,
though roaring torrents in the early spring months.
It is on these bench lands that irrigation will find its greatest
field, for here is a comparatively mild climate owing to the low
altitude, and here the soil is fertile, warm and deep.
AREA AND KINDS OF LANDS.
The total area of Montana is 146,080 square miles, or 93,491,200 acres.
Of this vast empire 31,373,000 acres or about one-third of the whole is
agricultural land, while of this 18,157,000 acres or a little less than
one-fifth of the entire area is irrigable land, so classified not only
because it will, if provided with water, raise profitable crops, but
also because, in my opinion, water can with proper management be
provided for it.
Of the total area of the State only about 1,200,000 acres or less than
one-sixteenth of the irrigable area may be easily cultivated, by this I
do not mean that this whole amount is now reclaimed, but that it may
with the means liable to be employed by private parties with limited
capital, be readily brought under cultivation by the same methods by
which most of the lands in Montana are now irrigated.
The amount of land actually under cultivation, according to the
assessment of 1888, was 348,070 acres, and this should probably be
increased by about one-half, since the farmers doubtless greatly
underestimated the amounts of their cultivated lands to the assessor:
perhaps then, 500,000 acres under cultivation would be nearer the
truth.
It is estimated that three-fourths of the remaining 75,000,000 acres
not classed above as irrigable, or say 55,000,000 acres, which is
nearly two-thirds of the total area of the State, will, with the
increased facilities for watering live stock and for domestic use
offered by the highest state of irrigation development, become valuable
as grazing land, since it is naturally covered with an abundant growth
of bunch grass, and only needs better facilities for watering and for
the establishment of home farms, to cause it to be entirely occupied
for grazing purposes.
Nearly, or quite all, of the lands above classified as agricultural and
pasture lands, are now covered with an abundant growth of bunch grass,
occasional patches of sage brush or prickly pear, and devoid of any
timber other than patches of willows and cottonwoods along the streams,
or a few isolated clumps of scrub pines and junipers on the highest
lands.
About 10,000,000 of the remaining 20,000,000 acres are excellent timber
lands and are situated on the slopes and sides of the higher mountains,
though west of the Continental Divide the valleys and flat bench lands
are sometimes covered with timber.
The remaining 10,000,000 acres may be classed as barren and rugged
mountain peaks and some little barren "bad lands" near the southeastern
corner of the State, and the broken and rough cut banks of rivers,
"couleés," etc.
It is in these more rugged mountain regions that the great gold, silver
and copper deposits are found.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Montana is far more moderate and agreeable than is
generally supposed, the spring and fall months in the valleys, which
are the principal inhabited and cultivated portions, being delightfully
mild and pleasant, with frost generally only at night, though these
last till May and begin in early October.
The accompanying table shows the dates of the first and last killing
frosts at Helena, also the mean monthly temperature at Helena, which
place is chosen as a typical station, its altitude being 4,262 feet.
From this table, which extends over a period of ten years, from 1880 to
1889, inclusive, with few interruptions, it appears that the earliest
killing frost occurred on September 6th, 1881, and the latest killing
frost on May 3d, 1888, but these were very exceptional frosts, the
average dates for the same periods being September 26th and April 26th.
The maximum temperature during the same period occurred in July, 1886,
and was 103 degrees in the shade, while no other year showed a higher
temperature than 97 degrees; and the average maximum temperature for
the ten years was 94 degrees. The minimum temperature for the same
period was -40 degrees, occurring in February, 1887, while the average
minimum for ten years was -29 degrees. Great ranges of temperature are
sometimes experienced, however, especially in local areas in the higher
mountain valleys, where unusual frosts and snow flurries have occurred,
though rarely, killing potatoes and other tender crops even in July and
August.
_Monthly Mean Temperatures at Helena, Mont._
| 1880. | 1881. | 1882. | 1883.
| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing
| Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost.
---------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------------
January | | | 9.8 | | 20.0 | | 18.5 |
February | | | 25.8 | | 24.4 | | 14.1 |
March | | | 39.4 | | 31.1 | | 34.2 |
April | | | 47.6 | | 40.5 | | 40.4 |
May | | | 55.4 | | 50.4 | | 49.8 |
June | | | 61.4 | | 60.7 | | 61.8 |
July | 66.3 | | 68.3 | | 66.8 | | 67.9 |
August | 63.7 | | 66.1 | | 71.4 | | 67.2 |
September| 56.7 | | 54.6 | 6th | 60.1 | 29th | 59.2 | 20th
October | 46.3 | 22d | 37.9 | | 41.7 | | 38.9 |
November | 19.3 | | 28.8 | | 30.9 | | 33.0 |
December | 9.0 | | 30.8 | | 27.3 | | 27.4 |
Mean, | | | | | | | |
Annual | | | 43.8 | | 43.8 | | 42.7 |
---------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------------
_Monthly Mean Temperatures at Helena, Mont. (Continued)_
| 1884. | 1885. | 1886. | 1887.
| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing
| Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost.
---------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------------
January | 11.6 | | 21.0 | | 10.1 | | 20.6 |
February | 14.6 | | 28.2 | | 34.5 | | 5.0 |
March | 29.1 | | 40.6 | | 29.1 | | 40.3 |
April | 41.6 | | 45.7 | | 42.9 | | 42.4 | 20th
May | 53.9 | | 51.0 | | 54.9 | | 51.5 |
June | 62.9 | | 56.8 | | 61.1 | | 57.6 |
July | 62.5 | | 64.7 | | 69.9 | | 66.6 |
August | 66.8 | | 64.1 | | 68.1 | | 63.0 |
September| 49.7 | 6th | 55.4 | | 52.9 | 29th | 56.0 |
October | 47.0 | | 47.5 | | 43.3 | | 42.9 | 8th
November | 36.4 | | 39.1 | | 29.4 | | 33.9 |
December | 7.0 | | 31.1 | | 27.1 | | 23.0 |
Mean, | | | | | | | |
Annual | 40.3 | | 43.6 | | 43.8 | | 41.9 |
---------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+--------------
_Monthly Mean Temperatures at Helena, Mont. (Continued)_
| 1888. | 1889.
| Mean |Killing| Mean |Killing
| Temp.|Frost. | Temp.|Frost.
---------+------+-------+------+-------
January | 5.3 | | 16.7 |
February | 35.0 | | 25.2 |
March | 23.2 | | 39.1 |
April | 48.8 | | 49.2 |
May | 50.1 | | 53.2 |
June | 58.8 | | 63.4 |
July | 67.1 | | 66.8 |
August | 65.3 | | 67.2 |
September| 61.2 | | 55.2 |
October | 46.6 | | 50.7 |
November | 24.2 | | 31.4 |
December | 23.6 | | 22.6 |
Mean, | | | |
Annual | 42.1 | | 45.0 |
---------+------+-------+------+-------
On September 5th of this year in the upper Madison Valley above 6500
feet of elevation, a temperature was experienced in the forenoon of 70
degrees, while at about 8 o'clock on the same evening, a snow squall
occurred during which the thermometer must have fallen several degrees
below the freezing point; by 9 o'clock on the following morning all of
the snow had disappeared and the temperature had greatly moderated.
The summer months in these mountain valleys are always agreeably warm
during the day time, while the nights are cool and pleasant. In the
winter the climate is very cold, though not so uncomfortable as the
temperature would indicate, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere and
the absence of very high winds in the mountain valleys. The more
exposed plains to the north are subject to the frequent and agreeable
visits of the famous "Chinook" winds, which blow from the west, and
under whose influence heavy falls of snow disappear in a single day.
The following table shows the mean annual rain-fall at various Signal
Service stations in Montana, and from these it will be seen that during
a period of ten years the maximum rain-fall for the entire State has
only been 20.33 inches in 1880, while the minimum has occurred during
1886 and was but 12.52 inches; the average precipitation for this
period was 15.25 inches.
_Mean Precipitation in Montana during Growing Season._
A = Ft. Assinaboine. B = Ft. Benton. C = Ft. Buford, N.D.
D = Ft. Custer. E = Ft. Keogh. F = Helena.
| A | B | C | D | E | F
----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----
Growing season of '80 | | 7.33 | 12.82 | 9.77 | 8.87 | 2.63
" " " '81 | | 7.05 | 5.81 | 3.90 | 5.67 | 7.15
" " " '82 | 4.47 | 1.29 | 5.01 | | 3.64 | 1.96
" " " '83 | 2.63 | 4.25 | 3.94 | | |
" " " '84 | 17.22 | 5.69 | 3.46 | 6.31 | | 8.09
" " " '85 | | 9.57 | 10.33 | 6.07 | | 6.29
" " " '86 | 2.52 | 2.94 | 2.65 | 5.13 | | 1.91
" " " '87 | 12.13 | | 8.00 | 2.96 | | 5.88
" " " '88 | 7.10 | | 10.16 | 8.22 | 7.28 | 4.37
" " " '89 | 5.03 | | 3.48 | 2.90 | 2.27 | 2.00
----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----
| 7.21 | 5.45 | 6.57 | 5.66 | 5.55 | 4.48
----------------------+-------+------+-------+------+------+-----
Growing season, May 15 to August 15.
_Mean Precipitation in Montana during Growing Season. (Continued)_
G = Ft. Maginnis. H = Ft. Missoula. I = Poplar River. J = Ft. Shaw.
| G | H | I | J | Average.
----------------------+-------+------+------+------+----------
Growing season of '80 | | | | | 8.28
" " " '81 | | 3.70 | | 5.78 | 5.58
" " " '82 | | 2.78 | | 4.23 | 3.00
" " " '83 | 2.27 | | 1.65 | 4.17 | 3.16
" " " '84 | 2.90 | | 5.80 | 4.30 | 6.72
" " " '85 | 5.98 | | 7.14 | 6.49 | 7.41
" " " '86 | 3.56 | | 2.67 | 2.87 | 3.03
" " " '87 | 9.47 | | 8.67 | | 7.85
" " " '88 | 10.54 | | 8.16 | | 7.98
" " " '89 | 7.47 | 1.74 | 2.23 | 1.91 | 3.23
----------------------+-------+------+------+------+----------
| 6.03 | 2.74 | 5.19 | 4.25 | 5.23
----------------------+-------+------+------+------+----------
Growing season, May 15 to August 15.
_Annual Rain-fall in Montana, 1880-1888._
1880. | 1881. | 1882. | 1883. | 1884. | 1885.
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|-------
Ft. Assinaboine | | | 12.76 | 15.10 | 25.67 |
Ft. Benton | 16.00 | 16.81 | 10.18 | 13.01 | 13.13 | 14.94
Ft. Buford, N.D.| 23.25 | 13.90 | 12.73 | 10.82 | 7.37 | 15.56
Ft. Custer | 19.65 | 11.88 | | | 16.60 | 9.34
Ft. Keogh | 15.64 | 11.44 | 10.13 | | |
Helena | | 19.94 | 10.32 | | 19.18 | 10.99
Ft. Maginnis | | | | 13.29 | 9.00 | 13.96
Ft. Missoula | | 20.56 | 13.24 | | |
Poplar River | | | | | | 10.25
Ft. Shaw | | | 14.77 | 14.21 | 12.64 | 13.64
Ft. Ellis | 30.16 | 17.55 | 19.28 | 15.72 | 22.02 | 32.63
Virginia City | 17.29 | | | | |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
| 20.30 | 16.01 | 12.93 | 13.69 | 15.73 | 15.41
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------
_Annual Rain-fall in Montana, 1880-1888. (Continued)_
1886. | 1887. | 1888.
----------------+-------+-------+-------
Ft. Assinaboine | 11.48 | 18.94 | 13.99
Ft. Benton | | | 14.00
Ft. Buford, N.D.| 10.24 | 15.43 | 14.70
Ft. Custer | 13.25 | 12.18 | 14.00
Ft. Keogh | | |
Helena | 12.63 | 14.05 | 10.14
Ft. Maginnis | 15.44 | 26.00 | 25.70
Ft. Missoula | | |
Poplar River | 11.93 | 7.41 | 15.51
Ft. Shaw | 12.56 | |
Ft. Ellis | | |
Virginia City | | |
----------------+-------+-------+-------
| 12.79 | 15.67 | 15.45
----------------+-------+-------+-------
Moreover, from the first table, showing the average monthly
precipitation at the Helena station, it will be seen that but 4.48
inches fall during May 15th to August 15th, inclusive, which is the
growing season when the crops require moisture.
The information regarding evaporation is as yet very meagre, but from
four stations observed in different parts of the State during August,
September and October, it appears that the total average evaporation
for the three months was 18 inches, and from the best information
obtainable it appears that the total annual evaporation is 36 inches,
that is to say, the surface of the water in a lake or reservoir will be
lowered by evaporation 3 feet in a year.
WHY MONTANA IS AN ARID COUNTRY.
It has been stated by Major J. W. Powell, that in a general way the
line between the humid and arid regions, or the amount of precipitation
below which irrigation becomes necessary for the cultivation of crops,
is from 24 to 28 inches per annum. This of course depends largely on
the distribution of the rainfall, the proportion falling during the
growing season, the humidity of the atmosphere, the character of the
soil, etc.
The average annual precipitation in Montana is 14.92 inches, while the
total average precipitation during the growing season is but 5.23
inches; from these considerations alone it is evident that the State
lies wholly in the arid region.
This statement is further born out by the fact that no native farmer
will settle a ranch or undertake to raise any kind of crops without
facilities for irrigating, since experience has taught them all, that,
though there may occasionally be an exceptionally wet season in which
they can raise good crops without artificial aid, still, the years when
crops depending wholly upon rain-fall for their moisture would be
entirely lost, are so frequent as to render farming without irrigation
very hazardous and unprofitable.
SOIL.
The soil along the stream bottoms at a slight elevation above their
beds is usually a heavy, black, clayey loam, and though rich and
fertile is soon clogged by water, and then in drying, cakes on the
surface, killing the young plants. On this account the irrigators
seldom water these bottom lands until after the crop has acquired a
healthy growth, preferring to trust to the early rains to force the
young sprouts above the surface, rather than run the risk of its
crusting and thus preventing them from breaking through.
These bottom lands though really the poorest for irrigating, are nearly
the only lands now cultivated, because of the greater ease and
cheapness of supplying them with water. From two to three tons of hay
and from 35 to 50 bushels of grain per acre are raised even on these
inferior soils.
The best, and by far the more abundant agricultural lands, are the
"bench lands," these are situated high above the stream beds and the
soil is usually a warm open, rich, sandy-loam, several feet in depth
and usually underlain by a deep bed of gravel. Though in irrigating,
this soil at first requires more water, it will, owing to its excellent
natural drainage, last for all time and will neither clog with water
nor cake on the surface.
It is these bench lands which will be rendered irrigable by government
aid and surveys, though to develop them will require large amounts of
capital; still, they are so extensive in area that the work can
generally be conducted on a grand and economical scale.
DUTY OF WATER.
From the meagre information now obtainable it is probable that in
average soils and for the staple hay, grain and vegetable crops in
Montana, about one cubic foot of water per second, flowing during the
irrigating season, will be sufficient for 100 acres; this quantity is
known as the "duty of water."
The irrigating season lasts about three months. While the crops are
maturing during part of May, June and July, they will receive two or
three waterings, and in early September the hay lands are again watered
in order to start the growth of grass before the frosts.
In case all the surplus water of a given stream is stored, the duty of
that stream will be increased by the amount of water now flowing to
waste during the remaining nine months, and as a portion of this time
is the flood period, owing to the melting of the snows in the mountains
and to the spring rains, this storage water will increase the duty of
the stream at least five-fold; that is, five times as many acres may be
irrigated by the stream as at present, provided that storage capacity
can be found for all of its waste waters.
In considering the duty of a stream it must be remembered that there is
a great loss of water by seepage through the sides of a canal and
evaporation from its surface, between the headworks and the irrigated
lands, this loss may amount to from 25 to 35 per cent., according to
climate, soil, and the length and cross-section of the canal.
PRESENT STATE OF IRRIGATION--PROGRESS AND LAWS.
The earlier stages of irrigation development are better illustrated in
Montana than in any other State in the Union.
There irrigation practice and laws are exceedingly crude and remain so
chiefly because of the abundance of water, and the ease and facility
with which it can be diverted to the land; as a consequence of this
latter fact the laws were framed in the most liberal spirit, declaring
right of eminent domain, acknowledging the right of priority in
appropriating the waters, and further stating, that any person having a
ditch leading to irrigable lands may use the waters of the territory
for irrigation.
The latest law, framed in 1885, is a very slight improvement; it
requires persons appropriating water, to post the usual notice in a
conspicuous place; to file with the county recorder a notice of
appropriation, with names and proper description of place, stream,
etc., and that work must be commenced within forty days of the posting
of the notice and be prosecuted with due diligence until completed.
Persons who have heretofore acquired title to the use of water, may
within six months from the passage of this law file a statement of the
above facts in the office of the recorder, but failure to do this shall
not forfeit his rights.
Provision is made for the measurement of water, using that very
uncertain and elastic unit, the miner's inch, and defining the same.
The difficulties arising under these laws will be appreciated, when I
state that it is impossible to construct a rating flume that will
measure the number of inches of water flowing in a large stream, by the
method provided in the law.
Then, because previous appropriators are not compelled to record the
amount of water appropriated, and those acquiring titles under the
first law now invariably claim much more water than they need, in fact
often appropriate and even record more water than there is flowing in
the stream. This is owing to the fact that they were not at first
compelled to construct their works, "with due diligence until
completed," nor to make ditches of capacities capable of carrying the
volumes claimed, and above all because there is no officer having the
power to measure the quantities of water diverted or to see that the
works are prosecuted with due diligence. Endless and unsatisfactory
litigation results, hastened by the occupation of lands lower down on
some stream which in a very dry season may not flow sufficient water
for all the appropriators who have acquired titles, whereupon the later
settlers who have recorded their appropriations claim the water, while
those who diverted water before the passage of the last law claim the
right to it, though unrecorded, and as a consequence the case is
carried to the courts, often with unjust and always with expensive
results.
During the past exceptionally dry season these conditions led to much
bitter litigation, often to bloodshed, and equally often to financial
ruin owing to the supply of water being insufficient to mature the
crops planted.
Water being very abundant in the smaller mountain valleys has led to
great wastefulness in its use, the irrigator after applying what water
his crops needed, instead of turning it back into the stream for the
use of settlers lower down, generally turns his ditch loose on the open
prairie and allows the water to run to waste. Then wasteful methods of
applying the water to the crops are employed, and owing to the cheap
and hasty construction of a vast number of small ditches the loss by
seepage is very great; it has been estimated that there is on an
average a ditch for every 200 acres of land cultivated, making a total
of about 2500 irrigating ditches in the State.
In the last two years there has been a marked increase in the interest
taken in irrigation enterprises, and though this has resulted in the
formation of several large companies, which intend to take water by
long and expensive canals to sections now uncultivated, yet in these
cases are universally seen the same crude methods employed in first
beginnings, without the aid and advice of experienced engineers. Large
canals are being constructed at great cost, capable of carrying many
times the amount of water flowing in the stream appropriated, whereas a
much smaller and less expensive one would have carried the entire water
supply. Again small canals have been constructed to carry small volumes
of water very long distances, often 50 to 80 miles, while in reality
owing to the great percentage of loss by seepage and evaporation,
little or none of the water entering at the headgates will ever reach
the irrigable lands.
Such illy advised projects are to be even more deplored than the
smaller operations before spoken of, since the certain ultimate failure
of this class of enterprise will result in discouraging capitalists
from investing in even well-planned irrigation projects, and will
retard the construction of valuable and necessary works.
POSSIBLE IRRIGATION ENTERPRISES.
During the past season the author made an extensive though hurried
reconnoisance of Montana, in the progress of which he rode on horseback
2,200 miles and traveled 3,700 miles by rail, examining with some
degree of detail all of the central counties and making a few hasty
trips into Choteau, Dawson and Custer Counties. In the course of this
reconnoisance the sites for sixty storage reservoirs, having a combined
storage capacity of about 3,250,000 acre feet were carefully examined,
and lines of ten great irrigating canals approximately decided on. It
may be well to state here that an acre-foot of water is a very
convenient unit of measure adopted by the U. S. Geological Survey in
speaking of the contents of large reservoirs, and refers to a body of
water one acre in superficial area and one foot in depth.
In every case these proposed reservoirs are so situated, that their
storage water will be convenient to large bodies of irrigable land,
which, without some such provision for water supply must forever remain
uncultivated, but which with irrigation from these reservoirs will
ultimately become thickly inhabited and very productive regions. The
same statements apply to the canals projected, though of course
detailed surveys may prove the impracticability of some of these works
as financial investments.
Mention will be made of a few of the more important of these projects;
those which appear most likely to prove financial successes.
North of the Yellowstone and between it and the Musselshell and
Missouri Rivers is an immense high bench land, traversed by a few long
couleés, dry excepting in the times of melting snow or heavy spring
storms, and then raging torrents for a period of a few days or hours.
This bench land between the couleés is flat topped and has a regular
and gentle slope to the eastward, falling about six feet per mile, a
little more rapidly north of Big Timber, and decreasing in grade to the
eastward. The general elevation of this bench above the Yellowstone
River varies from 600 feet north of Stillwater, to 300 feet north of
Miles City, and includes about 11,000,000 acres, of which at least
5,225,000 acres are of the best quality for agricultural purposes and
readily accessible by the great canal. In all this vast area there is
not even sufficient water for the few horses and cattle which range on
it, and they are compelled to congregate near the occasional pools and
springs scattered at long intervals over it.
From numerous examinations made hastily with aneroid and hand-level, it
seems likely that a great canal can be taken from the Yellowstone,
somewhere in the neighborhood of Livingston, or lower down the river,
and led upon the summit of the bench with a diversion line not over 100
miles in length. Taken out at Livingston the canal would encounter no
difficult construction, and would chiefly consist in earth excavation
with very little rock work. It would require a few fills and flumes in
crossing the larger side streams, such as the Little and Big Timber,
Otter and Sweet Grass Creeks. It would reach the summit somewhere north
of Merrill at an altitude of about 4,400 feet and thence could be
conducted with an easy alignment eastward, with occasional falls to
loose grade.
The water flowing in the Yellowstone River at Livingstone during the
irrigating season this year averaged 2,300 cubic feet per second,
which, with an allowance of thirty per cent. for loss by seepage and
evaporation in the canal, would leave about 1,600 second feet at the
point of utilization or sufficient to irrigate 160,000 acres.
The average normal discharge from Yellowstone Lake is 700 second feet,
and a dam about 300 feet long and less than ten feet high, constructed
below the outlet of the lake, would store the outflow from October to
May, inclusive, eight months, a total including flood discharges of at
least 600,000 acre feet, an amount which, allowing for loss by
evaporation in the lake, and by seepage and evaporation in the canal,
would irrigate 425,000 acres, in addition to the 160,000 acres
previously mentioned. Besides this volume probably half as much more
can be readily stored on the Lamar and Gardner Rivers, and the other
branches of the Yellowstone which join it above Livingston, bringing
the total area of reclaimed land to nearly 1,000,000 acres.
There are many similar and even better opportunities for irrigation
development, such as the construction of a canal from the West Gallatin
River near Bozeman. This canal would require no expensive diversion
line, as its waters would become immediately available at the
headworks, and by appropriating the 500 second feet of water flowing in
the river, would reclaim at a minimum cost 50,000 acres, or twice the
amount of land now cultivated there. Storage on the Upper Gallatin
River would greatly increase the amount of reclaimed land.
Storage reservoirs can be easily constructed on the headwaters of the
Beaver Head River, whereby at least 150,000 acres could be added to the
25,000 acres now under cultivation in the Beaver Head Valley near
Dillon.
A canal requiring no diversion line can be taken out on the east side
of the Missouri River near Toston, which will irrigate all of the good
land in the Missouri Valley, at least 100,000 acres. This canal would
require some fills and aqueducts in crossing the various side steams
such as Deep and Duck Creeks, and Confederate Gulch.
Detailed surveys have been made during the past summer on the Sun River
which indicate that storage will add some 250,000 acre feet to the
amount of water in that stream now available for irrigation. There are
at least 600,000 acres of good agricultural land between the Dearborn,
Sun, and Teton Rivers, which must forever remain barren of cultivated
products unless provided with water by means of storage on these
streams, and the surveys above alluded to indicate that by this means
160,000 acres of this land can be reclaimed by the Sun River alone.
Mention might be made to many more similar projects, such as the
construction of a simple canal from the Missouri River to irrigate
Chestnut Valley, south of Great Falls, whereby 120,000 acres would be
reclaimed; or one from the Upper Madison River whereby 230,000 acres of
the Madison Valley might receive water, but the foregoing will suffice
to show the possibilities of irrigation development in Montana.
It would be doing the resources of a great and vast area of Montana
injustice if reference were not made to the Milk River country, the
great Indian reservation of 17,680,000 acres in the northern part of
the State which has recently been open to settlement. This region has
not been examined by the author, but from conversations with a number
of its well-informed inhabitants it appear that the soil is very
fertile, and that during average moist years excellent crops can be
raised there without irrigation. This last statement, however, should
not be too readily accepted. It is probable that some storage water may
be retained in the hills along the British line, though its development
will doubtless involve international questions.
A GLANCE AT THE FUTURE.
This interesting subject cannot be passed by without a little castle
building, and accordingly an attempt will be made to show what the
future of Montana may owe to irrigation.
It has just been shown how and where 1,750,000 acres may be added to
the area at present under cultivation; many times this amount, however,
can be reclaimed. Settled as closely as a large irrigated district
would naturally be, these 1,750,000 acres will be increased by about 15
per cent. or 262,500 acres, the area which will be occupied by roads,
buildings, and towns; that is to say over 2,000,000 acres will be
rendered capable of sustaining the highest degree of settlement, though
in reality this amount will be much greater since a large portion of
the land will not be directly irrigated, since it will indirectly
receive sufficient moisture from the neighboring fields to render it
serviceable for pasturage.
It has been claimed by various authorities that a homestead of forty
acres is abundant for the support of a family, assuming this estimate
to be correct, then 2,000,000 acres will support 50,000 families; at
five persons each this would give a farm population of 250,000. This
number of farm workers would require a town and village population of
one and one-half more, or our 2,000,000 acres would add in all 375,000
people to the State.
On the same basis the 18,000,000 acres which have been classified as
irrigable land, (and this estimate is below that of the Montana Society
of civil engineers and other authorities), would support 3,120,000
inhabitants.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The National Geographic Magazine, Vol.
II., No. 3, July, 1890, by Various
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