Harriman Alaska Expedition

This series contains photographs made from May 31 to July 30, 1899, during the Harriman Alaska Expedition. Photographers represented in the series are Edward S. Curtis (official photographer for the expedition), Edward Henry Harriman, C. Hart Merriam, W. B. Devereux, William H. Averell, Wesley Coe, Leon J. Cole, Grove Karl Gilbert, and Robert Ridgway; some photographs also may have been made by Curtis's assistant for the voyage, D. J. Inverarity. There is also a map documenting the passage of the expedition's ship, the SS George W. Elder. Most of the prints were likely removed from one of the expedition's souvenir albums, or at least were made in preparation for the albums, and they are duplicated in the lantern slides. Many of the lantern slides represent unique images and many are are hand-colored. The following is a rough chronology of the expedition, based on PBS's Harriman Expedition Retraced (http://www.pbs.org/harriman/1899/chronology.html): May 23 -- Harriman's private train leaves New York City with many of the scientists on board May 31 -- The train arrives in Seattle, where the remainder of the expedition party joins them on the SS George W. Elder June 2 -- The expedition stops at Vancouver Island before traveling north along the British Columbia coast June 3 -- Stop at Lowe Inlet to allow a group of scientists to explore Princess Royal Island June 4 -- Stop at Metlakatla June 5 -- Stop at Wrangell June 6 -- Stop at Treadwell Mine near Skagway; 5 scientists stay for several days June 7 -- Stop to ride White Pass Railroad June 8 -- Stop at Juneau to pick up scientists left at Lowe Inlet and then head to Glacier Bay June 15-18 -- Stop at Sitka June 9-14 -- Cruise Glacier Bay, including exploration of Muir and other glaciers and a 12-man hike to Howling Valley June 19 -- Stop at Yakutat mission settlement June 20-23 -- Cruise to map Malaspina Glacier, observe seal hunters, and explore Disenchantment Bay June 24 -- Stop at salmon cannery at Orca; converse with gold rush miners June 25-29 -- Cruise Prince William Sound and discover and name Harriman Fiord and Harriman Glacier on June 26 June 30 -- Originally headed to Cook Inlet, but instead head to Kodiak Island to hunt bear July 1-4 -- Bear hunting and July 4th celebration in Kodiak town (with boat races); Dellenbaugh hears about uninhabited Tlingit village in south Alaska July 5-6 -- Pass Shumagin Islands on way to Bering Sea July 7 -- Five scientists set up camp on Popof Island as the Elder heads onward July 8 -- Stop at Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, and at Bogoslof before heading into the Bering Sea July 9 -- Stop at St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs July 10 -- Travel through Bering Sea toward Siberia July 11 -- Stop at Plover Bay, Siberia, to visit Eskimo settlement July 12 -- Stop at Port Clarence July 13 -- Stop at St. Lawrence Island July 14 -- Stop at Hall Island July 15 -- Stop at St. Matthew Island July 16-19 -- The Elder returns south, stopping at the Shumagins to retrieve camping scientists July 20 -- Return to Kodiak July 21-25 -- Returning south, stop at Juneau July 26-27 -- Stop at uninhabited Tlingit village near Cape Fox July 30 -- Arrive in Seattle