Bv
S. A. Crandall
p n S'C ■* r ' >C/DaCUtKKKHj .COU UCrU vVm-VWWW ..-V.-I.rv 1. vrvrvw. V.
Tjj. i owing article, giving a n rv theory regarding lb<* cause of the
v f Alaska from a tr >pical country to a I id of snow and i< e,
was v : -m especially for Id e Prospector bv H. A. Crandall, who has
special >’ndv «>: . ’• subjects since hi- college days. Mr.
/ ■ j. w i ~ t»i.iuca<*d a t 0a r > n 0o i 1 egc*. North .cm M t • i * • j Ann A r
bur, Michigan, and the 1 ’ • bian University at Washington* D. C.
\t*j . • ' ton he r.o ce l the study of astronomy and. at Ann
\ri was one >f a hall who were se jfcted to at ten 1 the
. ud revision of Pro WinehelPs work on \V< rid Biiilding,
an 1 at Washington he att. n ! I a course of lectures for se veral months
at lie Sm h>oiiian Inst.ua .on. on loe same subject. IPs theory of
: : the i ;e age in A1 iska api ears to be a wry r< usonable on<
,d as far as we can learn differs materially from any other ever ad
\ *.r. ; 'd.
.. 18 aomet liing in the tbei hat
ems iuc ugruous r diffiicult ut
l does not ■ i'P lV f,oln
the tongue like tl famili i Sunny
Sout h C ' a• 5 - 1 h- ' ' ’ •1 • '■
t , : disa see itiou f id ■ o per
. . xt the ' >n exit ■ ac of a
present fact.
idea of a St ui . via.- . however,
is ueit her a f< ivy t ale hoi
drea t At some remote p ■ < bnce
tha -- ara ng together” Lu gv« at
Anthem of crea ion, this f ■ c
rren, Arctic Alaska was wart < by
the ical rays of at q< tot . I
-un and h r shores
spice laden bree tea of the >
; - I jve Alaska was little like the
Alaska of today with its wild rushing
streams, its cataracts ana ■ i! ,
itglaciers and snow cappe
and it- cold and barren --oil, t-.e
hornt of perp u 1 frost. At h t 11156
from e<h ator, Alaska •
a v... t platet u or rathei a • vies of
plateau •, relit v d by uouud
alontt the coast; iu her eiuua .ad
ysicai features resemblii
excelling the most charming portions
of Arizona or New Mexico.
Over her limitless steppes and pain
as roamed innumerable spe< ies or
animal.- wholly unknown to the Alas
ka of the present time. Through her
d >nse for sti than iered mighty h >rd
of ... jbanti e moustei>; al
Igy 1 anks of her ' 'earns the Ct
buffalo roamed at iii; ami ' ;h • red
aud jungles the wild boar aad • •. e... ..
v. uud agreeable habitat.; from i' e
11 ‘ '-.ops myriads of bums of gar ly
plumage unci various members »f the
i«j. family, cawed and cLa c-rf >
.m: t !.o;r h a units of comfort and t lent y.
A copious rainfall contributed to
and insured a luxurious growth i f
v rotation and fed the stream . tin t
. ti ed the Datural -drainage of the
land, which moved with gentle flow to
the sea, ‘ hrough wide and ferti e val
h-ys in the beds prepared for them
fr- m the foundation of tlie world.
Upon ibis scene, all instiuc t with
life and activity, of a laud speciallj
on-.lowed with providential bounties, a
land pampered by the prodigality of a
tr< •• ical clime, eemmg with b a
l.j Is, fragrant with the odors of flow
orm plants and fruit-bearing shrubs,
i be curtain was suddenly mug down,
the act completed aud the tragedy
ended.
Iu this cataclysmic change all life
perished. Every river, rivulet aud rill,
to its profoundest depth aud remotest
source, was instantly bound with icy
fetters. The perfumed breezes were
^transformed into the biting winds of
i
hu Arctic winter v. hose howling blasts
throughout the ages were desttch . to
sing a sad requiem to the depart e<
gl »ry of Suuoj • •-!<• . AM-perv; .
■ . iknesi now sett! 1 down .<u Alaska,
• 'alar bear and Aictic fox cast
upon her uuhnspitable shores by a
casual iloe of ice. wandefe i about and
perished in the awfuluess of (he d - -
iation.
• o,ing f(, the situs tion of A
with reference to 1 he »h p aieseCUi \ :il
it probably always has b . char at er j
lzed by the most dense hmnidijy of
ny territory on e.n th. This mon-inn
which under normal conditions va
probably precis-ait 1 iu sho.vers, < >r
rents aid typhoons, now, under tie
conditions assumed to exist, war pro
bably heaped upon the innert hotly of
Vla.-ka in the for of mow with a rap
idity and to an extent that never do.
and probably never could exist iu \
her spot on earth. For v.hut period
of time the snow continued to accwtnn
late, or to what depth the said accr.nm
Iation attained, it is impos ib.e to fo; .a
an estimate, but the peril d must have
rue into ages an I the accumulation <•
.- now into son el Long t r mend nous. ! ■ r. .
/ben the gatbc i sr» • bad rer ehe< I
their climax and commenced their on
ward march to the r a. forming the u
equalled glacier system of Alaska, Mi
ice bodies manifestly flowed over the
tops of the mountain ranges jus;
water flows over the rocks in a hidden
reef.
All over the territory today may be
seen the tracks of glaciers which navel
cut down five hundred to a thousand
feet right into a mountain, leaving a j
path like a railroad cut. wi h sloping
sides. Some slight idea may Ip fori ed
as to what condition existed dm ng
the period when these great glaciers j
were formed, by con idering what the
conditions are at the present time
when snow has ceased to accumulate
and the activity uf the glaciers on tlm
decline.
At imtka there is the greatest ru n
fell of any place outside of the tropics
while in the vicinity of Vuldez the
snow fall is annually from seventy d “
1.1 one hundred and twenty five f - t.
with i additional heavy rainfall; even |
this amount of precipitation would ac j
(*umu!-ito anfl become appreciable in |
tim-> if it were not annually wasted by
the summer heat.
Upon the principle that a body
will move along the line of hast
e-i dauc9, what would bo the natural
r h ing to expect-to result from the c
ditions which, it is assumed, existed?
With the northern side of these vast
snow fields ice bound and indexible,
while to the southward the annually
i curving and ever lengthening summer
haws, loosened the bonds somewhat,
elided and solidiQed the snow; filled j
all the low places and valleys with ice,
fairly r aring the country pp tp a gom
mnu and altitudinous level, along
whi di the immense ice Helds moved,
backed by the crushing force on.thc
mountains of snow, for ‘ages filled
valleys, razed mountains, crosfe-'ciit
ro suntain ranges, and plowed deep
canals to the sea, through whihe the
1
; waters found new outlets where here
tofore no stream had ever been. As a
result the water courses of Alaska are
widely div 'igenfc and non conformable
to the system t hat had previously pre
vailed. All over Ala.-ka may be seen
the old dry beds of the ancient dreams
crossing and recrossing the present
rivers at an elevation of hundreds and
even thousands? of feet above them and
sweeping off across the country along
lines that completely ignore the pre
sent contour of the laud.
Alaska lias presented an anom.ly to
miners, iu that gold is quite as fre
quently found upon the mountains a» it
ihe bottom of tue streams. It is these
old river bods, nigh up on the moun
tains that constitute the “Bench lug
gings ’which ave been so valuable to
Alaska and so profitable to Alaska
miners. The same conditions that
brought about the forward movement
< 1 the masses of ice that pushed,
punched and ground i h-ir way over the
mountain rang**.-, cur dee > canyons
through solid rock, gr. and d -vn v hole
valleys to a depth o» tt vee ‘ hundred
feet below the level oi the sea, has
brought about a cessation of glacial
activity and caused a recession of the
glaciers up the chanels, valleys and
canyons of their ow n making, leaving
in their wake bays, sounds and inlets,
cascades, cataracts and waterfalls.
J.lie giear ALuir glacier has during
the last ton years receded more than
seven miles, as shown by Government
measurements The Valdez gi icier,
i 11st back (4 he little village bearing
its name, . u >t receded as rapidly as
rhe Muir, but, since the turn in the
ide of affairs, the Valdez glacier has
receded from way beyond Hincheu
look, a distance of one hundred miles
and is now slowly retiring up the
main valhy, with about thirty i il**-'of
iceatmie wide and six hundred feet
ieep oiill to waste* while each of lt-^
• everai .r. ncnos, spurs an 1 feeders is
lowly and quietly wa.-ting away and
vanishing u| its respective vail
■v canyon, at a rate less marked than
he Muir hut just as manifestly and un
hsputably wasting away. A block of
me thirty miles long a mile wide and
x hundred feet deep, with one cut
elevated to a height of live thousand
feet, resting ou a polished and lubrica
ted plane, would still wear a formida
ble aspect, but, it is as the echo of a
voice that spoke in thunders, or the
•badow of things that were VVliat has
.cen said < t the foregoing glaciers may
equally well he Mid of them all, for
giactal activity in Alaska is on the
w ne, and piactically a thing of the
•list. I'hey are going, many of them
we gone, but their works survive them
and ou in.* lace of Lno rocks they have
written their'history, a history that
sneaks eloquently of their mugi.it!
0 uce and power.
The conditions which have prevailed
in Alaska an those which now exist
seem inexplicable ou any other hy
pothesis i-.an ibat in her normal state,
Alaska was tropical or sem: tropical;
that from such condition she w. •>
changed to a frigid climate; thar. such
change came suddenly: that sin-h
change was accompanied by some phe
nomenon or active energy that froze
everything to a great depth; * hat from
1 h•• resulting deposits of snow the
_Meier- were formed; and that during
ii this time Alaska ha-* becu slowly
gravitating back to the conditions that
prevailed m the beginning
That Alaska was at one time blessed
with a mild and equable climate is
abundantly attested by the presence
uf the remains of tropical buds and
animals, ibe tusks, bones and e-eu
‘he flesh-clothed bodies of members ot
the elephant family have been found
in various localities all over Alaska,
. hile the liorus and skull of the cape
buffalo, spring bok, weilde beastie and
various species of 1- < .\ as weil as the
kalis « (1 tusks of fee wild boar and
peccary indicate the presence o* these
animals in great numbers. That these
animals per''shed at the same time may
bo inferred from the fact that their
bodies are found iuterdmigl d; that
they mot their fate in some sudden
catastrophe is proven by the fact that
perfect, specimens, kept in cold storage
throughout the ages for our inspection
are found to have died in good flesh
and on a full stomach. Even while
‘his matter i- under discussion a speci
men of Gigas Elephantos has been un
covered on the i'ukon in so perfect a
state of preservation that men cooked
and ate of the flesh w>hile the dogs sat
i
isfied their hunger by gnawing at Mie
carcass. When did this giant walk the
earth? Certainly before the Christian
j erH, probably long before the laws were
thundered from Mount Siuai, possibly
if we could only be enlightened
as to his early geneaology we
might learn that he was an early
ancestor of the specimen preserved in
the Ark. and yet this animal once
lived and trod the domain of Alaska;
while fat and hearty, with his stomach
well filled with the best elephant t« < <<
the laud produced. He was frozen still
aud covered,up with snow and ice. aw
was here when he could bask in the
shade of a palm. He was hero when
the calamity came. He was he rd when
snow pile 1 mountains high over his
former haunts. He was here when the
glaciers were built. He saw their ui iv
i dy mid their decadence. If it were not
for the fact of the earths gravitating in
such manner as to bring Alaska out
from tlie edge of the iee. and lay things
j bare that have previously been bidden.
this very animal would have remained
I in the s.diie perfect .state of preserva
tion until Gabriel sounds his warning
i trump announcing the end of time.
That everything was frozen solid to
a great lepth at ihe lime the undent
i rivers were dried, and that the rivers oi
the piesent are ol a later development,
would seem to be indicated by the
fact that the last named streams fiow
over frozen ground, ground frozen so
deep that the action of 'he water has
Bu? drawn out the fror-t during the
age s. It is n note-worthy fact that un
lik"i an; other land the A laskati streams
freeze fioot the bottom upwards to the
puriaee, furnishing concinsive evidence
that the bottoms of the streams are the
home oi perpetual frost. Whether man
played any part m this great tragedy
or not is uncertain, however, in the
Klondi ke country the: e was found at
t.be bottom or a shaft that had been
thawed down through soii. muck a. d
gravel a distance of ninety feet, a glass
plaque pressed in o a desigu mani
festly i tie- product, of mans handiwork,
but ii is not huiiiciently well estab
j lished hat these same diggings may
! not have been worked at sumo prior
time by the same method and the dish
! thus placed io the locality were found
[ the; gti it is said there was no iadieu- •
I tions that the soil had ever boen dis
turbed. Many have observed and
many more have speculated upon the
facts hereiubefoi© set forth, but, no
one so far i> I am aide to ascertain
has ever oti red a satisfactory solution
tin retoie m Iduced a 1 lirly reason
able theory regardiug the -ame.
Notwithstanding the abundance *»f
; evult e'e at hand tending to show .he
climatic and physical changes m Alas
i ka. r is With some misgivings and n- t
. a litile hesitancy tliat the author of
this article otters to those interested
the result* and conclusions drawn from
facta, botli admitted an 1 assumed and
analogies both convincing and satisfy
I iug, but does so craving their inoui
! gent perusal hereof and their charitu
ble judgment with reference thereto,
• hoping that therein they may dud a
i i a sonubJe reason tor me why there i.
It was a favored saying of the An
cients that. Nature abhors a vacuum,
and ji t the vacuum ii »s always played
an important part 10 the economy of
nature as well as iu the ordinary aifairs
o£ life, i’he ere h *on oi a vacuum pro
duces a reduction m temperature. The
more rapidly a vacuum is created, the
more marked will be the change iu
temperature. The 1 oming oi cannons,
with resulting vacuums, 1 educes ti e
temperature to so slow a point as to
frequently produce local suu.vers.
Thunder w ill cause a hailstorm in the
hottest (lav of summer. A cup or
water placed uuder hi air pump aud
the aii quickly exhausted will oe found
to be frozen solid in the hottest d-' >d
summer. Any rapidly moving object,
creates something of a vacuum in its
wake. Who has not &too t by the truck
and ."eeii the limited express thunder
I by drawing in it. train si ray bit;' of
[ paper, grasses and the like and noted
the cooling sensation produced by the
partial vacuum produced.
Is it not a fair presumption and ewm
a legitimate conclusion that if you have
given au object infinitely greater in
t size and moving at an infinitely greater
velocity than the express train, that
the result would be an infinitely great
er vacuum, created in an infinitely
shorter period of time and causing a
reduction of temperature to an infinite
lower degree aud drawing objects after
it with infinitely greater power, than in
•tbe case ■of the express train.