Natural Resources

The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.

Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.Another scene of picturesque beauty on this interesting stream.
Description
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
Another scene of picturesque beauty on this interesting stream. The building is a time-worn, weather-stained structure, not altogether free from the suspicion of harboring reptiles. In the river the negroes caught delicious terrapin, and the soldiers varied their rations with messes of catfish. A temporary bridge, constructed from the timber found at the mill, was thrown across, just below the dam, and many were the misgivings, when the rains caused a rise in the river, threatening to float away the frail structure, and sever communications with the opposite bank, a disaster which happily did not take place. In the grassy fields above the mill, the tents of Grant's and Meade's headquarters, seldom far apart, were pitched for a few days. Among the prisoners brought to this place was a woman, clad in rebel gray. She was taken, mounted astride a bony steed, apparently performing the duties of a scout, but claimed to belong to a battery of artillery. A degraded, wild specimen of humanity, of Irish extraction, with a shock of tangled black hair hanging in elf locks down to her shoulders, she proved the centre of interest to the idlers of the camp. At these she would occasionally hurl stones, being particularly hostile towards the negroes, who gave her a wide berth, to avoid the missiles, which she threw with considerable force and accuracy. The North Anna, meeting with its sister stream, the South Anna, a few miles lower down, forms the sluggish Pamunkey, which in its turn combines with the Mattapony, and becomes the York river, under which name the associated streams fall into the Chesapeake.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-05
maker
Gardner, Alexander
ID Number
1986.0711.0283.17
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0283.17
This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a pr
Description
This engraved woodblock of an “Australian grave and carved trees” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 37 (p.76) in an article by Garrick Mallery (1831-1894) entitled “Pictographs of the North American Indians: a preliminary paper” in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1882-83.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886
publisher
Bureau of American Ethnology
printer
Government Printing Office
author
Mallery, Garrick
block maker
J. J. & Co.
ID Number
1980.0219.1206
catalog number
1980.0219.1206
accession number
1980.0219
Stereograph by J.W. Hansard. View of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a cliff face, with running water. Written in ink on verso: "The famous Eureka Spring, Eureka, Ark. 1880." Printed on verso: "J.W.
Description (Brief)
Stereograph by J.W. Hansard. View of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, a cliff face, with running water. Written in ink on verso: "The famous Eureka Spring, Eureka, Ark. 1880." Printed on verso: "J.W. Hansard, / Portrait and Landscape / Photographer / Fayetteville, Ark." and "Eureka Springs No. 20".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880
maker
Hansard, John W.
ID Number
2012.3033.0003
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0003
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by John B. Deeds and William Mack of Terre Haute, Indiana that received patent number 281,846 on July 24, 1883.
Description (Brief)
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by John B. Deeds and William Mack of Terre Haute, Indiana that received patent number 281,846 on July 24, 1883. Deeds and Mack developed a lamp with an “oil tight lid.” The invention is described as “having its top or opening made slightly flaring, in combination with the hinged lid and the supplemental lid or disk with a packing of cork between them, and having holes therein opposite to each other, which communicate with a corresponding opening in the cork for the purpose of ventilation.”
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1883-07-04
patentee
Deeds, John B.
Mack, William
ID Number
AG.MHI-MN-9748
catalog number
MHI-MN-9748
accession number
88881
patent number
281846
This is a copper oil-wick cap lamp made by J&A McDougall of Pittston, Pennsylvania likely in the latter half of the 20th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s.
Description (Brief)
This is a copper oil-wick cap lamp made by J&A McDougall of Pittston, Pennsylvania likely in the latter half of the 20th century. The oil-wick cap lamp was first invented in Scotland in 1850 and in use until the 1920’s. The font contained a mix of fat and oil for fuel, and a wick was inserted into the spout. The resulting flame was much brighter and more efficient than the candles it replaced. The hook enabled the lamp to be worn on a cap, or hooked onto any other suitable location.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881
ID Number
AG.059073
catalog number
059073
accession number
014851
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Edward Gough, of Allentown, Pennsylvania that received patent number 229,117 on June 22, 1880.
Description (Brief)
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Edward Gough, of Allentown, Pennsylvania that received patent number 229,117 on June 22, 1880. In his patent filing, Gough claimed as his invention “an improvement in lamps with the combination of a cast-metal body or can with a neck, provided with studs, of the cast metal cover, having notches and interior annular groove” constructed to secure the top to the lamp. The chain is usually attached to the top so it wouldn’t get separated from its lamp.
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1880-06-22
patentee
Gough, Edward
ID Number
AG.MHI-MN-9742
accession number
088881
catalog number
MHI-MN-9742
patent number
229117
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Henry F. Pearce of Hyde Park, Pennsylvania that received patent number 258,803 on May 30, 1882.
Description (Brief)
This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Henry F. Pearce of Hyde Park, Pennsylvania that received patent number 258,803 on May 30, 1882. Pearce claimed as his invention “a cap for a miner's lamp having a lining arranged to form a space and having the annularly-located perforations, whereby none of the perforations in the lining directly communicate with the vent in the cap” to prevent the escape of the oil through the vent and the closing of the vent by the gumming of oil or sediment.
Location
Currently not on view
patent date
1882-05-30
patentee
Pearce, Henry F.
ID Number
AG.MHI-MN-9746
accession number
088881
catalog number
MHI-MN-9746
patent number
258802
After a whale’s blubber was melted down into oil in the try-pots, a few solids, like skin and gristle, remained floating on the surface of the oil. These were removed with a skimmer. The tool’s long handle helped keep the crew from being burned or splashed with hot oil.
Description
After a whale’s blubber was melted down into oil in the try-pots, a few solids, like skin and gristle, remained floating on the surface of the oil. These were removed with a skimmer. The tool’s long handle helped keep the crew from being burned or splashed with hot oil. The leftover oily pieces of flesh, or “fritters,” were then tossed under the pots and recycled into fuel to keep the fires burning.
date made
1880s
ID Number
1990.0018.066
catalog number
1990.0018.066
accession number
1990.0018
The most dangerous act in the dangerous business of whaling was “spading flukes.” The whaleboat drew up close alongside a desperate, unpredictable whale on the water surface, and a crewman used a boat spade or fluke lance to sever the whale’s tail tendons.
Description
The most dangerous act in the dangerous business of whaling was “spading flukes.” The whaleboat drew up close alongside a desperate, unpredictable whale on the water surface, and a crewman used a boat spade or fluke lance to sever the whale’s tail tendons. This effectively immobilized the prey, for the whale couldn’t swim without its tail.
According to James Temple Brown, who wrote the 1883 catalog of the Smithsonian’s whaling collection, the fluke lance was exceedingly rare and was regarded as “a monstrosity by all the fraternity”. This rare inscribed example was used aboard the starboard whaleboat of the bark Sea Fox.
Date made
ca 1880-1889
authored whaling reference material
Brown, James Temple
maker
Driggs, James D.
ID Number
TR.056358
catalog number
056358
accession number
012298
By the later 19th century, guns had replaced most hand harpoons and lances, since they were far more efficient and deadly to the prey. They also could be shot from a safer distance from the prey than the hand tools could be wielded.
Description
By the later 19th century, guns had replaced most hand harpoons and lances, since they were far more efficient and deadly to the prey. They also could be shot from a safer distance from the prey than the hand tools could be wielded. The darting gun was one of the more popular types. Loaded with different darts, this versatile weapon could be used both for harpooning and killing whales.
This particular gun was displayed at the 1883 International Fisheries Exhibition in London, England. After the display ended, it was donated to the Smithsonian by its inventor, Capt. Eben Pierce of New Bedford, Mass.
date made
1880s
guns replaced hand tools
late 19th century
displayed at the International Fisheries Exhibition
1883
maker
Pierce, Eben
ID Number
TR.316550
catalog number
316550
accession number
66767
This brass bell was used to summon the crew to meals on a Gloucester (Massachusetts) fishing schooner in the late 19th century. Each sailing schooner shipped a cook along with eight to twelve fishermen and a captain.
Description
This brass bell was used to summon the crew to meals on a Gloucester (Massachusetts) fishing schooner in the late 19th century. Each sailing schooner shipped a cook along with eight to twelve fishermen and a captain. Before heading out, the cook provisioned the schooner with food for the trip. George W. Scott served as a cook on the schooner Ocean King in 1879, around the time this bell was in service. His journal lists the following provisions for a four-month journey: 5 barrels beef, 1 barrel pork, 1 barrel hams, 10 barrels flour, 50 gallons molasses, 15 bushels potatoes, and 200 pounds butter.
The cook on a Gloucester schooner produced three large meals a day. Meal times followed the rhythm of work and were likely to change depending on the catch and the weather. Fishing always came first, and a good cook was able to work around changes in the routine. The schooner fare was similar to meals served in the crew’s home towns across New England and Atlantic Canada. Breakfast might consist of doughnuts, pancakes, potatoes, and porridge. The main meal of the day was dinner (lunch), and typically consisted of meat, soup, fish, baked beans, pudding, cakes, and bread or biscuits. Supper might have been leftovers.
Fishing in the North Atlantic was hard work, and three meals were usually not enough to keep the crew satisfied. So the cook left bread, pie, and leftovers in a cupboard where the crew could grab snacks between fishing duties. All meals were announced by the loud ringing of the bell. At meal times the captain and half the crew would eat at the table in the galley set by the cook. The other half would continue working until the second shift was signaled by the ringing of the bell. A good cook was one who could clear the table, wash the dishes, and reset the table in mere minutes, while keeping the hot food coming.
date made
1882
1883
Associated Date
late 19th century
cook on the schooner "Ocean King"
Scott, George W.
ID Number
AG.054697
accession number
012158
catalog number
054697
This odd tool was used to scrape the flesh off the bones from a freshly caught whale. It was the last step in processing the whale’s body before the bone was partially dried on deck and then stowed below in the cargo hold.
Description
This odd tool was used to scrape the flesh off the bones from a freshly caught whale. It was the last step in processing the whale’s body before the bone was partially dried on deck and then stowed below in the cargo hold. Once the ship was back in port, the bone was placed on end in large yards to dry further.
The bone and baleen—rows of bony strips in a whale’s upper jaw that filter food from seawater—from a whaling voyage could yield as much as $50,000, or even greater profits than the oil itself. Baleen served a wide variety of purposes from buggy whips to umbrella ribs to women’s corset stays.
date made
1880s
ID Number
AG.057778
catalog number
057778
accession number
012278
While the African American blacksmith and former slave Lewis Temple did not invent the harpoon toggle, his invention made it better. The first barb at the tip of the toggle iron was designed to penetrate the whale’s flesh. The second barb also went straight in.
Description
While the African American blacksmith and former slave Lewis Temple did not invent the harpoon toggle, his invention made it better. The first barb at the tip of the toggle iron was designed to penetrate the whale’s flesh. The second barb also went straight in. A small wooden peg holding the lower barb in place would then break when the whale pulled away, allowing the barbed head to swivel away from the shaft. The new T-shape of the barb prevented the dart from pulling out of its wound.
It was a harpooner’s responsibility to keep his tools sharp and well lubricated, to ensure that the toggle swiveled freely. Sometimes the men fashioned covers for the heads of their harpoons to keep them clean and dry until needed for use.
One of these irons, or gigs, is shown in the closed position for entering the whale’s flesh; the other is toggled open to show how much harder it was to pull out.
Date made
1882
inventor
Temple, Lewis
ID Number
AG.056244
catalog number
056244
accession number
012284
Sperm whale oil is very light and fine, and it has a low freezing point. As a result, it was used to lubricate fine machinery such as clocks, watches, and sewing machines from colonial times into the 20th century.
Description
Sperm whale oil is very light and fine, and it has a low freezing point. As a result, it was used to lubricate fine machinery such as clocks, watches, and sewing machines from colonial times into the 20th century.
Date made
1870-1880
maker
Donnell Company
ID Number
2007.0084.1
catalog number
2007.0084.1
accession number
2007.0084
After a whale was captured and killed, its carcass was towed by the whaleboat to the side of the mother ship for processing.
Description
After a whale was captured and killed, its carcass was towed by the whaleboat to the side of the mother ship for processing. Cutting up the whale was done by crewmen standing on a wooden plank, or cutting stage, rigged out over the side of the ship so that they could stand directly over the body. Crewmen used this canvas “monkey belt” to secure themselves while they stripped the whale of its blubber. It was dangerous and slippery work. If a sailor slid into the water he risked drowning or being attacked by sharks looking for an easy meal.
date made
1883
ID Number
AG.057716
catalog number
057716
accession number
2009.0184
After harpoons fastened the whale and whaleboat together, a whale was given plenty of time and rope to dive, try to swim away, and otherwise wear itself out.
Description
After harpoons fastened the whale and whaleboat together, a whale was given plenty of time and rope to dive, try to swim away, and otherwise wear itself out. Once the exhausted animal returned to the surface to breathe, the whaleboat approached it, and a hand lance, also known as a killing iron, was used to actually dispatch the animal.
Hand lances had long shafts, to allow the point to penetrate deep into the whale’s body in search of the thick neck arteries. The tips of the killing irons were leaf or oval shaped and extremely sharp, so that they cut on the way in and on the way out, and were easier to remove and stab repeatedly. Cutting the neck arteries prevented the animal from deep diving and hastened its bleeding to death.
This nickel-plated example was manufactured and donated by Luther Cole of Fairhaven, Mass.
Date made
1880s
maker
Cole, Luther
ID Number
AG.056357
accession number
012326
catalog number
056357
The first step in catching a whale was throwing at least two sharp harpoons into its back, to ensure that the whaleboat was securely fastened to its prey.
Description
The first step in catching a whale was throwing at least two sharp harpoons into its back, to ensure that the whaleboat was securely fastened to its prey. Harpoon shafts were made of soft wrought iron, so that they would bend and not break off when twisted, which risked losing the wounded whale.
A line at the bottom of the harpoon’s wooden handle attached it to the whaleboat. Once in the whale’s flesh, the sharp toggle tip swiveled sideways, making it harder for the tip of the weapon to pull out. Whales normally dove deep after the first prick, to try and escape the sharp jab from the surface of the ocean. This harpoon shaft was twisted by a descending whale.
date made
1882
maker
D. & D.
ID Number
AG.056237
catalog number
056237
accession number
012284
The bugeye was a type of sailing work boat unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Designed for oyster dredging, it was also used for hauling freight in the Bay’s shallow waters. This model, like the bugeye it represents, was built in 1885 by E.
Description
The bugeye was a type of sailing work boat unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Designed for oyster dredging, it was also used for hauling freight in the Bay’s shallow waters. This model, like the bugeye it represents, was built in 1885 by E. James Tull, a boatbuilder in Pocomoke City, Maryland. Tull displayed this model of the Lillie Sterling at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair as part of an exhibit organized by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. He won a medal for the vessel’s practical design.
Bugeyes were first built after the Civil War, when the Maryland state legislature repealed an 1820 ban on oyster dredging. Dredges--heavy iron frames holding long mesh bags--were introduced in the bay by New Englanders seeking to replenish northern oyster beds with Chesapeake oysters. Maryland lawmakers banned dredging and restricted oyster harvesting to residents of the state. But as markets expanded in the 1860s, the ban was lifted to allow dredging in certain areas of the bay. Fearful that dredging would deplete the bay’s oysters, lawmakers sought to limit the dredge’s efficiency by restricting its use to sailing vessels. This law ensured that sailing craft, not steamers, would dominate the Chesapeake’s oyster industry. To this day, oyster dredging is still carried out by sail-powered boats in Maryland.
The first bugeyes were large log canoes, built of seven or nine logs that were hollowed out, shaped, and pinned together lengthwise. They were built with full decks, which provided a working platform for the crew to empty the dredges and sort through the catch. By the 1880s, bugeyes like the Lillie Sterling were constructed with full framing and planking instead of logs. Although bugeyes were widely used in the oyster trade for several decades, they were gradually replaced by skipjacks, an easier and cheaper vessel to build. The origin of the name "bugeye" remains unknown.
date made
1885
maker
Tull, E. James
ID Number
TR.76256
accession number
28022
catalog number
76256
This model of a Chesapeake Bay log canoe was built in 1880 and displayed at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. It shows a two-masted log canoe with a mustard-colored hull.
Description
This model of a Chesapeake Bay log canoe was built in 1880 and displayed at the Great International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. It shows a two-masted log canoe with a mustard-colored hull. Although this model may look more like a recreational sailboat than a traditional paddling canoe, its roots can be traced back to the dugouts built and used by American Indians. Native Americans along the bay used dugouts, made by hollowing out a single tree trunk, to spear fish, gather oysters, and travel from one village to another. Europeans adopted the log-canoe technology shortly after arriving in the region in the early 1600s. By the start of the 18th century, colonists had modified the standard, single-log dugout, by hewing and shaping several logs and fitting them together to enlarge the craft. They added masts and sails, providing the means to travel farther and giving the vessels their distinctive appearance.
Despite the widespread use of frame-and-plank shipbuilding techniques around the Chesapeake, watermen continued building and using log canoes well into the 20th century. The canoes were ideal for oyster tonging in the many protected creeks and rivers that flow into the bay. This model includes a pair of hand tongs of the sort made by local blacksmiths for oystermen. A waterman would anchor his canoe over an oyster bed and lower the tongs into the water. With a scissoring motion, he would rake the tongs together until the iron basket was full and ready to be lifted onboard.
In terms of construction, the log canoe is the forerunner to the bugeye, which is essentially an enlarged canoe built of seven or nine logs with a full deck added over the hold. While log canoes are no longer used in commercial fishing, they can still be seen in special sailboat races on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake.
date made
1880
Date made
1875
ID Number
TR.25003
catalog number
025003
accession number
4586
A knife was an essential tool on a whaleboat, where the quick cutting of a tangled line snagged on a man’s ankle or on an object in the boat could mean the difference between life or death.
Description
A knife was an essential tool on a whaleboat, where the quick cutting of a tangled line snagged on a man’s ankle or on an object in the boat could mean the difference between life or death.
Date made
1880s
ID Number
TR.103026
catalog number
103026
accession number
12328
Manufactured in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1882, this hand-line is of the type used in the 19th-century cod fisheries on Banquereau Bank, Grand Bank, and Western Bank in the North Atlantic. The wooden reel contains about 25 fathoms (150 feet) of 12-pound cotton line.
Description
Manufactured in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1882, this hand-line is of the type used in the 19th-century cod fisheries on Banquereau Bank, Grand Bank, and Western Bank in the North Atlantic. The wooden reel contains about 25 fathoms (150 feet) of 12-pound cotton line. A 4-pound lead sinker with brass fittings attaches to a bridle and two short lines (called “snoods”), with slot swivels at the ends. The swivels hold two hemp “gangings” and hooks. This rig saved time in removing fish and re-baiting because the fisherman could slip the gangings from the swivels and replace them with new line and freshly-baited hooks. The preferred bait for the cod fishery was frozen herring in winter and fresh herring, mackerel, alewives, and menhaden the rest of the year.
Fishermen used hand-lines when fishing from the decks of schooners anchored across the tide. They stood at the rail, all on the side of the vessel opposite from the side hit by the tide. This allowed the lines to drift out from the schooner for more effective fishing.
In “The George’s Bank Cod Fishery,” G. Brown Goode and J. W. Collins (1882) reported that when the fish were plentiful, fishermen often caught a pair of cod, one on each hook, and that a man could catch between 100 and 200 fish per day. At other times, a whole day’s effort might yield only three or four fish. From The Fisheries and Fishery Industries of the United States, Sec. IV. (Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office, 1882) p. 194.
date made
1880
1800s
ID Number
TR.054503
catalog number
054503
accession number
12679
Used by New England fishermen aboard mackerel schooners in the 19th century, this unusual tool converted poor “leather-bellies” to fat “Number 1” fish with a few short strokes.
Description
Used by New England fishermen aboard mackerel schooners in the 19th century, this unusual tool converted poor “leather-bellies” to fat “Number 1” fish with a few short strokes. Mackerel caught in seines at the beginning of the season—in spring and early summer—were generally lean, dry, and tough, and not worth much at market. But fishermen found a way to plump them up to command a higher price. After splitting a scrawny mackerel down its back with a larger knife, a fisherman would make several slashes parallel to the backbone with the small blade of the plow. Like plowing furrows on land, the slashes opened the flesh, causing the fish to swell and look fat, which could bring a higher price.
Fishermen typically had their own mackerel plows, which were widely variable in size and design. All were handmade of wood and had very small metal blades. Many, like this one, had an open handle that fit the hand of its user. This example is embellished with pewter inlays, including five-pointed stars and the initials “EB,” presumably to identify its owner.
Date made
1880s
ID Number
TR.029368
catalog number
029368
accession number
12679

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