Archival Material About the Voyage
Archival Material About the Voyage
This is a place to post any archival material or other information about the ship, its crew, or the voyage.
Letters sent with Mr Walker requesting assistance
Earlier this year I paid a visit to the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center, where the very generous Gina Bardi prepared a rich selection of archival materials pertaining to the Belvedere.
Included among the items was a pair of letters from October 1897, written to accompany a Mr Walker (who is mentioned at various points in the log and I suspect was the ship's master) as he went for help.
It is probably these very letters that are referred to in the log entry for October 24 ("took 9 bundles of Orcas Bone to pay for Outfit to go East with letters").
Letter #1, dated October 20th, 1897, signed "E.A. McIlhinny, In charge P.S.W. Co's station. Point Barrow, Alaska"
Letter #2, dated October 30, 1897, signed "Wm. J. Drynen. Agent Pacific Steam Whaling Co."
Letter #3, dated February 25th, 1898, at a Hudson's Bay Company post called Fort Simpson, signed "Charles F. Christie"
It's remarkable that Mr Walker survived, not to mention these letters, which he must have carried in a pouch under his sealskins. Fort Simpson is over 1000 miles as a crow flies from Point Barrow, and this was the dead of winter. If he made his way to Edmonton, as the third letter suggests, that's another 560 miles, which must have been a walk in the park by comparison.
Enjoy!
Included among the items was a pair of letters from October 1897, written to accompany a Mr Walker (who is mentioned at various points in the log and I suspect was the ship's master) as he went for help.
It is probably these very letters that are referred to in the log entry for October 24 ("took 9 bundles of Orcas Bone to pay for Outfit to go East with letters").
Letter #1, dated October 20th, 1897, signed "E.A. McIlhinny, In charge P.S.W. Co's station. Point Barrow, Alaska"
Letter #2, dated October 30, 1897, signed "Wm. J. Drynen. Agent Pacific Steam Whaling Co."
Letter #3, dated February 25th, 1898, at a Hudson's Bay Company post called Fort Simpson, signed "Charles F. Christie"
It's remarkable that Mr Walker survived, not to mention these letters, which he must have carried in a pouch under his sealskins. Fort Simpson is over 1000 miles as a crow flies from Point Barrow, and this was the dead of winter. If he made his way to Edmonton, as the third letter suggests, that's another 560 miles, which must have been a walk in the park by comparison.
Enjoy!
Last edited by espross on Sat Sep 12, 2020 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Archival Material About the Voyage
Whale of a find! 
Re: Archival Material About the Voyage
Apparently the Belvedere, which was launched in 1880 from Bath, Maine, made Arctic voyages all the way until 1919, when she was caught in the ice in Siberia a final time.
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center has a number of photographs and newspaper clippings pertaining to the Belvedere in later years. I photographed a few of the more evocative images to fill out my picture of the ship and her circumstances. I've filled in some juicy details from John R. Bockstock's 1977 book, Steam Whaling in the Western Arctic [New Bedford: New Bedford Whaling Museum].
Here's a photograph of various captains of the whaling fleet in 1887, including M.V.B. Millard, captain of the Belvedere in 1897-1898. These are some tough characters to be sure. Millard is identified as the one standing, second from the right.
In an event quite similar to our 1897-1898 adventure, the whaling fleet got stuck in the ice in 1905-1906. I believe Capt Tilton, author of this cheery note to the press, was the Belvedere's captain all the way back in 1890.
(Mrs. Cook, mentioned here as "not well," was the wife of a brutal and/or sadistic captain of one of the stranded ships, John A. Cook. She suffered a nervous breakdown at Herschel Island during their long stay that winter.)
Here the Belvedere is seen at the dock in San Francisco in 1908 or 1909.
The Arctic having run out of whales,the Belvedere ceased whaling in 1908. In 1911 she was sold to the Hibbard-Stewart Company of Seattle, which was a fur dealer. She continued to operate in the Arctic, now as a general trader and freighter.
In July-August of 1917 she was caught in ice for a month. These photographs are indicated to be from that voyage.
If folks are interested, I can dig deeper into this background. It's really remarkable to see original letters and negatives to accompany the logs.
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Research Center has a number of photographs and newspaper clippings pertaining to the Belvedere in later years. I photographed a few of the more evocative images to fill out my picture of the ship and her circumstances. I've filled in some juicy details from John R. Bockstock's 1977 book, Steam Whaling in the Western Arctic [New Bedford: New Bedford Whaling Museum].
Here's a photograph of various captains of the whaling fleet in 1887, including M.V.B. Millard, captain of the Belvedere in 1897-1898. These are some tough characters to be sure. Millard is identified as the one standing, second from the right.
In an event quite similar to our 1897-1898 adventure, the whaling fleet got stuck in the ice in 1905-1906. I believe Capt Tilton, author of this cheery note to the press, was the Belvedere's captain all the way back in 1890.
(Mrs. Cook, mentioned here as "not well," was the wife of a brutal and/or sadistic captain of one of the stranded ships, John A. Cook. She suffered a nervous breakdown at Herschel Island during their long stay that winter.)
Here the Belvedere is seen at the dock in San Francisco in 1908 or 1909.
The Arctic having run out of whales,the Belvedere ceased whaling in 1908. In 1911 she was sold to the Hibbard-Stewart Company of Seattle, which was a fur dealer. She continued to operate in the Arctic, now as a general trader and freighter.
In July-August of 1917 she was caught in ice for a month. These photographs are indicated to be from that voyage.
If folks are interested, I can dig deeper into this background. It's really remarkable to see original letters and negatives to accompany the logs.
Re: Archival Material About the Voyage
Brilliant!!!
Re: Archival Material About the Voyage
I don't know how I missed this posting espross. It's superb!! I can't tell you how emotional I feel seeing this fabulous ship and the amazing men that crewed and mastered her and the other ships of that time. The letters and press articles are astounding. The tales of the journey's to give them aid during those terrible times, the distances covered are the height of derring-do. 900 miles from Hudson Bay westwards in 66 days? Staggering.
The pictures are wonderful. Sorry to sounds 'gushy' over these- but they are quite breathtaking to me.
(Secret wish - to spend at least 6 months hanging out in the libraries in New Bedford and Providence
)
The pictures are wonderful. Sorry to sounds 'gushy' over these- but they are quite breathtaking to me.
(Secret wish - to spend at least 6 months hanging out in the libraries in New Bedford and Providence
)Re: Archival Material About the Voyage
900 miles from Dawson City in the Yukon, to Fort Mcpherson (known by Yukoners as Fort McPoo) to Herschel Island.
