• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

584 results for: Alaska

Share:
Image of Court of Honor and Geyser Basin at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909
Photograph

Court of Honor and Geyser Basin at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Seattle, 1909

In the summer of 1909, a world's fair, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, took place on the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle. Over three million people visited the buildings, grounds, and sites of the A.Y.P.E. between June 1 and October 1, 1909.This panoramic view shows the Geyser Fountain (now known as Drumheller Fountain) looking north towards the Government Building…
ID Number:SHS7920
Date:1909
Image of Performers from the
Photograph

Performers from the "Streets of Cairo" in the Oriental Village pose on the Pay Streak at AYPE, Seattle, 1909

The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (AYPE) was a world's fair held in Seattle to publicize the development of the Pacific Northwest. The fairgrounds were designed by the Olmsted Brothers landscape Architecture firm and located on the campus of the University of Washington. The AYPE's amusement park and midway area was located along what is now 15th Avenue, and was called the Pay…
ID Number:SHS7956
Date:1909
Image of Dogsled owned by a mail carrier, near Nome, Alaska, circa 1905
Photograph

Dogsled owned by a mail carrier, near Nome, Alaska, circa 1905

Mail delivery quickly became an important service for prospectors arriving in Alaska for the Gold Rush. During the winter, dogsleds delivered first class mail to Nome once a month. Magazines and newspapers had to wait for the steamers which ran after the ice melted. Dogsled mail carriers generally worked in relay, each carrying the mail along a particular section of…
ID Number:SHS7977
Date:Circa 1905
Image of Down in a Nome gold mine, circa 1903
Photograph

Down in a Nome gold mine, circa 1903

In Alaska and the Yukon, placer gold was found along ancient stream beds, some of which were underground. This often required much digging and long hours in the cold and dark. Candles were scarce and expensive at a dollar apiece.This photo, taken in Nome sometime between 1899 and 1906, shows a group of people working 110 feet underground for the…
ID Number:SHS7980
Date:Circa 1903
Image of Three men and a rocker in the Nome gold fields, circa 1905
Photograph

Three men and a rocker in the Nome gold fields, circa 1905

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 shook the rocker back and forth as they poured water on the tray. Finer pieces of gold and dirt washed through holes in the tray into the box beneath.…
ID Number:SHS7986
Date:Circa 1905
Image of Packers ascending summit of Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898
Photograph

Packers ascending summit of Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898

The Chilkoot Pass had been used as a Indigenous trade route for generations before the Klondike stampede. When the 1897 gold rush started, the Chilkat, Tlingit, and other Native people hired themselves out as packers for the incoming gold seekers, charging $1.00 a pound to carry goods over Chilkoot Pass. The following year, a tramway put many of the Native…
ID Number:SHS8258
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Klondikers shooting White Horse Rapids, 1898
Photograph

Klondikers shooting White Horse Rapids, 1898

Two miles below Miles Canyon, gold seekers on the Yukon River had to navigate through White Horse Rapids. Those who could afford it hired a pilot or portaged their goods around the rapids and used ropes to guide their empty boats through the dangerous rapids. Some boats broke up among the rocks and whirlpools; some took on so much water…
ID Number:SHS8332
Date:1898
Image of Tent city at Lake Bennett, 1898
Photograph

Tent city at Lake Bennett, 1898

In early spring 1898, roughly 10,000 gold seekers were camped on the shore of Lake Bennett waiting for the ice to clear. They assembled their supplies and built boats and scows to take them down the Yukon River. Until the railroad was completed in 1900, Bennett continued to be a major jumping off spot for the Klondike gold fields.This 1898…
ID Number:SHS8352
Date:1898
Image of People and pack animals on the Chilkoot Trail, April 21, 1898
Photograph

People and pack animals on the Chilkoot Trail, April 21, 1898

The Chilkoot Trail, also called the Dyea Trail, had been an Indigenous trade route for generations. Gold seekers followed the old trail north from Dyea along the river towards Chilkoot Pass. Those who could afford it hired people or pack horses to carry their goods as far as Sheep Camp.This 1898 photo shows people and pack animals at a stop…
ID Number:SHS8396
Date:1898
Image of Alaska Building under construction, Seattle, August 9, 1904
Photograph

Alaska Building under construction, Seattle, August 9, 1904

In 1903, work began on the 14-story Alaska Building. This office building was Seattle's first skyscraper to be built with steel framing. Steel framed buildings could be taller than those in Pioneer Square which were built by earlier methods. This photo shows construction of the Alaska Building, which still stands on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Cherry Streets.…
ID Number:SHS9373
Date:1904
Previous 1 … 50 51 52 53 54 … 59 Next

Land Acknowledgement

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
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved