Anders Beer Wilse Philippine American War Photo Album, August 1899

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Wilse, Anders Beer, 1865-1949
Title
Anders Beer Wilse Philippine American War Photo Album
Dates
August 1899 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 box, (.21 cubic feet)
Collection Number
1980.6967
Summary
The collection consists of an album of photographs by Anders Beer Wilse taken in August 1899 of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry preparing to embark for the Philippines during the Philippine American War, including images of transport ships, horses, camp life and the Seattle waterfront.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Anders Beer Wilse came to America as part of the largest wave of Norwegian immigration. During the 1880s, ten out of every thousand inhabitants left Norway annually in search of new land and economic opportunity. Wilse had a degree in engineering and found employment with Minneapolis railroad companies surveying for new lines in the Midwest.

Wilse’s experience was typical of all immigrants in that he was forced to move from place to place as his jobs changed frequently. He arrived in Seattle in 1890, where he was hired by the Great Northern Railroad to survey the crossing of the Cascade Mountains. Wilse’s earliest known Pacific Northwest photographs are from this period, documenting the construction of the Great Northern line across the Cascade Mountains in 1892-93. Wilse moved to British Columbia when much new construction came to a halt in the Panic of 1893, but returned to Seattle in 1896 to work as a cartographer. In 1897, he began work as a tax assessor for King County; it was this experience that drove him to his career in commercial photography. “I saw numbers in the streets and talked numbers in my sleep,” wrote Wilse. “I decided I could not take it anymore. I quit my job. [...]Two days after I quit my work as an engineer I became a scenic photographer.” Wilse first joined in partnership with established photographer Daniel W. Kirk, running the Seattle office and developing and printing the images taken by the traveling Kirk. Frustrated by this division of labor, after six months Wilse bought the business from Kirk.

Wilse’s decision to change careers in 1897 was a fortuitous one. In July, the news that gold had been discovered in the Klondike region reached Seattle. The photographer found a steady market for his images of departing steamships, streets crowded with merchants selling supplies, and dog teams being trained for work in the north. The years that followed the initial rush of gold seekers provided more subjects for the photographer, as Wilse recorded the building of the city’s water system, the street car lines, fire departments, schools, parks and recreational facilities. His pictures appeared frequently in publications promoting the region as beautiful and full of growth and opportunity.

Landscapes are another important facet of Wilse’s work. Like the Romantic painters, Wilse focused on what he saw as a harmonious relationship between human subjects and the natural world. Wilse work was also guided by the philosophy that cities should be built so that their residents could commune with the natural environment, as evidenced in his photographs of campers and cyclists along Lake Washington and of Seattle’s parks and beaches. Wilse’s recurring interest in documenting the way of life of a variety of peoples is exemplified by his images of Native Americans. In 1900, he visited Neah Bay, Washington and took numerous pictures of the Makah and their cedar dugout canoes.

By 1900, Wilse listed his business as the Seattle Photographic Company. That same year, Wilse traveled to Norway to join his wife, leaving the business in the hands of his assistants, fully intending to return the following year. Once in the homeland, however, his wife refused to leave again. The Seattle Photographic Company continued to do business under the management of one of Wilse’s assistants until 1913.

In May 1901, Wilse opened a photography studio in Oslo. Wilse began his career in Norway by linking himself with the country’s growing tourist industry, photographing foreigners touring Norway by steamship. He also traveled throughout the countryside, to remote villages and up mountain peaks, covering in greater breadth the variety to be found in the Norwegian people and landscape. In 1905, the nation of Norway was born when it achieved final separation from Sweden. The desire to establish a strong national identity supported Wilse’s career. Artists tried to express those aspects of life they considered notably Norwegian. Wilse’s subjects became icons of the Norwegian visual culture.

(Biographical background adapted from the gallery guide for “En Norsk Fotograf: Anders Beer Wilse in the Pacific Northwest and Norway” by Carolyn Marr, Museum of History and Industry)

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of 44 black and white photographs taken by Anders Beer Wilse in August of 1899, mounted in a leather album and captioned by the artist. Wilse documents everyday camp life at temporary quarters for members of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry en route to the Philippines during the Philippine American war. While many of the photographs refer to a “Camp Robinson,” it’s possible that “Camp Robinson” refers to W.W. Robinson, Jr. (also depicted in several of the photos) and was merely a nickname for the unnamed encampment. Because there are several photographs of horses being watered at Green Lake, it is believed that the camp was somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Green Lake and Woodland Park.

In addition to the images of men grooming their horses, washing their uniforms, and fixing meals, there are photographs of the transport ships Garonne, Athenian, St. Paul and Port Albert. In several cases these steamships were private vessels that were requisitioned by the U.S. government for transporting troops to the Philippines. This album has several different images of the Garonne being loaded with horses, equipment, and soldiers.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Anders Beer Wilse Philippine American War Photo Album, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Collection

2b.1.7

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mr. Charles Gerrish in 1980.

Bibliography

Marr, Carolyn. Anders Beer Wilse. Columbia 8.2, Summer 1994, 24-29.

Newell, Gordon, ed. Maritime Events of 1899. The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, Superior Publishing Co. Seattle Wash. 1966. p. 45

Related Materials

More photographs by Anders Beer Wilse can be found in Anders Beer Wilse Photographs, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle, Accession #1988.33.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Container(s) Description
Page
1 Officers of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry posing in front of tent
2 Tents and soldiers at "Camp Robinson," Seattle
3 Soldiers of Troop L, 3rd U.S. Cavalry uniformed and on horseback
4 Horses and several soldiers of Troop K, 3rd U.S. Cavalry
5 1500 rolled and stacked horse slings for use on transports
6 Transports Garonne and Athenian docked in Elliott Bay with pier businesses in foreground
7 Transports Garonne and Athenian docked in Elliott Bay and flanking Northwestern Iron Works, Arlington Dock, and Northwestern S.S. Co.
8 Captain Hunter, Lieutenant Colonel Wessells, Captain Chase, Captain Robinson and Major Swinert standing at entrance of tent
9 Captain W.W. Robinson, Jr. and Lt. Colonel Wessels
10 Civilians and soldiers gathered for unloading of railroad cars on Seattle waterfront
11 Railroad cars being unloaded at Seattle waterfront
12 Horses and soldiers assembled for stable call
13 Soldiers grooming their horses
14 Tents, horses, and clothesline at Camp Robinson, Seattle
15 Horses and tents at Camp Robinson, Seattle
16 Mess tent, stoves and cooks of Troop K with the 3rd U.S. Cavalry
17 Mess tent, stoves, and soldiers of Troop L with the 3rd U.S. Cavalry
18 Soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry inspecting their saddles
19 Watering the horses on Green Lake
20 Watering the horses on Green Lake
21-23 Watering the horses on Green Lake
24 Three soldiers of Troop K, 3rd U.S. Cavalry doing laundry
25 Troop K, 3rd U.S. Cavalry soldier using washtub and board
26 Loading the first horses on transport Garonne on Aug. 19, 1899
27 Horse stalls on deck of Garonne
28 Transport Athenian on the Seattle waterfront
29 Transport Port Albert on the Seattle waterfront
30 Transport Garonne at the Seattle waterfront, prepared to sail
31 Bow and figurehead of the Garonne
32 Captain Charles George Conradi of the Garonne
33 Captain W.W. Robinson, Jr.
34 Horses being loaded to after hatch on the Garonne
35 Horses being loaded to the forward hatch on the Garonne
36 Soldiers embarking on the Garonne
37-39 Horses being led onto the Garonne
40 Chinese crew making horse slings
41 Soldiers prepared to embark on the St. Paul
42 Supplies and equipment readied for loading on the Athenian
43 Soldiers embarking on the St. Paul
44 Transport St. Paul leaving Seattle on Aug. 25, 1899 with soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry on board
45 Roll call on the military transport St. Paul
46 Civilians gathered to bid farewell to the soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Cavalry on board the St. Paul

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Merchant Ships–United States
  • Philippines History Philippine American War, 1899-1902--Cavalry operations
  • Waterfronts--Washington (State)--Seattle—Photographs

Personal Names

  • Robinson, W.W.--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)—Photographs
  • Woodland Park (Seattle, Wash)--Photographs

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph Albums