Asahel Curtis

Asahel Curtis (1874–1941) was a Pacific Northwest photographer.

Asahel Curtis was born in 1874 in Ohio to Johnson Asahel Curtis (1840–1887), a reverend; and Ellen Sheriff (1844–1912).

Asahel's father was Johnson Asahel Curtis (1840–1887) who was a clergyman, and an American Civil War veteran. He was born in Ohio and his father was born in Canada and his mother in Vermont. Asahel's mother was Ellen Sheriff (1844–1912) who was born in New York City, and both her parents were born in England. Asahel had the following siblings: Raphael Curtis (1862–c1885) aka Ray Curtis; Eva Curtis (10 May 1870 Whittaker, WI-1967, Tacoma Co, WA); and Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868–1952).

In 1880 the family was living in Cordova, Le Sueur County, Minnesota and Johnson Curtis was working as a retail grocer. When Edward and Asahel were just teenagers, a homemade camera was the only suggestion of what their future professions would be when they moved to Washington Territory. In 1885 at the age of seventeen Edward took his interest in photography and became an apprentice photographer in St. Paul, Minnesota.

When the Curtis family moved to Washington in 1888, Edward and Asahel were just teenagers. As their careers grew, their choice of subjects became increasingly different. Edward spent 33 years documenting the traditional life of the Native American Indians. Asahel photographed Washington's natural resources and their related industries, as well as the early cities of Washington state, historic events, and its population.

Asahel's brother, Edward Sheriff Curtis, supported the family by opening a photography studio in Seattle, and Asahel went to work for him in 1894. In 1897, the brothers agreed that Asahel should go to the Yukon and document the Klondike Gold Rush. Asahel remained there for two years, alternately taking pictures and working a small and largely unproductive claim.

Asahel launched his photography career with that two-year trip to Alaska and the Klondike. Charles Ainsworth, his mining partner, was among the many gold-seeking miners Asahel photographed between 1897 and 1899.

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