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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.

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557 results for: Alaska

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Image of Sourdoughs posing on truck at reunion, Seattle, August 1935
Photograph

Sourdoughs posing on truck at reunion, Seattle, August 1935

The Klondike Gold Rush was a migration by an estimated 100,000 prospectors to the Klondike region of the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1896 and 1899. The events of the Klondike gold rush rapidly became embedded in North American culture, being captured in poems, stories, photographs, and promotional campaigns long after the end of the stampede. Some terminology from the…
ID Number:SHS10085
Date:1935
Image of White Pass & Yukon Route train, trestle, and tunnel, circa 1899
Photograph

White Pass & Yukon Route train, trestle, and tunnel, circa 1899

The first leg of the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad line was the most difficult to build. Between Skagway and White Pass, the tracks climbed 2,885 feet in just 21 miles. This required several switchbacks and careful tracklaying in order to make the route safe and passable. A 250 foot tunnel had to be blasted through solid rock. This…
ID Number:SHS10117
Date:Circa 1899
Image of Alaska prospector, circa 1901
Photograph

Alaska prospector, circa 1901

Sometime between 1897 and 1908, a photographer by the name of Reese took two photographs of the same Alaskan miner and gave them different titles. This photo, taken from the front, shows the miner holding his rifle and wearing a pack on his back. His coffeepot hangs by his side. Another photo in this collection, entitled "Alaska Packer," shows the…
ID Number:SHS10342A
Date:Circa 1901
Image of Alaska packer, circa 1901
Photograph

Alaska packer, circa 1901

Sometime between 1897 and 1908, a photographer by the name of Reese took two photographs of the same Alaskan miner and gave them different titles. This photo, taken from the back, shows the miner carrying his gold pan, cookware, rifle, and other supplies. Another photo in this collection, entitled "An Alaska Prospector," shows the same man from the front. On…
ID Number:SHS10342B
Date:Circa 1901
Image of The favorite dog team of Sheep Camp, circa 1898
Photograph

The favorite dog team of Sheep Camp, circa 1898

Gold seekers who landed at Dyea, Alaska, carried their supplies to Sheep Camp and then to the foot of Chilkoot Pass. Some people in Dyea and Sheep Camp made a living carrying the stampeders' goods along the trail by dog team. This photo by Eric Hegg, taken around 1898, shows a dog team considered the favorite in Sheep Camp.
ID Number:SHS10426
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Dog team pulling a cart, Dawson City, circa 1898
Photograph

Dog team pulling a cart, Dawson City, circa 1898

After the snow melted in the spring, dog teams didn't rest. They continued to work, pulling carts instead of sleds. This photo shows a team of six dogs pulling a cart loaded with a trunk and other supplies, possibly belonging to the woman standing near the cart (left center). Eric Hegg took this photo in Dawson City sometime around 1898.…
ID Number:SHS10428
Date:Circa 1898
Image of Automated salmon processing machine,
Photograph

Automated salmon processing machine, "Iron Chink," Seattle, 1909

In 1902, machines called "Iron Chinks" started replacing the largely Chinese cannery workers who butchered and canned the fish. The use of a racial slur in the machine's name is one example of the discrimination faced by Chinese immigrants to the US. The name continued to be used into the mid-20th century. Today they are called butchering machines or iron…
ID Number:SHS10662
Date:1909
Image of Locomotive hauling powder through Skagway, circa 1902
Photograph

Locomotive hauling powder through Skagway, circa 1902

Gold seekers who had made the long boat trip north to Skagway came ashore in an unfamiliar place described as "little better than hell on earth," and "about the roughest place in the world." They were 1,000 miles from Seattle, which was cosmopolitan by comparison.This photo of Skagway was probably taken between 1898 and 1905. The Hotel Seattle and other…
ID Number:SHS10681
Date:Circa 1902
Image of Dog team in front of Seattle Times offices, circa 1898
Photograph

Dog team in front of Seattle Times offices, circa 1898

The gold rush heated up competition between Seattle's newspapers. Each paper published special guides to the Yukon with maps and information for would-be gold seekers. The Seattle Times and many other American and foreign newspapers sent correspondents to the Klondike to write first hand accounts of the gold rush--and maybe to make a fortune. The papers made it all sound…
ID Number:SHS11037
Date:Circa 1898
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
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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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