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WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH EXPEDITION NOTEBOOKS, 1865-1868 (INCLUDES GRAMMAR BOOKS AND HISTORICAL NOTES ON ALASKA). ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Object Details

sova.sia.faru7073_refidd1e8076
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William Healey Dall Papers
Archival Repository
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Identifier
Record Unit 7073, Series 7
Type
Archival materials
Collection Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7073, William Healey Dall Papers
Note
This series, made up of 14 notebooks and a manuscript copy taken from the notebooks written in 1865-1866, contains material gathered from the Western Union Telegraph Expedition, mostly by Dall, with one notebook containing field notes by Henry M. Bannister regarding Ounga Island, Coal Harbor, Nicaragua, San Francisco Bay and Sitka, Alaska, 1865. Some notebooks were compiled in part from preceding diaries (6 above). Dall's notebooks include a chronological summary of previous Alaskan expeditions, a general history of Alaska and chapter headings probably in preparation for Dall's publication on Alaska. Other notes include daily activity, weather conditions, animals caught for food or for collection purposes, descriptions of Alaskan animal life along with the flora and fauna of Alaska, its terrain, topographical observations, and location of coal deposits as well as other mineral resources. Within the notes there are lists of people Dall should write to, names of those on the expedition, and some poetry. A good portion of the notes contain descriptions of the Alaskan Indian natives, histories of the various tribes, their languages, social and religious customs, ceremonial dances, translations of Indian names, and an Alaskan Indian language and grammar book written by Dall. In conjunction with these observations there are sketches of Indian men, women, and children, Indian huts and dance houses, clothing, pipes, boots, and tattoos. Included are sketches of mollusks, the town of Nulato, Alaskan rivers and terrain, the first telegraph poles to be established in the Yukon at Nulato on January l, 1867, and descriptions and drawings of an eclipse which occurred in March 1867. There is also a Russian alphabet and grammar book written by Dall, and a copy of a collection catalogue, 1866-1867 (no. 2).
SIA.FARU7073_refIDd1e8076
https://sova.si.edu/details/SIA.FARU7073#refIDd1e8076
Record Unit 7073
SIA
Record ID
ebl-1635978780044-1635978780194-4

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  • William Healey Dall Papers

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