Anonymous
1910

Copper Belt of Alaska Manuscript Copper Mining

Copper Belt of Alaska showing location of properties of New York-Alaska Copper Co, Copper River Mining Co., and White River Mining Co.

DESCRIPTION: Intriguing pen and ink manuscript map related to early copper mining in Alaska ca. 1910 in the area of the Wrangell Mountains, east of Anchorage. Shows an area spanning about 100 miles E-W with the Hanagita Trail, Tonsina Station (est. 1903), and the properties of the New York-Alaska Copper Co, Copper River Mining Co., and White River Mining Co. Does not show the lines for the Copper River and Northwestern Railway (est. 1911) and most important the Kennecott Mines or townsite (ca. 1911).The map would have been used to produce multiple blue-printed copies (cyanotypes).

Shows the McClellan trail taken by parties led by R.F. McClellan (Chittyna Exploration Company) in 1898 and 1899 to the Copper River and then on eastward along the Chitina River where large copper lode discoveries were made exploited by the Bonanza Mine and the Nicolai Mine. Some of the parties disputed the ownership of the finds, formed a separate entity (Copper River Mining Company) and brought suit against Chittyna Exploration in 1902. The suit was decided in favor of McClellan and his partners of the Chittyna Exploration Company. In 1903 Stephen Birch consolidated 21 claims as "Alaska Copper and Coal Company", enlisted the help of J.P. Morgan and Daniel Guggenheim, and founded the Kennecott Copper Company.

Includes key features: Bonanza Mine, Nickolai Mine, Skolai Pass, Wrangell Glacier, Long Glacier, and Mount Wrangell.

Manuscript trace map on surveyor's tracing cloth (paper). N

The illustration and quotation on this trade card were not unique to John Cosgrove but rather part of a stock design widely used by 19th-century printers who specialized in producing humorous or sentimental advertising cards. Lithographers commonly kept catalogs of ready-made comic scenes—like this seaside mother-and-child vignette with the line “It’s a wise child that knows its own mother at the sea side”—which merchants could customize by adding their own business imprint below. In this case, the printer simply inserted Cosgrove’s name, trade description, and Poydras Market address into the blank advertising panel at the bottom, allowing a small New Orleans fish dealer to benefit from professionally printed imagery at a fraction of the cost of commissioning original artwork.

CREATOR: Anonymous

PUBLICATION DATE: 1910

GEOGRAPHIC AREA: United States

BODY OF WATER: Copper River

CONDITION: Good. A few folds and wrinkles but clean without major condition issues. Wide margins.

COLORING: None

ENGRAVER:

SIZE: 21 " x 11 "

ITEM PHYSICAL LOCATION: 90

PRICE: $700

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