Northwest Art Collection
Preview up to 100 items from this collection below. Prints, drawings and paintings by artists Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Helmi Juvonen, Robert Cranston Lee and others celebrate the Northwest. Many pieces hail from the 1934 Public Works of Art Project.
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Interior of Chief Shakes' home, ca. 1899
Identifier: spl_ap_00093
Date: 1899
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Dawson City across the Yukon River, ca. 1899
Dawson City was originally home to members of the Han Tribe. It became the epicenter of the gold rush in Yukon Territory - established in 1899?and swelling to a population of 40,000 the following year as prospectors flooded the area. The city served as the capitol of the Yukon until 1952.
Identifier: spl_ap_00028
Date: 1899
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Boats unloading freight on waterfront in Nome, Alaska, September 28, 1899
Boats landing on the Nome waterfront carrying supplies for prospectors. Crowds of people line the beach. The same photograph was published on page 273 of the "Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's Magazine," Volume 29. Gold was discovered near Nome in the summer of 1898. Prospectors rushed to stake claims and Nome's population quickly ballooned to 10,000 people. In 1899, more gold was discovered on beaches near the town and spurred an even greater rush of visitors. By 1900, an estimated 1000 people a day were arriving in Nome. Pillsbury took some of the first available photographs of the city. Following his departure, the winter conditions made it too difficult for others to reach the area. This photograph was published in the June 1900 issue of Harper's Weekly. An illustration based on the photograph was also featured in the June 1900 issue of McClure's Magazine.
Identifier: spl_ap_00178
Date: 1899-09-28
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Man riding on Chilkoot Pass tramway, ca. 1899
During the Klondike Gold Rush, several hoists and tramways were constructed to help prospectors transport heavy loads of supplies and cargo over the pass. Prior to the construction of the tramways, prospectors carried their supplies themselves or with packhorses. Peterson's Hoist was constructed in 1896 and relied on a pulley and sled system. In 1897, Archie Burns' Tramway, a horse-powered system, went into operation. In March 1898 the Dyea-Klondike Transportation company opened up their own tram, the first electric-powered version in the world. Later that year the company merged with the Alaska Railroad and Transportation Company and Chilkoot Railroad and Transport Company to expand tram operations. In June 1899, the tram was purchased by the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad and the tram system was torn down, soon to be replaced by a narrow-gauge railroad.
Identifier: spl_ap_00125
Date: 1899
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Men sitting on train tracks at Index, Washington, ca. 1900
Identifier: spl_ap_00070
Date: 1900
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Dyea, Alaska from Dyea Mt., ca. 1899
Dyea was a short-lived town used by prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush as an entrance to the Chilkoot Trail. It became less popular after a large avalanche blocked much of the trail on April 3, 1898 killing over 70 prospectors. In May 1898 White Pass & Yukon Route railroad route opened in the neighboring town of Skagway, offering a faster, safer way for prospectors and their gear to reach the gold fields.
Identifier: spl_ap_00136
Date: 1899
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Map of the City of Seattle, Washington Territory, Showing Its Additions and the Walla Walla Rail Road, 1875
Map depicting land claims of many of Seattle's founders such as Denny, Bell and Yesler.
Identifier: spl_maps_2467399
Date: 1875
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Village on our “Cannibal Coast”, 1788
Parker McAllister, born in 1903 in Massachusetts, was a Seattle Times artist from 1924 to 1965. McAllister started his career as an illustrator at 14 for a Spokane publication; he joined the art staff at the Seattle Times in 1920. His first Sunday magazine cover was a poster-type illustration celebrating the University of Washington crew races in spring 1924. During McAllister's career, he created illustrations depicting “local color” events and situations now routinely handled by photographers. As the technology improved, he expanded his repertoire - he illustrated articles, drew covers for special sections and the weekly Seattle Sunday Times Magazine, and drew diagrams, comics, cartoons, and portraits for the Times’ editorial page. In 1956, an exhibition of his watercolor and oil paintings of Pacific Northwest scenes and historical incidents - including some paintings from the “Discovery of the Pacific Northwest” series - were exhibited at the Washington State Historical Society Museum in Tacoma. He was also a member of the Puget Sound Group of Men Painters. McAllister retired from the Seattle Times in 1965; he passed away in Arizona in 1970.
Identifier: spl_art_291985_15.145
Date: 1955
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View of Long Lake, B.C. from Long Lake Hotel, ca. 1899
Long Lake lay along the Chilkoot Trail, a Tlingit trade route between Skagway, Alaska and Lake Bennett (on the border of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory) that was used by many prospectors during the gold rush. The hotel was located at the south end of the lake. Signs on the side of the hotel advertise beds, lemonade and a bakery.
Identifier: spl_ap_00096
Date: 1899
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Totem pole in Wrangell, Alaska, ca. 1899
Identifier: spl_ap_00087
Date: 1899