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556 results for: Alaska

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Image of Cabins and mining activities near Nome, circa 1905
Photograph

Cabins and mining activities near Nome, circa 1905

By 1901, many of Alaska's small scale mining operations had been replaced by large industrial mining companies. Miners lived in camps near the mining operations.This B.B. Dobbs photo shows cabins and mining activities somewhere near Nome. Piles of pay dirt dwarf the small buildings. The small structure in the foreground may be an outhouse. The building to the far right,…
ID Number:SHS516
Date:Circa 1905
Image of Two miners weighing gold in cabin, near Nome, Alaska, circa 1900
Photograph

Two miners weighing gold in cabin, near Nome, Alaska, circa 1900

The last stage in the mining process was called the cleanup. After the last of the gold was washed from the pay dirt, the miners weighed it to see how much gold they had gotten.This photo shows two miners weighing gold in a comfortably furnished cabin. One man (left) weighs the nuggets in a pan balance while the other holds…
ID Number:SHS550
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Child near mining equipment, Nome, August 30, 1906
Photograph

Child near mining equipment, Nome, August 30, 1906

Whole families traveled to the Yukon and Alaskan gold fields. Some couples met there and raised families. Many children worked with their parents on mining claims. It was a rough environment for children. Temperatures in Nome during the winter of 1899-1900 ranged from -35 to +35 degrees Fahrenheit with strong chilly winds.This photo of a child in Nome was taken…
ID Number:SHS565
Date:1906
Image of Indigenous women picking hops, Snoqualmie Hop Ranch, circa 1895
Photograph

Indigenous women picking hops, Snoqualmie Hop Ranch, circa 1895

From the late 1860s to the early 1890s, hop farming was an important activity in the valleys of the Puget Sound region, including Puyallup, White River, and Snoqualmie. Indigenous workers came from throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska (but especially from regional tribes like the Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot, Duwamish, Sammamish, Lummi, and Nisqually) as a seasonal labor force to…
ID Number:SHS1052
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Office area and laboratory in U.S. Assay Office, circa 1903
Photograph

Office area and laboratory in U.S. Assay Office, circa 1903

Gold must be assayed in order to determine its purity, and therefore its value. After extensive lobbying by Seattle businessmen, the United States government opened an assay office in Seattle in July 1898. Many miners sold their gold to the government at the assay office which sent it to the Philadelphia mint for making gold coins.This photo shows the interior…
ID Number:SHS1230
Date:Circa 1903
Image of Steamer
Photograph

Steamer "Queen" and ice floes at Taku Inlet, 1897

Steamers carrying gold seekers north from Seattle during icy weather didn't always have an easy time of it. Alaska's Inland Passage could be tricky and dangerous, and channels weren't always marked.In this 1897 photo, the steamer "Queen" is stuck on a sandbar in Taku Inlet, southeast of Juneau. The vessel waited for six hours in the ice before it floated…
ID Number:SHS1512
Date:1897
Image of Infant asleep in a sling, Alaska, circa 1905
Photograph

Infant asleep in a sling, Alaska, circa 1905

In this image, an infant wearing a cap covered with buttons sleeps in a birchbark sling rigged with a rocking mechanism. The style of the cap appears Tlingit, but the infant's moccasins and the sling are probably of Alaskan Athabaskan origin. Around the beginning of the 20th century, white photographers used photographs of Indigenous babies on commercial products, and this…
ID Number:SHS1765
Date:Circa 1905
Image of Tlingit women weaving baskets, Alaska, circa 1897
Photograph

Tlingit women weaving baskets, Alaska, circa 1897

The Tlingit people have lived on the coast and islands of what is now southeastern Alaska since time immemorial. Tlingit society is organized into clans, which follow maternal descent. Fishing, gathering, and hunting were central to historic Tlingit lifeways - they used salmon, shellfish, seals, berries, deer, and other food sources. They used every part for different purposes, not wasting…
ID Number:SHS1766
Date:Circa 1897
Image of Chilkat people in dance costumes, Klukwan, Alaska, circa 1895
Photograph

Chilkat people in dance costumes, Klukwan, Alaska, circa 1895

The Chilkat are a Tlingit tribe who have lived in and around their village of Klukwan on the Chilkat River, in southeastern Alaska since time immemorial. They lived on foods available on their lands as well as trading with other tribes on the Pacific coast and inland. Settlers came to Chilkat lands in large numbers in the early 20th century,…
ID Number:SHS1769
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Camp of Auke Natives, Alaska, circa 1896
Photograph

Camp of Auke Natives, Alaska, circa 1896

The Tlingit people have lived on the coast and islands of what is now southeastern Alaska since time immemorial. Tlingit society is organized into clans, which follow maternal descent. Fishing, gathering, and hunting were central to historic Tlingit lifeways - they used salmon, shellfish, seals, berries, deer, and other food sources. They used every part for different purposes, not wasting…
ID Number:SHS1772
Date:Circa 1896
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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.
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