John E. Thwaites photographs, 1905-1931
Table of Contents
- Overview of the Collection
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Biographical Note
- Content Description
- Use of the Collection
- Administrative Information
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Detailed Description of the Collection
- Wreck of the salmon cannery ship Jabez Howes, Chignik, AK, 1911, [1911]
- Boggs and dogsled team of after 1700 mile trip, Seward, AK 1906-7, 1906-7
- Aleut Barabara (residence), Akutan, Bering Sea, AK
- Aleut Barabara (residence), Akutan, Bering Sea, AK
- Disabled schooner Allen A., Kodiak, AK
- P.A.F. salmon cannery, Kings Cove, AK
- Bering Sea in June. Bristol Bay, AK
- S.S. Dora encountering ice on the Bering Sea in June
- Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AK
- Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AK
- Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AK
- Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AK
- Tug, Equator, entering Anchor Bay, Chignik, AK
- Cannery ship at anchor
- Ship Benjamin F. Packard
- Salmon cannery, Chignik, AK
- Native extended family
- Cannery in bay “C.R.P.A.”, Chignik, AK
- Native couple, Chignik, AK
- Chignik Bay, AK, looking toward snow-covered hills
- Snow-covered docks and hills, Chignik, AK
- Looking back from ship to Chignik, AK and hills
- Belkofsky, AK
- Pogrumno Volcano, Unamak, AK
- Village at Cold Bay, AK
- Cold Bay, AK
- Dogsledding to the gold fields in Seward and Knik, AK
- Unloading horses from the S.S. Dora
- S.S. Dora
- Wreck of Farallon: Captain Hunter, and his chief, Duke., [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: provisions saved from wrecked Farallon
- Wreck of Farallon: unloading from the wreck
- Wreck of Farallon: Farallon, seen in the distance from land, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: scenes of the bay where survivors landed
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors exploring and gathering alder wood, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: Captain Hunter
- Wreck of Farallon: portrait of survivor
- Wreck of Farallon: groups of survivors, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors gathering firewood, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors in makeshift camp, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors launching boat over floating ice, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon covered in ice, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors preparing to launch boats, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon with no ice, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: First Officer Smith gathering firewood, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: four weeks after wreck, covered in ice, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: securing provisions from the wreck, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors eating first breakfast ashore, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: boat crew starting for Kodiak 130 miles away to get help, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: wreck covered in ice, Feb. 2, 1910, [Wreck Jan. 5, 1910] Photo Feb 2, 1910
- Wreck of Farallon: carrying alder branches one-half mile, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors enjoying sunshine, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: view across bay looking toward the Farallon, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: scenes of ice-covered rocks on shore
- Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon with no ice, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: first breakfast on shore, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: survivors looking out to see for signs of rescue, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: boats unloading supplies on shore, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Wreck of Farallon: camp on the first day shipwrecked, [Jan. 5, 1910]
- Names and Subjects
Overview of the Collection
- Photographer
- Thwaites, John E. (John Edward), 1863-1940
- Title
- John E. Thwaites photographs
- Dates
- 1905-1931 (inclusive)19051931
- Quantity
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1300 photographic prints
7 negatives : glass
1292 negatives : nitrate - Collection Number
- PH0247
- Summary
- Photographs of Alaska including scenes from cities and localities, landscape features, dogs and dog teams, steamships and shipwrecks, and Alaska industries, 1905-1931
- Repository
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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
-
Collection is CLOSED for processing ; please use the digital version of the collection. Contact the Visual Materials Curator for details.
- Languages
- English
Biographical Note
John Edward Thwaites, son of sailor and shipwright George Thwaites, was born in Eastwood, Ontario, Canada in 1863. About 1871, the family migrated to northern Michigan in search of better farm lands. As a young man he worked the family farm and attended a local college. In 1885 he married a local girl named Carrie Warne. The pair became employed in Michigan as public school teachers. Poor health eventually led Thwaites to settle in the warmer climates of Bowling Green, Florida. Unfortunately, his pursuit of a teaching career and investment in a drugstore did not serve to establish a very good livelihood for Thwaites. By good fortune, the Florida Southern Railroad had a depot in the town of Bowling Green and it was through his contact with them that he decided to apply for a position as a federal Railway Mail Service clerk in 1895, a job that would ultimately lead him far north to Alaska. In 1901 he was transferred to the Rocky Mountain Division of the Great Northern Railway where he was stationed in Spokane, Washington. Working for the railroad was, however, dangerous work. Due to his unfortunate involvement in numerous train wrecks and derailments, he decided to apply for a position in Alaska. He was assigned the "ship service" mail route from Valdez to Unalaska in 1905, serving mainly on the Northwestern Steamship Company's steamer the S.S. Dora. His office officially was designated as the "mail closet", a stateroom on the port side of the boat. It was here that he conducted the business of delivering the mail in monthly visits to the people of Southwestern Alaska.
Thwaites was an amateur photographer with no formal schooling in the art or technique of photography. His camera was a Kodak 3-A Special, a popular camera for producing postcards. Using this minimal equipment, he enthusiastically captured scenes in the Aleutian Islands, the Unga Peninsula, Kodiak Island, Prince William Sound and Bristol Bay. Salmon packing plants, codfish stations, Aleutian natives, Eskimos, maritime accidents, and small coastal towns and the details of Alaska life were often the subjects of his camera.
Alaska is known for its extreme weather conditions. Storms and foul weather often led to shipwrecks and maritime disasters in coastal waters. On January 5, 1910, Thwaites was aboard the S. S. Farallon, a wooden steam schooner, when it was wrecked at Illiamna Bay, Cooks Inlet. He and thirty others survived for one month on the beach by retrieving supplies from the grounded ship and scavenging the brush for fuel. His photographs document the harsh conditions of the shipwrecked passengers providing a chilly portrait of their primitive survival conditions. They were rescued eventually by the S.S. Victoria. He also documented the grounding of the Mariposa (which he was aboard) on June 8, 1915, when it struck a rock in the Fitz Hugh Sound, British Columbia stranding 95 passengers on the shore. Thwaites's own vessel, the Dora, was often damaged throughout its career. A standing joke among the locals was that the ship had somehow managed to hit every rock between Seattle and Seward.
Thwaites was transferred to the Seward-Seattle mail route in 1914. He began operating his photographic business out of his home in Seward, making at least two runs by dogsled to deliver the mail to the Yukon-Kuskokwim region. He remarried in 1915 and in 1919 he retired from the Mail Service and opened a small photography and curio shop on Dock Street in Ketchikan, where he and his wife specialized in hand coloring photographs. He moved his business to the Ingersoll Hotel in Ketchikan in 1924. He eventually sold his business to his assistant in 1932 and moved with his wife to Mercer Island, Washington, where he died in 1940.
Content Description
Collection consists of photographs (primarily nitrate negatives) taken in Alaska by John E. Thwaites, 1905-1931. Images includes scenes from cities and localities especially: Anchorage, Cordova, Dutch Harbor, Fairbanks, Juneau, Kasaan, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Metlakatla, Nushagak, Sitka, Skagway, Unalaska, Unga, and Valdez; landscape features such as rivers, lakes, mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, icebergs; dogs and dog teams; copper and goldmining; salmon, fishing activities, fishing boats and canneries; animals and birds of Alaska; hunting; churches; schools; and steamships and shipwrecks.
This collection includes his images of: the aftermath of Aleutian chain volcanic eruptions; maritime disasters including the famous Farallon shipwreck in 1910; Aleutian Natives and Eskimos, including an Aglegmiut shaman in costume depicting what is believed to be the only images of an actual shaman wearing these ceremonial costumes; Alaska industries including fox farming, whaling, codfish salteries, copper mining; glaciers and scenic wonders; and small towns and daily life encountered en route.
Use of the Collection
Alternative Forms Available
View selections from the collection in digital format.
Restrictions on Use
Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.
Administrative Information
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Detailed Description of the Collection
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Description: Wreck of the salmon cannery ship Jabez Howes, Chignik, AK, 1911Dates: [1911]Container: Box 1, Item 1-11
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Description: Boggs and dogsled team of after 1700 mile trip, Seward, AK 1906-7Dates: 1906-7Container: Box 1, Item 12
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Description: Aleut Barabara (residence), Akutan, Bering Sea, AKContainer: Box 12/2, Item 13
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Description: Aleut Barabara (residence), Akutan, Bering Sea, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 14-15
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Description: Disabled schooner Allen A., Kodiak, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 16
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Description: P.A.F. salmon cannery, Kings Cove, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 17
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Description: Bering Sea in June. Bristol Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 18
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Description: S.S. Dora encountering ice on the Bering Sea in JuneContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 19
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Description: Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 20
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Description: Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 12/2, Item 21
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Description: Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 22
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Description: Bidarki (skin boat) on Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 12/22, Item 23-24
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Description: Tug, Equator, entering Anchor Bay, Chignik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 25
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Description: Cannery ship at anchorContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 26-27
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Description: Ship Benjamin F. PackardContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 28
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Description: Salmon cannery, Chignik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 29
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Description: Native extended familyContainer: Box/Folder 12/1, Item 30
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Description: Cannery in bay “C.R.P.A.”, Chignik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 31
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Description: Native couple, Chignik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 32
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Description: Chignik Bay, AK, looking toward snow-covered hillsContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 33
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Description: Snow-covered docks and hills, Chignik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 34
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Description: Looking back from ship to Chignik, AK and hillsContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 35-38
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Description: Belkofsky, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 39
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Description: Pogrumno Volcano, Unamak, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 40
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Description: Village at Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 41
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Description: Cold Bay, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 42
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Description: Dogsledding to the gold fields in Seward and Knik, AKContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 43-44
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Description: Unloading horses from the S.S. DoraContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 45
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Description: S.S. DoraContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 46
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: Captain Hunter, and his chief, Duke.Dates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 47
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: provisions saved from wrecked FarallonContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 48
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: unloading from the wreckContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 49-51
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: Farallon, seen in the distance from landDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 52-55
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: scenes of the bay where survivors landedContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 56-57
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors exploring and gathering alder woodDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 58-66
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: Captain HunterContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 67
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: portrait of survivorContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 68
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: groups of survivorsDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 69-73
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors gathering firewoodDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 74-76
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors in makeshift campDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 77-91
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors launching boat over floating iceDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 92
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon covered in iceDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 93
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors preparing to launch boatsDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 94
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon with no iceDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 95-101
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: First Officer Smith gathering firewoodDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 102
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: four weeks after wreck, covered in iceDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 103-105
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: securing provisions from the wreckDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 106
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors eating first breakfast ashoreDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 107
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: boat crew starting for Kodiak 130 miles away to get helpDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 108
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: wreck covered in ice, Feb. 2, 1910Dates: [Wreck Jan. 5, 1910] Photo Feb 2, 1910Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 109
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: carrying alder branches one-half mileDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 110
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors enjoying sunshineDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 111
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: view across bay looking toward the FarallonDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 112
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: scenes of ice-covered rocks on shoreContainer: Box/Folder 1, Item 113
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: view of Farallon with no iceDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 114
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: first breakfast on shoreDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 115
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: survivors looking out to see for signs of rescueDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 116
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: boats unloading supplies on shoreDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 117
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Description: Wreck of Farallon: camp on the first day shipwreckedDates: [Jan. 5, 1910]Container: Box/Folder 1, Item 118
