Harry Clifford Fassett
Encyclopedia
Harry Clifford Fassett (1870–1953) worked for the United States Fish Commission
and later the United States Bureau of Fisheries. He became an expert on the salmon
fisheries in Alaska
and was also a map-maker and photographer.
Fassett was born May 9, 1870, in Contra Costa Co., California.
as a captain's clerk. In 1893 and 1894 Fassett was engaged in chart-making on the Alaskan fur seal and fishery investigations carried out by the United States Fish Commission
on USFC Albatross
. His duties expanded to include photography using a glass-plate camera
on the Alaskan salmon research cruises conducted from 1894 to 1897.
As captain’s clerk on the 1889-1900 Pacific cruise of USFC Albatross
conducted by the United States Fish Commission
, Fassett was engaged in chart making and photography; recording people, communities and scenes during this voyage using a glass-plate camera
. USFC Albatross
sailed from San Francisco on 23 August 1899, into the South and Central Pacific, visiting the Marquesas, Paumotu, Society Islands
, Cook Islands
, Tonga
, Fiji
, Ellice
, Gilbert
, Marshall Islands
, Caroline Islands
and the Ladrone Islands. The ship visited Japan
, departing Yokohama
on 2 June 1900 to visit Hakodate, Japan, and Kamchatka, north of the Aleutian Islands, and collected biological specimens in the North Pacific and into the Bering Sea
and ultimately returned to San Francisco on 30 October 1900 after a cruise of 14 months.
was reorganized as the United States Bureau of Fisheries and was made part of the newly created United States Department of Commerce and Labor
. By 1907 Fassett is titled in official publications as a fishery
expert, and participated in the Albatross Philippine Expedition, from 16 October 1907 to 4 May 1910, conducted by the United States Bureau of Fisheries and the Smithsonian Institution
, under Commander Marbury Johnston and Hugh McCormick Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, Director of the Expedition.
From 1911 to 1919, Fassett represented the United States Bureau of Fisheries in Alaska and was involved in further salmon research in Alaska
and the Pribilof Islands
fur seal investigations.
from 1945 until his death on December 9, 1953.
Two topographical features of Alaska
are named in his honor: Fassett Point on Kodiak Island
and a glacier near Yakutat, Alaska.
United States Fish Commission
The United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries was established on February 9, 1871 , as an independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes for the decrease of commercial fish and aquatic animals in U.S...
and later the United States Bureau of Fisheries. He became an expert on the salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
fisheries in 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 was also a map-maker and photographer.
Fassett was born May 9, 1870, in Contra Costa Co., California.
Early career with the United States Fish Commission
In 1889 Fassett jointed USFC AlbatrossUSS Albatross (1882)
The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first vessel ever built especially for marine research....
as a captain's clerk. In 1893 and 1894 Fassett was engaged in chart-making on the Alaskan fur seal and fishery investigations carried out by the United States Fish Commission
United States Fish Commission
The United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries was established on February 9, 1871 , as an independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes for the decrease of commercial fish and aquatic animals in U.S...
on USFC Albatross
USS Albatross (1882)
The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first vessel ever built especially for marine research....
. His duties expanded to include photography using a glass-plate camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
on the Alaskan salmon research cruises conducted from 1894 to 1897.
As captain’s clerk on the 1889-1900 Pacific cruise of USFC Albatross
USS Albatross (1882)
The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first vessel ever built especially for marine research....
conducted by the United States Fish Commission
United States Fish Commission
The United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries was established on February 9, 1871 , as an independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes for the decrease of commercial fish and aquatic animals in U.S...
, Fassett was engaged in chart making and photography; recording people, communities and scenes during this voyage using a glass-plate camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
. USFC Albatross
USS Albatross (1882)
The second USS Albatross, often seen as USFC Albatross in scientific literature citations, was an iron-hulled, twin-screw steamer in the United States Navy and reputedly the first vessel ever built especially for marine research....
sailed from San Francisco on 23 August 1899, into the South and Central Pacific, visiting the Marquesas, Paumotu, Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Ellice
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, Gilbert
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
, Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
, Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
and the Ladrone Islands. The ship visited Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, departing Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
on 2 June 1900 to visit Hakodate, Japan, and Kamchatka, north of the Aleutian Islands, and collected biological specimens in the North Pacific and into the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
and ultimately returned to San Francisco on 30 October 1900 after a cruise of 14 months.
Later career with the United States Bureau of Fisheries
In 1902, the United States Fish CommissionUnited States Fish Commission
The United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries was established on February 9, 1871 , as an independent commission with a mandate to investigate the causes for the decrease of commercial fish and aquatic animals in U.S...
was reorganized as the United States Bureau of Fisheries and was made part of the newly created United States Department of Commerce and Labor
United States Department of Commerce and Labor
The United States Department of Commerce and Labor was a short-lived Cabinet department of the United States government, which was concerned with Business.It was created on February 14, 1903...
. By 1907 Fassett is titled in official publications as a fishery
expert, and participated in the Albatross Philippine Expedition, from 16 October 1907 to 4 May 1910, conducted by the United States Bureau of Fisheries and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, under Commander Marbury Johnston and Hugh McCormick Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, Director of the Expedition.
From 1911 to 1919, Fassett represented the United States Bureau of Fisheries in Alaska and was involved in further salmon research in 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 the Pribilof Islands
Pribilof Islands
The Pribilof Islands are a group of four volcanic islands off the coast of mainland Alaska, in the Bering Sea, about north of Unalaska and 200 miles southwest of Cape Newenham. The Siberia coast is roughly northwest...
fur seal investigations.
Legacy
Married in 1919 to Myra Beck. Harry and Myra Fassett were residents of San Francisco from 1934 and Harry Fassett was member of California Academy of SciencesCalifornia Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is among the largest museums of natural history in the world. The academy began in 1853 as a learned society and still carries out a large amount of original research, with exhibits and education becoming significant endeavors of the museum during the twentieth...
from 1945 until his death on December 9, 1953.
Two topographical features of 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...
are named in his honor: Fassett Point on Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island
Kodiak Island is a large island on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, separated from the Alaska mainland by the Shelikof Strait. The largest island in the Kodiak Archipelago, Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States and the 80th largest island in the world, with an...
and a glacier near Yakutat, Alaska.
External links
- United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries: Annual Reports 1871-1903
- Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Smithsonian: U.S. FISH COMMISSION
- Harvard University: Pacific Expeditions of the US Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, 1891, 1899–1900, 1904–1905
- Records of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)