1899 Alaska Expedition Diary with Drawings of Glaciers

This manuscript diary was kept by George F. Nelson, a chaplain who accompanied Edward Harriman, a wealthy railroad executive,to Alaska by steamship in the summer of 1899. Twenty-five scientists, along with Harriman’s relatives, artists, photographers, and taxidermists, were also on board to observe the environment and collect samples of the flora and fauna. The environmentalist John Muir, who founded the National Parks system and the Sierra Club, George Bird Grinnell, founder of the National Audubon Society, and the photographer Edward Curtis were some of the noteworthy names on board. In addition to describing his impressions of the places and peoples, Nelson illustrates the diary with drawings of various glaciers. C. Hart Merriam wrote in the published account of the expedition in 1901: “A number of glaciers not previously known, as well as many others which had been vaguely or imperfectly known, were mapped, photographed, and described, and much evidence was gathered of changes that have occurred in their length and size. In many instances it was possible to compare their condition and extent in 1899 with earlier records, so as to discover and measure the changes…”

George F. Nelson
Harriman Alaska Expedition Diary, 1899
Harriman Alaska expedition diary and artifacts collection

CO2 PPM in 1899: 296

Additional Information

The published photographs from the expedition can be viewed here: https://content.lib.washington.edu/harrimanweb/index.html.

Those with access to Penn State library’s databases, can view the film, The Harriman Alaska Expedition Retraced (Bullfrog Films, 2002) here: https://catalog.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/28944819.