YACHTING PHOTOGRAPHY OF ASAHEL CURTIS by Scott Rohrer

 

Asahel Curtis
Photo courtesy of the 
WA. State Historical Society 
and Wooden Boat Magazine.

"Probably no photographer did more than Asahel Curtis (1874-1941) to capture both the natural splendor and the emergent twentieth–century civilization of the Pacific Northwest. The Curtis Collection at the Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma features significant images of almost every cultural and natural aspect of the place and its people––one of which was yachting.

Curtis was 13 when his family moved to Puget Sound but his father died within a few days of their arrival. The family was living in Port Orchard, Washington, when his older brother, Edward, moved to Seattle to join a commercial photographic business. When Edward dispatched Asahel to cover the Alaska Gold Rush of 1897, the younger brother had been working in the studio for two years.

Arriving at Skagway in early fall, Curtis headed up the trail to Lake Bennett and what he hoped would be a 500-mile sleigh ride in a crude drift boat down the Yukon River to the goldfields at Dawson. Starting too late, he spent the winter snowed-in at Summit Lake on White Pass. In the spring of 1898, low on provisions, he backtracked to Skagway, joined another party, and headed up again, this time via the rougher Chilkoot Pass. White Pass (also called Dead Horse Pass) was too steep for pack trains or dogsleds. It just devoured men. Curtis captured the hard realities of both places on 8" x 10" glass plates.

Edward Sheriff Curtis would later gain wide renown for his lavish series, the North American Indian. But in 1898, a heated dispute arose between the brothers after several of Asahel's Alaska images were published under Edward's name only. The brothers parted ways and never spoke again.

Asahel Curtis would continue his photography, slavishly recording an era of astonishing changes spanning the next four decades. From the agricultural boom of eastern Washington to the first ascent of many peaks in the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, he moved easily throughout the Pacific Northwest on a multitude of projects. His detailed 1910 documentation of a Makah whale hunt off Neah Bay, for example, still defines this controversial practice.

He often encouraged other talented young photographers, sharing his studio with them. Imogen Cunningham, for example, often worked there. Curtis's early studio products included lantern slides, postcards, and "cabinet" prints, many hand-colored and framed in the popular "piecrust" style of the time.

An avid hiker and climber, Curtis became one of the area's earliest conservationists. He was one of the founders of the Mountaineers, a visionary group formed in 1906–and still very active today–to explore Northwest wilderness areas and collect the history of those places during a critical period.

Curtis's prolific commercial work often took him out of Seattle to places of farming, fishing, logging, and manufacturing. His photos of native canoes, square riggers, riverboats, steamers, locomotives, and early automobiles followed 20th-century transportation as each mode was eclipsed by the next. His work appeared in periodicals ranging from Seattle newspapers to National Geographic. 

In 1907, public interest in yacht racing exploded in Seattle, sparked by the dramatic Canadian-American match for the Alexandra Cup. Seattleites crowded the shoreline to witness some very close finishes. Large sums were wagered on the outcome. News and commercial photographers alike covered the races and found numerous markets for their photos. Vancouver, B.C., hosted a return match in 1908, but racing stopped abruptly in 1909 when the third challenge for the cup ended in a scandal that led to a bitter rift between the two cities. 

While visiting Seattle in 1912, while en route to meetings in San Francisco, Sir Thomas Lipton heard about the dispute while spending considerable time being entertained by local yachtsmen and their families. Ever a supporter of the sport, Lipton offered a challenge cup for a race involving yachts in the R class of the new Universal Rule. The baronet's generous intervention would revive racing–and friendships–between these two cities. 

The yachtsmen of both cities enthusiastically embraced the new format. The Alexandra Cup was put away and never awarded again. When the clubs met again in July of 1914, The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club took their new R–boat TURENGA south to face one of three Seattle boats, all purpose-built to defend the Lipton Cup. Together, they formed the first fleet of R–boats on the Pacific Coast.

Several Northwest marine photographers compiled larger catalogs of pleasure boating images than Asahel Curtis did–Webster & Stevens, Will E. Hudson, and Kenneth Ollar, come to mind. But Curtis was unique in capturing the feel of summer boating on Puget Sound with an artist's keen eye. At the same time, he covered the 1914 Lipton Cup races for Pacific Motor Boat magazine with a newspaperman's sense of history in the making." 

ORTONA
A fine yawl (above) was owned by 
Seattle architect John Graham.
She was built by the Johnson Brothers and
Norman C. Blanchard in 1912. 
She spent most of her life in S. California. 
Curtis has captured her in a typical Puget Sound 
setting: reaching short-handed down 
Admiralty Inlet with Foulweather Bluff just
visible off of her lee bow. 
ORTONA was designed by L.E. "Ted" Geary 
and was 48' x 36' x 12.6' and carried 
1,400 sq. ft. of sail.
Photo by Asahel Curtis

GWENDOLYN II

off Alki Point, Seattle. 
Lloyd Johnson designed "Big Gwen"
and built her with his brother, Dean, 
at Georgetown in 1907. She became the
first Seattle boat to race to Hawaii when
she sailed the 1908 Transpac Yacht Race
from San Pedro to Honolulu.
She was second to finish, second overall. 
A year later, her sails show the effects
of the race and the stormy home.
A large brass bell that was presented 
to the Johnson brothers before they left
for CA, hangs in the lounge of the 
Seattle Yacht Club, engraved with the 
words, "Go in and win."
GWENDOLYN II was 48'6" x 37' x 13' 9"
with 2,000 sq. ft of sail area.
Photo by Asahel Curtis

The victorious crew of the SIR TOM,

poised for Curtis as he came 
alongside at the moorage.
Geary is on the foredeck, alongside
sailor extraordinaire, Fritz Hellenthal. 
On the boom is Norman J. Blanchard, 
co-builder of the boat. 
Aft in his pinafore and sailor hat is 
John Dreher, sailing writer for the 
Seattle Times. Missing is the fifth man,
Dean Johnson.
Photo by Asahel Curtis
 

Asahel Curtis worked in his studio until his death, in 1941. Sixty thousand of his images are held in trust by the Washington State Historical Society.

Thank you writer Scott Rohrer. and Wooden Boat magazine. 

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In August 1906, Asahel Curtis needed to explore above sea level; with his "Mazamas" mountaineering group he reached the summit of Mt. Baker over a route that others had pronounced impossible. He and six other climbers deposited their names in the iron box and left it a new resting place 400 feet further up from its previous position at 1 p.m., 9 August 1906, and were back to their main camp by 11 p.m. 

The names of the climbers: F.H. Kiser, leader, of Portland; Asahel Curtis, of Seattle; C.M. Williams, of Seattle; L.S.Hildebrand, of Bellingham; C. E. Forsythe, of Castle Rock; and Martin Wahnlich, guide, of Bellingham.

At the head of the glacier that feeds Wells Creek, the party claims to have found a large vent in the mountain from which occasionally boiling water is gushed forth with a hissing sound. 

The San Juan Islander. 1906.

CAPTAIN BEN JOYCE, FROM BOSTON TO ALASKA

 

Captain Benjamin Joyce,
(1879-1971)
Life long mariner.
Photograph dated 1952.
Reports of an interview below
by Seattle's Lucile MacDonald.
Original photo from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society©

When the history writer, Lucile McDonald interviewed Capt. Ben Joyce for this essay in 1967, it had been 70 years since he had left home in Boston for a 14,300-mile voyage to St. Michael, Alaska, in a 122 ft halibut fishing boat.
        Around Seattle, it would be hard to find another old salt who could match this cruise through two hemispheres in so small a craft.
        Once upon a time, such voyages were fairly common, but most of the men who made them are long since gone. Captain Joyce began young, otherwise, he wouldn't be around to tell the tale.
        "in 1897, l was an office boy in Boston when we heard news of the big Klondike gold strike. No one knew where the Klondike was, but every young man wanted to go. The story of the arrival of the steamship Portland in Seattle with a ton of gold on board didn't lose any in the telling. I was 17 and I got gold fever with the rest."
        Joyce came from a line of sea captains and the tradition has been handed down to his sons, Capts. Emory and Ben Joyce Jr., and his grandson, Lieut. Comdr. Ben Joyce, in the Coast Guard, and Capt. Walter Hoopala, on a Foss tugboat in Vietnam.
        At the time when the first young Ben got itchy feet, his father, Capt. Hanson B. Joyce was employed by the New England Fish Co. as the supervisor of fishermen. He had been going to West Coast halibut fishing each winter since 1892, and returning home for the summers because there were no facilities for shipping fish across the continent in warm weather.
        In the spring of 1897, he was sent to Camden, M.J., to supervise construction of a new steam fishing boat, the NEW ENGLAND specially designed for catching halibut in the North Pacific. He was to see that it was the most efficient type for the work.
        "She looked like a towboat with two masts, Capt. Ben explained. She never used the sails, but had them for emergencies.
        "We wrote to father in Camden and told him I wanted to go to the gold rush. He said he'd do what he could to help me. He got me a job as a fireman on the NEW ENGLAND.
        When the steamer was finished, my father high-tailed it overland in December to the West Coast, this time taking Mother, my two sisters, and a brother along. This gave me family connections to come to.
        Young Ben went to Camden and joined the NEW ENGLAND to help take her to Boston.
         "On the way, the chief engineer decided I'd never make a fireman in this world or the next. I was called on the carpet by the president of the company. He told me they'd have to make an ordinary seaman out of me. The crew already was filled when they found another fireman, so I went as deckman, meaning I was available to do anything. There were 18 of us on board.
        We left Boston December 23 in bad weather and had to lie in at Woods Hole. From there to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands was a nonstop run. We went in for coal and then left for Rio de Janeiro. We were sweeping the bunkers for fuel before we got in.
        I was shoveling coal most of the time that trip; the sailors had to move it to where it was within reach of the firemen. We had coal all over that boat, in the fish holds, and stacked on the deck. It had to be that way because the stops were few and far between.
        The weather was mostly fine all the way from Woods Hole to the Strait of Magellan. 

The INDEPENDANT
Landing halibut at Seattle, WA.
Postcard from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historical Society 

We coaled again at Montevideo. We never went into any of these cities because of the shipping congestion. The coal always was lightered out to us and we'd be on our way as quickly as we could.
        We made the entrance of the Strait of Magellan at night and anchored until morning as there were no navigation lights in the passage. We'd gone into the Strait several hours when we saw a ship that looked to be on the beach. The captain thought she needed assistance, so we went over to her and found she was a Boston fishing schooner heading for Alaska.
        She was full of fishermen with gold fever. She needed no help; she was waiting for the wind. We visited with them all that day –– it was Sunday–– and we were under way the next morning and out of the strait that night into a storm on the West Coast. By then, we'd got all the deck coal down into the hold, where the firemen could handle it, so we made out all right."
         The next stops were at Talcahuano, Chile, and Callao, Peru, to refuel. Captain Joyce said by then he was "coal sick." He'd handled so much of it, along with the ash sent up in buckets and dumped overboard. Then on to San Francisco. The saving feature of the voyage was good food.
        The New England arrived at Vancouver, B.C. in March, almost three months to a day, from the Boston departure. Joyce's father was there to meet him, having just finished the halibut fishing season. He took over command of the boat for the rest of the voyage.
        "We were in Vancouver only about two days and then left for Seattle to pick up a tow of two river steamers for the Yukon. They were the ROCK ISLAND I and II."
        We used the Inside Passage when we could and headed for Dutch Harbor, where we fueled again and father arranged to tow two more river steamers to St. Michael after we delivered the pair we had.
        On the trip back from St. Michael, I had a new job – dishwasher and flunky. On the way north again, I was cook. I've done about everything."
        The NEW ENGLAND began halibut fishing out of Vancouver in the fall. Capt. Joyce became captain of her in 1912 and left her in 1916 for bigger vessels.
        Did he ever get to the gold rush?
        "Yes, I had to get that out of my system. It took five weeks. I went to the Atlin, sluiced about a month on Pine Creek, and got a few specks of gold dust in the bottom of a pill bottle."
        Joyce fished with his father on the NEW ENGLAND. She carried 12 dories and 24 fishermen They employed 350 hooks to a string and one day caught more than 200,000 pounds of halibut.
        "At first we hoisted them aboard by the tails, but that was too slow for father. He put cargo nets in the dories and hoisted them out full in one lift.
        The company allowed a fisherman 25 cents a fish when I began. Later we were getting 1.25 cents a pound. We worked sometimes from daylight to dark in the dories.
        The NEW ENGLAND was sold for junk late in the 1930s. Captain Joyce retired in 1955, but he still carried his steamboat license, the oldest one on the Pacific Coast.

Above words by Lucile MacDonald, Historian/ Author. Published by the Seattle Times. 1967.

Capt. Benjamin Irving Joyce (L)
and son, Capt. Emery Joyce
Celebrating the 91st  birthday 
of Capt. Benjamin.
Original photo from the archives of 
the Saltwater People Historical Society©

Many guests of honor had ridden with the captain on ships of the old Alaska Steamship Co passenger fleet. Joyce, who was born on an island off Maine, did most of his sailing out of Seattle. He received his masters papers in 1902 and was the oldest licensed master on the West Coast. The last time it was renewed, in 1965, the Coast Guard officer who signed it was Capt. Emory Joyce, one of three sons who became captains. 

The celebration was at the home of Emory Joyce, now a Puget Sound pilot.

Text by Jay Wells, from the Seattle Times. Published February 1970.

A NOTABLE DAY IN SAN JUAN HISTORY

 IMPRESSIVE EXERCISES AT AMERICAN AND BRITISH CAMPS

U.S. Monitor Wyoming 
with 200 officers and men 
even came back for the
 unveiling party. 
Click image to enlarge.
Antique postcard from the archives 
of the Saltwater People Log©

"The unveiling of the monuments at the American and British military camps, October 21, 1904, was a most notable occasion not only in the history of the county but of the PNW. The day was perfect and not a single incident occurred to detract from the pleasure of the exercises at either camp. 

Never before since the termination of the joint occupancy has there been so large a representation of the army and navy in the county, nor so large an assemblage of prominent people within its borders. If it were possible, or practicable, to assemble all the people of the county together in one place a vote of thanks would be unanimously tendered to the University Historical Society for having erected such appropriate monuments to make two of the most historical spots in the northwest.  Prof Meany, is the society's able and energetic secretary. 

Capt. Pickett was commander at American Camp. His cottage was removed to Friday Harbor after the termination of the joint occupancy and has ever since been the home of the well-known pioneer, Capt. Edward D. Warbass, who was Capt. Pickett's friend and companion for a number of years. 

Home of Capt. Delacombe and family.
He was the commander of the British Marines,
San Juan Island, WA.
Click the image to enlarge.
A low-res scan of an original gelatin-silver 
photograph from the archives of the 
Saltwater People Historial Society©

Today we publish a picture of the more spacious residence of the commander at English Camp, showing Capt. Delacombe and his family on the porch. We understand that the captain is still living and for some years past he has occupied the position of high constable at Derby, England. The building was destroyed by fire about ten years ago. It occupied a most beautiful location on a wooded hill above Garrison Bay, overlooking the Canal de Haro and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The monument erected Oct. 21 now marks the site. 

Following the program of exercises as they took place at the two camps:

AMERICAN CAMP

March from shore of Griffin Bay to American Camp.
Music by the artillery band.

"The United States Army," by Capt. McCloskey, commanding the troops from the Puget Sound artillery district.

Address by Hon. Geroge H. Williams, the present mayor of Portland, read by Prof. Maynard Lee Daggy, of the University of Washington.

Music by the artillery band.

BRITISH CAMP

March from the shore of Garrison Bay to British Camp.

Presiding officer––Judge Cornelius H. Hanford, of the United States district court. 

Unveiling of the monument: music by the Puget Sound artillery band––"America" or "God Save the King."

National salute by U.S.S. Wyoming.

Address of welcome by Rev. C.C. Pratt, of Friday Harbor.

"First United States Customs Officer at San Juan. After the Arbitration Decision," by Mr. Frank H. Winslow, president of the Washington Pioneers' Association. 

Letter from Gen. Hazard Stevens, special commissioner under President Grant to adjust claims by British landholders on the San Juan Islands, read by I. A. Nadeau, of Seattle.

Music by the artillery band. 

Greetings from Wisconsin State Historical Society by President Robert I. McCormick.

Address by Hon. Bernard Pelly, British vice-consul at Seattle.

Benediction by Rev. R.I. Bussabarger, of Seattle. 

March to the shore with music by the artillery band.

Source: Text from the San Juan Islander, 29 October, 1904."