Alaskan hunter, trapper, and prospector diaries : manuscript.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Contributor:

Caroline F. Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness (University of Pennsylvania)

Schimmel, Caroline F., donor, associated name.

Language:

English

Genre:

codices (bound manuscripts)

Diaries.

Manuscripts, American -- 20th century.

Manuscripts, English -- 20th century.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Swann Galleries (New York, New York), Lot 8, 2024 November 21, with funds gifted by Caroline Schimmel.

Physical Description:

5 volumes (92, 96, 140, 120, 94 pages) ; 16 x 10 cm

Production:

Alaska, 1917-1922, 1929-1930, 1933, 1963-1964.

Summary:

This set of five diaries was kept by an unidentified hunter, trapper, and prospector working in and around the Yukon River area of Alaska between 1917 and 1964. The nature of the entries’ contents are consistent across all five diaries. The diaries date as follows: Volume 1, 1917 August 1-1918 June 1; Volume 2, 1918 July 6-1919 June 4; Volume 3, 1919 July 8-1920 September 30; Volume 4, 1920 October 1-1922 January 31; and Volume 5, 1929 March 13-1930 May 17, 1933 October, and 1963 December 1-1964 October 4.The diary entries track the writer’s life in rural Alaska as he travels between cabins and camps between Fort Yukon, Rampart, Pass Creek, Salmon River, Little Black River, Omar River, Central Butte, Sucker River, and Bear Mountain. Most of the entries focus on the weather and conditions, details of hunts and traps, accounts of chores and tasks completed, illnesses, and location or travel. The conditions often include the water levels of the river and the presence of flies and mosquitoes. The details of hunts document what was hunted, including caribou, wolverine, ducks, porcupine, rabbit, moose, bear, and geese. The chores include cabin work, preparing the “cache,” cooking and baking, cleaning and stretching animal skins, patching clothing, cleaning guns, and fixing toboggan. There is limited mention of other people in these diaries. The writer most frequently refers to a man or men named “Martin” and “Henry E. Martin,” who he appeared to be close with and occasionally worked with. He also mentions a handful of individuals by first name as well as a few by their full names: John J. Maddenan, Charley Crow, Jack Ramond, Oscar Scully, and Gordon Bettles. The other individual mentioned throughout the diaries is a woman named Margaret, who seems to have been the writer’s wife. She is mostly mentioned in the context of chores and work performed but is also mentioned in an entry regarding a miscarriage on February 15, 1919 (V.2, p. 58) and the birth of a female child on December 28, 1920 (V.4, p. 24). There is no further mention of the child. The only other possible reference to the couple’s children is a line reading “kids” in an account of the furs collected in October of 1933 (V.5, p. 17). There is also a list of items titled “Patricia” that appears to be written in a child’s hand (V.5, p. 93). The writer often crossed paths with Inuit people, who he called “huskies,” “siwashes,” and “Indians.” The fifth volume includes mention of airplanes that brought supplies to the region.

Cited as:

Alaskan Hunter, Trapper, and Prospector Diaries (Ms. Codex 2392). Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania.