REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Haley Jones, volunteer

TITLE: Edward Coke Hill Collection

COLLECTION NUMBER: B1974.005

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1908-1938

Extent: 0.25 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s):
Burke, Mrs. Graftin
Cann-Loussac Photo (Fairbanks)
Conway, Mr.
D’Orsay, H. M.
Elite Studio
Gasser, Mrs. Geo. W.
Hill, Edward Coke
Hylen Photo
Johnson, Mrs. Fred
Lomen Bros. (Nome)
Maas, P.
Marier Bros.
Skarland, Ivar
Townsend, Cal
J. W. Photographer

Administrative/Biographical History:
This collection depicts the Alaskan activities of Edward Coke Hill. Born January 18th
/ , 1866, he
was the son of William Lair Hill (1838-1924), an attorney, historian, and newspaper editor who

codified Oregon laws between 1882 and 1887.1 William Hill married Julia Hall Chandler, and
Edward was one of their four children.2 Like his father, Edward Hill became a lawyer in both
Alaska and San Francisco, California. He was a federal judge in the third judicial district of
Alaska, appointed in 1927 and again in 1931.3

Scope and Content Description: The collection contains 146 print photographs and 12
negatives, primarily depicting Fairbanks and surrounding areas. Snapshots and commercial
photographs are included, all of which are in black and white or sepia. Special attention in the
collection is paid to documenting architecture, wildlife, dog teams, and Yukon scenery. Some
photographs depict Native Alaskan peoples of the area. The collection includes photographs of
President Harding’s visit to Fairbanks, in which he drove a golden spike into the new railroad
bridge crossing the Tanana River at Nenana.

Arrangement: Arranged by format


CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

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

Physical Access: Original items in good condition. Nitrate negatives scanned and removed to
freezer. Digital surrogates available for research use.

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: Edward Coke Hill Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1974.005


ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information: The collection was received from Richard H. Engeman,
Photographs and Maps Librarian of the Oregon Historical Society Library.

1Parks and Recreation of the City of Portland, Oregon. History of Lair Hill Park. Accessed online 1/21/14.
2 Ancestry.com historical person records for William Lair Hill. Accessed online 1/21/14.
3 Edward Coke Hill papers, 1927-56. California Digital Library, Online Archive of California. The Regents of the
University of California, 2009. Accessed online 1/21/14.


Separated Materials: One photo of New Hampshire (B1974.005.111) was removed and sent on
to a historical society there.

SUBJECTS

Harding, Warren G.
Hoover, Herbert C.
Alaska Railroad
Miss Alaska (Fairbanks, Alaska)
Aeronautics - Alaska
Archeology and paleontology –Alaska
Architecture - Alaska
Frontier and pioneer life – Alaska
Flowers and plants –Alaska
Gold rush - Alaska
Landscapes – Alaska
Mines and mining - Alaska
Native Alaskan peoples and culture –Alaska
Roadhouses and hotels - Alaska
Sled dogs – Alaska
Ships – Alaska
Transportation - Alaska
Wildlife - Alaska
Anvik (Alaska)
Bering Sea (Alaska)
Circle (Alaska)
Cordova (Alaska)
Cripple Creek (Alaska)
Dawson (Yukon)
Fairbanks (Alaska)
Fort Yukon (Alaska)
Healy (Alaska)
Nenana (Alaska)
Tanana River (Alaska)
Yukon River (Alaska and Yukon)

Detailed Description of the Collection
 1 — Steamer Alaska at dock Cordova in May 1929, taken by P. Maas from Gorst seaplane. [aerial view of town, dock, slopes and water]
 2 — The Master Slope, Looking across Kennecott Glacier from “Eerie,” Mr. Conway. [mountains, glacier surface in foreground]
 3 — Canyon, Healy [canyon slopes and river]
 4 — Steese Highway in summer, Highway to the Arctic [man standing beside automobile, landscape surrounding, blurry] .5a. - Wild flowers on either side of the road. [mountains and forest in background] 5b. - Summit Glacier, Richardson Highway, Cann-Loussac, Fairbanks. [stone marker in foreground] 5c. - Summit Lake, Richardson Highway [lake with mountain scenery]
 6 — Moose Creek near Fairbanks [man in canoe on river] .7a. - Mouth of Nenana River [aerial view] 7b. - [large group photo]
 8 — Summer Travel on the Tanana, Summer 1921. [group of people on riverboat]
 9 — Tanana, Photo by Ivar Skarland [view from the water of scenery]
 10 — Kayak on Yukon River near Ruby [Caucasian man on kayak, river and town in background]
 11 — [2 copies] – Calico Bluff, 12 m down from Eagle. [large cliff face, river and riverboat in foreground]
 12 — Five Finger rapids from Steamer. Mrs. Fred Johnson [rapids and surrounding cliffs]
 13 — Miles Canyon Y. T. [canyon with bridge and people crossing over]
 14 — Washed out bank on Yukon River [shows wood cabin collapsing into the river]
 15 — Five Finger Rapids. Mrs. Fred Johnson. [surrounding cliffs and trees]
 16 — Five Finger Rapids. Mrs. Fred Johnson. [scenery]
17 — Five Finger Rapids.
 18 — Five Finger Rapids. Photo by Mrs. Fred Johnson.
 19 — Five Finger Rapids, the view on the blstler is also Five Fingers.
 20 — Caribou swimming, Yukon, Cann’s, Fairbanks, Alaska. [group of caribou swimming across river]
 21 — Midnight sun on the Yukon River at Circle, Alaska. Cann photo [silhouette of person in canoe, blurry]
 22 — Cann’s, Fairbanks, Alaska [postcard, view of river and sky]
 23 — Cann’s, Fairbanks. [river, people on canoe]
 24 — Midnight Sun on the Yukon. [scenic]
 25 — “Coot” Mud Hen, Bureau fisheries Boat on Yukon river. Photo by Cal Townsend [view of boat, driftwood in foreground]
 26 — [2 copies] Rex Beach Cabin [log cabin in forest decorated with moose horns]
 27 — Hudson Stuck Memorial Hospital situated on the Arctic circle. Patients sun-room at left, F. A., Yukon. Photo by Mrs. Graftin Burke. [exterior of whole hospital building]
 28 — [2 copies] This house is a few miles south of the Arctic circle. Fairbanks, Alaska, Circle Hot Springs, Alaska, Cann-Fairbanks. [house with trail, two unidentified people, forest surrounding]
 29 — Cordova – Dock from Gorst seaplane, May 1929 [aerial view of Cordova, surrounding water and mountains]
 30 — H. M. D’Orsay. Nenana, Robert Service cabin in Dawson. [similar to B74.5.30]
 31 — Barracks, Dawson [exterior of buildings]
 32 — Barracks of Royal Mounted Police, Dawson. [exterior of building]
33 — [3 copies] [expansive view of town] [has neg]
34 — [3 copies] [view of town, including river and bridge] [has neg]
 35 — Fairbanks from airplane. Cann. [aerial view of city]
 36 — Right to left: St. Joseph’s Hospital, rectory, church. [2 copies] [exterior of buildings]
 37 — Please give by-line credit to artist. St. Matthew’s Church, Fairbanks, Alaska, Marier Bros. – photo [interior with altar]
 38 — [street scene, possibly Fairbanks?]
 39 — New federal Building, Fairbanks [shows modern-looking building exterior]
 40 — Dredge, Eldorado, Klondike. J. W. photographer [postcard, gold mining equipment]
 41 — St. Matthew’s Episcopal church – Fairbanks. Cann, photographer [exterior of church, covered in snow]
 42 — A Fairbanks Home in Summer. E. W. Hill – Alaska. Building with veranda, rear of old log library in summer. Building covered with vines, home of Mrs. Dunn, pioneer church woman who keeps the gardens, permission of Mr. Cann, lovely. [house in summer with gardens]
 43 — The enlarged and modernized St. Joseph’s Hospital [exterior of building]
 44 — Rt. to lft. St. Joseph’s Hospital, rectory, church. [exterior of buildings]
 45 — Reception Room, KFAR, 1,000 Watts, Fairbanks, Alaska. [empty room with chairs]
 46 — Pacific Alaska Airways [exterior of airport, planes surrounding]
 47 — Front St. looking up stream. [river with bridge]
 48 — Dear friends, Just a hello card – Clarence going to dig itself 350 ft. to bed rock, largest dragline in N. A., Cripple Cr. [postcard, mining equipment]
 49 — Largest Dragline in north America, E. E. Co., Cripple Creek, Fairbanks, Hylen photo [large crane]
 50 — Haley’s Road House, Fort Yukon. [exterior, street scene with people]
 51 — Healy District [mountain scenery]
 52 — Kodiak – from quite a way out [error: actually Unalaska] [view of island from water]
 53 — Mountain Village 80 miles from mouth of Yukon. From Col. Townsend [boat on water, boardwalks in foreground]
 54 — Nenana Depot, Alaska. [exterior of building, with two women and a horse and cart in front]
 55 — Nenana, Alaska Indian Cemetery [cross-shaped graves, unidentified figure on a hill]
56 — The Mission at Nenana [river view]
57 — Tanana Road-Hotel-Alaska, Every other letter omitted, “Tanana House.” On front: Black’s TNN HUE [exterior of building]
58 — Old style summer trap-Anvik [man on kayak near river trap]
 59 — [postcard from Nome, four men in the awning of a building]
 60 — Crossing Tanana, McCarthy [riverboat]
 61 — Cold U.S. Agricultural Experiment Station Rampart, Yukon River [two men on a boat, slopes in background]
 62 — Rampart. Yukon River, Ella Wilson Hill, 401 Forty-Third Ave. San Francisco, Cal. Photo by Mrs. Geo. W. Gasser [Yukon river and canoes on shore]
 63 — Valdez docks from Gorst seaplane, May 1929 – by P. Maas. [aerial view of docks]
 64 — At Kruzamapa Hot Springs, a boat, 1908. [woman snowshoeing, wearing a sweater saying “AB”]
 65 — Miss Gordon [portrait of young lady with “Miss Fairbanks” sash, fur coat]
 66 — Left to right, Ed Shurdale, Mrs. Roy Lund, Wiley Post, Joe Crosson. [group in front of plane, Wiley Post with eye patch]
 67 — Visitors from Shageluk. This is a reduction from an old time photograph, 5x7. [postcard, three Native men in parkas, with dog]
68 — Austin E. Lathrop, Builder of a northern empire. A tribute of gratitude from Alaskan citizens. Fairbanks, A. D. MCMXXXIX [photo of metal plaque, with portrait of Lathrop]
 69 — Birch Creek George (oldest Indian on Yukon with his son) [portrait of Native men in front of house]
70 — Pietro Vignia, artist who made ice throne and Ice totems. [man in winter clothes standing in front of totem pole made of ice]
 71 — Chief Thomas and Indian family, Tanana Indians, Alaska. [group in traditional clothing, in front of tent]
 72 — [child in front of log cabin, with dog]
 73 — [three Natives, boy in B74.5.73, in front of log cabin]
 74 — [large group portrait of people same as B74.5.7b]
 75 — [group of people on snowy hillside]
 76 — [people; missing as of 2014]
 77 — Governor Boone of Alaska [portrait]
 78 — [2 copies] [two Native women, with three young Caucasian boys, one wearing snowshoes] [has neg]
 79 — [2 copies] [same as B74.5.78]
 80 — Eskimo from Bering Sea Coast [missing as of 2014]
81 — [2 copies] Sandy Robert and wife Lucy, in from trap line for the holidays, Circle, Alaska [both wearing parkas, holding foxes, in front of log cabin]
 82 — 2 nd copy of B74.5.81
 83 — [two unidentified men in suits, standing in street]
84 — Here are a lot of Susie’s type. [large group of natives, children, in Athapaskan clothing. At AFN 2013, group identified as Chief Thomas of Nenana and family, Thomas in center with back to tree trunk, wife Martha to right, Chief Henry at far right, possibly taken at Wood River]
 85 — Lomen Bros, Nome. [crowded street scene with dog team in center]
 86 — Mrs. Mary Irwin. Dawson on the Yukon [man and woman in front of greenhouse?]
 87 — Virginia Berg, Miss Alaska [About 1938, Now Lagergren, Port Orchard, WA, 1999] [standing portrait, wearing “Miss Alaska” sash]
 88 — [group of women in formal attire, beauty pageant, one wearing tiara and “Miss Yukon” sash]
 89 — [large crowd of people gathered around President Harding near railroad tracks]
 90 — Driving the spike [same group as B74.5.89]
 91 — [two men on a riverboat]
 92 — H. M. D’Orsay, Nenana [same as B74.5.89]
 93 — Nenana Anchorage of welcome to President Harding. Main St. Nenana’s little town or camp. Cooney Hotel. Main Street. [street scene]
 94 — Presenting the Golden Spike. [to Pres. Harding, same crowd as B74.5.89, 90]
95 — Driving the Spike, Pres. Harding, Mrs. Harding, Herbert Hoover, July 15, 1923.
 96 — Gov. Boone holding spike, The Golden Spike President, Harding drove in R. R. at Nenana.
 97 — Splintered Mammoth tusk near what appears to be ice embedded mammoth skull found at Cleary, near Fairbanks, Alaska. [archeological site, rocks and demolished forest, mammoth tusk in foreground]
 98 — Miner’s giant working near the bank from which the skull was taken. The cribbing appearing on left center remains from former underground workings by drift methods. [mining site]
 99 — Super-bison head found near mammoth skull at Cleary, near Fairbanks, Alaska. [amongst rocks and debris]
 100 — On Dry Creek, near Nome. [two miners and landscape]
 101 — [probably a military base on the San Francisco area. Note blimp.]
 102 — [Duplicates 3 copies] [street scene (Nome?) with sled dogs in street, three unidentified people]
 103 — [same as B74.5.102]
 104 — [same as B74.5.102]
 105 — Former home of Don Adler, noted musician [exterior of house with vines and garden]
 106 — Musk ox [group of five young musk ox in pen] Cann-Fairbanks
 107 — [street scene with log cabins in winter]
108 — Aurora Borealis in Alaska, Elite Studio [cabin and forest with northern lights]
 109 — [dog team and six people surrounding]
 110 — [railroad construction equipment]
 111 — [New Hampshire, Subject de-accession]
 112 — Not Smoky, but same type, Alaska Black bear – Fairbanks, Alaska
113 — [shows steamship on river, shoreline]
 114 — Tanana River [cabins, gold dredge in water?]
 115 — Natives on U. S. R. C. Thetis trading with sailors. [scene of crowd aboard ship]
 116 — Alaskan Moose [large antlers, standing in marsh]
 117 — Cache where fish are kept during Winter. Note tin bands around stilts to keep out rodents. [elevated wooden cache]
 118 — [dog team seated in snow in front of cabin]
 119 — The bucket line dredge 8 p. m. [mining equipment]
 120 — [unidentified building exterior, with snow banks in front]
121 — [two people with team of sled dogs, forest in background]
 122 — [non-Alaskan?] [unidentified building, automobiles]
 123 — $30,000 clean-up [pan with dirt and gold nuggets] Cann Photo
 124 — Alaskan Moose and calves. [mother and two calves running, blurry]
 125 — These are stag Pups. [man with several dogs surrounding him]
 126 — Alaska Wild flowers. Hubby is getting out a book of Alaska wild flowers. Hope to publish next year, Beatrice, George and Larry.
 127 — Pasque flower – Crocus [wildflowers]
 128 — Pasque flower – Crocus [same as B74.5.127]
 129 — Pyrola flower of Alaska. [wildflowers]
 130 — Iris – Alaskan [wildflowers in bloom]
 131 — Wild Iris [close-up of blossom]
 132 — Pasque flower Crocus [wildflowers]
 133 — Mountain sheep in McKinley Park Alaska, Lots of these little fellows in this country. Cann Photo [large herd of Dall sheep on a hillside, most looking toward camera]
 134 — Mountain sheep McKinley Park, Alaska. [group of males with large horns]
 135 — [sled dogs, forest in background]
 136 — Roadhouse [snowy dwelling, with sled dogs and some people in front]
 137 — Tanana cross between a goat and wild Mt. sheep [hybrid animal with log cabin in background]
 138 — Mrs. Stanford’s dog team, 5 White children in Alaska, White town – near Indian Village [group of children and man with dog team in winter]
 139 — Unbroken trail [sled dog team in deep snow] Cann Photo
140 — [woman in sled] [birch forest in background, blurry] [has neg]
141 — Home Restaurant? [sign] Fox 4-28-18 [on neg.] [railroad tracks, two unidentified people, buildings] [has neg]
142 — [dog team and forest] [has neg]
143 — [exterior of wood building and fence] [has neg]
144 — [very blurry] [man standing in front of building] [has neg]
145 — [See listed below. Same town as B74.5.146?] [signs on buildings reading “Bloom’s Hardware Etc.,” “Alabam’s,” dog team and crowd in street] [has neg]
146 — Same town as B74.5.145? [dog team racing through street] [has neg; cf. .147-.148]
147 — [similar to .146; neg only, neg numbered as B74.5.146 copy 2]
148 — [similar to .146; neg only, neg numbered as B74.5.146 copy 3] Guide updated March 25, 2014