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.
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Engraved wood block "Natives of Wytoohee"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 1 (page 334 of the Lea & Blanchard stereotyped copy). The image was drawn by Joseph Drayton, and drawn on wood by John H. Manning. It was engraved by O'Brien, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Robert O'Brien engraved this printing block after a drawing, Natives of Wytoohee, by Expedition Artist Joseph Drayton. Wytoohee is part of the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 334 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- O'Brien
- original artist
- Drayton, Joseph
- graphic artist
- Manning, John H.
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.081
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.081
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Ohwa Tree"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 2, page 126. The image was drawn by T. R. Peale. It was engraved by J. J. Butler, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Joline J. Butler (about 1815–1846, working in New York City between 1841 and 1845) engraved this printing block after a drawing, Ohwa Tree, from the Samoan Group islands, by Expedition Naturalist Titian Ramsey Peale. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 126 of Volume II of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Butler, Joline J.
- original artist
- Peale, Titian Ramsay
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.104
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.104
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Indians Pounding Acorns"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 5, page 205. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate, and drawn on wood by G. Armstrong. It was engraved by J. J. Butler, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Joline J. Butler (about 1815–1846, working in New York City 1841-45) engraved this printing block after a drawing, Indians Pounding Acorns at New Helvetia (near present-day Sacramento, California), by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 205 of Volume V of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Butler, Joline J.
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- Armstrong, G.
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.207
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.207
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Madeira Boat"
- Description
- Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after a drawing of a Portugese Madeira Boat by expedition artist Joseph Drayton. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 26 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Brightly, Joseph H.
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Drayton, Joseph
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.005
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.005
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.005
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Drummond's Islander"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 5, page 48. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate. It was engraved by R. S. Gilbert, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Reuben S. Gilbert (about 1815–about 1850) engraved this printing block after a drawing, Drummond's Islander, from the Kingsmill Island group by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 45 of Volume V of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Gilbert, Reuben S.
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.193
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.193
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lithographic printing stone "Australian Fossils, Plate 9"
- Description (Brief)
- The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849. The image depicts "Australian Fossils, Plate 9." The images was prepared by the lithographic firm Sarony & Major after illustrations by James Dwight Dana.
- Description
- The firm of Sarony & Major of Philadelphia, working between 1846 and 1857, prepared this lithographic printing stone after a drawing by James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) depicting Australian fossils. The lithographic illustration was published as Plate 4 in U.S. Exploring Expedition publication Volume X, Geology, by James D. Dana, 1849.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Dana, James Dwight
- graphic artist
- Sarony & Major
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.462
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.462
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Gold Nugget
- Description
- This small piece of yellow metal is believed to be the first piece of gold discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in California, launching the gold rush.
- James Marshall was superintending the construction of a sawmill for Col. John Sutter on the morning of January 24, 1848, on the South Fork of the American River at Coloma, California, when he saw something glittering in the water of the mill's tailrace. According to Sutter's diary, Marshall stooped down to pick it up and "found that it was a thin scale of what appeared to be pure gold." Marshall bit the metal as a test for gold.
- In June of 1848, Colonel Sutter presented Marshall's first-find scale of gold to Capt. Joseph L. Folsom, U.S. Army Assistant Quartermaster at Monterey. Folsom had journeyed to Northern California to verify the gold claim for the U.S. Government.
- The gold samples then traveled with U.S. Army Lt. Lucien Loeser by ship to Panama, across the isthmus by horseback, by ship to New Orleans, and overland to Washington. A letter of transmittal from Folsom that accompanied the packet lists Specimen #1 as "the first piece of gold ever discovered in this Northern part of Upper California found by J. W. Marshall at the Saw Mill of John A. Sutter."
- By August of 1848, as evidence of the find, this piece and other samples of California gold had arrived in Washington, D.C., for delivery to President James K. Polk and for preservation at the National Institute. Within weeks, President Polk formally declared to Congress that gold had been discovered in California.
- In 1861, the National Institute and its geological specimens, including this gold and the letter, entered the collections of the Smithsonian Institution. The Marshall Nugget remains in the collections as evidence of the discovery of gold in California.
- Date made
- 1848
- Associated Date
- 1848
- referenced
- Sutter, John
- Polk, President James K.
- Loesser, Lucian
- ID Number
- CL.135(1861).01
- accession number
- 135
- catalog number
- 135(1861).01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Kasanji"
- Description
- Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- graphic artist
- Brightly, Joseph H.
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.038
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.038
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Patagonians"
- Description
- Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after a drawing of Patagonians by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 118 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- graphic artist
- Brightly, Joseph H.
- Manning, J. H.
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.055
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.055
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Native of Australia"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 2, page 196. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate. It was engraved by R. H. Pease, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Richard H. Pease (1813–1869) engraved this printing block after a drawing, Native of Australia, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 196 of Volume II of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Pease, Richard H.
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.113
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.113
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved wood block "Cannibal Cooking-Pots"
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved wood block was used to print an image in the publication "Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," 1844, Volume 3, page 111. The image was drawn by A. T. Agate. It was engraved by J.J. Butler, and originally printed by C. Sherman of Philadelphia in 1844.
- Description
- Joline J. Butler (about 1815–1846, working in New York City between 1841 and 1845) engraved this printing block after the drawing Cannibal Cooking-Pots from the Feejee (Fiji) group cultures by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 111 of Volume III of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1844
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Butler, Joline J.
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.149
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.149
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Scrimshaw Tooth
- Description
- Women and ships were the most popular subjects for scrimshaw carved by crewmen on long, slow whaling voyages. In this deeply engraved example, a beautifully coiffed and fashionable young lady, possibly in mourning dress, has pulled a locket from her bodice and is gazing at the image of a smiling young man. The curls of her girlish hairstyle would indicate that she is unmarried, although the traditional ring finger of her left hand is not shown. The mid-19th-century date of this tooth is suggested by the style of the dress.
- Date made
- ca 1840
- maker
- unknown
- ID Number
- TR.374506
- catalog number
- 374506
- accession number
- 136263
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved printing plate "Ichthyology, Pl."
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing three species of shark in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images were engraved by W. H. Dougal after Joseph Drayton.
- Description
- William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate depicting three species of shark documented by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The engraved illustrations were to be published in volumes XXII and XXIII, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz. Dougal engraved 26 of the 28 plates for this volume which was never printed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Drayton, Joseph
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- author
- Agassiz, Louis
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.437
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.437
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Engraved printing plate "Ichthyology, Pl."
- Description (Brief)
- This engraved printing plate was prepared to print an image showing four fish species in the never published Volume 21-22, Ichthyology, part of the series of publications the "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842." The plate images were engraved by W. H. Dougal after Joseph Drayton.
- Description
- William H. Dougal (1822–1895) of New York and Washington, D.C., (after 1844) engraved this copper printing plate depicting four species of fish documented by the U.S. Exploring Expedition. The illustrations were to be published in Volumes XXII and XXIII, Ichthyology, by Louis Agassiz. Dougal engraved 26 of the 28 plates for this volume which was never printed.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- 1862
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Drayton, Joseph
- graphic artist
- Dougal, William H.
- author
- Agassiz, Louis
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.435
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.435
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Lithographic printing stone "Australian Fossils Pl. 4"
- Description (Brief)
- The image on this lithographic stone was prepared to print an image in the publication "United States Exploring Expedition, During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842," Volume 10, "Geology - Atlas," 1849. The image depicts "Australian Fossils, Plate 4." The images was prepared by the lithographic firm Sarony & Major after illustrations by James Dwight Dana.
- Description
- The firm of Sarony & Major of Philadelphia, working between 1846 and 1857, prepared this lithographic printing stone after a drawing by Expedition Mineralogist James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) depicting Australian fossils. The lithographic illustration was published as Plate 4 in U.S. Exploring Expedition Volume X, Geology, by James D. Dana, 1849.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1849
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Dana, James Dwight
- graphic artist
- Sarony & Major
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.458
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.458
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Logbook, Whaling Bark Virginia of New Bedford
- Description
- This logbook chronicles six months of a whaling voyage to the Pacific whaling grounds by the bark Virginia of New Bedford, Mass. The voyage began in late August 1840.
- Most official ship logbooks record wind, weather, and sail changes, directions and ports reached and cleared. This one was filled with extra details and a few drawings by its keeper, Thomas M. Peakes. On 16 December 1840, two whales were caught and processed. The figures inside the whale stamps for those events show the number of barrels of oil taken from each whale. The last word, “Amanda,” reveals the writer’s homesickness. Her name appears often, as do the words “home sweet home.”
- On 31 January 1841, crewman Henry N. North fell overboard and almost perished before being rescued. Towards the end of March 1841, log keeper Peakes was injured himself and had to go ashore at Talcahuano, Chile. Virginia’s ship’s log ended here, after noting that a kindly local widow took Peakes into her home to help him regain his health. After a three-week recovery, Peakes shipped out for home on the whaler Montano.
- date made
- 1840
- ID Number
- AG.056866
- catalog number
- 56866
- accession number
- 2009.0183
- 12306
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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