This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
Descriptive Entry:
This collection consists primarily of journals kept by Gibbs while in Oregon Territory, 1850-1853, and on the Northwest Boundary Survey, 1857-1862. The journals contain
zoological and ethnological observations, accounts of collections made, and Indian vocabulary. Also included are notes on the forest growth of Washington Territory, circa
1860.
Historical Note:
George Gibbs (1815-1873) was an ethnologist and expert on the language and culture of the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. A graduate of Harvard University, Gibbs
moved west during the gold rush of 1848 and eventually secured the position of Collector of the Port of Astoria, Oregon Territory. From 1853 to 1855, he was a geologist and
ethnologist on the Pacific Railroad Survey of the 47th and 49th parallels under the command of Isaac Stevens. In 1857, Gibbs joined the Northwest Boundary Survey and served
as geologist and interpreter until 1862. The last decade of his life was spent in Washington, D.C., where he undertook studies of Indian languages under the auspices of the
Smithsonian Institution.
