Additional donation documenting Wrangell Tlingit

Today SHI Special Collections received an additional donation; a historic photograph from the Wrangell, Alaska area. This image was donated by Harold L. Wheaton, Sr. of Juneau, who read about our other recent donations in the newspaper, and he subsequently contacted us to donate. Dating to the late 1890s, the photograph captures a crew of Wrangell Tlingit hauling goods in a dugout canoe up the Stikine River to be sold to miners who worked up river. Concerning Wheaton’s connection to the photo, he stated his grandfather, John Choquette, is the figure steering and standing in the rear of the canoe (see image below). Importantly, this image captures a unique and industrious method of employment for Wrangell residents of the period. Since the Stikine River was a principal route to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory, and since Wrangell locals knew the river well and were better equipped to transport goods to isolated miners working up river, the practice of transporting goods up river proved economically viable to Wrangell residents. In essence, this image captures an important role played by Wrangell Tlingit during an interesting period of Alaska’s modern history.

This photograph will be preserved housed at and preserved by SHI Special Collections’ department and is available for the public to view. SHI Special Collections continually seeks to collect these types of materials and functions on a donation basis, since the Sealaska Heritage Institute is a nonprofit organization. Those interested in donating should contact SHI’s archivist. For those interested in additional information about SHI please see our website by clicking here.