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182 results for: Curtis

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Image of Panning for gold at Gold Hill, Yukon Territory, circa 1898
Photograph

Panning for gold at Gold Hill, Yukon Territory, circa 1898

Miners used water running through sluices to wash the gold out of the pay dirt. Larger chunks of gold and gravel settled out along the uneven bottom of the sluice boxes. The smallest pieces of gold and dirt were washed to end of the sluice box where the gold was removed by panning.This photo, taken around 1898 by Asahel Curtis,…
ID Number:SHS11388
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Open-air grocery store in Dawson City, circa 1898
Photograph

Open-air grocery store in Dawson City, circa 1898

By the end of July 1898, over 40,000 gold seekers had poured into Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Some of the city's busines was conducted in tents or in the open air.In this photo, taken around 1898 by Asahel Curtis, customers are buying pies, loaves of bread, and cans of corned beef and sausage at an open air grocery store. The…
ID Number:SHS11391
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Chief Isaac of the Hän, Yukon Territory, circa 1898
Photograph

Chief Isaac of the Hän, Yukon Territory, circa 1898

The Hän people historically lived along the Yukon River near the border of eastern Alaska and western Yukon Territory. One of their largest and most important sites was Tr’ochëk, where the Klondike and Yukon Rivers meet. It was there that the Klondike Gold Rush started in 1896 and within a few years thousands of people had come to Hän lands…
ID Number:SHS12407
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Street in Skagway during the gold rush, circa 1898
Photograph

Street in Skagway during the gold rush, circa 1898

Gold seekers who were headed to the Klondike gold fields via White Pass landed in Skagway, Alaska. The weather and the conditions on the White Pass Trail were so bad that people sometimes got stuck in Skagway for several days before they could head north. Businesses in Skagway took advantage of this.This photo, taken around 1898 by Asahel Curtis, shows…
ID Number:SHS14112
Date:Circa 1898
Image of View of Dawson, Yukon Territory, circa 1898
Photograph

View of Dawson, Yukon Territory, circa 1898

Dawson, Yukon Territory, was wilderness in 1896. By 1898, so many Klondike stampeders had come to the area that Dawson was the largest city in Canada west of Winnipeg, Manitoba. At over 40,000 inhabitants, the crowded city was only slightly smaller than Seattle.This photo, taken around 1898, shows a general view of Dawson and its waterfronts on the Yukon (left)…
ID Number:SHS15451
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Four men digging tunnel in gold mine at Eldorado, circa 1898
Photograph

Four men digging tunnel in gold mine at Eldorado, circa 1898

In Alaska and the Yukon, placer gold was found along ancient stream beds, some of which were twelve to forty feet underground at bedrock. The gold was frozen in the dirt or gravel. Miners chopped away at the frozen earth with picks or tried to thaw it with fires or steam machines. They "drifted" all winter, digging tunnels in the…
ID Number:SHS15820
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Lucas in tent, 1898
Photograph

Lucas in tent, 1898

Seattleite Asahel Curtis left for the Klondike in 1897 and stayed two years, taking photos for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In 1898, Curtis took this photo of a man named Lucas resting outside his tent. Inside the tent, two pots heat on top of a small woodstove; the chimney of the stove passes up through the roof of the tent. The…
ID Number:SHS16668
Date:1898
Image of Unloading freight at Skagway, 1898
Photograph

Unloading freight at Skagway, 1898

Gold seekers heading to the Klondike gold fields via the Inland Passage could land at Skagway or Dyea. At first, ships had to anchor offshore and unload their passengers and freight onto barges which carried them ashore. There was usually an extra charge for this.This 1898 photo of the tidal flats at Skagway shows freight being unloaded from a barge.…
ID Number:SHS16696
Date:1898
Image of Two men and oxen on Skagway Trail, 1898
Photograph

Two men and oxen on Skagway Trail, 1898

In 1897 and 1898, some of the Klondike stampeders used oxen to carry supplies along the White Pass Trail. Others used dogs, horses, mules, and even goats. Once the railroad was completed from Skagway through White Pass, there was less need for these pack animals.In this 1898 photo taken by Asahel Curtis, two men stand in the snow near their…
ID Number:SHS16716
Date:1898
Image of Men using rockers to pan for gold, circa 1898
Photograph

Men using rockers to pan for gold, circa 1898

Many gold miners used rockers (also called cradles) to remove gold from pay dirt. They shoveled the dirt and gravel into a tray at the top of the rocker, and they moved the rocker back and forth as they poured water through the tray. Finer pieces of gold and dirt washed through holes in the tray into the box beneath.…
ID Number:SHS16719
Date:Circa 1898
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MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
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