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: Sara Piasecki, Photo Archivist

TITLE: William C. Lyon Papers

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2012.017

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1926

Extent: 0.2 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): William Clyde Lyon

Administrative/Biographical History:
William Clyde Lyon worked for the Associated Press and as a news editor at the Seattle Post-
Intelligencer. He died in March 1932 at the age of 47.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of the manuscript of Lyon’s book, The making of a sourdough, and 26
black-and-white photographs, 18 with attached typescript captions for use in the book. The
book chronicles Lyon’s trip to Barrow to cover the expedition, organized by Roald Amundsen,
Umberto Nobile, and Lincoln Ellsworth, to fly over the North Pole in the dirigible Norge. He
and Signal Corps radio operator Leo W. Bundy traveled by ship, train, and dogsled from Seattle
to Barrow, starting in February 1926 and arriving in Barrow in May – after the Norge had
passed. Lyon departed Barrow on August 10 aboard the cutter Bear.

Arrangement: Photographs arranged chronologically.

CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

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


Physical Access: Original items in good condition.

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:
William C. Lyon Papers, Anchorage Museum, B2012.017

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Brought to the Museum by Steve Wells for Dennis Davis, August 1998. The manuscript had
been located in the estate of Davis’ aunt at the time of her death.

RELATED MATERIALS
B1984.121 Dirigible Norge and Umberto Nobile Collection

SUBJECTS
Lyon, William C., d. 1932
Journalists--Alaska
Roadhouses—Alaska
Inupiat—Alaska
Norge (Airship)
Airships
Alaska--Description and travel
Minto (Alaska)
Barrow (Alaska)
Kivalina (Alaska)
Tanana (Alaska)
Yukon River (Yukon and Alaska)

Detailed Description of the Collection
B1/F1
Photographs
 1 — Road house at Minto on the Tanana River March 16, 1926
 2 — The dog team at Nine Mile Point on the Yukon River March 1926
 3 — Crossing the portage from the Yukon River to Norton Bay, only a thin layer of snow on the trail April 3, ‘26
 4 — Igloo in which we spent 7 days May 2 to 7 inclusive, 1926 caught in blizzard Seg-ek-ruak
 5 — At Seg-eg-rauk, May 3, 1926, Bundy seat next Charlie Net, Esquimo guide, next group Njacob Knox and family, at right end David Anuku, Esquimo guide
 6 — Winter view of Barrow Village May 1926
 7 — Summer view of Barrow Village July 1926
 8 — Ice going out at Barrow July 1926
 9 — Paddy Patterson’s cabin at Quartz Creek in which ten persons spent the night
 10 — The rough surface of the Yukon River which we followed for 250 miles
 11 — The team ready for the morning start at Nine Mile Point, on the Yukon, just before the runaway which scattered the load over a quarter of a mile of the Yukon’s surface
12 — Inside a typical Yukon River village [at AFN 2013, identified as Tanana, showing Front Street, Tower House Hotel and Blazo gas distributor on right, post office and N.C. Creek at left]
 13 — Any port in a storm—igloo shelter occupied for three days and four nights at Seg-eg-ruak. Photograph taken during height of blizzard, May 4, 1926
 14 — The igloos in winter. Dismal looking things here but wonderful to gaze upon after a ten or twelve hour battle with the snow, fatigue, and hunger
 15 — The whaling camp on the Arctic near Kivalina
 16 — The author (center) fraternizing with the Esquimoes at whaling camp near Kivalina
 17 — David Anukuk, Kivalina Esquimo, chief guide of the expedition, Kotzebue to Barrow. Fine specimen of the Esquimo type.
 18 — Billy Duroc, guide, Wainwright to Barrow
 19 — Summer view of the igloo, showing its composition, and the family that occupies it
 20 — Summer scene at the trading post of Charles Brower, “King of the Arctic,” Barrow, Alaska.
 21 — The midnight sun at Barrow. Photograph taken at midnight June 23, (longest day in the year). Shows arc of the sun with seven exposures on one plate. Taken twenty minutes apart beginning at 11 p.m. and running until 1 a.m. Presbyterian mission silhouetted in background. Picture appears as if it were night. Actually it is as bright as mid-day over exposure of ground in seven “shots” at sun makes the dark color.
 22 — Mid-July at Barrow. Fine chance for a ship to get in and take the waiting traveler outside!
 23 — Scene on the Arctic as the ice goes out. Photograph taken July 27, 1926, sun shining on the surface with but a few scattering floating pieces of ice. Next day the wind changed and the ice all came back. No chance for a getaway yet.
 24 — At Barrow at sunset. Sun going below horizon 11:40 p.m. August 5. First time it reached horizon after the midnight of the proceeding May 10.
25 — (Manuscript page 229) “The engines shut off – the nose of the ship swung slightly – then downward. She dipped gracefully toward m[... caption torn, with loss of text]
26 — (Manuscript page 230) “The big craft seemed to hesitate for an instant. Then I heard the engines resume high speed. X X X X Slowly, gracefully the ship swung round and changed its course with the coast line.” B1/F2 Manuscript, The making of a sourdough. 236 pages. No date B1/F3 Manuscript notes re draft and shipping label Guide updated: December 18, 2013