Photo, Print, Drawing 1. Title sheet - Chief Kashakes' House, Mile 2.5 South Tongass Highway, Saxman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK Drawings from Survey HABS AK-190

About this Item

About this Item

Title

  • Chief Kashakes' House, Mile 2.5 South Tongass Highway, Saxman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK

Names

  • Historic American Buildings Survey, creator
  • Peterson, Steven M, project manager
  • Falsetto, Paul, field team
  • Cook, Linda, historian
  • Creech, James, delineator

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 1933

Headings

  • -  houses
  • -  Alaska Natives
  • -  domestic life
  • -  balloon frames
  • -  totem poles
  • -  Alaska--Ketchikan Gateway Borough--Saxman

Latitude / Longitude

  • 55.318142,-131.597062

Notes

  • -  The text on sheet #1 incorrectly identifies Chief Kashakes' tribal membership. He was of the Eagle (not Raven) Moiety.
  • -  Significance: In 1878 the Presbyterian Home Mission Society established its first missions in southeast Alaska. At the request of Fort Tongass and Cape Fox Tlingit, Dr. Sheldon Jackson offered to establish a school if the Tlingit congregated in a single village. The relocation project did not materialize until 1895 when Congress made a special appropriation to help establish the new village. Chief Kashakes, head chief of the Cape Fox Tlingit and a member of the Beaver Clan of the Eagle Moiety, participated in the selection of the new village site at Saxman 2.5 miles south of Ketchikan. He announced that he would build his new clan house next door to the school. Chief Kashakes also built four other homes for his family in Saxman. Chief Kashakes Clan House was built in 1895 and exemplifies the transition from traditional single-room plank clan houses to balloon frame construction that occurred as the Tlingits moved into new communities in the late 1800s and pursued wage-paying positions. The name of the carpenter is unknown, though he probably constructed the framing and the tongue and groove siding. By the 1900s balloon frame construction flourished throughout the southeast in Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Saxman. Despite the change in construction technique, the clan house remained communally owned and open to all clan members. The first floor was spacious to accommodate traditional Native activities similar to the design found in plank clan houses. The second floor was later partitioned into sleeping areas. Outside the house stand two totem poles, the marble base of a third, and one Russian cannon. Chief Kashakes died in the 1912 pneumonia epidemic and was succeeded in the traditional Tlingit manner by two of his nephews. Chief Kashakes House is one of the last remaining examples of balloon frame construction in southeast Alaska. It is central to the historic village of Saxman, the original school, and the surrounding Cape Fox and Fort Tongass totem pole collection, and the Beaver Clan tribal house.
  • -  Survey number: HABS AK-190
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1895 Initial Construction
  • -  National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 93000338

Medium

  • Measured Drawing(s): 9

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HABS AK,010-SAXM,2-

Source Collection

  • Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • ak0436

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HABS AK,010-SAXM,2-
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If an image is displaying, you can download it yourself. (Some images display only as thumbnails outside the Library of Congress because of rights considerations, but you have access to larger size images on site.)

Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

  1. If a digital image is displaying: The qualities of the digital image partially depend on whether it was made from the original or an intermediate such as a copy negative or transparency. If the Reproduction Number field above includes a reproduction number that starts with LC-DIG..., then there is a digital image that was made directly from the original and is of sufficient resolution for most publication purposes.
  2. If there is information listed in the Reproduction Number field above: You can use the reproduction number to purchase a copy from Duplication Services. It will be made from the source listed in the parentheses after the number.

    If only black-and-white ("b&w") sources are listed and you desire a copy showing color or tint (assuming the original has any), you can generally purchase a quality copy of the original in color by citing the Call Number listed above and including the catalog record ("About This Item") with your request.

  3. If there is no information listed in the Reproduction Number field above: You can generally purchase a quality copy through Duplication Services. Cite the Call Number listed above and include the catalog record ("About This Item") with your request.

Price lists, contact information, and order forms are available on the Duplication Services Web site.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, Steven M Peterson, Paul Falsetto, Linda Cook, and James Creech. Chief Kashakes' House, Mile 2.5 South Tongass Highway, Saxman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK. Saxman Alaska Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/ak0436/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, C., Peterson, S. M., Falsetto, P., Cook, L. & Creech, J. (1933) Chief Kashakes' House, Mile 2.5 South Tongass Highway, Saxman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK. Saxman Alaska Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 1933. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/ak0436/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator, et al. Chief Kashakes' House, Mile 2.5 South Tongass Highway, Saxman, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, AK. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/ak0436/>.