Bay of Pillars is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

located in the

Alexander Archipelago The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...

in the southeastern region of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. It is situated within the Kuiu Wilderness of the

Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at . 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 i ...

Geography

This bay is on the west side of

Kuiu Island Kuiu Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. It lies between Kupreanof Island, to its east, and Baranof Island, to its west. The island is long, and wide. It is nearly cut in two by Affleck Canal. It has of l ...

and opens on

Chatham Strait Chatham Strait, or Shee ya xhaak in the Tlingit language, is a narrow passage of the Alexander Archipelago in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It separates Chichagof Island and Baranof Island to its west from Admiralty Island ...

, having Point Sullivan for the northern entrance point and Point Ellis marking the southern. It is a large body of water, much obstructed by islands and reefs, and has two deep arms similarly obstructed: North Bay of Pillars and South Bay of Pillars. On the southern shore of the South Bay of Pillars, about from Point Ellis, the cannery of the Astoria and

Alaska Packing Company Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

was located. The principal streams in this vicinity fished for commercial purposes are: Home Stream or Point Ellis Stream (the Indian name for it is Kutlakoo); Pillar Bay Stream; and Kuiu Stream (or Alecks Stream). The North Bay of Pillars, like the South, is much obstructed by islets and reefs. The head of the bay, however, is clear, and is in length by in width. It forms a harbor with anchorage in moderate depths. At the extreme northern head of the bay are the mouths of two large streams, apart, bordered by extensive tidal flats. The South Bay of Pillars is quite straight, and fairly clear for a distance of , when the bay becomes choked with islands and reefs. In the southeastern angle, an arm extends to the eastward for about , and receives the waters of a small humpback stream. On the northern side, the bay terminates in the Narrows (Skookum Chuck), which extend in a northeastern direction about , with a width of about , through which the current is quite violent during the strength of the tide. These Narrows connect with an inner bay long, in a northeast and southwest direction, by wide, which at the eastern end sends an arm at right angles to the southward about long by wide, receiving at the western terminus the waters of the Point Ellis or Kutlakoo stream. This stream is a lake outlet, and from the grassy flats at its mouth to the lake is about long, with an average width of and a depth of 10 inches. It has a general north-and-south direction, flowing over a gravelly bottom between moderately steep banks heavily wooded. As the lake is not more than above tide water, the current is not strong, nor are there any falls or strong rapids. Tide water extends about within the mouth.

References

;Bibliography * {{Coord, 56.60139, -134.25778, display=title Bays of Alaska Tongass National Forest Bodies of water of Petersburg Borough, Alaska