Dr. Murray L. Johnson, M.D., helped establish the mammalian collections at the Puget Sound Museum (now the Slater Museum of Natural History) at the University of Puget Sound in 1948. As a biology researcher, he was contracted by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), along with Dr. Burton T. Ostenson, a Professory fo Biology at Pacific Lutheran University, and Mr. Myron L. Barbour, a recent college graduate, to conduct a study of marine mammal ecology in the region around Cape Thompson, Alaska between 1960 and 1961. This marine mammal study became Chapter 33 of the
The Project Chariot proposal would have entailed the use of several nuclear detonations to create a harbor at the mouth of Ogoturuk Creek, between Cape Thompson and Point Hope, in north-western Alaska. This project was part of
References
Johnson, Murray L., Clifford H. Fiscus, Burton T. Ostenson, and Myron L. Barbour. “Marine Mammals.” Environment of the Cape Thompson Region, Alaska. Ed. Norman J. Wilimovsky, and John N. Wolfe. United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, 1966. 877-924. Print.
O’Neill, Dan. The Firecracker Boys. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Print.
The Murray Johnson Collection on the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Reports consists of correspondence, biological data, and publications from Dr. Murray L. Johnson's work as a marine mammal researcher for the
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Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Collection is arranged by format.
[Name of document, date.] Murray Johnson Collection on the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report, Mss.056. University of Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections. Tacoma, Washington.
The Correspondence series consists of letters written by Murray L. Johnson and his friends and professional associates, both before, during, and after his work on Project Chariot.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and Eileen M. Bloom; Wayne H. Bohl, a research biologist for the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife at Utah State University; Gary J. Brusca, a researcher at the University of Southern California; Marian C. Fox, an employee of the Editorial Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Division of Technical Information Extension; Ian A. McLaren, an employee of the Arctic Unit of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada; R. W. Meininger, on behalf of Naval Company, Doylestown, PA; Raymond L. Metter, the assistant extension manager for program services in the Atomic Energy Commission’s Division of Technical Information Extension; Robert E. Lewis, on behalf of the American University of Beirut; Robert L. Rausch, a researcher at the Arctic Health Research Center and member of the Zoonotic Disease Section of the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report (also included: two letters between Robert L. Rausch and Ford Wilke, the laboratory director at the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries for the Washington Fish and Wildlife Service, and several letters between Robert L. Rausch and Clifford Fiscus); Ian Stirling, a professor in the Zoology Department at the University of Canterbury; Andrew Starrett, a professor in the Department of Biology at Northeastern University; Milton Swan, a reverend in Kivalina, Alaska; Robert Traub, a research professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; Francis S. L. “Willie” Williams, on behalf of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare at the Alaska Bureau of State Services; and John. N. Wolfe, the chairman of the Committee on Environmental Studies for Project Chariot at the Atomic Energy Commission. Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and James W. Brooks, the Director of Game at the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game, as well as between Murray Johnson and Sam Harbo, a biological researcher and employee of the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and James W. Brooks, the Director of Game at the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game, as well as between Murray Johnson and Sam Harbo, a biological researcher and employee of the Alaska State Department of Fish and Game.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and Myron L. “Ron” Barbour, a graduate student researcher in the Marine Mammal Program for the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report, as well as medical records concerning Barbour’s contraction of hepatitis during his employment at Point Hope. There is also correspondence between Barbour and Robert Rausch. One of the pieces of correspondence from Barbour to Johnson is written in code.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and the members of the Division of Entomology at the Canada Department of Agriculture, including G.P Holland, the head of Insect Systematics and Biological Control; Evert E. Lindquist, on behalf of the Taxonomy Section of the Entomology Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario; and B.V. Peterson, also on behalf of the Taxonomy Section of the Entomology Research Institute in Ottawa, Ontario.
Several letters between B.V. Peterson and G.M. Kohls, and between Evert E. Lindquist and Conrad E. Yunker, are also located in this folder.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and Don C. Foote, another researcher employed for the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report, as well as personal communications between the Johnson and Foote families.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and Burton T. Ostenson, one of the primary researchers in the Marine Mammal Program for the Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report, as well as personal letters written by Mrs. Sherry Johnson and Mrs. Nancy E “Betty” Ostenson. There is also professional correspondence between Ostenson and Robert Rausch, Myrl F. Smith, and Dale W. Rice.
Also included in the folder is a telegram from Myrl F. Smith to Murray L. Johnson, to which Ostenson responded.
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and residents of the Point Hope Village, including Andrew Frankson, Amos Lane, John Oktollik, Seymour Tuzroyluke, and Antonio Weber, hunters under contract to obtain specimens for the
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and William O. Pruitt, a biological researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who was also hired to work on the C
Correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and members of the Rocky Mountain Laboratory, including James M. Brennan, a senior medical entomologist; William L. Jellison, a parasitologist, on behalf of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Glen M. Kohls, an entomologist and sanitarian, on behalf of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Betty Locker, assistant to Jellison; R.R. Parker, the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory; Conrad E. Yunker, a senior scientist in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare
Also included are correspondence between the Rocky Mountain Laboratory and Douglas J. Gould, the acting chief of the Department of Entomology at Army Medical Service Graduate School of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and Allen McIntosh, the Principal Research Parasitologist at the Beltsville Parasitological Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland; as well as a letter to Johnson from the Rocky Mountain Laboratory of the Public Health Service from 1956, which includes a black and white photograph of a mole’s lungs.
The Published Material series contains material collected by Murray L. Johnson from roughly the same time frame as his work on the
The Cape Thompson Environmental Impact Report Administrative Material series consists of Murray Johnson’s records on the parameters of the marine mammal investigation for the Cape Thompson Report, including finances, biological data, report drafts, and notes.
This folder contains notes on rough work hours and expenses, formal estimates of time required and cost of work, as well as a Property Action Request filled out by Murray L. Johnson for an audio recorder.
Biological data obtained by Murray L. Johnson’s team for the Cape Thompson Report. The data is organized from rough data to the finished catalogue, showing the processing steps toward the final text. Specimen cards document the marine mammals observed by Murray L. Johnson’s team for the Cape Thompson Report.
The rough data notebooks document the stomach contents of ringed seals (Pusa hispida) obtained during the course of the marine mammal investigation season in 1961.
These specimen cards document the marine mammals observed by Murray L. Johnson’s team for the Cape Thompson Report, mainly ringed seal (Pusa hispida) and bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus).
These catalogue tables were previously held in four binders, two of them unmarked, two labeled with,
This folder contains drafts of biological data tables for the Marine Mammal chapter of the
This folder contains several copies of a ringed seal stomach contents research proposal, drafts of the text for Chapter 33 of the
This folder contains miscellaneous notes made by Murray Johnson for his research model for the Cape Thompson Report, as well as a list of references to be evaluated for data comparison.
The Murray Johnson Research series contains documents from Johnson’s other research endeavors before, during, and after the Cape Thompson Report.
This folder holds a number of Pathology Reports from Tacoma General Hospital describing medical conditions seen in mammalian specimens, diagnosed by several pathologists including Charles P. Larson, Merrill J. Wicks, and Clyde O. Hurst. Also included are several pieces of correspondence between Murray L. Johnson and these pathologists on behalf of Tacoma General Hospital.
This subseries contains documents pertaining to a project on mammalian parasites by Murray L. Johnson and Chris Maser.
This folder contains specimen identification notes and forms concerning Chris Maser’s parasite publications, as well as correspondence between Maser, Murray L. Johnson, and Conrad E. Yunker, and a US Copyright Office Certificate.