A Treasure Trove for Tacoma
Curator W.H. Gilstrap pushes to bring an expansive collection of Klickitat artifacts to Tacoma to preserve local Indigenous history.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
W. H. Gilstrap, curator of the Ferry Museum, has been over to Goldendale, Klickitat County, to inspect the splendid collection of Indian curios, the property of the late Dr. Stewart. It consists of 100,000 pieces gathered from the Klickitat Indians. Curator Gilstrap appraised the collection at $15,000. He hopes that Tacoma can secure it, or at least that it will not leave the state. Dr. Stewart had so won the confidence of the Klickitat Indians that they freely brought him all sorts of curios, and he was able to secure a collection the like of which is not equaled in the Northwest. The specimens are nearly all the work of this tribe and were gathered principally from along the Columbia and Klickitat rivers. There are 40,000 perfect specimens of arrow-heads and 40,000 specimens more or less broken. It includes also 400 baskets. When Mr. Gilstrap returns home, steps will be taken to see if the collection cannot be secured for Tacoma.
“Dr. Stewart had so won the confidence of the Klickitat Indians that they freely brought him all sorts of curios.”
The Ferry Museum's early efforts to amass such collections were typical of the paternalistic 'curator' model of the era. Today, Tacoma's museums engage in complex repatriation efforts, returning sacred items to tribal nations, marking a profound shift in how the city handles Indigenous heritage.
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