August 12, 2018
ROCKWELL KENT WILDERNESS CENTENNIAL JOURNAL
100 YEARS LATER
by Doug Capra © 2018
100 YEARS LATER
by Doug Capra © 2018
Friday night, August 10, 2018 – An event happened in Resurrection Bay worth noting in this Kent journal.
Kent’s cabin was located at the northern cove on the west side of Fox island – at the northern end of that cove. West across the bay and a little to the south sits Bear Glacier around the corner of what today is named Callisto Head. Kent labels in Caines Head on his pen-and-ink chart of Resurrection Bay because it didn’t get the current name until 1930. On a clear day from his cabin, Kent could probably see a sliver of Bear Glacier’s snout. If he hiked to the southern end of his cove, which he and Rocky often did, he could see a bit more. If he ventured around that headland to Sunny Cove, Kent could get an even better view. He could see it best when he took his small dory out of his cove and risked heading a bit south – potentially dangerous in winter. The artist was fascinated with Bear Glacier and did several paintings of it, even moving that river of ice around on the canvas creating views from which it couldn’t be seen.
On Friday evening, August 10, 2018, the lake in front of Bear Glacier breached the moraine that separated it from the mouth of Resurrection Bay, creating channels to the sea. The last time this occurred was on August 14, 2014. “This dramatic event is called a glacier lake outburst food,” according to Kenai Fjords National Park Ranger Deb Kurtz. “Glacier lake outburst floods occur when water that has dammed up behind below, behind, or inside of a glacier is rapidly released.” Kurtz wrote in her report that the source for this outburst flood is a small lake located about eight miles up-glacier from the terminus at the top of a small tributary glacier. “Water from snow melt, ice melt and rain, collects in a basin carved out by the retreating ice and under/within the ice, and is dammed by the ice itself.” Before the 2014 flood nearby weather stations had reported five inches of rain at the Seward airport and twenty inches in Aialik Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park. This year we’ve also had a rainy late July and early August in Seward – not untypical for this time of year.
A hundred years ago today – August 12, 2018 -- Kent is in Yakutat beginning his exploration of the area. It’s raining hard. Tomorrow we’ll follow him around to see what’s going on.
PHOTOS
1. Resurrection Bay Alaska, painted in 1939. Kent returned to Alaska in 1935 -- a brief research trip for a WPA mural project. He didn’t return to Seward, so this painting was not done on site.
2. Bear Glacier by photographer John E. Thwaites, the mail clerk on the steamer Dora. The day Kent arrived in Seward he stayed at the Sexton Hotel. Photographer Sylvia Sexton (daughter of the owner George Sexton) had partnered with Thwaites to sell their pictures. Kent became friends with them both. This postcard photo represents the glacier as it looked about the time Kent was on Fox Island. He sent this post card to a few people and most likely used the image for some of his work.
3. Kent painting – Bear Glacier, Alaska 1919. Oil on Canvas
4. National Park Service (NPS) photo of Bear Glacier.
5. Chart of Resurrection Bay 1918 (linecut on paper, 10 ½ by 14 in). The right hand of the flying “North Wind” is pointing to Callisto Head. Around the corner is Bear Glacier.
6. The location of the fox farm in the northwest cove of Fox Island. Courtesy of archeologist Mark Luttrell who has been working with me to document the site.
7. Bear Glacier as it appeared on August 15, 2014 after its lake breached the moraine. NPS Photo.
8. Bear Glacier as it looked Saturday, August 11, 2018 after its lake breached the moraine. Photo courtesy of Mike Culver, Marathon Helicopters, Seward, Alaska.
1. Resurrection Bay Alaska, painted in 1939. Kent returned to Alaska in 1935 -- a brief research trip for a WPA mural project. He didn’t return to Seward, so this painting was not done on site.
2. Bear Glacier by photographer John E. Thwaites, the mail clerk on the steamer Dora. The day Kent arrived in Seward he stayed at the Sexton Hotel. Photographer Sylvia Sexton (daughter of the owner George Sexton) had partnered with Thwaites to sell their pictures. Kent became friends with them both. This postcard photo represents the glacier as it looked about the time Kent was on Fox Island. He sent this post card to a few people and most likely used the image for some of his work.
3. Kent painting – Bear Glacier, Alaska 1919. Oil on Canvas
4. National Park Service (NPS) photo of Bear Glacier.
5. Chart of Resurrection Bay 1918 (linecut on paper, 10 ½ by 14 in). The right hand of the flying “North Wind” is pointing to Callisto Head. Around the corner is Bear Glacier.
6. The location of the fox farm in the northwest cove of Fox Island. Courtesy of archeologist Mark Luttrell who has been working with me to document the site.
7. Bear Glacier as it appeared on August 15, 2014 after its lake breached the moraine. NPS Photo.
8. Bear Glacier as it looked Saturday, August 11, 2018 after its lake breached the moraine. Photo courtesy of Mike Culver, Marathon Helicopters, Seward, Alaska.
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