Trailing and Camping in Alaska

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

havasu

Internet Constable
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
9,034
Location
somewhere between here and there
I got this hard cover book today from my cousin. Addison M. Powell was my Great Great Uncle, and came home to Santa Maria, Cal, after being snow blinded. I visit his grave every time I visit my relatives in that city. I thought it was interesting, and knowing it is a book from 1909 and my great uncle, makes this extra exciting.
20210805_134312.jpg
20210805_135501.jpg
 
OK.......I need to read that. Please tell me about the printer and it looks like there is a current edition for around $30.00

Addison M. Powell | Northern Light Media (wordpress.com)

Addison M. Powell
Addison Powell cover
Trailing and Camping in Alaska,
subtitled Ten Years Spent Exploring, Hunting and Prospecting in Alaska – 1898 to 1909, was written in 1909 by Addison M. Powell, an adventurer, prospector, hunter, and a former guide for Captain William R. Abercrombie’s 1898 Copper River Exploring Expedition, which was one of three military expeditions organized under the direction of the Secretary of War with directives for exploring the interior of the new territory of Alaska. Powell’s familiarity with the land made him a valuable addition to Abercrombie’s efforts over the next several years, and brought him into contact with many men who would help to shape the future of Alaska.

Powell and Co. copper rock

Addison Powell, resting his chin in hand second from the left, with friends and a large nugget of copper found on Nugget Creek, in the Wrangell Mountains, summer of 1902. [Photos are from Addison Powell’s book, Trailing and Camping in Alaska, Wessels & Bissell, 1909]
The May-June, 2019 issue of Alaskan History Magazineincluded selected excerpts from chapter 21 of Powell’s book, on his explorations around the Copper River country and the Wrangell Mountains. In the spring of 1898, Abercrombie was directed to organize his men and supplies at Valdez, on the coast, and to explore northward into the valley of the Copper River and its tributaries, and farther north to the Tanana River, seeking an all-American route from coastal Alaska to the Klondike gold fields.

The Copper River

The banks of the Copper River.
The following year Abercrombie would be responsible for constructing a military road from Prince William Sound at Valdez to Eagle on the Yukon River, a route which became known as the Eagle Trail. Powell, who had been exploring and prospecting in the country, once again joined the effort as a guide and surveyor. The following years are filled with exploration, adventures, and a continuing search for a lost gold strike.
Addison Monroe Powell was born November 25, 1856, in Clinton County, Indiana; he was 42 years old when he joined Abercrombie’s 1898 expedition. His sub-report, published in Abercrombie’s 1899 Government Report on the Copper River Exploring Expedition, appears as chapters of this book. Powell passed away in Santa Barbara, California, on January 29, 1932, at the age of 75.
 
Excellent find! I have a new mission. I am going to find my own copy.
 
Ask him how that "Bison" herd is doing.......???
 
That is an awesome gift Havasu.
I've got them saved on Amazon to order my own set.
Any idea if he was related to John Wesley Powell, who led the first trip down the Colorado river after the Civil war. Likely the first Whites to make that trip.
 
I just ordered both Trailing and Camping in Alaska and Echoes From The Frontier. Both were hardcover.
 
So this book just arrived today. It is "Small" 5"X7.5" and not many pages. Only 60 pages, but it is a 1909 first edition, first printing, which is neat. It is in very good condition, There is no indication it was ever opened. It shows clear signs of having been on a book shelf for 112 years, The paper is old and likely fragile. Over all was a good find. Sadly it will be about four hours of reading enjoyment, only. Has some interesting old photos. One shows what it refers to as. "UNITED STATES MAIL STATION". It is a photo of a fairly large cache set about five feet off the ground, and there is a person on a horse in front of the cache. It is clearly not a cabin, just a cache for mail. It appears (based on the size of the horse and rider to be about eight feet wide and ten feet deep and side walls about four foot high, and looks to have a white canvas for roof covering. It is well built.

Just bought this.......

View attachment 70556
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top