Henry Dow Banks
Henry Dow Banks and his wife Della Murray Banks came over the Dalton Trail in 1898 as part of an expedition that became known as the Mysterious 36. Banks had a Kodak camera and created two identical photo albums of the trip. One of these albums is held by the MacBride Museum and the other is at the Alaska State Library. The expedition arrived at Pyramid Harbour, Alaska on 16 March and set out with each man pulling a large sled of supplies. They reached the Chilkat summit on 6 April where they encountered a blizzard. The party attempted to find gold that summer and had the best luck at Shorty and Alder creeks in the Kluane Mining District. Arthur A. Thompson was a member of the expedition, and after his return south he started giving illustrated talks using Banks photographs. In 1945 Della Banks wrote two detailed articles about her northern experience for the Alaska Sportsman magazine. Thompson wrote a book, Gold Seeking on the Dalton Trail, that contains the same photographs.1)