Uploaded June 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
During the late 1910's and early 1920's, Robert F. Griggs led several expeditions into heart of today's Katmai National Park. Griggs and his team were exploring and documenting the effects of the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption--the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
In 1916, Griggs discovered that the Ukak River valley, buried by pyroclastic flows and ash fall, was steaming. It was filled with "thousands, no tens of thousands of smokes curling up from it's fissured floor."
Griggs was awestruck by this landscape and named it the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. In 1918, largely through his efforts and the lobbying by the National Geographic Society, Katmai National Monument was created.
In 1919, another expedition led by Griggs brought a motion picture camera to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. This silent movie is from footage shot that year.
During the late 1910's and early 1920's, Robert F. Griggs led several expeditions into heart of today's Katmai National Park. Griggs and his team were exploring and documenting the effects of the 1912 Novarupta-Katmai eruption--the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century.
In 1916, Griggs discovered that the Ukak River valley, buried by pyroclastic flows and ash fall, was steaming. It was filled with "thousands, no tens of thousands of smokes curling up from it's fissured floor."
Griggs was awestruck by this landscape and named it the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. In 1918, largely through his efforts and the lobbying by the National Geographic Society, Katmai National Monument was created.
In 1919, another expedition led by Griggs brought a motion picture camera to the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. This silent movie is from footage shot that year.
