138 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES IN 1919. 



or in the past. No evidence whatever could be procured that the fish 

 frequent this channel or use it as a means of ascent to small lakes 

 connecting with this branch higher up near the glacier from which 

 this stream originates. 



At a later date a trip was made up the west branch of the Klutina. 

 The banks of this branch were well marked and firm. They are lined 

 by spruces, which for a considerable distance are large and thickly 

 set. The water in the channel is relatively deep, and all features 

 combine to show that it is an old channel which probably at some 

 recent time carried much more of the flow of the stream than at 

 present. The channel is tortuous, but follows in general the base of 

 the mountains on the west side of the Upper Klutina valley. From 

 this to the present main channel of the river, which lies on the east 

 side of the valley, the ground is nearly flat, composed of glacial silt, 

 and intersected by occasional cross-channels. Small lakes, commu- 

 nicating with one branch or the other, lie on this flat, and are sur- 

 rounded in ])laces by alder thickets that at that time were not entirely 

 out of water. Along the west side trees are more numerous and 

 larger and the land has evidently attained more stable conditions 

 than exist on the main channel on the east side of the valley. 



The old west channel is frequently barred by beaver dams, which 

 in some places are so numerous as to have formed a labyrinth of 

 channels in which it is difhcult to find one's way. In places succes- 

 sive dams were not more than 10 or 12 feet apart, and while some of 

 them were only a foot in height, one was found which represented a 

 vertical height of between 4 and 5 feet. Various ponds or small lakes 

 that lay on the right or left of this channel were examined, but no 

 traces of spawning fish or of past spawning activities were found. 

 Most of these ponds owed their origin evidently to beaver dams, and 

 in some cases their maintenance was very clearly due to such obstruc- 

 tions. They were adequatel}^ supplied with vegetation, but were evi- 

 dently not frequented by many fish. Field notes indicate that one 

 grayling about 10 inches long was observed, but no other fish of any 

 size or kind was seen, until on the return trip, as the boat was lifted 

 over one beaver dam, a female red salmon was seen wriggling up the 

 face of the tlam. There was not opportunity to investigate all of the 

 lakes in this upper valley or to follow all of the small branches that 

 led off from the river, but the stream was evidently not used at this 

 time by any conspicuous body of fish, or something of them should 

 surely have been seen. Furthermore, no evidence was found of the 

 previous activity of salmon in this region, whereas in other places 

 such evidence was present even at times when the fish themselves 

 could not be found. The conclusion was reached, accordingly, that 

 this region was not one in which much spawning took place. At the 

 time of the tri]> the water was slightly milky. The guide reported 

 that in 1917 this branch carried only clear water. The point was 

 found at which the water was contaminated by a small quantity 

 flowing in from the opposite side of the })lain, and above the point 

 where this material was received the stream was perfectly clear. It 

 would seem that this branch of the Klutina, with its lakes and grayel 

 bed, might afford good spawning places for coxisiderable numbers of 

 fish. 



