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The
1899
Expedition
Original
Participants
Brief
Chronology
Science
Aboard
the
Elder
Exploration
&
Settlement
Growth Along Alaska's Coast
Alaska
Natives
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Trevor
Kincaid
1872 -
1970
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Trevor
Kincaid
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Trevor Kincaid was set to graduate
from the University of Washington in 1899 when he was chosen
as the entomologist for the Harriman Expedition. He later
wrote that "as the George W. Elder left the dock my
classmates were lining up to receive their diplomas." For
the young man, it was truly a voyage of discovery. As an
insect specialist, he assumed that the icy coast would yield
but few discoveries, but he learned that "the presence of a
glacier does not necessarily mean the absence of life." One
species he collected and described was the "glacier worm,"
familiar to Alaskan Natives, but largely unknown to the
scientific community. The worm lives within the glacier,
surrounding itself with a chemical anti-freeze that allows
it to move though the ice. It feeds on the abundant organic
matter frozen into the glacier itself.
The 1899 trip was not Kincaid's
first visit to Alaska. Two years earlier he had visited the
Prifilofs and Unalaska. With Harriman, he decided to skip
those two stops. He and several others opted for a ten day
camping trip on Popof Island.
Ultimately, his collection
comprised 8000 specimens representing 1,001 species, 344 of
which had been unknown to science. These were distributed to
specialists throughout the country for evaluation and
report. One specimen, a beautiful metallic beetle found in
Farragut Bay, was later named Nebris kincaidi, in his
honor.
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