214 
' BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
THE UGASHIK RIVER. 
The mouth of this river is about 40 miles below the Egegak, and, according’ to 
the chart, is in latitude 57° 38' north, longitude 157° 48' west; but the chart is appar- 
ently much in error. The river, it is said, has its source in a lake system of consid- 
erable extent, about 50 miles in the interior of the peninsula. In its lower course 
it has as tributaries King Salmon River, which enters through the left bank from the 
southeast about 5 miles from the pilot station, and Dog Salmon River, which enters 
through the left bank about 15 miles from the pilot station. These are large streams, 
and it is probable there are others higher up. 
The Ugashik is a large river and discharges a great quantity of water into the 
wide indentation that has Cape Grey for its northern point and Cape Menchikolf 
for its southern. Cape Gre} r is a prominent bluff about 200 feet high, ranging 
several miles along the shore, brownish in color, with a few yellow vertical stripes. 
It appears to be the terminal point of a low ridge, which itself slopes to low land 
on each side. Cape Menchikotf is also a high bluff having a wider range along the 
shore and more hilly country back of it. 
From seaward the near land visible between the capes, including the river valley, 
appears to be all low. The capes can be approached from the westward to within a 
distance of about 2 miles. The distance between them is estimated at about 20 miles, 
though the chart would seem to indicate the distance as about 2 miles. From the 
capes the low land converges to the eastward to a point where the river may be 
said to enter. Here it is about 6 miles across between high-water banks, and has on 
the northern side a bluff, 10 to 12 miles from Cape Grey, known as Smoky Point. 
This is recognized as the northern entrance point to the river. 
The indentation formed by the two capes, the converging land, and the lower 
courses of the river are filled with shoals and banks. There is, however, a fair 
channel, through which, it is said, 9 feet may be carried at low-water spring tides. 
This channel is buoyed during the canning season by the Alaska Packers Association 
for the convenience of their vessels, but no regular system is adopted and a stranger 
would be unable to follow it with safety. The outer buoy is on the bar, which is 
nearly on a line between Cape Grey and Cape Menchikotf, 9 miles from the former. 
From this buoy it is about 6 miles to Smoky Point. 
About 6 miles higher up the river, on a bluff on the right bank, is a native village 
which is called the “Pilot Station,” and immediately above it, on a lower bluff, is 
the cannery of the Alaska Packers Association, called the Ugashik Fishing Station. 
It is about 17 miles from Cape Grey. An Eskimo formerly lived in the village who 
piloted vessels through the channel, hence the name, Pilot Station. The river is 
very tortuous, and winds and recurves to such an extent that at a point about 20 
miles by river from the Alaska Packers Association cannery the distance across 
country is about 7 miles. 
The Ugashik, like the rivers previously described in this report, is essentially a 
redfish river, and some years these salmon run in very large numbers. King salmon 
occur scatteringly throughout the season, and at times dog salmon are plentiful. 
There are practically no humpbacks, but it is said there is a run of cohoes after the 
canneries close. There is, at times, an abundance of trout, flounders, and crabs, but 
