Object Details
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of forty-two (42) drawings created for the Northern Pacific Railroad Survey by Johnson Kelly Duncan, Gustav(us) Sohon, and John Mix Stanley. The majority of the drawings are portraits.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
sova.naa.ms130305
Local Numbers
USNM Accession Number 13050
USNM Catalog Number 130305
Creator
United States Pacific Railroad Expeditions and Surveys
Artist
Duncan, Johnson Kelly, 1827-1862
Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872
Sohon, Gustav, 1825-1903
Place
North America
Creator
United States Pacific Railroad Expeditions and Surveys
Artist
Duncan, Johnson Kelly, 1827-1862
Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872
Sohon, Gustav, 1825-1903
Culture
Chinook
Iroquois
Kalispel (Pend d'Oreilles)
Niitsitapii (Blackfoot/Blackfeet)
Pikuni Blackfeet (Piegan)
Salish (Flathead)
Spokan
Yakama (Yakima)
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Northern Pacific Railroad Survey drawings
Historical Note
The Pacific Railroad Surveys (1853–1855) were a series of five explorations designed to find and document possible routes for a transcontinental railroad across North America. The expeditions included surveyors, scientists, and artists and resulted in an immense body of data on the geology, zoology, botany, paleontology of the land as well as ethnographic descriptions of Native peoples.
The Northern Pacific survey, led by Isaac Stevens, traveled between the 47th and 49th parallel from St. Paul, Minnesota to the Puget Sound. Artists documenting the survey included chief artist John Mix Stanley (1814-1872); astronomer, topographer, and artist Johnson Kelly Duncan (1827-1862); and assistant artist Gustav (or Gustavus) Sohon (1825-1903).
Extent
42 Drawings (visual works)
Date
1853-1854
Custodial History
The drawings were donated to the Smithsonian Institution by Willard Jewell in 1883. They were transferred from the object collections of the Department of Anthropology to the Smithsonian Office of Anthropology Archives, now the National Anthropological Archives, in 1967.
Archival Repository
National Anthropological Archives
Identifier
NAA.MS130305
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings (visual works)
Works of art
Drawings
Watercolors
Citation
Northern Pacific Railroad Survey drawings, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series by artist: (1) Johnson Kelly Duncan, 1853-1854; (2) Gustav Sohon, 1853-1854; and (3) John Mix Stanley, 1853.
Processing Information
The collection was reprocessed in 2022. The drawings, which had previously been described independently of each other, were organized into a single collection. The archivist replaced the titles previously assigned to the drawings with the titles provided by the artists. The drawings were arranged by artist in chronological order.
Rights
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form
Works of art
Drawings
Watercolors
Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
NAA.MS130305
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw32e28c2b2-9f6b-4e65-8965-a341e03a25f7
NAA.MS130305
NAA
Record ID
ebl-1652295900618-1652295900913-0