REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Bruce Merrell, Museum Volunteer

TITLE: Henry G. Bryant Album

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2006.012

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1897-1903

Extent: 1.5 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Henry Grier Bryant (1859-1932), Eric A. Hegg

Administrative/Biographical History:
Although there is no direct evidence that this album was compiled by Henry Bryant there are
strong connections, including stock certificates made out to him and correspondence received
by him.

Henry Grier Bryant was born in Pennsylvania; his father had made a fortune in leather and
lumber. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Princeton University, and the University
of Pennsylvania Law School and lived most of his life in Philadelphia. He became an explorer,
photographer, and member of the international geographical community, travelling to Labrador
in 1891 and to Greenland on the Peary Relief Expedition in 1892. Bryant organized an
expedition to climb Mt. St. Elias in Alaska in 1897. A member of his party was injured during
the climb, ending the attempt. (In the same year an Italian team led by Prince Luigi Amedeo,
Duke of the Abruzzi, was the first to complete the ascent). In 1899 Bryant led an expedition on
Mount Assiniboine, Alberta, Canada, in the company of Englishman L. J. Steele. Later
explorations included the St. Augustine River in Labrador and mountain ascents throughout the
world. He was president of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia for various terms between
1897 and 1932 and president of the American Alpine Club from 1911-13. There is a collection
of Bryant’s papers and photographs at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and a collection

of his travel notebooks (not including Alaska) is at the Independence Seaport Museum,
Philadelphia.

The amount of detail in the album’s captions (mileage on the Chilkoot Trail, elevation of
mountains) indicates first-hand knowledge and implies that the photographer and album’s
compiler were the same person. However, the handwriting in the captions is clumsy and some
common words are misspelled (summitt for summit, paridice for paradise, peek for peak). This
does not seem to be the work of a wealthy, highly educated man. Photographs of Stoney
Indians and of Mont Blanc have “LJ Steele” penciled on their backs in a different style of
handwriting, further obscuring the album’s origins. (The New York Times reported on July 16,
1899 that Bryant was leaving to attempt a climb of Mount Assiniboine in Canada, so the Rocky
Mountain and Stoney Indian photos in the album are probably from that trip.)

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 76 black and white photographs, most in fair to poor condition, plus
ephemera including brochures, stock certificates, correspondence, and a newspaper clipping.
Most of the photographs depict the Chilkoot Trail in the spring of 1898 at the height of the
Klondike Gold Rush. There are also mountaineering photos taken in the Canadian Rockies and
on Mont Blanc in Europe, as well as some fine Indian portraits taken of Stoney (Nakoda)
Indians in Alberta, Canada. Many of the photos have penciled captions beneath them or on their
backs. The photos of Canadian Stoney Indians have “LJ Steele” penciled on their backs—was
he the photographer? At least one of the gold rush photos is a copy of a well-known image by
Seattle photographer E. A. Hegg (image .4). Another image, .14, has been published and
credited to the Seattle Historical Society.

CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical access: Original items in fair to poor condition; some photographs badly faded.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage
Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold
copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation: Henry G. Bryant Collection, Anchorage Museum, B2006.012

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information:

Acquired by the Anchorage Museum at auction from Books By the Falls Auctions, Derby,
Connecticut, in 2006.

Processing Notes
The album covers have been unlaced and retained in the collection. Individual pages sleeved in
mylar. Newspaper clipping photocopied and original discarded.

Notes
There are more penciled captions on the backs of photographs than those noted here but since
the prints are firmly mounted in the album, they are not visible.

RELATED MATERIALS


SUBJECTS
Bryant, Henry Grier, 1859-1932
Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company
Gold rushes—Alaska—1890-1900
Gold mines and mining—Alaska—Juneau region
Trails & paths—Alaska—1890-1900
Bridges—Alaska
Mountaineering
Woodland caribou
Hunting—Alaska
Stoney Indians
Chilkoot Trail
Dyea (Alaska)
Skagway (Alaska)
Canadian Rockies (B.C. and Alta.)
Unalaska (Alaska)
Yakutat (Alaska)
Lake Bennett (B. C.)

Detailed Description of the Collection

Photo images are numbered and described with captions provided in the album or on the backs
of photos. Information in brackets is supplied by the preparer of this guide.

Leaf 1:
 1 —Treadwell Mines, Douglas Island. Juneau, Alaska [published images from a book or magazine] Leaf 2:
 2 —Dyea—Apr. 1898 [bridge across Taiya River in foreground, small boat with white sail next to bridge, town in background]
 3 —[Skagway wharves, one with building at end with “Empire Theatre” sign]
 4 —Outfits on the Beach—Dyea [this is a cropped version of a well-known image by E. A. Hegg; see Murray Morgan, One Man’s Gold Rush (Seattle: Univ. of Washington, 1967), p. 48]
 5 —Building Boats on Lake Bennett [tents, lumber and men next to frozen lake] Leaf 3:
 6 —Chilcoot Summit Looking So. 3063 [feet elevation. Men and supplies along trail, and cables for aerial tramway]
 7 —Outfit on Top [supplies, men, dogs, with tram cables in middle of image]
 8 —Canyon City 9 mi from Dyea [tents and frame buildings, one with sign “The Packers Rest / Sample Room. / Rose & Hagaman]
 9 —[mounted figure on horse, leading four or five packhorses across lake or shallow river] Leaf 4:
10 —Bridge on Wagon Rd. 4 1/3 [miles] from Skagway [image of same Brackett’s Wagon Road bridge across the Skagway River, under construction, is in Cynthia Brackett Driscoll, One Woman’s Gold Rush: Snapshots from Mollie Brackett’s Lost Photo Album, 1898-1899 (Kalamazoo, MI: Oak Woods Media, 1996), p. 45]
 11 —Snow Slide Apr. 3 98 [men next to Chilkoot Trail, building, power poles and tramway supports visible, with Chilkoot Pass in distance]
 12 —[men hauling loaded sleds across frozen lake—Canadian side of Chilkoot Trail?]
 13 —Profanity Hill 1 mile from Summit [Chilkoot Trail, man in foreground sitting on sled, tramway with large payload in background] Leaf 5:
14 —Loading P[ac]k train 9 M from Dyea [same image is in Robert L. Spude, Chilkoot Trail: Historic Data (Fairbanks: Cooperative Park Studies Unit, 1980), p. 90, captioned “Beginning of Switchbacks, 1898” and credited to the Seattle Historical Society] Leaf 6:
 15 —Porcupine Hill 5 ½ [miles] from Skagway [Chilkoot Trail in foreground, no people] Leaf 7:
16 —Climbing Chilcoot Summit Last Climb to Top
 17 —1 ½ [miles] down from White Pass—Pack Train [winter scene]
 18 —Dog Team Lake Linderman Elev 2140 [photo in bad condition] Leaf 8:
19 —The Scales At The Summitt 3373 [feet elevation] Leaf 9:
 20 —Lake Bennett from Linderman [late winter scene] Leaf 10:
 21 —Sled Breaker Lake Lind[eman] [men and sleds next to rough trail during breakup]
 22 —Crater Lake [men and supplies in foreground, Chilkoot Pass in background]
 23 —Finnigins [Finnegan’s] P[oin]t. 4 ¼ [miles] from Dyea [two men on trail]
 24 —Highest Pt. White Pass [tents, trail, flag] Leaf 11:
 25 —Lake Linderman Portage bet. L. L. and L. Bennett
 26 —Stone House 1 ½ [miles] toward Summitt from Sheep Camp [Chilkoot Trail with horses, power poles, tramline supports]
 27 —In Canyon 9 ½ [miles] from Dyea [tent, men, horses and mules. Compare .54] Leaf 12:
 28 —[two men with overturned sled, breakup on Chilkoot Trail?]
 29 —[Indians mounted on horses, tipi in background]
 30 —[Indians on horses, log fence in background]
 31 —[priest standing in overgrown field or cemetery facing large crucifix, stone wall with cross in background] Leaf 13:
 32 —[lake and steep mountains]
 33 —[similar to .32]
 34 —[lake and two boats in distance; compare .38]
 35 —[Catholic mission buildings?]
 36 —[buildings on rocky shore with sandy beach in front] Leaf 14:
 37 —[mountain with glacier on its side—Canadian Rockies?]
 38 —Off Malaspina Glacier, about 9:30pm [image is of lake or ocean with boats in distance; compare .34]
 39 —[mountain with frozen stream at base—Canadian Rockies?]
 40 —On the Stony Indian Reservation. LJ Steele. [two figures on horseback]
 41 —Stony Indian. LJ Steele. [Indian with braids, tipi in background]
 42 —[three Indian women kneeling in front of tipi]
 43 —A Stony Indian camp [Indians and tipi]
 44 —Near the summit of Mt. Blanc—LJ Steele
 45 —Descent from _____ _____ (Mont. Blanc Range). Jumping a bergschrund. LJ S[teele?]
 46 —[three tipis]
 47 —The summit of Mont Blanc. 7:30am. July 1901. LJ Steele
 48 —[roped figure on mountain] Leaf 15:
 49 —8 m[iles] from Summitt [three figures on trail cleared through stony plain—Chilkoot Trail?]
 50 —Paridice Valley 4 ¾ [miles] from Lake Lind[eman] [melting Chilkoot Trail]
 51 —Sheep Camp 15 m[iles] from Dyea. Last camping ground on s[outh] side of summit. Timber Line. [buildings with tramline and tower visible] Leaf 16:
 52 —A Bad Hill 5 m[iles] from Skagway [horses and men, on Chilkoot Trail?]
 53 —7/8 [mile] from Summitt [horse pulling sled with man in it, two other figures]
 54 —Canyon 9 m[iles] from Dyea [men with three loaded mules. Compare .27] [Detached from the album] Booklet. “A Descriptive Reading on Alaska: Illustrated by 12 Lantern Slides,” (Philadelphia: William H. Rau, 1890) Brochure. “The Klondike Region,” (St. Paul, MN?: Northern Pacific Railroad, 1897) [see WorldCat record 29592988] Leaf 17:
 55 —[mountain scene, features labeled in ink: “Chaba [River] S. Branch” and “W. Br.” The Chaba River is a tributary of the Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada]
 56 —[mountain scene, feature labeled “Big Peek?”]
 57 —[mountain scene, features labeled “Big Peak (?)” and “Atha[basca] Pass is behind this Peek”] Leaf 18:
 58 —Illisnick Unalaska [view of Unalaska, or Illiuliuk village from the water, a rowboat with two figures in foreground]
 59 —[cemetery with Orthodox crosses and American flag]
 60 —Proyazoff [Pribilof Island fur seals?]
 61 —Yakutat Bay [group of dugout canoes and rowboats in front of houses on beach]
 62 —Study of Stony Indian girl. LJ Steele
 63a —Indian teepee Stony Indian Reservation. LJ Steele
 63b —Stony Indian Family [four Indians in front of tipi; same as .65]
 64 —two Indian women, one the same as in .62
 65 —same as .63b
 66 —Stony Indian [Indian man mounted on horse]
 67 —[Indian woman and man in front of tipi]
 68 —[Indian kneeling next to horse]
 69 —[figure with rifle standing next to tipi] Leaf 19: [Correspondence relating to the Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company] John N. Tisdale, President, to Henry G. Bryant, December 28, 1903 Announcement to the stockholders, December 18, 1903 Leaf 20: Announcement to the stockholders, undated Announcement of a special meeting, October 13, 1903 Letter regarding bond offer, December 22, 1903. John N. Tisdale to Henry G. Bryant, February 1, 1901 Stock certificate, Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company, 50 shares to Henry G. Bryant, April 25, 1900 John N. Tisdale to Henry G. Bryant, December 15, 1903 Leaf 21:
 70 —Dutch Harbor [figures standing and seated in a circle, Unalaska village and two ships in background]
 71 —[Unalaska? Russian Orthodox church in distance]
 72 —[Russian blockhouse, Sitka]
 73 —[large skin boat being rowed by eight men, sailing ship in background] Separate from original album:
 74 —[hot spring/geyser]
 75 —[man and three women next to rocky stream]
 76 —[three men standing with dead woodland caribou—Henry Bryant with guides?]
 77 —[stock certificate: Alaska-Snettisham Gold Mining Company, 100 shares to Henry G. Bryant, November 19, 1900]
 78 —[newspaper clipping: THE MINERS WHO FAILED, Chicago: Oct. 3, year?] Guide written April 26, 2012