Discovering Alaska's Interior: a historical geography of the 1885 Allen Expedition

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010"This thesis examines the geography and history of interior Alaska by tracing the route of Henry Allen's 1885 expedition and evaluating Alaska's physiography from both Clyde Wahrhaftig's and Allen's perspectives. Since the U.S. Army took a leading role in Alaska's era of exploration during the late nineteenth century, specific insights are drawn from Lieutenant Allen's expedition and its context within early Russian and American exploration to interpret the historical geography of Alaska. The purpose of this monograph., however, is more comprehensive than merely tracing Allen's expedition or Wahrhaftig's classification. This study's measure of success will be the extent to which the author's research illuminates the regional geography and history of America's 49th state, interprets Allen's geographic exploration within Wahrhaftig's physiographic framework, cultivates public interest with regard to the Allen expedition, and stimulates further research in fields related to Alaska's cultural landscape"--Leaf iii1. Alaska's historical geography -- 2. The Army's geohistorical role in Alaska, 1865-1885 -- 3. The geography and significance of Allen's expedition -- 4. Alaskology, Allen's geologic and geographic observations -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendices

Among the Dene: Allen's 1885 trans-Alaska expedition

Dissertation (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2022In 1885, U.S. Army Lieutenant Henry T. Allen crossed Alaska for the purpose of obtaining all information "valuable and important," especially to the military branch of government. The following year, the Secretary of War submitted Allen's much-anticipated report of a reconnaissance in Alaska to the U.S. Senate. Although the Senate ratified a treaty transferring Russian America to the United States nearly two decades earlier, and Alaska had been a Russian colony for over a century, the interior of Alaska - the homeland of Alaska's Dene people - remained largely unknown to the outside world. With constant assistance while traveling among the Dene, Allen surveyed twenty-five hundred miles of Dene territory including the Copper, Tanana, and Koyukuk Rivers. From the North Pacific, the Dene guided Allen across the Alaska Range and north to the Arctic Circle, then west to the Bering Sea. Though scholars then and now have recognized Allen's expedition as the most comprehensive exploration of Alaska and the earliest documentation of Dene lifeways in much of Alaska's Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, this dissertation presents the first scholarly work entirely focused on the expedition. An interdisciplinary approach and narrative history provide the framework for evaluating the expedition's place in U.S. and Alaska history, particularly regarding Allen's noteworthy interactions with Indigenous peoples and his ethnographic and cartographic contributions. With Dene support, Allen recorded the social and physical environment throughout much of Alaska's interior prior to direct colonial influences and resultant rapid and irrevocable change. The expedition's primary sources, combined with documented Dene perspectives, illustrate positive Indigenous-military relations. Mutually respectful interactions between Allen and Alaska's Dene who played an integral role in the expedition's success remain a legacy of the expedition. The character traits that contributed to Allen's success in 1885 eventually led to his selection by General Pershing and President Wilson to lead America's occupation in Germany following World War I. Whether mediating conflict in Europe or managing complex cross-cultural encounters along North America's borderlands during his trans-Alaska expedition, Allen's respectfulness and humanitarianism serve as a benchmark for positive civil-military relations.Chapter 1: Introduction -- Purpose and research questions -- Background of the research -- Researcher's background -- Research methods and source limitations -- Preliminary discussion of findings -- Broader contributions and future research -- Dissertation organization. Chapter 2: General Allen leads American occupation in Germany -- February 21, 1923, Bremen, Germany -- Conclusion. Chapter 3: Literature and cartographic review -- Introduction --Sources and maps utilized by Allen -- The U.S. census in Alaska and published contemporaneous knowledge -- Cartographic development -- George Davidson and William Dall -- Henry Elliott -- Ivan Petroff -- 1890 census and associated sources -- Henry Allen -- Secondary sources related to the Allen expedition -- Summary. Chapter 4: Background to the Allen expedition -- Introduction -- West Point beginnings -- Sharpsburg, Kentucky: Allen's hometown -- Fort Keogh and the American West -- Private Fred Fickett, Allen's right-hand man -- Retrieving Lieutenant Abercrombie -- Conclusion. Chapter 5: Nuchek and the Copper River Delta -- Introduction to the Copper River: a brief history of Nuchek -- Petroff's Census in the Copper River Delta -- Allen at Nuchek -- The Eyak -- Alaganik. Chapter 6: The lower Copper River -- Ascending the Copper River -- Childs Glacier to Taral -- Taral -- Dakah De'nin's village and Dmitrii Tarkhanov. Chapter 7: The Chitina River -- The Chitina and Nizina Rivers -- Chief Nicolai's Village, Tsedi Ts'ese' Cae'e, and the copper Trade -- Chief Nicolai's Significance -- Descent from Tsedi Ts'ese' Cae'e to Taral. Chapter 8: The middle Copper River -- Introduction: Preparations and orders at Taral -- Expeditionary photography and communication -- Chief Nicolai guides Allen from Taral -- Mount Wrangell, K'ełt'aeni -- Copper River chiefs: Messala's village, Tay'sdlaexden -- Ahtna-Russian relations -- Chief Liebigstag's village, Bes Cene -- Chief Conaquanta's village, Nic'akuni'aaden -- Nic'akuni'aaden to Tazlina. Chapter 9: The Upper Copper River -- Tazlina River and Chief Nicolai's departure -- Hunger -- Allen's Copper River mountain names -- A Disabled Ciile' saves the expedition -- Chief Batzulneta's village, Nataełde -- Ahtna perspectives on Allen at Batzulnetas -- Conclusion: Assessing Allen's Copper River exploration. Chapter 10: Crossing the range -- Introduction: Allen's route across the Alaska Range -- Suslota Lake -- Salmon at Suslota Pass -- Tyona Pass -- Tyona Pass - Indigenous perspective -- Textual criticism and confirmation of the pass -- Nandell's village -- The Tanana Dene -- Tetling's village -- Tanana River to Kheeltat's village -- Conclusion. Chapter 11: Chief Kheeltat and indigenous perspectives -- Introduction -- River incident -- Kheeltat's village -- Chief Kheeltat and the Tanacross chiefs -- Medicine at Kheeltat's -- Allen's reflection on Kheeltat and procuring guides -- The Leslie expedition -- Conclusion: Integrating oral and written sources of the expedition. Chapter 12: The Tanana and Koyukuk rivers -- Introduction -- Flight down the Tanana -- Nuklukyet and the mouth of the Tanana -- The Yukon - along Alaska's great river -- To the Koyukuk for "more exploring" -- Encounters on the Koyukuk -- Commemoration and competition -- To the Arctic -- Allen's ethnographic observations -- Conclusion. Chapter 13: Conclusion -- Epilogue: Allen's late career -- Selection of the unknown soldier -- Fighting hunger. References -- Appendices