Iñupiaq men in qayaqs, Noatak, Alaska, circa 1929. Edward S. Curtis Collection, Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Crossing the Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898. Courtesy Candy Waugaman and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The Gold Rush boomtown of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, 1900. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.
Sometimes one finds bits of history in the oddest places. Recently, the Alaska Historical Society was contacted by William Page Johnson, of Fairfax, Virginia, to let us know about a connection between one of his city’s early residents and the state of Alaska.
Mottrom Dulany Ball of Fairfax, Virginia, was instrumental in the earliest efforts toward the purchase of Alaska by the United States. According to Johnson, editor of The Fare Facs Gazette newsletter of Historic Fairfax City, Inc.,: “Unfortunately, Ball died relatively young and his contributions have been largely overlooked.”
See their newsletter for two articles by William Page Johnson about the life of Mottrom Dulany Ball and his role in Alaska’s history:
Colonel Mottrom Dulany Ball, Part 1 of 2 (Summer 2015)
Colonel Mottrom Dulany Ball: A Founding Father of Alaska, Part 2 of 2 (Fall 2015)
