by Timothy Egan
13. MOVING PICTURES
Writings and descriptions of Coast Salish Indians, from NAI, Vol. IX.
Morgan tribute from Curtis, from NAI, Vol. X.
New agreement with Jack Morgan, from various Curtis letters to Leitch, SPL, and from Strouse, Morgan: American Financier.
Hopi, back in Arizona, from Curtis letter to Meany, undated, Meany papers.
Hopi, on how they’d changed, from NAI, Vol. XII.
Curtis on religion, from random writings, UW Library, Special Collections.
Curtis arguing his point on vanishing race, from lecture notes in Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian Project in the Field.
Curtis citing Geronimo, from his autobiography, first published in 1906 as Geronimo’s Story of His Life, revised edition, Plume, 1996.
Curtis on Muhr, from his NAI tribute, Vol. X.
Muhr’s death, and comment on eternity, from Seattle Times, November 3, 1913.
Curtis on Kwakiutl women, from “As It Was.”
Curtis on gloomy Kwakiutl men, from NAI, Vol. X.
Hunt and missionaries anecdote, Curtis lecture in Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian Project in the Field.
Curtis letter to Hodge, June 20, 1914, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Description of North Vancouver Island, from several of the author’s visits to the island.
Film crew on Devil Rock at high tide, from a story Curtis told in “As It Was.”
Film’s run time, reels, tinting, posters, etc., from movie memorabilia on file at Seattle Public Library.
Reviews, first two, in Holm and Quimby, Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes.
New York Times appraisal of film’s merits, March 28, 1915.
New York Times review of opening, praising use of color, December 2, 1914.
Variety review, December 25, 1914.
Mr. Skinner note to Curtis, December 14, 1914, from Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer review, December 6, 1914, written after a screening, before the opening.
Film gross, from later assessment in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 9, 2008.
Curtis letter to Hodge, December 10, 1914, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
“Nanook,” from Holm and Quimby, Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes. This was based on Flaherty’s diary.
Nanook, from Flaherty’s own account, www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm /bookshelf/23_rf1_2.htm, and “Nanook,” Wikipedia.org.
Curtis sold rights for $1,500, from Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated. In Post-Intelligencer article, July 9, 2008, the figure given is $1,000.
14. LOST DAYS
Divorce details, from Curtis v. Curtis, on file at King County courthouse, Seattle.
Destroyed letters, from Edward S. Curtis—the Life and Times of a Shadow Catcher, by Barbara A. Davis, Chronicle Books, 1985.
Divorce, headline and main news information, Seattle Star, October 6, 1916.
Quotes from Curtis’s grandson, James Graybill, on how divorce affected the children, from author interview with Graybill, February 15, 2012.
Great War hurting sales, Curtis letter to Jack Morgan, August 2, 1915, Morgan Library archives.
Descriptions of Makah, from NAI, Vol. XI.
Curtis quotes on history, baseball, from NAI, Vol. XI.
Letters between Curtis and Schwinke quoted in Holm and Quimby, Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes; alas, the complete correspondence is now lost, according to the Burke Museum in Seattle.
Leslie’s work, from Curtis letter to Meany, April 22, 1915, detailing the coming year, Meany papers.
Myers letter to Hodge on Curtis and work trains in New Mexico, August 5, 1919, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Greene quote, from The Incredible Pierpont Morgan: Financier and Art Collector, by Cass Canfield, Harper & Row, 1974.
Cobb Building, from HistoryLink.org essay 7872.
Beth Curtis in charge of studio, details of fights between Clara and family, from Curtis v. Curtis, on file at King County courthouse, Seattle.
Smashed plates, as noted in later court papers on the divorce and legal proceedings filed by Curtis’s creditors.
Death of T.R., from Colonel Roosevelt, by Edmund Morris, Random House, 2010.
Curtis letter to T.R., February 12, 1915, Roosevelt letters at Library of Congress.
Curtis in Hollywood, letter to Meany, January 25, 1922, Meany papers.
More Curtis in Hollywood, from “As It Was,” and Curtis’s account in letters to Leitch, SPL.
Meany and his achievements, from a short biography of Meany at the start of the Meany papers.
Meany letter to Curtis on Hill suggestion, December 11, 1921, Meany papers.
Curtis letter to Meany on Hill and Frenchman, January 25, 1922, Meany papers.
15. SECOND WIND
Population of California in 1920s, from census of 1920.
Indian population of California, over time, from The Indian Heritage of America, by Alvin Josephy, revised edition, Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Hopi, all from NAI, Vol. XII.
Population of San Francisco County and Trinity County, census of 1920.
Curtis and the whale. He told this story to his children, as Florence recorded in her book, Edward S. Curtis: Photographer of the North American Indian, but there was no evidence of this. He never mentioned it in descriptions of his fieldwork with the Kwakiutl.
Florence Curtis Graybill on “gentle sensitive father,” from the recollection in her book. Also, being with her father, what he cooked, how he worked, from her remembrances in the Graybill papers at UW, and in Boesen and Graybill, Edward S. Curtis: Photographer of the North American Indian.
Adventures and pictures taken in northern California, from Florence, and from long Curtis letter to Meany summarizing summer, October 8, 1922, Meany papers.
Curtis on treatment of Indians, letter to Meany, October 8, 1922, and in NAI, Vol. XIII.
Descriptions of Klamath, Crater Lake, northern California, from several visits to the region by the author.
Tribal holdings shrinking, from Josephy, The Indian Heritage of America.
Curtis speech on behalf of Indian Welfare League, from Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
Curtis letter to Meany, “hold a little faith,” February 22, 1924, Meany papers.
Curtis and Myers in New Mexico, based on Myers correspondence to Hodge in that year, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Matilda Coxe Stevenson takes issue with Curtis’s methods, detailed in excerpts of letters in Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
Myers letter to Hodge, “pumped it dry,” November 1, 1925, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Descriptions of Alberta plains, from the author’s visit to the province.
Myers quits, letter from Myers to Curtis, no date, but quoted in an April 9, 1926, letter from Curtis to Hodge, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis on Myers, his work habits, from “As It Was.”
Curtis on relationship with Myers, “never had a word of discord,” from unpublished Curtis memoir, “As It Was.”
Curtis letter to Hodge, “bolt of lightning,” April 9, 1926, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis tribute to Myers, from NAI, Vol. XV.
Eastwood correspondence to Hodge, in Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
Description of Indian country in Oklahoma, from the author’s visit to Fort Sill and surrounding area, where the Comanche were relocated.
Background on the fall of the Comanche, from Empire of the Summer Moon, by S. C. Gwynne, Simon & Schuster, 2010.
Myers letter to Hodge, no date, but received May 28, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis letter to Hodge, Eastwood getting better, October 8, 1926, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis letter t
o Hodge, “bum diplomat,” May 11, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Hodge letter to Curtis, “thin-skinned,” May 19, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis letter to Hodge on weak material of the Comanche, December 7, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Myers letter to Hodge, “I wish I were going,” no date, but received on May 28, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
16. THE LONGEST DAYS
All quotations from Curtis log in Alaska on file at UW Library, Special Collections, Curtis papers.
All Beth quotations from her log, Curtis papers.
Population figures on Nome, from census of 1920 and 1930. Personal observations of Nome, from the author’s visit to the area.
Eastwood letter to Hodge on dirty Hooper Bay, August 1, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
The rest of the journey, from Curtis log in Alaska, dates as noted in text.
The arrest of Curtis, details from Seattle Times, October 10, 1927.
More on Curtis’s arrest, from Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 12, 1927.
Warrant and court papers, from Curtis v. Curtis, on file at King County courthouse, Seattle.
17. FIGHT TO THE FINISH
“Startling, if humiliating,” Seattle Times, October 10, 1927.
Clara in court, from Curtis v. Curtis, on file at King County courthouse, Seattle.
“shabby, hunched,” from Post-Intelligencer, October 12, 1927.
$2.5 million figure, from Seattle Star, October 12, 1927.
“one of those fanatical persons,” Seattle Star, October 12, 1927.
Curtis crying like a child, from Meany letter file, undated, appears to be from 1920s, Meany papers.
Document ceding copyright, from Morgan Library archives. There are several documents leading up to it, beginning in 1924. Also later, in a March 1, 1937, letter to a Mrs. Gardner of Seattle, Curtis notes, “The negatives and the copyrights as a whole were transferred to the NAI Inc., and passed completely from my hands,” this on file at UW Library, Special Collections.
Curtis letter to Hodge on Christians and Indians, December 7, 1927, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Curtis letter to Hodge, lame hip, January 28, 1928, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Writings on Peyote Society, NAI, Vol. XIX.
Quote from Comanche chief Parker on peyote, from Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon.
Writings on Eskimos, description of pictures, from Gwynne, Empire of the Summer Moon.
Curtis letter to Hodge, “my bed,” February 20, 1930, Hodge papers, Southwest Museum.
Meany letter to Curtis, January 15, 1932, Meany papers.
Curtis letter to Greene, from Morgan Library archives, April 20, 1932.
18. TWILIGHT
All of Leitch, from correspondence between Leitch and Curtis, SPL.
Letter from Curtis to Meany, down but not out, January 19, 1932, Meany papers.
Death of Clara J. Curtis, from Seattle Times, October 22, 1932.
Clara hiding letters from Katherine, as alleged in divorce files, Curtis v. Curtis, on file at King County courthouse, Seattle.
Family reunion at Thanksgiving, from Boesen and Graybill, Edward S. Curtis: Photographer of the North American Indian.
Last letters from Curtis to Meany, May 12, August 13 and August 18, 1934, Meany papers.
Meany summary of his life achievements, from HistoryLink.org essay 7885.
Sale of NAI by Morgan to Lariat, from archival notes in Morgan Library.
Movie The Plainsman, from single Curtis mention of it in undated letter, reprinted in Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
The curious Mrs. Gardner letter, undated, and Curtis’s reply to her, March 1, 1937, from UW Library, Special Collections.
Notes on Asahel Curtis, from HistoryLink.org essay 8780.
Myers’s death, from Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
Death of Belle da Costa Greene, burning of personal papers, from Ardizzone, An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Greene’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege.
Seattle Times obituary of Curtis, October 21, 1952.
New York Times obituary of Curtis, October 20, 1952.
Curtis and his single set of NAI, from the author’s interview with Lois Flury, who learned of the set from the family and later arranged the sale.
EPILOGUE: REVIVAL
New Mexico account, from Flury interview with the author.
Additional account of how Curtis’s plates were sold and resold, from Popular Photography, May 1984.
Death of Ella McBride, from HistoryLink.org essay, no number, posted July 21, 2010.
Auction prices, as reported by the houses mentioned in the text.
Biggest price yet for a photo lot, from Artnet.com, October 14, 2005.
University of Oregon sale, from the author’s interview with Flury.
Private sale, $1.8 million, as reported on July 11, 2011, by Fine Books & Collections, www.finebooksmagazine.com. Price was independently confirmed by the author.
Hopi revival, from the author’s visit to Hopi Nation.
Makah, whaling and use of Curtis, from HistoryLink.org, essay 5310.
Modern Coast Salish canoe journey and ritual, from New York Times, July 25, 2011.
Discussion of stagings, vetting and poses, from letter to Leitch, and quotes on how Curtis worked, from New York Times profile, April 16, 1911.
Momaday quote, from Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Value of Curtis’s work to scholarship of battle, from Philbrick, The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
Tulalip and Curtis picture in lobby, visited by the author.
Curtis findings on Custer: the ones he did not publish are in the Library of Congress, The Papers of Edward S. Curtis Relating to Custer’s Last Battle, edited by James Hutchins.
Largest anthropological project ever undertaken, assessment from Curtis scholar Mick Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Incorporated.
Significance of the film: from Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 9, 2008, containing a good appraisal by film critic William Arnold, and from Holm and Quimby, Edward S. Curtis in the Land of the War Canoes.
Census on Indian revival, www.census.gov.
Duwamish, from “The Tribe That Would Not Die,” Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, March 2009.
Photo Credit
Frontispiece: University of Washington Special Collections, UW 2807. Princess Angeline: Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University. Curtis on Rainier: The Mazamas Library of Portland, Oregon. Indians drying bark: The Mazamas Library of Portland, Oregon. A Piegan Dandy: Northwestern University Library, Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian. Piegan Camp: Library of Congress. Snake Priest: Library of Congress. Chief Joseph: Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University. Theodore Roosevelt: Wikipedia Commons. Curtis at Sagamore Hill: Library of Congress. At the Old Well of Acoma: Library of Congress. J. P. Morgan: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY. Mosa—Mohave: Library of Congress. Belle da Costa Greene: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY. Before the Storm—Apache: Library of Congress. Vanishing Race—Navajo: Library of Congress. Geronimo—Apache: Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University. Cañon de Chelly: Library of Congress. On the Custer Lookout: Library of Congress. A Heavy Load—Sioux: Library of Congress. Writing cabin: Library of Congress. Upshaw—Apsaroke: Library of Congress. Bear’s Belly—Arikara: Library of Congress. Eagle Catcher—Hidatsa: Library of Congress. The Fisherman—Wisham: Library of Congress. Shore of Shoalwater Bay: Library of Congress. Curtis with whale: University of Washington Special Collections, UW 19573. Dancers in canoe: Library of Congress. Wedding party: Library of Congress. Makah Whaler: L
ibrary of Congress. Meany with Chief Joseph: University of Washington Special Collections. Walpi Maidens—Hopi: Library of Congress. On a Housetop—Hopi: Library of Congress. A Smoky Day at the Sugar Bowl—Hupa: Library of Congress. Woman and Child: Library of Congress. King Island Village: Library of Congress. Wilbur Peebo—Comanche: Library of Congress. Curtis in his eighties: University of Washington Special Collections.
Index
Page references in italics refer to photographs.
Acoma fortress/people
Anasazi and, [>]
Curtis and, [>], [>], [>], [>]
description, [>], [>], [>]
Spanish and, [>]–[>]
Act of Obedience and Homage (Spanish), [>]
Adams, Henry, [>]
“alarm clock” in photo, [>]
Alaska/Curtis project (1927)
Beth (daughter) and, [>], [>], [>]–[>], [>]
description of people, [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
“filthiest human beings,” [>], [>]
finances for, [>]
Harry the Fish (skipper), [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]–[>]
Jewel Guard (boat), [>]–[>], [>]–[>], [>]
lost-at-sea reports, [>], [>]
missionaries and, [>], [>]–[>]
Nunivak Island, [>]–[>]
Alaska gold rush, [>]–[>]
Alaska scientific exploration (1899)
goals, [>]
provisions/people, [>]–[>]
See also specific individuals; Tlingit people/Alaska expedition
Alaska scientific exploration/Curtis (1899)
audio recording device and, [>]
iceberg incident, [>
