THE KOWAK RIVER. 



Opeuiug iulaud by a uarrovv entrauce from that great body of water iu the Northwestern 

 Arctic Ocean known as Kotzebne Sound is a sheet of fresh water called Hotham Inlet. 



For the most part this inlet is extremely shallow. Tl<e entrauce is guarded by vast mudflats 

 and sand-bars which are barely covered with water. The inlet is about (hirty-five miles iu length 

 and from four to eight miles in width. It has a general trend from southeast to northwest. Its 

 water is not influenced by tides, but a prolonged southeast wind causes a low stage. 



Passing through the entire length of Hotham Inlet and into the waters of Kotzebue Sound is 

 a well-defined river channel. The sea entrauce to this is somewhat difficult to find. A vessel 

 drawing from one to two fathoms can enter at the ordinary stage of water. In the inlet proper the 

 channel has from two to four fathoms of water, and is comparatively easy to trace. 



As we approach the head of the inlet the water gradually shoals. Near the lower or southern 

 extremity a river known amongst the natives as the "Koowuk" enters the inlet through a large 

 delta. It is very shallow here, and shoals covered with from two to four feet of water extend far 

 out into the inlet. In crossing the bar it is somewhat difficult to find a channel of sufficient depth. 

 When fairly between the banks of the river, however, there is an abundance of water. This varies 

 from two to five fathoms. 



The delta is a low tract of land covered with a series of marshes, lakes, lagoons, and a thick 

 growth of willows. Above the delta, which extends for about ten miles, the river widens out into 

 a stately stream, on which large steamers might safely ride. 



The existence of this river was undoubtedly known to Captain Beeehy as far back as 1826 and 

 1827. Since his time, however, little or nothing was learned concerning it, except from the reports 

 of Surgeon John Simpson, R. N., in 1848. 



Capt. E. E. Smith informs the writer that he ascended that river a few miles in the year 1874. 

 During the summer of 1883 Lieut. George M. Stoney, U. S. Navy, then a passenger on the revenue 

 steamer Goricin, in a boat manned by Captain Healy from the Cortciii's crew, went about fifty miles 

 up the river. The word Koo or Ku in the dialect of nearly all these northern Eskimos signifies 

 river, and the suffix wuk, pfil;, or hult means large or big. Hence the native meaning of Kowak 

 or Kiiak, as some authorities spell the name, is Big River. 



For a distance of fifty miles above the delta the adjacent region is a level stretch of tundra. 

 Along the river banks, and extending a short distance in, there is a sparse growth of timber 

 consisting principally of spruce. Above this point there is a gradual change into a hilly, broken, 

 and partly timbered country. In this section we find the coal belt of this region. 



During the spring freshets a very high stage of water prevails. Along the banks and among 

 the adjacent timber evidences are everywhere visible of the havoc wrought by the ice. Large 

 trees are uprooted and smaller ones are ridden down. Great furrows are ploughed in the banks, 

 and masses of earth are undermined and carried away. Along the lower river there are several 

 miles of ice cliffs simihir to those at Escholtz Bay. These rise to a height of two hundred feet 

 above the river. Detached masses are constantly falling into the river, rendering a near approach 



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