make the connection. One of Curtis’s difficulties
was that it took so long for him to produce
the books that subscribers disappeared,” the
collector adds. “When he began photographing,
with the exception of the Pueblos and the tribes
of the northwest coast and Alaska, most tribes
had been reduced to living on reservations.
“I came to the Northwest in 1974 to attend
law school and moved to Seattle in 1977,”
he says. “My wife was born here but grew
up in Portland, Oregon.” Both are ardent
conservationists and have served on the board
of the Trust for Public Land.
Her book club had read Timothy Egan’s
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic
Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward
Curtis which she introduced to her husband.
“I knew he had some history with Curtis and
had bought gravures as gifts,” she explains.
“When I first came to the northwest,” he says,
“I hunted and fished in Nez Perce country. It
was a quintessentially romantic experience.
The book rekindled my interest in Curtis.” She
adds, “We got in touch with Lois Flury and her
daughter Melissa here in Seattle who went on a
The couple created a library for the complete 20-volume set and 20 photogravure portfolios of The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis
(1868-1952). The three copper plates were used to print the photogravures in the bound volumes. The framed works are, left to right, Lawyer,
Nez Perce, 1905; Nez Perce Warrior, 1905; and Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, 1903. On the flanking shelves are Crow Camp, circa 1985, and, on the right,
Divorce, 2003, by Michael Coleman.
In the trophy room of the guest house is a collection of late-19th-century beaded and quilted Sioux
teepee bags, pipe bags and other items, and early-20th-century Navajo weavings. At either end of the
wall are paintings by Russell Chatham from 1989 and 1990.