Amos Burg photographs, 1889-1985

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Burg, Amos
Title
Amos Burg photographs
Dates
1889-1985 (inclusive)
Quantity
Approx. 7 cubic feet, (14,187 photographs, 9,244 negatives, 7,791 slides, 28 lantern slides, and 70 photomechanical prints in 18 boxes plus other unprocessed additions)
Collection Number
Org. Lot 450
Summary
Images document Amos Burg's world travels, explorations, and river running, as well as his careers as a writer, photographer and filmmaker for National Geographic, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and ERPI Classroom Films, and his work with the Alaska Fish and Game Department.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Amos Burg (1901-1986) was born in Portland, Or., to Amos Burg, Sr., and Minerva Ann James Burg (Annie Laurie Burg). Burg, Sr. (1863-1938), immigrated from Norway in 1877 to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he worked in the laundry business and married Minerva Ann James in 1889. They and their infant son, Charles, moved to Portland in 1890, and the senior Burg became part owner of the City Laundry. In Portland, the couple had seven more children, including Amos, Jr. The Burgs' longtime family home at 1706 N.E. Dekum Avenue was still standing as of 2004.

Upon graduation from grammar school in June 1917, Burg persuaded his parents to let him go to sea as bell boy on the passenger ship, Rose City, Portland to San Francisco and Los Angeles. At the end of the summer, he returned to Portland to start high school but the call of the sea was so strong that he returned to sea, where during many voyages in the next several years, he continued his education using the Encyclopaedia Britannica. This whetted his appetite for more learning, so between voyages, he completed a college preparatory course at the Oregon Institute of Technology and then enrolled in science, photography, and journalism courses at the University of Oregon (Eugene) and Oregon State College (now Oregon State University, Corvallis) between adventures (1926-1929), although he never earned a degree. He helped to finance his education and adventures by using his sea voyages as an opportunity to earn some money importing Oriental rug, silks, and pearls.

Burg was heralded for making the first complete canoe voyage on the Columbia River from its headwaters in Columbia Lake, B.C., to the Pacific Oct. 20, 1924-Jan. 7, 1925. The newspapers followed his adventure, and this voyage started his lecture career, as he became a sought-after speaker in Portland and elsewhere in western Oregon. By 1930, he was becoming a successsful lecturer on the national circuit with tales of his adventures, illustrated with his own films and slides, accompanied by narration in his self-depracating witty style. Burg followed up his Columbia River triumph in the summer of 1925 with a canoe voyage from the headwaters of the Snake River at Jackson Lake, Wyo., through Hells Canyon, and down the Columbia River to its mouth. At the Cascades of the Columbia (site of the Bonneville Dam in 2004), Fox Movietone and International Newsreel cameramen persuaded Burg to run the cascades in his canoe, which resulted in International newsreel headlines, "Amos Burg first man to attempt passage of swirling Columbia waters in frail craft." Well into the 1930s, Burg continued to make periodic canoe trips on the Columbia, Snake, Yukon and Northwest Territories rivers, culminating in his 1938 trip to film Buzz Holmstrom's re-creation of his 1937 one-man trip down the Green and Colorado rivers. Burg took the first inflatable rubber raft down the Colorado on this trip, and his film, Conquering the Colorado won an Academy Award nomination for short subjects in 1939.

Burg extended his travels around the world aboard the yacht, Camargo, 1931-1932, and followed up in 1933-1934 with a trip in a small boat around Cape Horn. Filmmaking for ERPI and Encyclopaedia Britannica subsequently took him throughout the western United States, Central and South America, Alaska, Europe, and Asia.

In the early 1950s, Burg settled down in Alaska, working forst for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and then establishing himself with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 1955-1974. He established the department's Information and Education Section and made many films as part of his work. He also made the Alaska Centennial film, Juneau, Alaska's Capital City. He continued to make many river trips well after his retirement. He died in Alaska in 1985, and his ashes have since been scattered on many of the rivers he voyaged.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection documents not only Burg's life, adventures, work, and family, but also traces his development as a photographer, from teenage years, when he took snapshots of his sea voyages around the world, to the late 1920s, when he started producing photographs that graced the pages of glossy magazines such as National Geographic and films for Encyclopaedia Brittanica Films and ERPI Classroom Films. He became an expert at taking shots of people, and his photography of children is particularly striking. The collection includes prints, negatives, slides, and lantern slides. Amos Burg appears in many photographs throughout the collection.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Amos Burg photographs, Org. Lot 450, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is organized into the following subgroups and series:

  • Subgroup 1: Amos Burg, His Family, and His Travels, 1889-1950
    • Series A: Family, Early Life, and College, 1889-circa 1935
    • Series B: Seaman, 1918-1927
    • Series C: Adventurer/Lecturer/Writer, 1920-1950
  • Subgroup 2: Amos Burg, Alaskan, 1951-1985

NOTE: This guide describes Subgroup 1 only. Subgroup 2 will be added when processing is complete.

Acquisition Information

Library accession nos. 17787, 18819, 19839, 20170, 22211, 22726, and 24251.

Processing Note

THIS COLLECTION IS ONLY PARTIALLY PROCESSED. The collection was received in increments and not in any particular order. Burg provided little or no individual identifications for the bulk of the images. Identifications have been added whenever possible but may be subject to change as processing of Subgroup 2 continues.

Separated Materials

Manuscript materials were separated into the Amos Burg Papers (Mss 1759) in the Manuscripts Collection at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. Film is in the Amos Burg Motion Picture Collection (Mic 5).

Bibliography

Fleischmann, Julius. Footsteps in the Sea. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1935.

Amos Burg's photographs appeared with articles written by him and others in National Geographic.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Subgroup 1:  Amos Burg, His Family, and His Adventures, 1889-1950Return to Top

This Subgroup is organized into three series:
  • SeriesA: Family, Early Life, and College, 1889-ca. 1935
  • Series B: Seaman, 1918-1927
  • Series C: Adventures, Expeditions, and Freelance Projects, 1920-1950
Container(s) Description Dates
Series A: Family and Early Life
161 photographs and 21 photomechanical prints.
Includes the Burg family, early photographs of Amos Burg, Jr., the Burg home, family friends, the City Laundry and other Portland area locations and activities. It also includes mages from Burg's various stints at the University of Oregon and possibly Oregon State. (See timeline in this guide for details.)
1889-circa 1935
Box/Folder
1/1
Burg family
Includes Amos, Sr., and Annie Laurie Burg; their children, Amos, Jr., Carrie [Edwards], Charles W., George W., John E., Mabel A.H. [Merryman], [Mrs. Ellery Reim], and Vera B. [Yunker]; and grandchildren, including Anna Rose. Also included is a biographical sketch of Mr. and Mrs. Burg, Sr.
1889-circa 1935
Box/Folder
1/2 2/6
Amos Burg, Jr.
Includes one image with camera, formal portraits and snapshots. Two images show him in canoe, probably on Columbia River in Portland area. Album 450-3: Burg (with crutch) and group of friends or relatives (pg. 56); in plaid jacket and tie (pg. 92).
circa 1915-circa 1925
1/3
Burg friends and relatives--formal portraits
Unidentified young men and one young woman. One portrait of a scout troop is inscribed to Burg "from his Scoutmaster Bert V. Chappel, 2/4/1930."
circa 1905-1930
Box/Folder
1/4 2/5, 2/7
Burg friends and relatives--snapshots, identified
Identified people in loose snapshots include: Frieda and "Grandma" Gibcke, Etta Gray, Aaron Loughey, Carolyn and Gertrude Schail, Bernice [?], Josie [?], Lillian [?], and Vivian [?]. Identified people in Album 450-3: Tommy and Jennie (pg. 1); LaWanda, Edith, Claudia, Alice, Mary (Pg. 73); Tommy (pg. 92).
circa 1915-1928
1/5 2/6
Burg friends and relatives--snapshots, unidentified
Album 450-3: girl with dog, two girls wearing jodphurs (pg. 48); children, including girl with dog (pg. 58); others (pg. 73, 92).
circa 1910-1920
1/6
Burg friends and relatives--snapshots, with animals, automobiles, houses, at various locations
Identified people include: Frieda and "Grandma" Gibcke, Etta Gray, Aaron Loughey, Carolyn and Gertrude Schail, Bernice [?], Josie [?], Lillian [?], Vivian [?].
circa 1910-1920
1/7
Oregon locations--Eastern
1919
Box/Folder
1/8 2/6
Oregon locations--Portland
Rose Festival parade floats. In Album 450-3 (p. 34-35) are floats, including the State Laundry float, with a shirt collar and laundry on a clothesline cleverly rendered in flowers.
circa 1925
2/5-6
Oregon locations--unidentfied
Album 450-3: images in snow-covered forested countryside (pg. 35-37), including photographer shooting with tripod-mounted camera (back to camera, possibly Burg) and unusual round-tracked vehicle pulling wooden bus on sled.
circa 1925
Box/Folder
1/9 2/6
University of Orego
Includes portrait of Amos Burg, associate editor, with staff of the Emerald, University of Oregon student daily newspaper. Other staff members identified: Dorothy Baker, Melvin Cohn, William Haggerty, Leonard Hagstrom, Donald Johnston, Arden X. Pangborn, Joe Pigney, and Arthur Schoeni. Images also include Burg in a typing class, as well as individual and group shots of classmates. Also included is a group portrait that includes Burg, dated 1931, when he returned to campus, probably to give a lecture. Album 450-3: group portrait (pg. 56).
1926-1929; 1931
1/10
University of Oregon--Plane trip from Eugene Airport
Photographs taken at the airport as Burg was preparing to depart with pilot David Langmack to photograph the Three Sisters peaks for a newsreel. Includes photocopy of Burg's account from the Emerald.
1927-1929
1/11
Postcards collected and sent by Burg
Includes postcard folder, "The Shasta Route," sent to his mother in Portland from the "Summit Siskiyou Range".
1921, undated
Series B: Seaman
520 photographs and 64 photomechanical prints.
Images document ships, crews, life and work aboard ship, and ports of call, most notably in Japan and China. The series include a number of photographs of Amos Burg. The bulk of the photographs of his merchant seaman career are contained in three photograph albums. Album 450-1 includes his first voyages from 1918-1920. He may not have had a camera until he shipped on the SS Katia in September 1918, so voyages before that time are documented by postcards and other photomechanical prints and a teenager's purple prose. Most of Burg's photographs in this album document his voyage aboard the Katia on the Northern Circle route to Japan and on to other Asian ports, then through the Indian Ocean and Suez Canal to Marseilles, France. The 2.5-inch by 3.5-inch prints are fading, but they give a hint of the photographic strengths and skills Burg would develop, particularly in photographing people. Album 450-2 includes good quality prints by Burg of his voyage aboard the SS President Madison in 1923, and Album 450-3 (which also includes expeditions and other trips in Series C) includes a few images from several voyages but mostly good quality prints from his voyage aboard the President Jackson.
1918-1927
Box/Folder
2/2
SS Lurline--San Francisco to Hawaii
Postcard print of ship (Album 450-1, pg. 49)
1918 January
2/1-2
SS Ventura--San Francisco to Hawaii, Pago Pago, Samoa, and Sydney, Australia
Burg shipped as bridge cadet. Album 450-1: 29 postcard and photomechanical prints, pgs. 9-10, 23, 28-29, 51, 75.
1918 May 28-July 5
Box/Folder
1/12 2/1-3
SS Katia--Seattle to Marseille
Many photographs of the voyage are in Album 450-1 (Box 2/Folders 1-3). Locations include Dutch Harbor and Unalaska, Alaska; Siberia; Kobe and Yokohama, Japan; Shanghai; Saigon; Singapore; Rangoon; Colombo; and Suez Canal and Port Said, Egypt. Burg won promotion to able seaman at Kobe.
1918-1919
2/1-3
SS Patria--Marseille to New York via Oran, Algeria
French transport carrying 2,500 American troops. Album 450-1: 7 photographic prints and 9 photomechanical prints, pgs. 12-13, 35-36, 45, 59-61, 73, 82, and 95.
1919 June
Box/Folder
1/13 2/2
SS Matsonnia--San Francisco via Honolulu, Hawaii
Images of Honolulu and Waikiki beach. Ship photo in Album 450-1 (pg. 49). Burg was bridge cadet.
1919
1/14 2/2
SS Wakiki--New York to Manchester, England, via Panama and the Azores
Images include scenes in Panama and off-loading lumber at Manchester. One print in Album 450-1 (pg. 63)
1919-1920
1/15
SS Lapland--Southampton, England, to New York
After SS Waikiki was rammed and badly damaged by the SS Cape Transport, the Waikiki crew returned to New York on the Lapland
1920
Box/Folder
1/16 2/7
SS Egeria--Portland to Sydney and Newcastle, Australia, and return
Includes postcard print Burg sent from Hawaii to his sister, Mabel, in Portland. Tw views of Honolulu harbor in Album 450-3 (pg. 76)
1920-1921
1/17
SS West Kader--San Francisco to Yokohama, Nagoya, and Kobe, Japan, and Shanghai
Burg, who shipped as able seaman, was hospitalized for a month at Shanghai after injuring knee at Kobe.
1922
Box/Folder
1/18 2/7
SS Hanna Nielsen--Shanghai via Tsingtao to Astoria
Burg returned with first load of goods to start his import business. Includes views of Tsingtaoand photos of ship's crew. One view of Tsingtao in Album 450-3 (pg. 76).
1922
1/19 2/4
SS President Madison--To Japan, China, and the Philippines
Burg shipped as quartermaster on another buying trip for his import business. All of Album 450-2 (2/4) are photos Burg made of this trip or commercially-produced postcards and other prints of life in China and the Philippines. Also includes views of SS President McKinley and crew.
1923
1/20 2/5-7
SS President Jackson--To Japan, China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines
Burg shipped as able seaman on another buying trip for his import business. Good photographs of the ship (especially with iced-up rigging on the "Northern Circle") and its crew, underway, in dry dock in Yokohama, Japan, and of several harbors. Many photographs are in 450-3 (pg. 1-2, 10-12, 19, 28-33, 48, 64-71, 96-97, and 102).
1927
1/21 2/5-7
SS President Jackson[?]--Kuomintang conflict [?]
Three mounted prints of executions in China, possibly during Kuomintang drive to capture Beijing, probably obtained by Burg in China.
1927
1/22
Seaman--prints on album pages
Includes black-and-white prints of voyages on SS Katia, SS Wakiki, and SS Lapland, and photomechanical prints of ships, including SS Queen, and the harbor at Yokohama, Japan.
1918-1920
1/23
Seaman--loose and prints, unidentified
Album 450-3: pavilion-like building (pg. 49), girl riding ostriche (pg. 52)
1918-circa 1923
Series C: Adventurer/Lecturer/Writer
The series is arranged into 37 subseries that follow approximately chronologically Amos Burg's path around the world. Subseries 37 includes a small quantity of photographs by other photographers that Burg obtained from various sources.
1920-1950
Subseries 1: Amos Burg, His Boats, and His Friends and Photo Subjects
207 photographs and 64 photomechanical prints.
circa 1925-1945
Box/Folder
3/1
Amos Burg--snapshot size images
Includes one image of Burg holding 35-mm camera and many of him aboard boats.
circa 1930-circa 1945
3/2
Amos Burg--5x7-inch and larger images
Includes one image of Burg with Walter W. Hoffman (Spike), inscribed on verso to Burg and one with South Seas women from the Camargo voyage.
circa 1930-circa 1945
3/3
Amos Burg--lecture promotion images
From lecture tours on Columbia and Snake River canoe trips, the Camargo voyage, the Cape Horn expedition, and Alaska trips.
circa 1930-circa 1940
3/4
Boat, Dorjun
Includes views during renovation of the former Coast Guard vessel and its christening by Dorette Fleischmann, who named it Dorjun in honor of her two children, Dorothy and Junior (Charles Fleischman III). Also includes later images in Alaska and the Portland area.
1933-circa 1945
3/5
Boat, Endeavor
Includes views when it belonged to Capt. Oliver P. Rankin of Astoria and after Rankin turned the boat over to hsi friend, Amos Burg, in 1938. Folder includes printout of Web site created by Fritz Funk, owner of the Endeavor as of 2004.
circa 1930-circa 1945
3/6
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--identified, A-J
Alice [?] , Margaret Bayne, J. Barry (with KVOA microphone), Anne Bergstrand, [Mr. and Mrs.] Gwludys Bowen, the Most Reverend Bartholomew Cattaneo (including card honoring his consecration to the Episcopacy, St. Patrick's Church, Sydney, Australia), Dr. Arthur L. Canfield, L. Chamnanvitya, Dan [?] , Trevor Davis, Jo [?] (and Nelly [?] ).
circa 1925-circa 1945
3/7
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--identified, L-T
Capt. Alfred Larsen (and wife), Merl LaVoy, Fred and Laura Lockley, [?] Long, Ward Randall, Rita [?], Bertha Schwan, Jesse and Joy Sill (their house, not them), Eugene M. Tardy (in Indian headress with child in Indian dress), Donald H. Thompson, and Clara and Doris Tobin with Amos Burg's dog, King (one image used as Christmas card for Emory, Doris and Clara Tobin).
circa 1930-circa 1940
3/8
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--unidentified--children
circa 1925-circa 1945
3/9
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--unidentified--groups
circa 1925-circa 1945
3/10
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--unidentified--men
circa 1925-circa 1945
3/11
Friends, photo subjects, etc.--unidentified--women
circa 1930-circa 1945
Subseries 2: New York to Northwest Train Trip
20 photographs.
1920
Box/Folder
3/12
New York sightseeing
1920
3/13
On Northern Pacific--St. Paul, Minn., to Spokane, Wash.
1920
Subseries 3: Canoe trip--Snake River at Lewiston, Idaho, to mouth of Columbia River
101 photographs.
Trip with Fred Hill (Spoke) of Spokane, Wash., who had been Burg's shipmate on the Wakiki.
1920 May-June
Box/Folder
3/14
Train trip to Lewiston, Idaho
1920 May 24
3/15
Lewiston, Idaho, to Indian
1920 May 25
3/16
Indian to Central Ferry
1920 May 26-27
3/17
Riparia to Umatilla area
1920 May 28-31
3/18
John Day to Deschutes
1920 June 2-3
3/19
Celilo to Dalles-Celilo Canal
1920 June 4-5
3/20
Mosier area to Cascades
1920 June 6-9
3/21
Lower Columbia River
1920 June 12-15
Box/Folder
3/22 2/5
Unidentified, undated
One Columbia River view in Album 450-3 (pg. 16).
1920 May-June
Subseries 4: Canoe trip--Yellowstone, Missouri and Mississippi [Livingston, Mt., to New Orleans, La.]
145 photographs.
While serving as a seaman aboard the SS West Kader to Japan and back in early 1922, Burg started studying up on early voyageurs, including Lewis and Clark. In June, he shipped his canoe by rail to Livingston, Montana, and started down the Yellowstone River to St. Louis on the Missouri. He then canoed on down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He returned to Portland as banana messenger (his job was to keep the bananas ventilated so they didn't ripen too soon) on the Pacific Fruit Express train.
1922
Box/Folder Box/Folder
4/1 2/7
Yellowstone and Missouri to St. Louis
Album 450-3 (2/7): p. 78.
1922
Mississippi River
1922
Box/Folder Box/Folder
4/2 2/7
Burg and his canoe
Album 450-3 (2/7): p. 78.
1922
4/3
Cities and towns
1922
4/4
Levees and bridge
1922
Box/Folder
4/5 2/7
People
Album 450-3 (2/7): p. 78.
1922
4/6
River scenes
1922
4/7
Ships
1922
4/8
Steamboats
1922
4/9
Steamboats--crew members
1922
4/10
Steamboats-- Kate Adams (Memphis to Greenville)
1922
4/11
Steamboats--snag boats
1922
4/12
Other boats
1922
Box/Folder
4/13 2/7
Vicksburg--Civil War battlefield
Album 450-3 (2/7): p. 78.
1922
4/14 2/7
Pacific Fruit Express train
Album 450-3 (2/7): p. 78.
1922
Box/Folder
4/15
Yellowstone and Missouri to St. Louis--unidentified images
1922
Subseries 5: Canoe trip--Columbia River from source to mouth
56 photographs.
1924-1925
Box/Folder
4/16
Amos Burg and his canoe, Song o' the Winds
1924
4/17
People, places, and activities
1924
River scenes
1924
Box/Folder Box/Folder
4/18 2/6
Identified locations--British Columbia
Album 450-3 (2/6) includes 21-Mile Rapids, Canoe River, Donald Canyon, Kinbasket Lake, and Ed Robinson's cabin at 12-Mile (pgs. 40, 42-43), hotel near Revelstoke and other scenes (p. 60)
1924
4/19 2/5, 2/7
Identified locations--Washington state
Album 450-3 includes Burg and canoe at mouth of Walla Walla River (pg. 16), Little Dalles (p. 80).
1924
4/20-21 2/5
Unidentified locations
Images also in Album 450-3 (2/5), pp. 21-23, 26
1924
Box/Folder
4/22
Newspaper photograph layout
1924
Box/Folder
4/23 2/5, 2/7
Photographs by "P.W.C." [unidentified photographer]
Album 450-3 includes images by P.W.C. (pgs. 20, 26-27, 80)
1924
4/24
Reaching the mouth of the Columbia
1925 January
Subseries 6: Canoe trip--Snake River headwaters to Columbia River mouth
115 photographs,
The prints documenting this daring trip include a group glued to loose album pages and another group of loose prints. Burg started the trip in his beloved canoe, Song O' the Winds, but he had to replace it with another after it was smashed up in the Grand Canyon of the Snake. Most of the photographs document the Snake River leg of the journey, especially Hells Canyon. Of special note is a group of images of Bill Hissom, homesteader on the Snake River Plains who was of African-American and Mohawk Indian heritage. Burg became good friends with him and visited Hissom's homestead during the canoe voyage. Also included is a small group of images made by newsreel cameramen documenting Burg's descent of the Cascades of the Columbia. Among them are reproductions of the newsreel headlines.
1925
Box/Folder
2/6
Album 450-3--selected pages
Jackson Lake and Dam (p. 39), Hells Canyon (p. 89), Burg at Idaho Falls, canoe at Lake Walcott, and Si Bullock (p. 98)
1925
5/1
Album pages
In addition to the Snake River/Columbia trip, Burg has intermingled a small number of prints of friends and one of a ship's officer from his seaman service. Nearly all of the prints are identified by location.
1925
5/2
Loose prints
1925
5/3
Bill Hissom and his homestead, Snake River Plains
1925
5/4
Shooting the Cascades of the Columbia
1925
Subseries 7: Canoe trip--Alaska Inside Passage to Seattle
19 photographs.
Documents canoe trip by Amos Burg and Fred Hill (Spoke) from Skagway to Ketchikan. Includes portrait of the two men on Standard Service oil tanker, on which they worked their way from Ketchikan back to Seattle.
1926
Box/Folder
5/5
Inside Passage to Seattle--loose prints
1926
2/5, 2/7
Inside Passage to Seattle--prints in Album 450-3 (pp. 4-5, 82-83, 90-91, 93-95)
1926
Subseries 8: Canoe trip--Columbia River, headwaters to mouth
47 photographs.
Documents trip by Amos Burg and Fred Hill (Spoke) after they and the canoe, Song O' the Winds, rode the rails from Seattle to Columbia Lake, B.C. A notable group of prints (5/9) shows them portaging the canoe around Celilo Falls and running the rapids below the falls.
1926
Box/Folder Box/Folder
5/6 2/5-7
River scenes--British Columbia
Documents location of David Thompson's 1814 campsite, the Big Bend region, Canoe River, Downie Creek, Double Eddy Creek, Kinnabasket Lake, and Windermere. Includes farewell to Bob Blackmore, who was locally famous for his voyage around the Big Bend and images of Sluice Box Pete, a miner in the area. Album 450-3 (2/5) includes Columbia Lake, a sawmill at Golden (where Burg and Hill worked for a time), a fire in the Big Bend country, and Windermere (pp. 6-7) , mouth of Canoe River and a miner (p. 44), Canal Flats and "Indian Jim" on horseback (pp. 54-55), Big Bend and Downie Creek (p.74), Surprise Rapids (p. 84, 87), Patch Island Camp, Ed Robinson and Sid Webber (trappers, Big Bend country), and repairing canoe (p. 85), Beavermouth (p. 86), and various images (p. 93).
1926
5/7 2/5
River scenes--Washington state
Documents Kettle Falls area, including Indian fishery and the Old Mission, as well as the steamboat, Bridgeport at Pateros. Album 450-3 (2/5, 2/7) includes: canoeists at Priest Rapids (pp. 1, 92),
1926
5/8
River scenes--unidentified locations
1926
Box/Folder
5/9 2/7
River scenes--Celilo Falls, St. Helens
Portaging Celilo Falls and running rapids below also in Album 450-3 (2/7), pp. 72, 75
1926
Subseries 9: Alaska-Yukon Expedition
66 photographs.
1928
Box/Folder
5/10
Burg--in kayak and with dogs
1928
5/11
Juneau to Lake Bennett
1928
5/12
Yukon River
1928
5/13
Yukon River--reindeer herd crossing
1928
5/14
Nome to King Island
1928
5/15
Locations, unidentified
1928
5/16
Images that appeared in National Geographic [and similar views]
Article, "To-day on 'The Yukon Trail of 1898'," July 1930.
1928
Subseries 10: Mackenzie River Expedition
49 photographs.
1929
Box/Folder
5/17
Amos Burg, Dr. George Rebec, and their canoe
1929
5/18
Athabaska River
1929
5/19
Mackenzie River
1929
5/20
Peel Portage, Fort McPherson to LaPierre House
Burg used one image from this portage for Christmas cards. See 5/24.
1929
5/21
Fort Yukon
1929
5/22
Fort Yukon--Dr. Grafton Burke and Hospital
1929
5/23
People--unidentified locations
1929
5/24
Amos Burg's Christmas card image--Peel Portage
1929-1932
5/25
Images that appeared in National Geographic [and similar views]
"On Mackenzie's Trail to the Polar Sea," August 1931
1929
Subseries 11: Canoe trip--Canoe River to Columbia and downriver to Portland
89 photographs.
1930 June-July
Box/Folder
6/1
Map [photographic reproductions on post card stock]
1930 June-July
6/2
British Columbia--Canoe River
1930 June
6/3
British Columbia--Columbia River
1930 June-July
6/4
British Columbia--Brilliant [including Dukabor settlement]
1930 June-July
6/5
Washington (state)--Columbia River
1930 July
6/6
Washington (state)--Indian people at Kettle Falls and Colville
1930 July
6/7
Oregon and Washington (state)--Columbia River
1930 July
6/8
Unidentified locations and people
1930 June-July
Subseries 12: Canoe trip--Snake River and Columbia River to Portland
90 photographs.
1930 August
Box/Folder
6/9
Amos Burg and canoe
1930 August
6/10
Prints on album pages
1930 August
6/11
Locations--identified
1930 August
6/12
Locations--unidentified
1930 August
6/13
People--unidentified
1930 August
6/14
Possibly Snake, Columbia or Canoe Rivers--Amos Burg and canoe
1930 June-August
6/15
Possibly Snake, Columbia or Canoe Rivers--locations and people, unidentified
1930 June-August
Box/Folder
6/16
Subseries 13: Nonesuch Island (Bermuda) Expedition, New York Zoological Society
5 photographs
1931 June
Subseries 14: Around the World on Yacht Camargo
757 photographs
1931-1932
Box/Folder
7/1
Amos Burg
1931-1932
7/2
Views of Camargo
1931-1932
7/3
Camargo crew
1931
7/4
Julius and Dorette Fleischmann
1931-1932
7/5
Charles Fleischmann III (Skipper)
1931-1932
7/6
Dorette Louise Fleischman [baby]
1931-1932
7/7
Fleischmann children and nannies, Mademoiselle and Miss Jean
1931-1932
7/8
Fleischmann party
1931-1932
7/9
Album pages [photographic copies]
1931-1932
7/10
Bermuda
1931 October
7/11
Jamaica
1931 October
7/12
Barbados
1931 October
7/13
Cocos Island (Pacific off Costa Rica)--rescue of castaways
1931 October
7/14
Marquesas
1931 November
7/15
New Britain
1931 November
7/16
New Hebrides
1931 December
7/17
Tahiti
1931 December
7/18
Fiji
1931 December
7/19
Tonga
1931 December
7/20
Solomon Island
1931 December
7/21
New Guinea and Dutch East Indies
1931-1932
7/22-23
Bali
1932
8/1
Java
1932
8/2
Borneo--Labuan and Sarawak
1932
8/3
Philippineso--Manila
1932
8/4
Indo-China--Annam
1932
8/5
Indo-China--Cochin China
1932
8/6
Indo-China--Chami ruins
1932
8/7
Cambodia
1932
8/8
Thailand--Bangkok
1932
8/9
Singapore
1932
8/10
Sumatra
1932
8/11
Nias
1932
8/12
Ceylon
1932
8/13
Aden
1932
8/14
Arabian Desert--Bedouins
1932
8/15
Egypt
1932
8/16
Eastern Mediterranean
1932
8/17
Unidentified--boats and ships
1931-1932
8/18
Unidentified--cities and towns
1931-1932
8/19
Unidentified--crafts and markets
1931-1932
8/20
Unidentified--monuments and landmarks
1931-1932
8/21
Unidentified--people
1931-1932
8/22
Unidentified--scenic views
1931-1932
Subseries 15: A Native Son's Rambles in Oregon--article for National Geographic [February 1934, pp. 173-234]
57 photographs
1932
Box/Folder
9/1
Agriculture
1932
9/2
Celilo Falls
1932
9/3
Columbia River Highway--bridges
1932
9/4
Crater Lake
1932
9/5
John Day River valley
1932
9/6
Klamath Lake--black crowned night heron
1932
9/7
Lumber industry
1932
9/8
Oregon State Game Farm--pheasants
1932
9/9
Mill--unidentified
1932
9/10
Oregon Caves
1932
9/11
Pendleton Roundup
1932
9/12
Portland
1932
9/13
Rogue River--Hell's Canyon Bridge construction [?]
1932
9/14
Captions Burg wrote for submitted photos
1932
Box/Folder
9/15
Subseries 16: Admiralty Island, Alaska--trip to film Giants of the North
57 photographs
1932
Subseries 17: Cape Horn Expedition
458 photographs
28 lantern slides : hand colored
Burg refitted a former U.S. Coast Guard surf boat, which was christened Dorjun by one of his sponsors, the Julius and Dorette Fleischmann family. The McCormick Steamship Co. of San Francisco, for which Burg had done freelance work, shipped the Dorjun to Buenes Aires aboard the West Mahwah, and Burg shipped as supercargo to save funds for the expedtion. One of his fellow seamen, Roy Pepper, volunteered to make the expedition with him. They and the Dorjun reshipped aboard the steamship Jose Menendez to Punta Arenas (Magellanes) on the Strait of Magellan, from where they started the expedition in the Dorjun, towing a dory, the Cabo de Hornos, whi National Geographicch Burg obtained from a miner for $16. Burg's assignment for on the trip was to photograph and write about the native people of the sourthern end of the hemisphere, including the Yahgan, Alacaluf, Ona, and Haush. The trip resulted in a National Geographic article, "Inside Cape Horn," published with Burg's photographs in December 1937.
1933-1934
Box/Folder
9/16
Trip on West Mahwah
1933
9/17
Map [photographic reproduction]
1933
9/18
Markers and monuments
1933-1934
9/19
Images published in National Geographic [December 1937]
1933-1934
9/20
Burg and crew
1933-1934
9/21
Dorjun and Cabo de Hornos--at sea
1933-1934
9/22
Dorjun and Cabo de Hornos--inshore
1933-1934
9/22
Dorjun --inshore for repairs
1933-1934
10/1
Magellanes/Punta Arenas, Chile
1933-1934
10/2
Magellanes to Santa Ana Point (Port Famine/Fort Bulnés)
1933
10/3
Dawson Island
1933
10/4
Offing Island
Includes views of "jackass" penguins, named after their braying vocal effects.
1933
10/5
Gabriel Channel
1933
10/6
Brecknock Pass
1934
10/7
Yendegaia Bay (and Beagle Channel)
Includes resupply by Chilean naval transport, Micalvi.
1934
10/8
Ushuaia, Argentina
Includes views of penitentiary.
1934
10/9
Navarino Island and vicinity
1934
10/10
Hoste Island, Chile
1934
10/11
Yahgan people [Tierra del Fuego]
1934
10/12
Yahgan people--Domingo and family
1934
10/13
Punta Arenas to Puerta Montt aboard Chilean naval sailing vessel, Baquedano
1934
10/14
Birds
1933-1934
10/15
People, their activities and settlements, unidentified
1933-1934
10/16
Ships and boats, unidentified
1933-1934
10/17
Views--mountains and glaciers, unidentified
1933-1934
10/18
Views--sea and islands, unidentified
1933-1934
Box
19
Hand colored glass lantern slides
Amos Burg used these 28 images from the Cape Horn Expedition to illustrate his lectures.
1933-1934
Visit with friends in Santiago, Chile, and vicinity after Cape Horn Expedition
1934
Box/Folder
10/19
Arica
1934
10/20
LaSerena
1934
10/21
Santiago
1934
10/22
Santiago--Carlos and Olga [?] and family
1934
10/23
Santiago--Edwards home
1934
10/24
Valparaiso
1934
10/25
On yacht, Aconcagua
1934
10/26
Locations, unidentified
1934
10/27
People, unidentified
1934
Box/Folder
10/28
Flag presentation to Argentine officials
1934
10/29
Buenos Aires, Argentina--on shipboard
1934
10/30
Barbados
1934
Box/Folder
11/1
Subseries 18: Pope and Talbot Lumber Co. film job
13 photographs
Amos Burg made his first commercial film for Pope and Talbot, filming the company's trestles, culverts, docks, and bridges from Vancouver, B.C., to San Diego, Calif.
1935
Subseries 19: Dorjun trip through Inside Passage, Seattle, Wash., to Skagway, Alaska
29 photographs
1936
Box/Folder
11/2
British Columbia
1936
11/3
Alaska
1936
Subseries 20: Trip to England
36 photographs
Amos Burg sailed to England aboard the liner, America, to cover the coronation of King George VI for National Geographic. Then, in an American canoe shipped to England, he paddled canals from London to Liverpool. Burg produced an article for National Geographic, "Britain Just Before the Storm" (August 1940, pp. 185-212), and he filmed Canal Children of England for ERPI Classroom Films.
1937
Box/Folder
11/5
London
1937
11/6
Canals and boats
1937
11/7
Locations, unidentified
1937
11/8
People, unidentified
1937
Subseries 21: Green River and Colorado River run
215 photographs
Amos Burg took the first inflatable rubber raft to film Haldane Holmstrom (Buzz) recreating his 1937 one-man voyage in a wooden boat he constructed himself. Holmstrom made the 1937 trip from Green River Lakes in Wyoming to Hoover (then called Boulder) Dam in 52 days. The re-creation took 70 days. Willis D. Johnson joined the crew at Green River, Utah. Paul Douglas narrated the resulting film, Conquering the Colorado, which was distributed by 20th Century Fox and won an Academy Award nomination for short subjects. Both men also used the film on lecture tours.
1938
Box/Folder
11/9
Trip from Aug. 26 through Sept. 2, with Holmstrom and Burg
1938
11/10
Trip from Sept. 2-circa Sept. 20, with Holmstrom and Burg
1938
11/11-12
Trip from circa Sept. 20-Nov. 8, with Holmstrom, Burg, and Johnson
1938
11/13
Trip with Holmstrom and Burg, undated
1938
Box/Folder
12/1
Subseries 22: Middle Fork Salmon River (Idaho)
40 photographs
Amos Burg ran the Middle Fork Salmon River with Dr. Russell G. Fracier, physician for Admiral Byrd's Antarctic Expedition, and six Utah boatmen. Paramount Pictures bought the resulting film, Seeing Is Believing.
1939 June
12/2-3
Subseries 23: The Cattlemen film project--Modoc County, Calif.
62 photographs
Amos Burg inspected several ranches in California before selecting the Christensen Ranch in Modoc County for the ERPI film. He took his rubber raft along on the trip and packed it on his back between streams.
1939 August
12/4
Subseries 24: International House, New York City, N.Y.
215 photographs
Portraits of Chinese actresses at International House.
circa 1940
Subseries 25: Asian trip for ERPI Classroom Films
70 photographs
Amos Burg was assigned to make three films, Children of Japan, Children of China, and People of Western China, working under wartime conditions. He spent four months filming in Japan under close supervision of officials and produced a film that pleased the Japanese Department of Tourism. To make the China films, Burg flew China National Airways into wartorn Chungking, then by truck to Chengtu, where he lived with missionary teachers and filmed Children of China. With Chengut as a hub, he ranged into the foothills of the Himalayas to film People of Western China. In Kobe, Japan, on the return trip to San Francisco aboard the SS President Pierce, Burg was detained briefly on suspicion of being a spy.
1940
Box/Folder
12/5
Voyage to Japan on Tatuta Maru
1940 March
12/6-7
Children of Japan project
1940
12/8
Children of China project, Chungking
1940
Subseries 26: Alaska trip for ERPI Classroom Films and National Geographic
84 photographs
Burg sailed out of the Columbia River on his sloop, Endeavor, for Alaska. He filmed Alaska: Reservoir of Resources and Eskimo Children.
1941
Box/Folder
12/9
Alaska: Reservoir of Resources
1941
12/10
Alaska: Reservoir of Resources--Bristol Bay, dog and sleds
1941
12/11
Alaska: Reservoir of Resources--Bristol Bay fisheries
1941
12/12
Alaska: Reservoir of Resources--Nakneck River fisheries
1941
12/13
Eskimo Children--air travel to Nunivak Island
1941
12/14
Eskimo Children--Mekoryuk village, Nunivak Island
1941
Box/Folder
12/15
Subseries 27: West Indies to Central America trip for ERPI
5 photographs
Burg made two films on the two regions. The prints in this subseries are from Guatemala and Cuba.
1943
Subseries 28: Colombia and Venezuela trip for ERPI
85 photographs
From Bogota, Amos Burg traveled Colombia mostly by railway and river steamer on the Magdalena. The subseries includes one image from Venezuela; the remainder are from Colombia. Burg filmed Colombia and Venezuela and produced a National Geographic article, "Cruising Colombia's Ol' Man River" (May 1947, pp. 615-660)
1944
Box/Folder
12/16
Agriculture and farms
1944
12/17
Agriculture--banana groves
1944
12/18
Airplanes
1944
12/19
Art
1944
12/20
Burros
1944
12/21
Churches
1944
12/22
Flowers
1944
12/23
Guahiba Indians
1944
12/24
Landscape views
1944
12/25
Magdalena River--riverboats
1944
12/26
Magdalena River--shore scenes, moving cargo
1944
12/27
Magdalena River--views
1944
12/28
Netmaking
1944
12/29
Railroads
1944
12/30
Road building
1944
12/31
Ruins--Indian
1944
12/32
Ruins--Spanish
1944
12/33
Tree felling
1944
12/34
Unidentified people
1944
12/35
Unidentified towns
1944
12/36
Venezuela--Rio Orinoco
1944
Box/Folder
13/1
Subseries 29: New York City for Encyclopedia Britannica Films
38 photographs
1944
Subseries 30: Alaska trip on Endeavor
157 photographs
After refurbishing the Endeavor at Astoria, Amos Burg sailed tieh Inside Passage, joined at Prince Rupert, B.C., by Dick and Maeline Taylor and their son, Dickey, who made the trip on their cabin cruiser, Como Reto. Burg wrote an article for National Geographic, "Endeavor Sails the Inside Passage" (June 1947, pp. 801-828).
1946
Box/Folder
13/2
Refitting Endeavor at Astoria
1946
13/3
Seattle to Prince Rupert, B.C.
1946
13/4
Prince Rupert, B.C.
1946
13/5
Prince Rupert, B.C., to Ketchikan, Alaska
1946
13/6
Ketchikan, Alaska
1946
13/7
Sitka, Alaska
1946
13/8
Shipwreck remains
1946
13/9
Juneau, Alaska
1946
Box/Folder
13/10
Subseries 31: Ketchikan
2 photographs
Amos Burg lived aboard Endeavor and worked for the Alaska Sportsman magazine. Prints in this subseries are of Burg's dog, King, performing on a stage.
1947
13/11
Subseries 32: British Isles for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films
11 photographs
Amos Burg filmed British Isles. Prints in this subseries are of coal mining in Scotland.
1947
Subseries 33: Spain for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films
153 photographs
Amos Burg filmed Spanish Children in the village of Torremolinos. He also filmed Iberian Peninsula throughout Spain and Portugal. The storyboards for Spanish Children, included in this subseries, show how Burg used his still photographs to set up scenes for filming.
1947-1948
Box/Folder
13/12
Bicycle tour
1947-1948
13/13
La Roca, Malaga
1948
13/14
Mediterranean coast
1948
13/15
Ronda, Marbella, and El Chorro
1948
13/16
Unidentified locations
1948
13/17-18
Unidentified people
1948
14/1-10
Spanish Children storyboards
1948
14/11
Spanish Children prints not used on storyboards
1948
Box/Folder
14/12
Subseries 34: British Children for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films
6 photographs
Amos Burg filmed British Children in walled city of York.
1948
Subseries 35: Scandinavian trip for Encyclopaedia Britannica Films
267 photographs
Amos Burg filmed Norwegian Children on Hardanger Fjord and Scandinavia, covering a Norwegian sailor, a Danish farmer, and a Swedish steelworker. Nearly all of the images in this subseries are of Norway.
1949
Box/Folder
14/13
Cruise on DS Nordstjernen
1949
14/14
Cruise on DS Nordstjernen--unidentified port, Norway
1949
14/15
Cruise on DS Nordstjernen--crew members
1949
14/16
Cruise on DS Nordstjernen--passengers
1949
14/17
Cruise on DS Nordstjernen--passengers, Indrelid family [?]
1949
14/18
Hardanger Fjord, Norway
1949
14/19
Jaeren, Norway
1949
14/20
Latefoss Waterfall, Norway
1949
14/21
Odda, Norway
1949
14/22
Lofthus, Norway
1949
14/23
Sörfjord (near Hardnager Fjord), Norway
1949
14/24
Bergen, Norway
1949
14/25
Bergen, Norway--harbor
1949
14/26
Bergen, Norway--fish market
1949
14/27
Bergen, Norway--homes
1949
14/28
Fantoft Stave Church near Bergen, Norway
1949
14/29
Troldhaugun, Edvard Grieg's home near Bergen, Norway
1949
14/30
Bergen, Norway--vicinity
1949
14/31
Ålesund, Norway
1949
14/32
Western Norway
1949
14/33
North Trøndelag, Norway
1949
14/34
Helgeland, Norway
1949
14/35
Bodø, Norway
1949
14/36
Lofoten Islands, Norway
1949
14/37
Vesterålen Islands, Norway
1949
14/38
Tromsö, Norway
1949
14/39
Hammerfestg, Norway
1949
14/40
Havøy Island, Norway
1949
14/41
Havøysund, Norway
1949
14/42
Honningsvåg, Norway
1949
14/43
Båtsford, Norway
1949
14/44
Vardö, Norway
1949
14/45
Vadsö, Norway
1949
14/46
Kirkenes
1949
14/47
Finnmark area, Norway--drying codfish
1949
14/48
Finnmark area, Norway--fishing fleets
1949
14/49
Norwegian fjord horse
1949
14/50
Norway--unidentified people
1949
14/51
Denmark--dairy products
1949
Box
15-18
Subseries 36: North Star trip for National Geographic
1,039 photographs
Amos Burg sailed on the SS Alaska to Sitka, where he boarded the MV North Star for a voyage through the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean to Point Barrow and back. Burg filmed many Eskimo villages, as the ship dropped supples at 45 villages along the route. He produced a lecture film and an article for National Geographic, "North Star Sails Alaska's Wild West" (July 1952, pp. 57-86).
The prints are arranged numerically in order of Burg's numbers in all of Boxes 15-17 and Folders 1-8 in Box 18.
1950
Subseries 37: Photographs from other sources
1,039 photographs.
Although Burg made the bulk of the images in this collection, he also obtained images by other photographers for reference and use in his projects.
The images are arranged into two sub-subseries: North America (including Hawaii) and Elsewhere in the World. Within the sub-subseries, images are arranged alphabetically by location.
1903-circa 1950
North America (including Hawaii)
1903-circa 1950
Box/Folder
18/8
Alaska
circa 1920-circa 1950
18/9
Alaska--published by Lomen Brothers (Nome)
1903; 1906
18/10
Alaska--aerials by U.S. Forest Service
1929
18/11
Alaska--Bristol Bay fisheries
circa 1935
18/12
Alaska--Hasselberg, Al
1910-circa 1920
18/13
Alaska--ships
circa 1930
18/14
British Columbia
circa 1930-circa 1950
18/15
Hawaii
1928
18/16
Idaho
1931
18/17
Northwest Territories
circa 1925
18/18
Northwest Territories--by O.S. Finnie
1929
18/19
Texas
circa 1940
18/20
Washington state
circa 1930
18/21
Wyoming
circa 1930
18/22
Yukon Territory
1898
Elsewhere in the World
1933-circa 1935
Box/Folder
18/23
Barbados--by Ardia Taylor
1934
18/24
New Guinea
1933
18/25
South America
circa 1935

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Boats and boating
  • Canoes and canoeing
  • Eskimos.
  • Fishing--Alaska.

Personal Names

  • Burg, Amos--Photographs.

Corporate Names

  • McCormick Steamship Co.

Family Names

  • Burg family--Photographs.

Geographical Names

  • Alaska--Description and travel.
  • British Isles--Description and travel.
  • Cape Horn (Chile)--Description and travel.
  • Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico)--Description and travel.
  • Columbia River--Description and travel.
  • Indonesia--Description and travel.
  • Mackenzie River (N.W.T.)--Description and travel.
  • Magdalena River (Columbia)--Description and travel.
  • Nunivak Island (Alaska)--Description and travel.
  • Oregon--Description and travel.
  • Salmon River (Idaho)--Description and travel.
  • Scandinavia--Description and travel.
  • Snake River (Idaho)--Description and travel.
  • Spain--Description and travel.
  • Thailand--Description and travel.
  • West (U.S.)--Description and travel.
  • West Indies--Description and travel.
  • Yukon River (Yukon and Alaska)--Description and travel.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Negatives.
  • Photograph albums.
  • Photographic prints.

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc. (producer)
    • Erpi Classroom Films, Inc. (producer)