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Harry Alfred Parshall photograph album and memoir of gold mining in the Koyukuk River region of Alaska
Title
Harry Alfred Parshall photograph album and memoir of gold mining in the Koyukuk River region of Alaska, 1898-circa 2005 (bulk 1898-1900).
Physical Description
0.23 linear feet (2 boxes)
Language
English
Notes
Photograph album measures 21 x 30 cm.
Photographs in the album have typescript captions.
In English.
Provenance
Purchased from William Reese Co. (Cowan's sale, 2009 December 9, lot 327) on the Winlock William Miller, Jr. Memorial Fund, 2010.
Organization
Arranged chronologically.
Access and use
This material is open for research.
Biographical / Historical Note
Harry Alfred Parshall (1862-1947) was born in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania. He chiefly worked as a stonemason and steelworker, as well as serving as a town council member in West Middlesex. Parshall also prospected for gold in Alaska, 1899-1900. In 1902, Parshall married botanist Ella M. McCullough (1878-1917), and they had three children: Samuel Baird Parshall (1904-1923), Martha Rebecca Parshall Gilkey Young (1907-2008), and Edward D. Parshall (1912-1999).
Summary
Photograph album with 74 photographs compiled by Harry Alfred Parshall that documents his activities in the Koyukuk River region of Alaska during the Alaska Gold Rush, 1898-1900. An accompanying six-page typescript, "An Arctic Adventure," by Parshall's daughter, Martha Rebecca Parshall Gilkey Young, circa 2005, describes his activities based on her memories of their conversations during the 1930s.
The typescript describes transport of a small sternwheeler steamboat, "Beaver of Pennsylvania” and a large barge by Parshall and partners via rail from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Seattle, Washington, and then by a schooner to Saint Michael, Alaska. It discusses his solitude during the winter of 1898-1899 when he stayed with the barge on the shore of the Yukon River while the rest of his group traveled to their final destination at the confluence of the Alatna River and Helpmejack Creek. Parshall rejoined the group during the spring of 1899 at their mining camp, Beaver City. The manuscript also briefly discusses his return to Alaska with his wife, Ella McCullough Parshall, in the early twentieth century.
The album contains photographs of identified settlements include Anvik, Arctic City, Bergman, Nulato, and Saint Michael, as well as Healy and the businesses of Hotel Healy and the North American Transportation and Trading Company. Identified waterways include the Alatna River, Koyukuk River, and Yukon River. Other images include views of gold mining operations, log cabins and camp structures, ice jams on rivers, wooden gravehouses, and sleds pulled by men and dogs, as well as discrete group portraits of the mining party and American Indians. A photograph also depicts a group hanging a man from a tree, probably a mock lynching.
Format
Archives or Manuscripts / Images
Added to Catalog
June 09, 2015
References
Harry Alfred Parshall Photograph Album and Memoir of Gold Mining in the Koyukuk River Region of Alaska. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Cite as
Harry Alfred Parshall Photograph Album and Memoir of Gold Mining in the Koyukuk River Region of Alaska. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Subjects
Genre/Form
Gelatin silver prints.
Photograph albums.
Photographs.
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