Arthur C. Pillsbury Collection
See photographs of the Klondike Gold Rush, California, Oregon and Washington taken by Arthur C. Pillsbury (1870-1946) between about 1896 and 1900.
-
Tenaya Canyon in Yosemite, ca. 1897-1900
No caption is provided for the photograph but it appears to show Tenaya Canyon in Yosemite. Half Dome appears at the right of the photograph. Pillsbury had a lifelong interest in the park and established his own photograph studio there in 1897.
Identifier: spl_ap_00164
Date: 1897?; 1900?
View this item -
Prospectors on beach in Nome, Alaska, October 3, 1899
The men in the photo are employing a method known as "cradling." Prospectors would shovel gravel onto the top of a "cradle" or "rocker" box and rock it back and forth to sift through the gravel through to the lower levels and, if they were lucky, reveal gold. One of these boxes can be seen at the right of the photo. Gold was discovered in the area in the summer of 1898. Prospectors rushed to stake claims and Nome's population quickly ballooned to 10,000 people. In 1899, more gold was discovered on beaches near the town and spurred an even greater rush of visitors. By 1900, an estimated 1000 people a day were arriving in Nome. Pillsbury took some of the first available photographs of the city. Following his departure, the winter conditions made it too difficult for others to reach the area. The same photograph appeared in the June 1900 issue of Harper's Weekly. An illustration based on the photograph appeared in the June 1900 of McClure's Magazine.
Identifier: spl_ap_00180
Date: 1899-10-03
View this item -
Haines, Alaska and Portage Cove looking SE, ca. 1899
Identifier: spl_ap_00137
Date: 1899?
View this item -
Aerial photograph of Pike Place Market looking west
Aerial photograph of Pike Place Market facing west towards Pier 59. The viaduct and waterfront piers can be seen at the top of the photo.
Identifier: spl_sh_00009
View this item -
-
Letter from Edward S. Curtis to Harriet Leitch, February 2, 1949
Letter from Edward Curtis to Harriet Leitch and Minnie Harris (of the Washington State Historical Society). Curtis discusses the importance of The North American Indian for posterity and describes the long hours that he put into the work. He reflects on his childhood and how his father's illness caused him to begin working at an early age. He writes "As I look back over my scrambled life I realize that I have rarely taken a Sunday off and but one week vacation, its safe to say that in the past sixty years I have averaged sixteen hours a day, seven days a week." In a postscript, he adds that his health has taken a turn for the worse and doctors want him to return to the hospital--an idea which he resists.
Identifier: {}
Date: 1949-02-02
View this item -
Taku Glacier, Alaska, ca. 1899
The original Tlingit name for Foster Glacier was Taku Glacier. It was also known as Schulze Glacier in the 1880s and Foster Glacier in the 1890s before reverting to its first name.
Identifier: spl_ap_00099
Date: 1899?
View this item -
Municipal News v. 55, no. 18, Oct. 25, 1965
Includes League's Report on Candidates and Issues. General Election, Tuesday, November 2, 1965.
Identifier: spl_mn_818362_55_18
Date: 1965-10-25
View this item -
White Pass and Yukon Railroad at White Pass, ca. 1899
During the Klondike Gold Rush, the White Pass was one of the routes used by prospectors to travel from Skagway to the Yukon gold fields. In April 1898 the White Pass and Yukon Railroad Company was formed in an effort to establish an easier way through the pass. Construction on the railroad began the following month. Thousands of workers worked around the clock in treacherous conditions to complete the project. The railroad track was completed at White Pass on February 20, 1899 and reached Lake Bennett on July 6, 1899. The final spike on the railroad was placed on July 29, 1900 in Carcross, B.C.
Identifier: spl_ap_00040
Date: 1899?
View this item -
Baist's Real Estate Atlas of Surveys of Seattle, Wash - Plate 4
Baist Real Estate atlases of Seattle were published in 1905, 1908, and 1912. The atlases show property ownership (for large tracts), plats, block and lot numbers, streets, buildings, sewers, water mains, electric railways, and steam railroads.
Identifier: spl_maps_341191.4
Date: 1905
View this item