Photograph Album of the Cruise of the Revenue Cutter "Corwin" in Alaska: Finding
Aid
Finding aid prepared by Michelle Sanchez.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2013
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: Photograph Album of the Cruise of the Revenue Cutter "Corwin" in Alaska
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1881-1883
Collection Number: photCL 97
Extent:
36 photographs in 1 album; album 18 x 27 cm (7 x 11 in) + 1 preservation microfilm copy reel.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This photograph album illustrates the sights and peoples experienced during a voyage of the United States Revenue Cutter
Thomas Corwin to Alaska and the Arctic Ocean during the early 1880s.
There are many views of native (Inuit) villages and inhabitants in Alaska and coastal Siberia,
along with scenery and seascapes. All photographs are accompanied by detailed manuscript captions by an unknown individual.
Photographs depict Alaskan nature scenes and harbors; Inuit people, dwellings and villages;
and documentation of the fur trade in the 19th century.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on April 28, 2014.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
Photograph Album of the Cruise of the Revenue Cutter "Corwin" in Alaska. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
Purchased from Shorey Book Store (Seattle, Washington) in 1956.
Historical Note
The USRC
Thomas Corwin was a United States Revenue Cutter that patrolled the Arctic Ocean and Bearing Sea, beginning in the late 1870s. In 1882,
Michael A. Healy (1839-1904) became commander
of the
Corwin, and he rose to the position of captain in March of 1883. While in command of the
Corwin, Healy patrolled the Arctic to the prevent illegal sale of guns and
alcohol to the Alaskan natives and to control illegal fur seal hunting. The captain was also concerned for the well-being
of the Alaskan natives, and ferried Siberian caribou to help reestablish the natives' food supply,
since many seals and walruses were killed by white traders.
Scope and Content
This album contains photographs that were taken during a voyage of the USRC
Thomas Corwin to Alaska and the Arctic Ocean during the early 1880s. With images of the Inuit inhabitants
including portraits; views of homes and villages; and the killing and skinning of seals. There are also views of non-Indian
hunters and traders. The Inuit villages and dwellings
illustrated are in Sitka, St. Michael, King's Island, and locations in Siberia. There is one view of an "Eskimo" [i.e. Inuit]
grave at an unidentified location.
The photograph album has the title "Scenes in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean. 1883" embossed on the front cover. An ink manuscript
title page reads: "Cruise of the Revenue Cutter 'Corwin' 1881."
All photographs are accompanied by detailed manuscript captions in ink by an unknown individual.
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Related materials in the Huntington Library
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Body piercing -- Photographs.
Corwin (Ship) -- Photographs.
Fur trade -- Alaska -- Photographs.
Graves -- Alaska -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Photographs.
Inuit -- Photographs.
Orthodox churches -- Photographs.
Russian Orthodox -- Photographs.
Sailing ships -- Photographs.
Whaling -- Photographs.
Healy, Michael A., 1839-1904.
Alaska -- Photographs.
Arctic Ocean -- Photographs.
Bering Sea -- Photographs.
Siberia (Russia)-- Photographs.
Forms/Genres
Photograph albums.
Photographs.
Marine photographs.
Box 1
Photograph Album
Note
Item titles transcribed from handwritten captions.
Item 1
Departure Bay. East side of Vancouver Island B.C. A coal depot; extensive mines 5 or 6 miles inland.
Item 2
Fort Wrangell. A settlement in South Eastern Alaska. Indian village on the right.
Item 3
Sitka. Capital of Alaska. Indian village on the left.
Item 5
Town and harbor of Ounalaska [Unalaska]. Ounalaska [Unalaska] Island, Behring [Bering] sea.
Item 6
Town of Ounalaska [Unalaska]. Behring [Bering] Sea. Headquarters and stove houses of Alaska Commercial Co.
Item 7
Mountain Scene and waterfall. Island of Ounalaska [Unalaska]
Item 8
Town on St. Paul's Island. Behring [Bering] sea.
Item 9
Interior of Greek Church. St. Paul's Island.
Item 10
Fur seals on the beach. St. Paul's Island.
Item 11
Group of fur seals. St. Paul's Island.
Item 12
Killing fur seals. The animals are killed by a blow on the head with a large club. Party on the right are the killers; on
the left are the skinners who strip the fur coats off of the dead bodies with sharp knives.
Item 13
"Rocks beside the Sea". St. Paul's Island.
[Group of men, women, and boy sitting on rocks. Boy may be Fred Healy, son of Captain Michael A. Healy. Woman to the right
of the boy may be Mary Jane Healy, Healy's wife.]
Item 14
Indian town, St. Michaels [Michael], Alaska.
Item 15
Alaska Commercial Co's trading post. St. Michaels [Michael], Alaska.
Item 16
Natives and traders. St. Michaels [Michael], Alaska.
Item 17
Esquimo [Eskimo] natives of St. Michaels [Michael]. Skin canoe or "bidarka". Esquimo [Eskimo] dogs. (Mastodon tusk on the
left).
Item 18
"Western Fur Co.'s" trading post. St. Michaels [Michael].
Item 19
Village on Kings' Island, Behring (Bering) Sea. Island very steep, rocky, and barren; rises about 1000 feet in height and
is about 1 mile across. Houses in view are of walrus hide, outer end supported by poles of drift wood. Some live in caves.
Natives very healthy, strong, and active.
Item 20
Village at Plover [Providence] Bay, Siberia. Houses of walrus hide supported by drift wood poles lashed together.
Item 21
Groups of natives at Plover [Providence] Bay, Siberia. Central figure is "Cornelius", a native who has been abroad and received
some education on Long Island. Speaks English well.
Item 22
"Polunna" [Alaska native youth]. Plover [Providence] Bay, Siberia.
Item 23
Village at Indian Point. Siberia.
Item 24
Groupe [Group] of natives at Indian Point, Siberia.
Item 25
Summer encampment of Esquimo [Eskimo] at Hotham Inlet Arctic Ocean.
Item 26
Summer encampment, Hotham Inlet. Arctic Ocean. Frames erected for drying and preserving fish. Drying walrus hides. Seal skin
bags for holding oil.
Item 27
Esquimo [Eskimo] tea party. Spafarief Bay. Kotzbue [Kotzebue] Sound. Arctic Ocean.
Item 29
"Itit-karook". Showing peculiar lip ornaments worn by men, only, on the American shores of the Arctic & Behring [Bering]
Sea.
Item 30
Spafarief Bay. Kotzbue [Kotzebue] Sound. Arctic Ocean. Skin houses, canoes, oil bags &c
Item 31
Original posts, Chamisso Island. Arctic Ocean. Erected in 1826 by H.M.S. "Blossom" in search of Sir John Franklin.
Item 32
Groupe [Group] of natives from Point Hope, Arctic Ocean.
Item 33
Cape Thompson, Arctic Ocean.
Item 34
American whaler in the Arctic. Bark "Abram Barker" of New Bedford.
Item 35
Sunset in the Arctic Ocean. July 27th 1883. 10:30 p.m.
Item 36
Coal Mine Bluff, Arctic Ocean. About 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
Box 2
Preservation microfilm copy
Access Information
Advance arrangements for viewing the preservation microfilm must be made with the Curator of Photographs.
Note
Microfilm reel of copy negatives held in cold storage.
