A GOOGLE EARTH FLYOVER ILLUSTRATING THE GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF ARNOLD'S MARCH ON QUEBEC, 1775

Benedict Arnold’s failed attack on Quebec, in 1775 stands as one of the more labor intensive and geologically complex maneuvers executed in North America. The route followed the Kennebec and Dead Rivers upstream in Maine and downstream on the Chaudière River in Quebec, crossing the St. Lawrence for the attack. Inadequate maps and spotty intelligence indicated 280 km distance, leading Arnold to plan for 20-day trip. Actual distance was a rugged 680 km through unexplored wilderness taking 2 months. Rugged topography reflected the bedrock, which in combination with hasty planning, poor boat construction and stormy weather, had significant impact on the expedition.

Geologic features influencing the travel rate include the tidally influenced Chopps, where 6 rivers join the Kennebec in a large inland bay, and exit in a narrow rocky passage to the Atlantic, waterfalls, narrows, islands and campsites. Four falls, Ticonic, Skowhegan, Norridgewock and Caratunk, required portage for the expedition to pass. Above Caratunk Falls, the expedition left the Kennebec journeying 21 km over the Great Carrying Place to the Dead River. The portage has an elevation change >360 m with a 245 m increase in the first km and took 5 days and 7 round-trips to move all personnel, equipment and bateaux. Sites that slowed the movements of the force of 1100 men and 200 bateaux were photographed in their present configuration along the route.

To illustrate topographic and geologic aspects of this venture a flyover application was created using Google Earth. Geologic units, ages and structural features were imported from GIS data to create layers. .kmz placemarks were created at points related to hardships along the route. Placemarks were enhanced with text, photographs and useful URL links. Once layers were created, a flyover was produced allowing an extremely accurate visualization of the geology and topography encountered along the route of this complicated military operation.