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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Whaler's Fluke Lance
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Shoulder or Darting Gun
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Hand Lance
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Whaler's Harpoon with Toggle Head
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Knife
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner's Cap Lamp
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Lamp Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- 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
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Sewing Machine Sperm Oil
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1870-1880
- maker
- Donnell Company
- ID Number
- 2007.0084.1
- catalog number
- 2007.0084.1
- accession number
- 2007.0084
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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