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Winter & Pond, photog., et al; Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co.

[Photo archive documenting the construction of the Salmon Creek Dam and the Alaska-Gastineau Mine.]

Perseverance, Juneau, and other Alaska locales, 1907–1915. 147 silver print photographs (3” x 4” to 9.5” x 7.5”), including 4 photos affixed to black paperboard, 1 real photo postcard, and 2 cyanotypes. Many photos titled in the negative, sometimes featuring the date taken and negative number. Several are signed in the negative “Winter & Pond” or “WP.” Many photos bear the ownership inscription “Thane” at verso, and some photos feature more extensive inscriptions at verso. CONDITION: Photos overall very good, most with good contrast and sharp detail, one photo faded and another very dark, occasional creases to images and chipping at margins; four photos with remnants of black paper on verso.

A substantive archive of 147 photographs of Alaska primarily documenting the Alaska-Gastineau Mine and the historic construction of the Salmon Creek Dam, built by the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co. to supply electricity to its mining operations.

These images are from the collection of mining engineer Bartlett L. Thane (1877–1927), who pioneered hydroelectric power in the Juneau region and served as manager of the Alaska- Gastineau Mining Co. during the planning and construction of the Salmon Creek Dam, the world’s first thin arch dam. The Alaska-Gastineau Mine (AKA the Perseverance Mine) was a gold mine located in Perseverance some four miles outside of Juneau, Alaska and for a time before World War I was the largest gold mine in the world. Located within the Silver Bow Basin, the Alaska-Gastineau Mine had a two-mile shaft running through Mount Roberts to the company’s mine near Gold Creek.

This lot includes detailed and evocative photos of the Alaska-Gastineau Mine, Sheep Creek, the company’s operations, and the construction of the Salmon Creek Dam from 1911 to 1914. Over 100 photos picture the building of the dam and the mining operations. Place-names in some of the captioned photos include Perseverance Division, Power Supply Division, Sheep Creek Division, and Silver Bow Basin. Other shots capture scenery in the vicinity as well as Bartlett Thane’s family and friends in Alaska, often shown on excursions and sometimes in horse-drawn wagons. Other subjects depicted include scenes in Juneau; men operating equipment; the storefront of the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co.; vessels on the water; various businessmen who likely owned stakes in the mining company; a young native Alaskan boy holding two dogs with gloves on, and so forth. One image bearing Thane’s ownership inscription on the verso is also annotated on the image, Thane having evidently used the photo for reference in his work. Several candid shots of individuals feature Thane himself, and in one image he appears with a woman and child, apparently his daughter and wife, Juliet Blaine. Another shot shows a man—likely photographer E. Percy Pond—seated in an interior room, with the inscription at verso, “E. P. Pond’s home / Juneau / Feb. 19th / Sun AM,” suggesting that Pond and Thane were in close contact. The one real photo postcard in the lot captures the swearing in of newly-elected Alaska Governor Strong in 1913. Thane appears on the stage as well along with outgoing Governor Clark and other dignitaries.

Born in California, Bartlett Thane studied mining engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and first came to Alaska in 1897. He was hired by Herman Tripp to work at the Sumdum Chief Mine south of Juneau, and served as the first superintendent of the Eagle River Mining Co. (1903–10) before becoming manager of the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co. By 1911, Thane held controlling interest in six gold mines in the Juneau area. Large-scale development began in 1912, when Thane took control of the Alaska-Gastineau Mine and developed it into the world’s largest mine. In 1914, with the help of some of his former college football friends, Thane constructed Salmon Creek Dam, the world's first thin arch dam, the tallest dam in the world, and the first concrete constant-angle arch dam to be constructed, which provided electricity for mining operations. Between 1918 and 1919, Thane quit the Alaska-Gastineau Mining Co., moved to San Francisco, but then returned to the company. In 1921, after the Alaska-Gastineau Mine shut down, he attempted to develop a new pulp mill, but a deal with Japanese investors failed in 1923. Thane died in New York in 1927.

Photographers Lloyd Winter (1866–1945) and E. Percy Pond (1872–1943) documented the Klondike Gold Rush in the Juneau area as well as traditional Tlingit Indian culture until the 1940s. For over fifty years, Winter & Pond operated their Juneau-based curio and photography studio and published albums of original photos. Winter and Pond first arrived in Juneau in 1893 and between 1897 and 1898 (at the beginning of the Gold Rush), the two men made the journey up the Dyea Trail and over Chilkoot Pass. In 1899 Winter & Pond traveled to New York and arranged to create a series of Alaska photos for Underwood & Underwood. In 1909, Pond was appointed special agent to collect photos of Southeastern Alaska for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, which was held in Seattle in 1909. Winter & Pond also recorded traditional ceremonies of Tlingit Indians, documenting how the culture coped with changes coming from outside. In 1928, Winter applied to the Tlingit village of Klukwan for membership in the Alaska Native Brotherhood, an organization devoted to the civil rights of native people. In 1945, two years after Pond’s death, Lloyd Winter sold the business to Francis Harrison, who maintained Winter & Pond Co. until it closed in 1956.

REFERENCES: “Bartlett L. ‘Bart’ Thane (1877–1927) Family. Letters; 1911-1915” via the Internet Archive; “Bart Thane” at Alaska Electric Light & Power online; “Winter & Pond photographs, approximately 1893–1920” at Archives West online.

Item #7494

Price: $6,500.00