Developing the Pacific Northwest: The Life and Work of Asahel Curtis

As a young man Asahel Curtis worked in his older brother Edward’s successful Seattle photography studio, but a conflict over Klondike gold rush photographs led to their lifelong estrangement, and Asahel eventually opened his own business. Even though he earned his living as a commercial photographer, his major focus was outside the camera lens.

Asahel married and purchased a farm in the Yakima Valley. He became a dedicated member of Washington’s good roads movement, striving for economic development and increased tourism. He was a founder of the Seattle Mountaineers Club and had an enduring passion for Mount Rainier, fighting for the advancement of Mount Rainier National Park.
This first full-length biography of the photographer/booster/mountaineer offers comparisons to work by his brother and other contemporaries. It examines his family and business relationships, his involvement with eastern Washington irrigation and cooperative marketing, and his beliefs about resource development.