Hiram M. Chittenden

Hiram M. Chittenden, 1916

Hiram Martin Chittenden (1858–1917) was the Seattle district engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers (April 1906 – September 1908) for whom the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Seattle, Washington, were named.

Early Life

Chittenden was born on October 25, 1858 in Yorkshire, New York. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 1884 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He reached the rank of Brigadier General in 1910. He died on October 9, 1917 in Seattle, Washington.

Projects

With the Army Corps of Engineers, Chittenden was in charge of many notable projects throughout the United States:

• Yellowstone National Park (1891-1892, 1899-1906): roadwork, improvements, basalt arch at north entrance, single span bridge (Chittenden Bridge, formerly the Melan arch bridge) across the Yellowstone River.
• Yosemite National Park: commissioned by the Secretary of the Interior to determine boundary changes
• Lake Washington Canal Project, Seattle, Washington (1906)

Literary Works

Chittenden was also an author, penning historical volumes, tour guides, and poetry:

• The Yellowstone National Park, Cincinnati: Stewart & Kidd Company, 1895.
• The American Fur Trade of the Far West, New York: F. P. Harper, 1903. (Three volumes)
• History of Steamboats on the Missouri River, 1903. (Two volumes)
• Life and Letters of Father de Smet’  with A. T. Richardson, 1905. (Four volumes)
• War or Peace, 1910.
• Verse, Seattle: Holly Press, 1916. (poetry)

See also

• Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
• National Irrigation Congress

References

• H. M. Chittenden: A Western Epic, Tacoma: Washington State Historical Society, 1961.

External links

• Finding aid to article subject from the Special Collections, Washington State Historical Society