278 
OBITUARY NOTICES. 
1866, remaining until 1868, when he entered Michigan Uni¬ 
versity, at Ann Arbor, near the end of the sophomore year, 
taking his A. B. in 1870 and six years later received the 
master’s degree. 
His mathematical tastes were marked and led to his selec¬ 
tion, shortly after his graduation, for the post of professor of 
mathematics at Albion College, at that time a small denom¬ 
inational institution at Albion, Michigan. Here the pro¬ 
fessors were expected to take part in the religious, as well as 
intellectual, training of the students under their care, and 
had neither time nor opportunity for the cultivation of their 
own minds or the carrying on of any researches of an orig¬ 
inal nature. Weary of this unintellectual atmosphere, he 
welcomed the opportunity to return to the University of 
Michigan in the autumn of 1871 as instructor in mathematics, 
with an opportunity for pursuing his own mathematical and 
astronomical studies under the kindly and stimulating in¬ 
fluence of the distinguished James C. Watson, professor of 
astronomy. In this congenial environment young Baker 
remained until March, 1873. 
At this time the United States Coast Survey had been 
maintaining for several years a reconnaissance survey of the 
Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands. The commerce of 
that region had been growing, and it was desirable that 
prominent points on the main lines of travel should have 
their position fixed, that the variation of the magnetic nee¬ 
dle in this district should be better known, that harbors of 
refuge or resort should be delineated by charts of modern 
construction, and that as much information useful to navi¬ 
gators as could be gathered should be available for the 
preparation of a new Coast Pilot. 
The work, under the direction of the present writer, was 
carried on in a small sailing vessel. The region was practi¬ 
cally uncharted, the existing charts known to he most im¬ 
perfect, the unsurveyed waters known to be bristling with 
rocks and shoals, the region one of the foggiest and most 
tempestuous in any ocean. The first cruise lasted thirteen 
