Eric A. Hegg
Encyclopedia
Eric A. Hegg was a Swedish-American photographer famous for his portrayals of the life and people in Skagway
, Bennett
and Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush
1897–1901. Hegg himself participated in prospecting expeditions with his brother and fellow Swedes meanwhile also documenting the daily life and hardships of the gold diggers.
The most iconic photography taken by Eric Hegg is by the Chilkoot Pass
where miners and prospectors are climbing the ice stairs upwards to the top and the awaiting Canadian border. Eric A. Hegg has been subject of books and films in Sweden embodying The American Dream since he was able to leave his humble situation in Sweden behind and become a self-made man and successful photographer.
, Hälsingland
, Sweden
, as the second eldest son to the crofter Jon Persson and his wife Brita Ersdotter in a family of eight (four sons and two daughters). Due to repeated displacement to smaller outfields deeper into the forest land, the whole family left for United States in April 1881. At the arrival in New York
the family gave up their Swedish surnames and adopted the family name
Hegg (derived from Heggesta, the name of their Swedish homestead of origin). The family settled in the Swedish settlements at the southern shore of Lake Superior
in Wisconsin
and the fourteen year old Eric Hegg took up the profession as a photographer's disciple in Cloquet, Minnesota
and later opened an own studio in Washburn, Wisconsin
.
In 1888, Eric Hegg settled in the Swedish community outside Bellingham, Washington
and together with his brother Peter he opened a new studio. After some years depicting foresters and farmers in the region the city got gold fever
after another Swedish-American man returned rich from Klondike
. This sparked a wave of migration of young men to Alaska
and Northwestern Canada
. The Hegg brothers followed in their trail in order to open up new grounds for their photraphic business.
The arrivals led to a series of expeditions along The Chilkoot Trail
and further north and west to Dawson and Yukon via Bennett
taking numerous pictures along the way. Hegg built a darkroom on his boat he used when travelling along the river Klondike
. The Hegg brothers together with their companions opened studios in Dawson and sold portraits to the frontier men and they also claimed land and participated in the mining.
In 1899, after a year in Yukon, Hegg returned to Skagway leaving his studio in Dawson to his business companion Larss and another famous Klondike photographer, DuClos. Hegg travelled to New York the same year to show his pictures at a gallery, while his brother returned to Bellingham to manage their old studio. When returning to Alaska, Eric Hegg travelled to Nome
visiting other Swedes working in the area and took pictures of the social life and the town. Among the customers were the "Three Lucky Swedes" who were first in Nome to become rich by mining. Their portraits were taken by Hegg and he opened his largest studio so far.
His nomadic lifestyle bore its toll and his relation with his wife Ella became strained. In 1902 his marriage was finalized by a bitter divorce and the studio in Skegway went to his wife who sold it and along with all the negatives. Since the stamp was removed by the buyers it is difficult to identify many of the late Alaska pictures as Hegg's. Before leaving Alaska for a short time in Hawaii, Hegg lived in Cordova and Nome, where he worked for Guggenheim's
Copper River and Northwestern Railroad until 1918.
.
Skagway, Alaska
Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city was 862...
, Bennett
Bennett, British Columbia
Bennett, British Columbia, Canada is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. It was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–99 at the end of the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails from nearby ports of Skagway and Dyea in Alaska...
and Dawson City during the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
1897–1901. Hegg himself participated in prospecting expeditions with his brother and fellow Swedes meanwhile also documenting the daily life and hardships of the gold diggers.
The most iconic photography taken by Eric Hegg is by the Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass
Chilkoot Pass is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett Lake, British Columbia...
where miners and prospectors are climbing the ice stairs upwards to the top and the awaiting Canadian border. Eric A. Hegg has been subject of books and films in Sweden embodying The American Dream since he was able to leave his humble situation in Sweden behind and become a self-made man and successful photographer.
Early Life
Hegg was born as Erik Jonsson in 1867 in Bollnäs sockenBollnäs
Bollnäs is a locality and the seat of Bollnäs Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 12,455 inhabitants in 2005.- History :In written sources Bollnäs is traced from 1312, by a vicar named Ingemund who referred to it as Baldenaes, which means "the large isthmus," referring to the isthmus into a...
, Hälsingland
Hälsingland
' is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. It borders to Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and to the Gulf of Bothnia...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, as the second eldest son to the crofter Jon Persson and his wife Brita Ersdotter in a family of eight (four sons and two daughters). Due to repeated displacement to smaller outfields deeper into the forest land, the whole family left for United States in April 1881. At the arrival in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
the family gave up their Swedish surnames and adopted the family name
Family name
A family name is a type of surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs. The use of family names is widespread in cultures around the world...
Hegg (derived from Heggesta, the name of their Swedish homestead of origin). The family settled in the Swedish settlements at the southern shore of Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
and the fourteen year old Eric Hegg took up the profession as a photographer's disciple in Cloquet, Minnesota
Cloquet, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,201 people, 4,636 households, and 2,967 families residing in the city. The population density was 317.9 people per square mile . There were 4,805 housing units at an average density of 136.4 per square mile...
and later opened an own studio in Washburn, Wisconsin
Washburn, Wisconsin
Washburn is a city in Bayfield County, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,280 at the 2000 census. The city is just east of and adjacent to the Town of Washburn...
.
In 1888, Eric Hegg settled in the Swedish community outside Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham, Washington
Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...
and together with his brother Peter he opened a new studio. After some years depicting foresters and farmers in the region the city got gold fever
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
after another Swedish-American man returned rich from Klondike
Klondike
-Canada:* Klondike, Yukon, a region in the Yukon** Klondike River, in the Yukon** Klondike Gold Rush, in the Yukon-United States:* Klondike, Maryland* Klondike, Texas* Klondike, Louisville, Kentucky* Klondike, Kenosha County, Wisconsin...
. This sparked a wave of migration of young men to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and Northwestern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The Hegg brothers followed in their trail in order to open up new grounds for their photraphic business.
Klondike Gold Rush
In October 1897 did Hegg arrive in Skagway after a short stop in Dyea. He immediately opened a studio in the town. He was joined a year later by his brother and a friend of the two brothers, Peter Andersson. The following spring another Swedish-American photographer, Per Edvard Larss, came and joined the business.Chilkoot Trail
The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 miles trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia in Canada....
and further north and west to Dawson and Yukon via Bennett
Bennett, British Columbia
Bennett, British Columbia, Canada is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake. It was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–99 at the end of the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails from nearby ports of Skagway and Dyea in Alaska...
taking numerous pictures along the way. Hegg built a darkroom on his boat he used when travelling along the river Klondike
Klondike River
The Klondike River is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush. The Klondike River has its source in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at Dawson City....
. The Hegg brothers together with their companions opened studios in Dawson and sold portraits to the frontier men and they also claimed land and participated in the mining.
In 1899, after a year in Yukon, Hegg returned to Skagway leaving his studio in Dawson to his business companion Larss and another famous Klondike photographer, DuClos. Hegg travelled to New York the same year to show his pictures at a gallery, while his brother returned to Bellingham to manage their old studio. When returning to Alaska, Eric Hegg travelled to Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
visiting other Swedes working in the area and took pictures of the social life and the town. Among the customers were the "Three Lucky Swedes" who were first in Nome to become rich by mining. Their portraits were taken by Hegg and he opened his largest studio so far.
His nomadic lifestyle bore its toll and his relation with his wife Ella became strained. In 1902 his marriage was finalized by a bitter divorce and the studio in Skegway went to his wife who sold it and along with all the negatives. Since the stamp was removed by the buyers it is difficult to identify many of the late Alaska pictures as Hegg's. Before leaving Alaska for a short time in Hawaii, Hegg lived in Cordova and Nome, where he worked for Guggenheim's
Guggenheim family
The Guggenheim family is an American family, of Swiss Jewish ancestry. Beginning with Meyer Guggenheim, who arrived in America in 1847, the family were known for their global successes in mining and smelting . During the 19th century, the family possessed one of the largest fortunes in the world...
Copper River and Northwestern Railroad until 1918.
Later life
Hegg returned to Bellingham in Washington to move in with his son and once again he joined his brother to work in their old studio. But the partnership did not last for long. While his brother took up farming, Eric Hegg kept on the business until 1946. His work has been collected by the daughter of the friend from Skagway, Peter Andersson, and later donated to Archive of University of WashingtonUniversity of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
.