Steaming to the North

In 1886 Alaska had been American for less than two decades, Russian presence had waned, and the whaling industry widely occupied the region. The sole representative of American authority in those waters was the US Revenue Cutter Bear, a 198-foot, reinforced-hull vessel powered by both steam and sail. . . . As Steaming to the North, shows, the Bear’s cruise that summer also produced some of the first photographs ever taken of that part of the world. Arranged into a narrative and explained with the help of the authors’ far-ranging research, the photographs—rediscovered in the 1970s under a porch in New Hampshire—chronicle the Bear’s journey from San Francisco to Alaska and Siberia, and give us a rare glimpse of a remote place and time. New York Review of Books

The authors recount scenes of Native life and trading fairs, commercial whaling under sail and steam, traditional dress and hunting tools in the years just before the Nome gold rush changed life on Alaska’s north and west coasts forever. Profiles of the testy captain, Michael Healy, and his chief officers are included along with many full-page photos taken during the trip. These photos, beautifully restored where necessary and captioned as well as possible, are a real highlight. Alaska Dispatch

An impressive work of original and collaborative research, Steaming to the North is a fascinating maritime history enhanced with the inclusion of a six-page list of references and a seventy-nine page index. Exceptionally well written, organized, and presented. Midwest Book Review

Fascinating, sometimes haunting. These are people of a not-so-distant time looking at us through the lens and saying, 'This is how it was.' Alaska Dispatch

Through photographs of the Bear’s first Arctic cruise that were found under a porch in New Hampshire, Katherine Donahue and the late David Switzer . . . have treated readers to a rare but important visual account of a nineteenth-century cutter’s cruise. Alaska History

[Steaming to the North] is more than just an illustrated chronology. Each chapter weaves a portion of a larger picture of the history that was unfolding during these remarkable years as whalers in great numbers began appearing in dangerous icy waters, decimating the huge walrus and whale populations of the Bering and Chukchi Seas; as Alaskan and Siberian Native encountered massive and largely unregulated European influence from shore- and sea-based agents; and as the thin arm of the US Government struggled to maintain a semblance of order in an otherwise lawless territory. International Journal of Maritime History