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Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7243

Harriman Alaska Expedition (1899)

Harriman Alaska Expedition Collection, 1899-1900

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:Harriman Alaska Expedition (1899)
Title:Harriman Alaska Expedition Collection
Dates:1899-1900
Quantity:1.5 cu. ft. (3 document boxes)
Collection:Record Unit 7243
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

This collection consists of photographs taken on the Harriman Alaska Expedition and prints of paintings made by artists accompanying the expedition.

Historical Note

The Harriman Alaska Expedition of 1899 was co-sponsored by Edward Henry Harriman, President of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Washington Academy of Sciences. Originally conceived by Harriman as a big game hunt, it was transformed into a scientific exploring expedition on the advice of Clinton Hart Merriam, Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey.

Many prominent naturalists, scientists, and artists accompanied the expedition, including Merriam, Albert Kenrick Fisher, Grove Karl Gilbert, Frederick Vernon Coville, Bernhard E. Fernow, John Burroughs, John Muir, William H. Dall, Daniel Firaud Elliot, Robert Ridgway, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, Frederick A. Walpole, Robert Swain Gifford, and Charles Robert Knight. Many of the specimens collected were deposited in the United States National Museum, including large collections of birds and mollusks secured by Ridgway and Dall. The expedition departed from Seattle, Washington, aboard the George W. Elder, on May 31, and returned on July 30, 1899.

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Introduction

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.

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Descriptive Entry

This collection consists of photographs taken on the Harriman Alaska Expedition and prints of paintings made by artists accompanying the expedition.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7243, Harriman Alaska Expedition Collection

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Container List

Series 1

Photographs.

This series consists of photographs taken by various members of the Harriman Alaska Expedition. The photographs were originally contained in two albums, and are arranged chronologically and described. Included are landscapes and seascapes; shots of Eskimos and Eskimo villages; group photographs of the expedition party; and pictures of expedition members, including Frederick Vernon Coville, Grove Karl Gilbert, John Muir, and John Burroughs. Photographs of Edward Henry Harriman and his family are also found, including a picture of W. Averell Harriman at the age of seven.

Box 1

Folders 1-7 Photographs. [Modern copy photographs and select negatives are located in boxes 2-3. Researchers should consult the list in box 2 for copy negative numbers.]

Box 1 of 3

Series 2

Prints of Paintings.

This series consists of prints of paintings made by artists who accompanied the Harriman Alaska Expedition. Included are prints by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Robert Swain Gifford, Charles Robert Knight and Frederick A. Walpole. Most of the prints are of Alaskan flora and fauna, village scenes, and landscapes. The prints are arranged alphabetically by artist.

Box 2

Folder 1 Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel. "Camp of Indian Seal Hunters, Head of Yakutat Bay."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 2 Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel. "Mt. Fairweather, from the Northwest."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 3 Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel. "Popof Strait, Shumagin Islands."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 4 Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel. "Sunset, Gulf of Georgia."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 5 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Alaska Longspur, Calcarius Lapponicus Alascensis."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 6 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Golden-Crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia Coronata."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 7 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Horned and Tufted Puffins."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 8 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Hyperborean Snowflake, Passerina Hyperborea."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 9 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Kadiak Grosbeak, Pinicola Enucleator Flammula."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 10 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "King Elder, Somateria Spectabilis."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 11 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Long-Tailed Jaeger, Stercorarius Longicaudus."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 12 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Pomarine Jaeger, Stercorarius Pomarinus."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 13 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorus Rufus."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 14 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz. "Sabine Gull, Xema Sabini."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 15 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz, hand-painted playing cards. Made by Fuertes in camp with the Harriman Alaska Expedition, Yakutat, Alaska, 1899, to substitute for the commercial playing cards the crew forgot to bring ashore. (Accession 06-111)

Box 2 of 3

Folder 16 Gifford, Robert Swain. "Barry Glacier, Entrance to Harriman Fiord, Prince William Sound."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 17 Gifford, Robert Swain. "Mt. Cook from Yakutat Bay."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 18 Gifford, Robert Swain. "Pavlof Volcanoes from Shumagin Islands."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 19 Gifford, Robert Swain. "Sunset, Yakutat Bay."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 20 Knight, Charles Robert. "Kadiak Bear, Ursus Middendorfi Merriam."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 21 Knight, Charles Robert. "Kadiak Fox, Vulpes Harrimani Merriam."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 22 Walpole, Frederick A. "Alaska Heather's in Bed of Reindeer Moss."

Box 2 of 3

Folder 23 Walpole, Frederick A. "Calypso Orchid."

Box 2 of 3

Series 3

Copy Photographs and Negatives.

Box 2

Folder 24 List of Copy Photographs and "Harriman Alaska Expedition Souvenir Album," by Andrew Kraushaar

Box 2 of 3

Folder 25 Copy Photographs, Volume 1, Numbers 1-28

Box 2 of 3

Folder 26 Copy Photographs, Volume 1, Numbers 29-62

Box 2 of 3

Folder 27 Copy Photographs, Volume 1, Numbers 63-87

Box 2 of 3

Box 3

Folder 1 Copy Photographs, Volume 1, Numbers 88-126

Box 3 of 3

Folder 2 Copy Photographs, Volume 2, Numbers 127-153

Box 3 of 3

Folder 3 Copy Photographs, Volume 2, Numbers 153-182

Box 3 of 3

Folder 4 Copy Photographs, Volume 2, Numbers 183-217

Box 3 of 3

Folder 5 Duplicate Copy Photographs and Select Copy Negatives

Box 3 of 3

Series 4

Miscellaneous Records.

Box 3

Folder 6 Account of the Harriman Alaska Expedition written by expedition member Leon J. Cole, Yale Scientific Monthly, February 1900. Also included is a small American flag marked, "Kodiak, July 4, 1899." (Accession 06-112)

Box 3 of 3