A Gold Rush Journal 'Round the Horn - Two Sketches

(by Palma J. You, Archives Technician)

On March 13th, Mr. Chittenden notes "20 passengers from the ship Tamaroo" along with 18 from "our boat", the Croton, "went up in a schooner boat of about 5 tons belonging to one of the natives" to the town of Saint Catherine.

While the bark Croton was making its way to Saint Catherine, Mr. Chittenden records this sketch:

"...the harbour 12 miles from town called St. Michael. The two ships laying at anchor are the Croton & Tamaroo. The small boats about in the harbor are natives canoeing & going to trade with the ships. The mountains shown are up on the mainland. The island represented in the harbour is one about 6 miles from the entrance… "



The second sketch shows his interest in architecture:



"This represents a view of an old fortification, Aquiduck, & farena mill, attached together with the surrounding scenery situated at San. Michael, upon the mainland oposite the island of St Catherine."

(The first of this series of neat stuff from the journal by Mr. Chittenden was posted on March 7, 2012.)

Dreaming the ferry terminal

Claudia La Rocco's article in the New York Times, A reason to miss the boat: dance at the ferry terminal, begins with enchantment:

Ferry terminals are surprisingly dreamy spaces.

Her article reviews a site specific dance piece, "Halt!" by Pavel Zustiak, with such poetry that you feel you are watching the dancers emerge from the crowds at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal. Her writing made me stop and think about the role of the ferry terminal--a portal, a transitional space. She states that Pavel Zustiak often explores the line between private and public space, and what better place to explore that line than the portal between the shore and the water?

Nautical paper plates of yesteryear

"Paper plate ad, couple at dock," from George Eastman House's Flickr photostream.

More information on the George Eastman House photography collection is available at their website.

Unclogging the Houston Ship Channel

Today's Morning Edition on NPR has an excellent story, "Coast Guard Unclogs Houston Ship Channel" by Noah Adams that tells you what happens when the channel to the tenth busiest port in the world loses its channel markers, and how they were replaced to restore shipping within three days. The story is rich with the sounds of the Channel, and the voices of those who became very important to the global economy.

Infrastructure and Public Works

Interested in harbors? Bridges? Take a look at the new Science Tracer Bullet from the Library of Congress, Infrastructure and Public Works. The list of subject headings is linked directly to the LC catalog; for example, the subject heading harbors retrieves screens and screens of resources--not just books. (These subject headings can also be used in other catalogs that use the Library of Congress subject heading system, such as Worldcat.)

There are also bibliographies of basic, additional, and specialized texts, so if you'd like to begin learning about maritime facilities as a component of a larger infrastructure, these items will get you started while giving you new directions for further reading. Specialized texts, technical documents, and dissertations are also listed, as are professional societies and selected internet resources.

There are many other Science Tracer Bullets that touch on maritime subjects; find them through the very small link at the upper left of the page, "Home >> Tracer Bullets."