40 



RECONNAISSANCE IX NORTHERN ALASKA IN 1901. 



meridian, they give to it :i breadth of about 210 miles. In elevation these groups 

 lie generally between 2,000 and 4,000 feet, while the height of the 



main range near the international boundary is from 5,000 to 7,000 

 feet. From this point, with but slight if any decrease in elevation, the 

 range continues westward to the one hundred and fifty-third meridian, 

 beyond which, in the region at the head of Colville and Noatak rivers, 

 it diminishes in height, and seems to divide into two parts or ranges. 

 Of these, the northern range, continuing westward, terminates in the 

 low mountains and abrupt sea cliffs of Paleozoic rocks at Cape 

 Lisburne (see PI. V and fig. 1), while the southern forms the divide 

 | between Noatak and Kowak rivers. 



a ENDICOTT MOUNTAINS. 



i I 



> Z. GENERAL FEATURES. 



o 



It is probably to the range between Noatak and Kowak rivers, 

 | as seen from Lookout Mountain, on the Koyukuk, that Allen in 1S85 



O 



% gave the name Endicott Mountains. Though the name appears on 

 c Allen's map, and is referred to in the text of his report, it is not 

 | known to have come into use or to have appeared on any of the 



o 



numerous succeeding Alaskan maps. Allen refers to the mountains 



q 



| of this region as comparatively low, and says the highest are the 



« Endicott Mountains, between Koyukuk and Kowak rivers, which, 



1 extending northward, were supposed to contain the headwaters of 

 g Colville River. The highest peaks were estimated at 4,000 feet. As 

 c printed on Allen's map, however, the term is given a broader signili- 

 g cance, applying to practically the entire portion of the range embracing 

 | the headwaters of the Koyukuk and the sources of the drainage ways 

 m which flow in an opposite direction into the Arctic Ocean, between the 

 ■"! one hundred and fortv-fifth and one hundred and fiftv-fourth meridians. 



a 



s As the term embraces and seems fittingly to apply to all that part of 

 the range considered in this report, it will here be retained, and the 

 mountains will be referred to in this report as the Endicott Mountains. 

 Where crossed by the Geological Survey party the range lies 

 between the rolling, hilly country of the Koyukuk Basin on the south 

 and a very gently undulating plateau country on the north. On the 

 south the rise from the rolling country to the mountains is by foothills, 

 but rapid. On the north the mountains break off abruptly, much as 

 they do along the edge of the Great Plains in western United States. 



i Allen, Lieut. H. T.. Reconnaissance in Alaska, 1SS5, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1887. 



