Curtis, Asahel, 1874-1941

The Lewiston-Clarkston Improvement Company (LCIC), the third and best-known corporate name of one of the more prominent business organizations active in southeastern Washington and northern Idaho in the early 20th Century, also operated as the Lewiston Water and Power Company (1896-1905), as the Lewiston-Clarkston Company (1905-1910) and as the Clarkston Community Corporation (1940-1971). The founders of the company proposed to build a headworks dam on Asotin Creek, a mountain stream emptying into the Snake River in Southeastern Washington, divert its waters through a canal for about fifteen miles and deliver it to five-to-ten acre fruitland plots that the company proposed to sell. The company designated the irrigation project "Vineland" and located it at the base of a 2000 foot canyon, on a "bench" inside a bend of the Snake River opposite Lewiston, Idaho. Near the center of the project, laid out on land acquired by the company in 1895, the company located a new town, at first known as Lewiston, then as Concord after Concord, Massachusetts, and finally and permanently as Clarkston in 1900. Additionally, the promoters intended to use the waters of Asotin Creek to generate electricity to sell in the new project and in the older city of Lewiston.

From the description of Homes and gardens, Clarkston, Washington, 1910?. (Washington State Library, Office of Secretary of State). WorldCat record id: 162157597

Asahel Curtis (1874-1941) was a professional photographer in Seattle for forty years. The younger brother of photographer Edward S. Curtis, Asahel joined his brother in his photography studio around 1892. In 1897, he went to Alaska to photograph the Klondike gold rush. After returning from Alaska, he served as staff photographer for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post Intelligencer for a short time. He started his own company, the Asahel Curtis Photo Company in 1920. He lived and worked in Seattle but had interests throughout Washington, including developing an apple orchard near Yakima. He served on the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the State Tax Commission, and the Washington Irrigation Institute. He was also an avid mountain climber and served on the Rainier National Park advisory committee. Curtis died in 1941 at the age of sixty-seven.

From the guide to the Edison School, Asahel Curtis Lantern Slides, circa 1920, (Central Washington University Archives and Special Collections)

Asahel Curtis (1874-1941) was a photographer and photoengraver in the Pacific Northwest, California, and Alaska. He was the owner and operator of the Asahel Curtis Photo Co.

From the description of Asahel Curtis photographs of the West, circa 1890s-1930s. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 368066222

As early as 1918, settlers in the central Washington area dreamed of a big dam that could be used to irrigate their lands. The Columbia Basin Survey Commission was the first organization to study the conceivability of a dam on the Columbia River. In 1919 the Washington State Legislature created the Columbia Basin Survey Commission and appropriated $100,000 for its work. In 1933 the state legislature created the Columbia Basin Commission to replace the Survey Commission and to secure the construction of the Columbia Basin Project. In 1935 the Grand Coulee Dam was adopted and approved by Congress and by 1941 the Dam had been completed and began to generate electricity. The Columbia Basin Commission was reconstituted by the State Legislature in 1943 to enable the state to take a more active role in the development of the land and irrigation projects incidental to the completion of the dam. The Commission continued until 1967 when it and its parent agency became defunct.

From the description of Washington State Library's collection of the Columbia Basin Commission's glass negatives of the Grand Coulee Dam by Asahel Curtis, circa 1935-1941. (Washington State Library, Office of Secretary of State). WorldCat record id: 243480384

Photographer, conservationist, and Seattle civic leader.

Born in Minnesota in 1874, Asahel Curtis was one of Seattle's best-known photographers. The Curtis family settled in the Puget Sound area in 1888, and Asahel went to work in his older brother Edward's Seattle photo studio in 1894. In 1897 Asahel Curtis traveled to the Yukon to photograph the gold rush, and in 1911 he opened his own studio in Seattle. Curtis took portraits and promotional photos for various clients, but he was better known for his high-quality photos of the Washington landscape. A dedicated regional booster, he served on both the Highway Committee and the Northwest Development Committee of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, and also participated in organizations such as the Washington State Good Roads Association, the Washington Irrigation Institute (as president), and the March-Curtis "Know Your State" Bureau (as executive). An avid mountain climber and founding member of the Mountaineers, Curtis chaired the Mt. Rainier National Park Advisory Board from 1911 to 1936. He died in 1941.

From the description of Asahel Curtis papers, 1898-1941. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 49515963

Asahel Curtis was the most prominent Seattle photographer of the early twentieth century, as well as a noted outdoorsman and regional booster. Born in Minnesota in 1874, he moved to Washington Territory in 1888. Asahel's brother, Edward, 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. The brothers parted ways after a bitter disagreement over the rights to Asahel's Yukon photos, which Edward had published under his own name. Edward later became nationally recognized for his twenty-volume series of photos of Native Americans. Asahel also enjoyed a successful career as a photographer, although he did not receive the acclaim that Edward did. He married Florence Carney in 1902 and opened his own studio in 1911. He was hired by a number of local companies, organizations, and wealthy individuals to take portraits and promotional photos. Asahel became more widely known for his high-quality images of the Washington landscape that were published nationally.

Asahel Curtis had a deep appreciation of Mt. Rainier and for several decades he directed both his appreciation for scenic beauty and efforts at regional boosterism into the development of Mt. Rainier National Park. Curtis was a founding member of the Mountaineers, a mountain-climbing group which also promoted the preservation of wilderness areas. Curtis was active in the affairs of the club for the first several years after its founding in 1906. He led the Mountaineers on climbs of Mt. Rainier and organized a committee within the club on Mt. Rainier National Park. However, his involvement in the Seattle-Tacoma Rainier National Park Committee (later the Rainier National Park Advisory Board) strained his relations with the group. The committee, which Curtis chaired from 1912 to 1936, was formed by community business interests to exploit the park's tourism potential. Curtis, through the committee, sought to promote accessibility to the park and to increase tourism by building roads. His opposition to the expansion of Olympic National Park in the late 1930s led to a further deterioration of relations with the Mountaineers. It also caused a rift between Curtis and his fellow Mt. Rainier boosters and effectively ended his involement in park affairs.

Curtis's advocacy was not limited to the development of Mt. Rainier National Park. While serving as the offical photographer for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, he also chaired its Development Committee and its Highway Committee for many years. His interests reached beyond the Puget Sound region. Curtis owned a small orchard in Ellensburg, and he believed that the landscape of Central Washington could be improved by building irrigation projects to turn the arid region into cropland. The Washington Irrigation Association thus chose Curtis to be its president in the 1920s. He also participated in the affairs of the Washington State Good Roads Association, serving as its president in 1932 and 1933. Asahel Curtis died in 1941.

From the guide to the Asahel Curtis Papers, 1898, 1908-1941, (University of Washington Libraries Special Collections)