The monumental collection of photographs by Edward Curtis was intended to be the ultimate documentation of the then-apparent end of traditional Indian life-ways. Published between 1907 and 1930, The North American Indian consisted of twenty volumes of illustrated narrative plus twenty portfolios containing over 700 large photogravures. The consummation of thirty years’ work, it was enabled by substantial patronage from the wealthy financier J. P. Morgan.
Until the advent of four-color photography in 1935, most photographs were printed in continuous shades of black and white, called grayscale. Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952) developed his photographs using a paper treated with a sepia-toned emulsion. Sepia was a rich brown pigment made from the inky secretion of the cuttle-fish genus, sepia. In the printing of a negative on paper coated with sepia, a chemical reaction converted metallic silver to a sulphide, which resists fading that otherwise would occur with the passage of time. Optically, moreover, the sepia-toned image appears to have a more readily visible range of shadows and highlights than a grayscale image. Historically, it melded the principle of lithography with the spontaniety of photography.
Photogravure is a photomechanical intaglio printing process in which the image to be printed, such as a photograph, is chemically etched into the surface of the printing plate through a screen consisting of tiny square cells (corresponding, electronically, to pixels today). The varying amount of ink held in contiguous squares of different depths produced subtle degrees of density in the printed image. The photogravure process entered the popular press weekly during the first half of the 20th century with the rotogravure, a term which came to denote a section of a newspaper printed on special paper by the photogravure process with a cylindrical, or “rotary,” press, in sepia monochrome. With this step, the lithograph was replaced as a pleasing and economical print medium. (The rotogravure was immortalized by songwriter Irving Berlin in 1915 in “The Easter Parade”—”the photographer will snap us, and you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.”) Around 1910, however, photogravures were still printed from flat plates on a letterpress—a slow and expensive process reserved for the finest artistic efforts.
Curtis describes his photographic process in Drying Salmon.
Featured Photographs
Here the Columbia was “an agitated gut Swelling, boiling & whirling in every direction.” Even so, Cruzatte and Clark agreed that they could run the canoes through.
September 2, 1806
Stopping to hunt
James River, SD Delayed by wind, Clark pulls the canoes to shore near the James River, and buffalo hunting consumes most of the day. Clark notes a new trade house had been built since they passed this area in 1804.
February 23, 1806
Sea otters and seals
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Several are sick and Sgt. Ordway writes that he has influenza. Lewis describes sea otters and seals.
February 21, 1805
The Mandan medicine stone
Fort Mandan, ND Big White (Shekeke) and Big Man tell Clark that several Mandan men went to consult their “Medison Stone.” Lewis’s party returns with about 3,000 pounds of meat.
November 10, 1804
Hewing and guttering
Fort Mandan, ND Cottonwood logs are shaped with axes and adzes so that they can be used to cover cabin roofs. An Indian—likely The Coal of Mitutanka—and his wife visit.
Homeward bound in April 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled through the Columbia Gorge and pitched camps on its north side. Their passage was tense and unpleasant, with Indians taking small goods regularly.
March 24, 1806
Stolen canoe claimed
On their way to present Aldrich Point, they cross shallow waters crowded with islands, and a Kathlamet man guides them to the correct channel. The guide claims he is the owner of one of their canoes.
March 13, 1806
Looking for canoes
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR Drouillard is sent to buy two new canoes from the Clatsops, and several men are out hunting, retrieving elk meat, or looking for a lost dugout canoe. Lewis discusses coastal fish species.
Chinookan Woven Hats
by Mary Malloy
Today five hats at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology (PMAE) at Harvard University have a provenance that potentially associates them with the Lewis and Clark expedition. These hats represent an extensive network of trade.
April 20, 1806
Six stolen tomahawks
Working at separate villages at Celilo Falls, the captains have difficulty buying more horses and even lose one. After six tomahawks are stolen, Lewis orders all Indians away from his camp.
January 16, 1806
Chinookan fishing methods
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR The captains contemplate their ample supply of dried elk and salt and appreciate their dry Fort Clatsop huts. They think about the Bitterroot mountain snow that postpones their return, and they explain Chinookan fishing methods.
October 29, 1805
Friendly villages
Little White Salmon River, WA The expedition encounters friendly villages where they buy food. The climatic transition from the Cascade Mountain’s dry side to its wet side begins.
The Umatillas
After emerging from the Wallula Gap on 19 October 1805, Clark came across some Umatillas hiding in their lodges, and he committed a serious faux pas by entering without permission.
The Wascos and Wishrams
by Barbara Fifer
At The Dalles lived Upper Chinookan people, the Wishrams on the Columbia’s north (Washington) side—and their allies the Wascos on the south (Oregon) side—who were the main masters of the regional trading center. The Lewis and Clark Expedition encamped on the north side.
March 25, 1806
Downstreamer Chinooks
As they paddle along the south shore of the Columbia, the expedition sees Downstreamer Chinooks trolling for sturgeon. After fifteen miles, they find a popular camping spot at the present Clatskanie River.
February 1, 1806
Ammunition inspection
Fort Clatsop, Astoria, OR While wintering at Fort Clatsop near present-day Astoria, Oregon, the lead canisters are unsealed, and the gunpowder they hold is safe and dry. The captains describe highly prized Chinookan canoes.
September 5, 1805
Council with the Salish Flatheads
Ross’ Hole, MT A Salish council is held using five different languages: Salish-Shoshone–Hidatsa–French–English. Gifts are exchanged, and then horse-trading commences.
September 25, 1805
Searching for a canoe camp
Clearwater River, ID Clark and three Nez Perce men travel down the Clearwater searching for a canoe camp. Crossing to the southern shore, Clark finds ponderosa pine trees large enough for canoes. He returns to find many sick men.
October 23, 1805
Lining Horseshoe Bend
Celilo Falls, WA-OR While the men are lining the Horseshoe Bend of Celilo Falls, Lewis buys a Chinook canoe trading the smallest dugout, a hatchet, and a few trinkets.
April 13, 1806
New dugouts and dogs
With only four dangerously overloaded canoes, Lewis must buy two new dugouts from some Watlalas. He also buys some dogs for dinner at present Dog Mountain east of Stevensville, Washington.
May 13, 1806
Nez Perce manner and dress
The expedition moves a few miles to the Clearwater River in present Kamiah, Idaho. Lewis describes in detail the appearance, dress, ornamentation, and hairstyles of the Nez Perce.
March 8, 1805
Rocky Mountain Indians
Fort Mandan, ND Visiting Indians inform Clark about “the Indians near the rockey mountains” and tell how the Black Man retrieved his kidnapped daughter.
May 4, 1806
Crossing the Snake River
With help from their 1805 Nez Perce guide, the Corps crosses the Snake River and continues upriver to present Clarkston, Washington. Curious villagers crowd camp, and Lewis sees menstrual lodges.
January 3, 1805
Providing a safe refuge
Fort Mandan, ND Nine men go out bison hunting with small success. A Hidatsa husband is looking for his wife who has come to the fort seeking refuge.
Life’s Cycle at the Dalles
by Barbara Fifer
From the Columbia Plateau to the river’s mouth, people followed a yearly cycle for fishing, hunting, and harvesting wild foods. In the summer, people from many Sahaptian and Chinookan tribes visited The Dalles to trade and socialize.
Beginning with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, the U.S. government set the vast area north of the Missouri (approximately 20 million acres) aside as the “Blackfeet Hunting Ground” for the Blackfeet and other tribes—Cree, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, and Sioux.
As documented by Edward Curtis
Photographer Edward Curtis himself described the processes pictured here. “In the preparation of this article of food the salmon was beheaded and gutted, and with a sharp knife the two halves were separated from the backbone and the skin.”
January 10, 1806
Šax̣awaq̀ap visits
Fort Clatsop, OR After an early start from the salt works and a canoe trip in the dark, Clark returns to the fort. During the day, Kathlamets visit Lewis.
November 21, 1805
Clatsop and Lower Chehalis visitors
Station Camp near Chinook, WA In addition to Clatsop and Lower Chehalis visitors, the wife of Chinook chief Delashelwilt brings young female camp followers. Clark describes the Chinooks.
March 19, 1806
Chinookan lifeways
Fort Clatsop, OR The captains describe Chinookan lifeways detailing their manner of dress, decoration, and how they flatten their foreheads.
October 17, 1805
Snake and Columbia observations
Snake and Columbia rivers, WA On a clear morning, the captains take lunar observations. Clark is escorted about ten miles up the Columbia where he notes Indian ways and salmon habitats. Lewis takes an Indian vocabulary from the Wanapum and Yakama Indians.
October 11, 1805
Down the Snake River
Almota, WA The paddlers navigate numerous Snake River rapids where the Nez Perce and Palouse have established fisheries. They buy salmon and dogs and notice a curious sweat lodge. In Santa Fe, the governor organizes a Spanish force to stop the expedition.
April 1, 1806
Exploring the 'Quicksand' River
At Provision Camp, Pryor’s detachment explores the Quicksand River—the present Sandy in Oregon. Visiting Indians of various Nations warn of no food upriver, and no salmon for another month.
June 4, 1806
Seeking guides and diplomats
Lewis fails to secure Nez Perce guides to accompany him to the Falls of the Missouri. Clark seeks Nez Perce guides to accompany him to the Yellowstone River and to parley with the Shoshones.
October 28, 1805
Superior Chinookan canoes
Crates Point, The Dalles, OR The expedition sets out from Fort Rock but are soon stopped by headwinds. The captains visit nearby Indians where Lewis takes an Indian vocabulary. Clark sees goods acquired from British traders and superior Chinookan canoes.
October 6, 1804
Empty Arikara village
Swan Creek, SD The expedition comes to a recently inhabited Arikara village. They find bull boats, baskets, and a garden. On the river, the numerous channels make navigation difficult.
