Alaska Facts and History

Have you ever heard of “The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes”? It's an incredible chapter in Alaska history.

In the photo above is an explorer’s 1916 camp in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history took place in Alaska in 1912.

Imagine

For five days, the Alaska Peninsula experienced violent earthquakes.

Then the Mount Katmai volcano erupted in southern Alaska, 265 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The explosion of the eruption was so strong that it destroyed the top of Mount Katmai and a new crater was formed.

In addition, an entirely new volcano was formed that was later named Novarupta.

Eyewitnesses

There were four villages in the Katmai area. Savonoski, Kaguyak, Katmai and Kukak.

The following is from an interview with one of the villagers:

“Sometime in afternoon - it was just like this, bright sunshine, hot, no wind, that’s when the volcano started. Started snowing like that fine pumice coming down. Make lot of noise.

Kaflia Bay started to get white. Flat calm, no wind. Pretty soon dark came. Pretty soon pitch black. The Katmai mountain blew up with lots of fire.

**No one in the villages lost their lives in either the eruption or the aftermath.

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What the Blast Caused

The massive blast sent over 7 cubic miles of volcanic debris into both the atmosphere and the stratosphere in just 60 hours.

To give you a reference, the island of Kodiak, Alaska was covered by a foot of ash.

Fumes from the blast produced acid rain as far as 370 miles away.

How the Site Got Its Name

In 1916, Robert F. Griggs came to the area for the National Geographic Society.

Because of what he saw, Griggs stated the following:

“The whole valley as far as the eye could reach was full of hundreds, no thousands – literally, tens of thousands – of smokes curling up from the fissured floor.”

What Griggs said, later became the name of “The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes”.

In the photo above, on your right, Robert F. Griggs is frying bacon over an open fissure

What Griggs Saw

Jets of steam and gas were everywhere. In places, the steam was as hot as 1,200 degrees F. The jets spewed from vents in the earth.

In the valley’s 56 square miles, 40 square miles were covered in up to 700 feet of volcanic ash.

All plant and animal life had been destroyed.

NASA Astronauts Trained There

Many years later, in 1965 and 1966, The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes was used as a training ground for NASA astronauts.

It was thought that the area resembled the Lunar landscape.

BONUS

Take a look at these pictures of The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and discover.

Alaska Volcano Facts

There are more than 130 volcanoes and volcanic fields in Alaska.

Around 90 of these might erupt again.

About 50 have been active since 1760. Those include Mount Spurr, Redoubt, Illiamna and Mount Saint Augustine. All are near Anchorage.

BONUS

In the photo above is Mount Spurr

“Our family was living in a log home on Fairbanks street near downtown
Anchorage, Alaska in 1953. When I woke up one summer morning I noticed that something was wrong.”

Michael Dougherty of Anchorage Memories remembers the 1953 eruption of Mount Spurr near Anchorage.

Take a look at “Midnight at High Noon” and remember.

From Our North Stars (that’s you)

Did you know what song was on the 45 record we showed you in a previous edition?

“I know what’s on that 45 record. The Royal Coachmen”

Johnny

Yes, Johnny, popular Anchorage radio DJ Ron Moore was known as the Royal Coachman and the 45 recording was his radio show theme song, “The Royal Coachman”.

And we received this heart-felt comment

“I fell in love with Anchorage in 1943 and vowed I was going to grow up and live here forever 1959-2016. I still love Anchorage but feel the same way now about Kenai. We are so LUCKY to live in this great state”

Gladys

In Touch

In the picture above to your left, is an Anchorage Pioneer. Do you know who he is?

Here is a hint. You can find information about him in Anchorage libraries.

Did you learn something about Alaska facts and history in this edition of the Anchorage Memories VIP Club?

You can send us your comments by replying to this email. Or maybe you want to send us a note to say, “I’ve visited the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes”.

Contact US and let us know.

Until Next Time

Mike and Mary

Anchorage Memories.com