[Map of Glacier Bay.]

[Map of Glacier Bay.]

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Kimes Entry Number

144A

Original Date

1-1-1882

William and Maymie Kimes Annotation

As John Muir completed his exploration of Glacier Bay by canoe with S. Hall Young and their Indian crew in September of 1880, he was in a great hurry to reach Sitka by the shortest route so that he could catch the monthly mail steamer home. In Hall Young of Alaska ... [autobiography], Young writes: ""We traveled two days and two nights without stopping and were very tired and hungry when we reached the hospitable harbour and were rejoiced to find that the steamer had not yet arrived."" About their arrival in Sitka, Young related in Alaska Days With John Muir: ""Here we met a warm reception from the missionaries, and also from the captain and officers of the old man-of-war Jamestown . ... They were interested at once in our account of the discovery of Glacier Bay .... At their request, from Muir's notes and our estimate of distances by our rate of sailing, and of directions from observations of our little compass, we drew a rough map of Glacier Bay. This was sent to Washington by these officers and published by the Navy Department. For six or seven years it was the only sailing chart of Glacier Bay .... "" Captain L.A. Beardslee of the Jamestown was the highest ranking officer representing the United States Government in Alaska at that time. According to Young, the officers were charged with doing some surveying; however, the Jamestown, a cumbersome sailing vessel, was completely inadequate for maneuvering through the intricate coastal channels and little was accomplished. This accounts for the officers' keen interest in the details of Muir's explorations. Furthermore, it was Beardslee's responsibility to send an annual report to Washington and he was eager for any information he could gather. In his report for 1880, Beardslee includes Muir's map, labeling it Glacier Bay. Concerning the naming of Glacier Bay, Mr. Donald J. Orth, executive secretary of the United States Board on Geographic Names, writes: ""From all appearances Captain Lester A. Beardslee named Glacier Bay in 1880. The 1883 Coast Pilot, published by the U.S. Coast Survey, states that it was named Glacier Bay by the U.S. Navy 'and all that we know of it is from information collected by Captain L. A. Beardslee, U.S.N., published in Hydrographic Notice No. 97 of 1880, issued by the Hydrographic Office of the Navy Department .... ""'Mr. Orth further points out that ""Marcus Baker, who personally knew most of the people involved in exploration in Alaska during the last quarter of the 19th century, wrote in his Geographic Dictionary of Alaska that the bay was entered by Lt. Charles E. S. Wood in 1877, explored by John Muir in 1879, and named by Beardslee in 1880. Mr. Orth goes on to say: ""Although Beardslee formally named the bay, the name itself may have been originally used informally or suggested by someone else, such as Muir.""

Publication

Beardslee, Captain L.A., U.S. Navy, Reports of Captain L. A. Beardslee Relative to ""Jamestown"" Under His Command While in the Waters of That Territory. Senate Ex. Document no. 71, 47th Congress, 1st Session. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1882

Page/Column

opposite p. 100

Size/Description

Chart 225 CU

[Map of Glacier Bay.]

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