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Harriman
Retraced
Participants
2001
Expedition
Itinerary
Community
Profiles
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In 1899, the railroad tycoon
Edward Harriman assembled an elite crew of scientists and
artists and took them on a two-month survey of the Alaskan
coast. In 2001, nineteen scientists, writers and artists retraced the
expedition, observing anew the sites visited by Harriman's scouting
parties century ago. The 2001
expedition, a project of the Clark Science Center of Smith
College, took place aboard the M/V Clipper Odyssey,
a 340-foot ocean-going vessel. Travelers on this trip followed
the same route as the 1899 expedition, and used the 13
volumes of Harriman Expedition information as benchmarks for
measuring change along the Alaska coast.
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The
Clipper Odyssey.
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image for a larger view.
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They did, of course, see many differences. Alaska itself
has changed; it is far more familiar to those who live
outside its borders. It is the 49th state, home to more than
500,000 American citizens, and one of the most popular
tourist destinations in the world. Cruise ships, commercial
air liners, charter flights and the state ferry system all
make it possible for visitors from other states, and from
around the world, to visit Alaska's once remote coast.
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Two members
of the American Legion in Kodiak, Alaska celebrate
the Fourth of July. Photographed in 1999 by Larry
Hott.
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image for a larger view.
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A second striking difference can be seen in the members of
the two expedition teams. In Harriman's day, there were few
scientists who knew much about Alaska. In 2001, several of
the participants were themselves Alaskan; others had spent
years there, researching and writing about Alaska. All of
the participants in the original expedition were male. Not
so today, as women made up one-half of the 2001 roster. But
for all their differences, the two expedition teams resembled
each other closely in one way: they were both carefully
selected to give a broad and balanced report on their
findings as they journey along Alaska's coast.
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The Smith
Glacier, photographed by Larry Hott in 1999.
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image for a larger view.
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(top)
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Pomarine
Jaeger
The Pomarine jaeger, painted by Louis Agassiz Fuertes from a
specimen collected at Yakutat Bay on June 20,
1899.
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Members of the Harriman
Expedition on the deck of the Elder, photographed by
Edward Curtis.
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"The Harriman
expedition has done good service not only in
recorded results, but in indicating the richness of
the field that remains to be explored... there are
room and material for study in Alaska for many more
expeditions."
Israel C. Russell writing in Science, May
20, 1904.
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"Bug hunters, mole
catchers, and trappers of mice,
Diggers of worms and experts on ice,
Pickers of posies, and pounders of rock,
Bird whistlers and skinners, quite a flock.
Some to hunt monsters and weeds of the sea
and there was one at least who could climb up a
tree."
Frederick Dellenbaugh, describing the Harriman
Expedition participants in a humorous poem entitled
"A Fin de Siecle Hunt," 1899.
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