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William H. Dall, July 9, 1865

Dean of Alaskan explorations, William Healey Dall (1845-1927) began his scientific career as a member of the Scientific Corps of the Alaskan Western Union Telegraph Expedition in 1865. In 1871 he was appointed to the United States Coast Survey, where he continued his studies on Alaska and the northern Pacific Coast. Dall left the Coast Survey in 1884 to accept the rank of Paleontologist with the United States Geological Survey, a position he held until 1925. Having assembled and described some of the collections of mollusca and other organisms held by the United States National Museum since 1868, Dall served as Honorary Curator of the Museum's Division of Mollusks from 1880 until his death. A prolific writer, Dall published more than five hundred scientific papers. Among Dall's more important larger works are Alaska and its Resources, 1870, and Contributions to the Tertiary Fauna of Florida, 6 volumes, 1890-1903, which is still considered the most important American publication on Cenozoic molluscan paleontology.

The Western Union Telegraph Expedition

The Western Union Telegraph Expedition, 1865-1867, also known as the Russian-American Telegraph Expedition, was undertaken to study the possibility of setting up

Dall drew "First telegraph poles in the Yukon" inside the cover of his notebook

a communications system with Europe by way of Alaska, the Bering Straits, and Asia. The expedition was organized in three divisions, working in Canada, Russian-America (Alaska), and Asia. Robert Kennicott, the veteran Alaskan explorer, was placed in charge of the Russian-American division. Under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the Chicago Academy of Sciences, a Scientific Corps was established, with Kennicott in command, to accompany the Russian-American division and make collections in natural history. Naturalists who served as members of the Scientific Corps included William H. Dall, Henry M. Bannister, and Henry W. Elliott. On the death of Kennicott on May 13, 1866, Dall became chief of the Scientific Corps and took over and led the survey team to the Bering Strait, and later published the first English-language reports on the natural history of the Yukon and Alaskan territories, The Yukon Territory. The expedition was terminated in July 1867 due to the successful laying of the Atlantic Cable.

Documents On-Line

• Description of Indian Life in Alaska
   
• Viewing the Aurora Borealis and an eclipse of the moon

Other Resources

• Photographs
   
• William H. Dall, The Yukon Territory: The Narrative of W.H. Dall, Leader of the Expedition to Alaska in 1866-1868, London: Downey & Co., 1898.