Holkham Bay | |
---|---|
Sumdum Bay | |
Coordinates | 57°44′45″N133°37′31″W / 57.7458333°N 133.6252778°W |
Type | Bay |
Native name | Sum Dum (Tlingit) |
Etymology | Holkham, England |
Ocean/sea sources | Inside Passage |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. width | 6 miles (9.7 km) |
Max. depth | 217 feet (66 m) |
Islands | Harbor Island |
References | [1] [2] |
Holkham Bay (also known as Sumdum Bay) [3] is a bay in the U.S. state of Alaska. It connects Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm on its east to Stephens Passage on its west.
Holkham Bay was named for Holkham, a community in Norfolk, England by George Vancouver. The Tlingit knew the bay as Sum Dum, reportedly referring to the sound of ice falling off glaciers into the water. [4] This led to the alternate name of Sumdum Bay in use today. Some mines in the area borrow both names. [1]
The land surrounding Holkham Bay was inhabited by Tlingit people, along with much of the rest of Southeast Alaska. [5] European discovery and its modern name came in 1794 after Joseph Whidbey, exploring as part of the Vancouver Expedition, reported the bay upon his return to George Vancouver. [1] Whidbey reported several hostile encounters with the Tlingit on his journey. [6]
Holkham Bay served as one of the operational bases for Canadians working to define the Canada–United States border to resolve the Alaska boundary dispute in the late 19th Century. [7]
Gold was mined from quartz veins found in the black graphite slate.[ when? ] The Sumdum Mine is located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Sanford Cove. Two ledges constitute the Sumdum Chief and Bald Eagle Mines and "have been mined to a depth of several hundred feet below their surface outcrops." Supporting structures included a 10-stamp mill, four large Frue Vanners, two Pelton wheels, a wagon road, a short tramway, and a wharf. [8]
Gold was mined by the Portland Group from a silicious schist ore body containing gold-bearing pyrite, galena, and sphalerite.[ when? ] [8]
Holkham Bay sits about 45 miles (72 km) south of Juneau, Alaska on the east side of Stephens Passage across from the Class Peninsula of Admiralty Island. Tracy Arm extends to the north from the bay to Sawyer Glacier. Endicott Arm leads southeast from the bay to Dawes Glacier. [1] Both arms are fjords, which formerly held glaciers along their entire lengths. The bay is separated from the adjacent arms by an area of shallower water.
Harbor Island is the largest island in the bay, with the Round Islets making up the other islands. [2] The island and the land surrounding the bay are part of the Tongass National Forest with some areas being part of the Chuck River Wilderness (to the south) and the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness (to the east). [1]
The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau, is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a consolidated city-borough and the second-largest city in the United States by area. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current municipality, which is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
Hoonah–Angoon Census Area is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,365, up from 2,150 in 2010. It is part of the unorganized borough and therefore has no borough seat. Its largest community is the city of Hoonah.
The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at 16.7 million acres. Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which is managed by the United States Forest Service, encompasses islands of the Alexander Archipelago, fjords and glaciers, and peaks of the Coast Mountains. An international border with Canada runs along the crest of the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The forest is administered from Forest Service offices in Ketchikan. There are local ranger district offices located in Craig, Hoonah, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, Thorne Bay, Wrangell, and Yakutat.
Douglas Island is a tidal island in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the city and borough of Juneau, just west of downtown Juneau and east of Admiralty Island. It is separated from mainland Juneau by the Gastineau Channel, and contains the communities of Douglas and West Juneau.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is an American national park located in Southeast Alaska west of Juneau. President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed the area around Glacier Bay a national monument under the Antiquities Act on February 26, 1925. Subsequent to an expansion of the monument by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) enlarged the national monument by 523,000 acres on December 2, 1980, and created Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. The national preserve encompasses 58,406 acres of public land to the immediate northwest of the park, protecting a portion of the Alsek River with its fish and wildlife habitats, while allowing sport hunting.
Prince of Wales Island is one of the islands of the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle. It is the fourth-largest island in the United States and the 97th-largest island in the world.
Admiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska, at 57°44′N134°20′W. It is 145 km (90 mi) long and 56 km (35 mi) wide with an area of 4,264.1 km2 (1,646.4 sq mi), making it the seventh-largest island in the United States and the 132nd largest island in the world. It is one of the ABC islands in Alaska. The island is nearly cut in two by the Seymour Canal; to its east is the long, narrow Glass Peninsula. Most of Admiralty Island—955,747 acres (3,868 km2)—is protected as the Admiralty Island National Monument administered by the Tongass National Forest. The Kootznoowoo Wilderness encompasses vast stands of old-growth temperate rainforest. These forests provide some of the best habitat available to species such as brown bears, bald eagles, and Sitka black-tailed deer.
Stephens Passage is a channel in the Alexander Archipelago in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It runs between Admiralty Island to the west and the Alaska mainland and Douglas Island to the east, and is about 170 km (105 mi) long. Juneau, the capital of Alaska, is near the north end, on Gastineau Channel.
Glacier Bay Basin in southeastern Alaska, in the United States, encompasses the Glacier Bay and surrounding mountains and glaciers, which was first proclaimed a U.S. National Monument on February 25, 1925, and which was later, on December 2, 1980, enlarged and designated as the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, covering an area of 3,283,000 acres. In 1986, UNESCO declared an area of 57,000 acres within a World Biosphere Reserve. This is the largest UNESCO protected biosphere in the world. In 1992, UNESCO included this area as a part of a World Heritage site, extending over an area of 24,300,000-acre (98,000 km2) which also included the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, Kluane National Park (Canada) and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park (Canada). Part of the National Park is also designated a Wilderness area covering 2,658,000 acres.
Tracy Arm is a fjord in the U.S. state of Alaska near Juneau. It is named after the Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Franklin Tracy. It is located about 45 miles (72 km) south of Juneau and 70 miles (110 km) north of Petersburg, Alaska, off of Holkham Bay and adjacent to Stephens Passage within the Tongass National Forest. Tracy Arm is the heart of the Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness, designated by the United States Congress in 1990
Snettisham is a locale and former populated place in the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, United States. Based on the mainland coast of Stephens Passage, it is 31 miles (50 km) southeast of the city of Juneau. The area was named by George Vancouver in 1794; the bay on which Snettisham was located was named for the village of Snettisham in Norfolk, England. It was established as a gold- and silver-mining camp around 1895, its operations being linked to those in the immediate Juneau area, and it remained a small harbor village until 1926. The United States Department of the Treasury designated Snettisham as one of several of Alaska's "special" landing places for vessels carrying "coal, salt, railroad iron, and other like items in bulk". The designation was meant to encourage the construction of facilities to accommodate these shipments, thus stimulating creation and growth of local businesses.
The Silver Bow Basin, often written as Silverbow Basin, is a valley located 2.4 miles (3.9 km) northeast of Juneau, Alaska, USA. It is situated on Gold Creek in an area north of Icy Gulch, and approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Gastineau Peak. A trail from Juneau leads directly to the mountainside. The basin was the site of the earliest gold discovery in the Juneau area, leading to the establishment of the town called Juneau.
Fritz Cove is a bay on the northwestern coast of Douglas Island in the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, United States. Lying in Stephens Passage, it is 8 miles (13 km) northwest of the city of Juneau.
Windham Bay is located 45 miles (72 km) southeast of Juneau, in the U.S. state of Alaska. Windham Bay is listed as site 6 within Southeast Alaska's Zone 3 of the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation's Geographic Response Strategy oil spill response plan. Part of the bay is a protected wilderness area; the Chuck River Wilderness, established in 1990 by the United States Congress, covers an area of 74,506 acres (30,152 ha). The Chuck River flows into Windham Bay, which has a protected anchorage north of Port Houghton, where the historic Chuck Mining Camp once operated.
Murder Cove is located at the southernmost portion of Admiralty Island in the U.S. state of Alaska. The cove was home to the Tyee Company whaling station and was known for whaling operations from 1907 through 1913.
Port Snettisham is a narrow fjord 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Juneau in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a semi protected deep water port that was developed to transport many mineral deposits found in the Snettisham Peninsula. Lieutenant Joseph Whidbey of the Royal Navy discovered the fjord on August 12, 1794; George Vancouver named it after the town of Snettisham in England.
William Henry Bay is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located near Haines in the Alexander Archipelago. The only commercial copper deposit in Southeast Alaska situated north of Prince of Wales Island was located in the bay. Significant gold and strategic mineral anomalies were found at William Henry Bay during surveys in 2011.
Berners Bay is a waterway in the U.S. state of Alaska, approximately 40 miles (64 km) north of Juneau. It is a large and deep indentation, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide at the entrance, which is formed by Point Bridget and Point St. Marys. It runs in a north-northwest direction for 6 miles (9.7 km) from Point Bridget, with a width of 3 miles (4.8 km) opposite Point St. Marys. The bay is surrounded by Tongass National Forest.
The Juneau gold belt is located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. This belt is approximately 100 miles (160 km) in length, north/northwest-trending, and extends from Berners Bay southeastward to Windham Bay, 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Juneau, and includes Douglas Island. The belt contains over 200 gold-quartz-vein deposits with production nearing 7,000,000 ounces (200,000,000 g) of gold. More than three-quarters of Alaska's lode gold was mined from the Juneau gold belt.