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BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[BuU. 179 



land dwellers, for fish and shellfish died in great numbers. A few 

 birds and animals died on Kodiak. Islanders themselves took refuge 

 in houses, but there were many cases of sore throats and eyes. Two 

 or three men died from the effects. For several years there was a 

 shortage of game fish, but conditions eventually returned to normal. 

 The story of the eruption of Mount Katmai has interesting parallels 

 with what must have taken place in the McNary region. At least two 

 villages or camping spots were buried under 1 to II/2 feet of ash. The 

 pattern of the ash deposit itself is remarkably similar to that at 

 various places east of Mount Katmai. Martin (1913) illustrated a 

 chart indicating the depth and composition of the Katmai ash at sev- 

 eral stations east of the mountain. The column at Middle Bay, 

 Alaska, 101 miles east of Mount Katmai was 11^/2 inches high, and the 

 cross section is diagrammed below. The McNary ash was 17^ inches 

 high, and the pattern is depicted below. 



MCNARY 



MT. KATMAI 



Fine Whiie 



Fine Brown 



Medium Brown 

 Coarse Gray 



Off-Whi+e 



Brown 



Off-Whife 



Pink 



The McNary pattern suggests that either the ash there was closer 

 to the source of its eruption than 101 miles or that the eruption that 

 deposited it was of greater intensity or duration. The writer is in- 

 clined to believe that there were two major explosions in the same 

 volcano, and that they were a matter of a few days or perhaps a week 

 apart. For example, there is a repetitive pattern in the McNary ash : 

 dark-light, dark-light; furthermore, between the lower white layer 

 and the brown layer, there is a slight admixture of sand indicating per- 

 haps some wind deposition between ash falls. 



Other than a physical description, little can be said of the McNary 

 pumicite. Its existence is ignored by the geological literature, and 

 inquiries made at departments of geology at northwestern universities 



