View XML QR Code

H. B. Herrick photographs, 1897-1939

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Herrick, H. B. (Henry Burt)
Title
H. B. Herrick photographs
Dates
1897-1939 (inclusive)
1901-1935 (bulk)
Quantity
149 photographic prints (1 box) ; various sizes
131 glass plate negatives and positives (4 boxes) ; various sizes
47 nitrate negatives (1 box) ; various sizes
Collection Number
PH1567
Summary
Collection of photographs attributed to H. B. Herrick from Alaska, Seattle, and the Olympic Peninsula. Collection includes the Alaskan villages of Kasaan and Old Kasaan as well as guiding, packing and camping in and around Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Henry Burt Herrick was born in 1877 in Alma, Kansas, to parents Edwin and Elizabeth R. Herrick. The family moved from Kansas to Seattle in 1884. In 1891, Edwin and Elizabeth moved to Clallam County on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and set up a homestead on the west bank of the Upper Elwha River, about one and a half miles north of what is now the northern boundary of the Olympic National Park. Herrick joined his parents in Clallam County in 1892 after finishing school in Seattle. Herrick was issued the first Clallam County packer-guide license in 1900.

In 1901, Herrick left Clallam County for Prince of Wales Island in Southeast Alaska, where he spent a year hunting, prospecting, and working in the fishing industry. In 1902 he returned to Seattle and married Elizabeth B. Casner of Boise, Idaho (1879-1966). Herrick then returned to Prince of Wales Island with his new wife and the couple lived in Kasaan, Alaska, between 1902 and 1903. In 1903, Elizabeth and Herrick returned to Seattle, where he was a conductor on the street railroad, worked at a sawmill, sold real estate, and operated a photography studio. His photography studio in Seattle was located at 226 Dexter Avenue.

Herrick’s mother died in 1908, the same year he and his wife, Lizzie, moved to his father’s homestead in Elwha. Herrick had many roles in the area. He was the postmaster from 1909 to 1929. He also built and operated a store between 1910 and 1932, which served as the post office and headquarters for travelers to the Olympic Hot Springs. At the time the Herrick Store was built it was located at the end of the road, which did not continue west. In 1912, Herrick began operating a pack train from his store over the 11 mile trail to the Olympic Hot Springs Resort. Herrick also led guiding and packing trips for hunting and fishing parties and worked in the logging industry. Herrick moved to Port Angeles in 1941, where he lived until his death in 1960.

Herrick and Elizabeth had three children; John Wilbert Herrick, known as Wilbur (1912-1987); Grant William Herrick (1914-1977), and Virginia Leah Garrison (1916-2016). Wilbur worked in the logging and resort industries for a time in the Olympic Peninsula before moving to Los Angeles. Grant also worked in the logging industry for a time in the Olympic Peninsula before moving to Idaho. Virginia moved to Los Angeles where she became a singer and movie actress, with roles in several western films beginning in 1950. She married Omar Garrison in 1952 and the couple moved to Rome, Italy.

Return to Top

Historical Background

The banks of the Elwha River on the Olympic Peninsula were home to Klallam Indians for thousands of years before Euroamerican settlement. The first permanent white residents on the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula staked homestead claims in the early 1850s when the Washington Territory was created. By the 1880s, many homestead claims were filed, all the way into the upper Elwha Valley.

Many homesteaders did not stay long, and the homesteading population of the Elwha valley peaked in the 1890s. Those that did remain into the 1900s not only farmed but took on multiple occupations in order to survive, including fishing, hunting, guiding, packing, and other ventures. Settler Warriner Smith operated a sawmill on his homestead. William MacDonald became Elwha Valley’s first postmaster. H.B. Herrick operated a grocery business, hotel, and managed the Elwha post office. Doc Ludden settled along the Elwha in 1906, a later arrival to the area. He established an orchard, apiary, and store where he sold his products, as well as ran a hostel for travelers.

Transportation was difficult in the Olympic Peninsula in the early 1900s due to a lack of roads. Brothers Grant and William Humes operated a packing and guiding business for mountaineers and hunters. In 1910, the Herrick store was built at the western terminus of the Olympic Highway and became the headquarters for pack trains entering the Olympic interior.

In the early 1900s several resorts were established in the area, within the current Olympic National Park boundaries. One of the earliest resorts was the Log Cabin Hotel or Piedmont Hotel on the north shore of Lake Crescent, which was built in 1895 and burned down in 1932. Other resorts took advantage of the natural hot springs in the area. The Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort opened in 1912, on the banks of the Sol Duc River. It burned down in 1916, but was rebuilt in the 1930s.

The longest running of the resorts in the Elwha Valley was the Olympic Hot Springs Resort opened in 1909 by William “Billy” Everett and his wife, Margaret Schoeffel, along with her brother, Karl Schoeffel. When the resort was opened it was fairly primitive, with a natural pool lined with wood and tents for visitors to sleep in. Over the years, the Everett family built up the resort, adding cabins for guests and a large concrete pool. Travel to and from the resort was difficult as there were no established roads to the resort until the extension to the Olympic Highway was completed in 1931. Before that time, there was an 11-mile trail used to bring in supplies as well as visitors to the resort. The Humes brothers operated a pack train to and from the resort until 1912, when H.B. Herrick took over the operation. The Olympic Hot Springs resort was run by the Everett and Schoeffel families until it closed in 1966.

Source: Historic Resource Study of Olympic National Park https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/olym/hrs/chap2.htm

Source: An Interpretive History of the Elwha River Valley and the Legacy of Hydropower on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula https://www.nps.gov/olym/learn/nature/upload/Final-Draft_20110118.pdf

Return to Top

Content Description

This collection contains photographs made by H. B. Herrick. There are images from Southeast Alaska, including the villages of Old Kasaan and New Kasaan. There are also images of the Seattle area and portraits of himself, his wife, and other family members from when Herrick operated a studio in Seattle from 1903-1908. There are also scenes from the Olympic Peninsula, including the homesteads and resorts in and around the Olympic National Park as well as guiding, packing, camping, and hunting activities from the early to mid-1900s.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Donor: Jervis Russell, 1987; Donor: Mike Cerelli, 1992; Purchase: Fairlook Antiques, 2008.

Processing Note

Processed by Kate Norgon, 2019

Some Herrick materials, including photographs and negatives, separated from Jervis Russell Collection (PH Coll 187) in 2005.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2008 (Last modified: 12/10/2020)

CC0

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West