Title:
Jones Yeltatzie working salmon sculpture, circa 1963
Description:
Jones Yeltatzie created the first salmon that was on display along Ketchikan Creek. A new salmon by Terry Pyles titled "Yeltatzie Salmon" was installed along the creek in July 2014.
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/4/1963
"KING SIZED KING - Jones Yeltatzie, veteran Haida carver, puts the finishing touches on a king-sized king salmon which will be displayed at the National Bank of Alaska for a week, then will be transferred to a mounting near the fish ladder on Ketchikan Creek. Yeltatzie's "lunker" weighs 300 pounds.
NO FISH STORY
"Grand-Daddy" Of All Salmon On Display
"The largest king salmon in the world," is on display at the Ketchikan Branch of the National Bank of Alaska. Ten feet long and weighing over 300 pounds, the king is carved of red cedar. "If you caught this one, you'd sell it to a sawmill," a Chamber of Commerce member said.
The replica, of the Chinook salmon is a project of Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee, which plans to mount it above Ketchikan Creek opposite the fish ladder. The committee expects it to become a tourist attraction.
The salmon, which the committee says is to become a monument to the fish which has made Ketchikan the "Salmon Capital of the World," was carved by Haida totem carver Jones Yeltatzie. eltatzie was born in Howkan.
Yeltatzie's totem work and other carvings may be seen at various points throughout the city.
The Chamber of Commerce asks all Ketchikan residents to contribute to the cost of erection of the salmon. jar to receive contributions has been placed near the "salmon" in the bank lobby.
Chamber officials hope to raise $2,000 through contributions, renewal of memberships and new memberships. Funds also will be used for repairing of the Welcome Arch.
Plans also call for the erection of signs to guide ferry system travelers to trailer parks and scenic spots.
The Ketchikan Pulp Company has offered a substantial contribution if funds also are raised from other sources, said Emery F. Tobin, Tourism Committee charman.
Other members of the committee are Johnny O'Connor, Gordon Zerbetz, Bob Gray, Gordon Lloyd, Harry Romine, James Walsh, Ken Eichner and Joe Blazek."
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/12/1963
"King Salmon Carving Eye-catching
The 10-foot red-cedar King salmon carved by Jones Yeltatzie for the Chamber of Commerce is displayed in the window of the First National Bank, where it is "drawing much interest," bank personnel noted.
The excellent reproduction of a salmon later will be mounted on a rock shoulder above Ketchikan Creek near the fish ladder, as a tourist attraction and a monument to the fish which have made Ketchikan the "Salmon Capital of the World."
The Tourist Committee of the Chamber invited the public to participate in helping to pay the cost of the carving and also to provide funds for more signs directing visitors to points of interest. It also hopes to repair the Welcome Arch over Mission Street.
The need for signs was indicated recently when one visiting motorist, bound for downtown Ketchikan, became confused because the ferry had turned around before docking at the terminal. He drove his car toward the City Dump and was followed by three other confused motorists.
"We hope that more people will donate toward the cost of these needed signs and the fish," said Emery F. Tobin, chairman of the Tourist Committee. "There is a jar in the bank near the salmon. Drop something in it - even if it is only two bits," he said. "Everything helps.""
Ketchikan Daily News article, Wednesday, June 27, 1963
"Cedar 'Salmon To Be Widely Traveled "Fish"
Like the fish it represents the 10-foot red cedar King salmon which has been on display throughout the city is due for some wanderings before heading up Ketchikan Creek to its final resting spot.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee, who commissioned the carving by Haida carver Jones Yeltatzie, announced that the "fish" will be shipped to Seattle for week long display in the office of Pacific Northern Airlines there, then on to Portland and San Francisco for similar displays.
Sign painter Ed Myer of Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines is preparing a decorated crate for the fish. The salmon is later to become a monument to the city's fishery resource and will be placed beside Ketchikan Creek as a tourist attraction."
Ketchikan Daily News article, 1/2/1964
"Big Salmon To Make Lengthy Tour
During the next three months, sportsmen in the central states will have an opportunity to see the largest King salmon ever carved.
The 350-pound, 10-foot red cedar salmon produced for the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce by Jones Yeltatzie was shipped back to Seattle today aboard a Pacific Northern plane.
It will be exhibited at shows for fishermen and hunters in four big cities as part of a touring display
The big life-like salmon was turned to Ketchikan recently aff drawing hundreds of thousands of people to windows of the Pacific Northern and United Airlines offices in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.
The state of Alaska has made arrangements for its showing at four cities Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Detroit. At the request of the Travel Division of the Department of Economic Development and Planning, the hugh "fish" again was crated by the Tourist Promotion Committee the Chamber of Commerce and flown to Seattle as a public service by PNA. The state Of Alaska will take charge of it from there and has made arrangements for its exhibition.
The "fish" will be returned to, Ketchikan about April 15 and installed on a rock just above the foot of the fish ladder at Ketchikan Creek as a monument to the millions of salmon which have ascended the creek to spawn, or which have been processed in the canneries and cold storages here. It will be, that is, unless it is taken to the World's Fair in New York and exhibited there -which: s a possibility.
Photo of Salmon on concrete pillar"
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/11/1979
"Salmon's back
The salmon is back, and it's not even the spawning season yet. The giant king, located on the rocks downstream from the salmon ladder on Ketchikan creek, is a 10-foot long carving that weighs 300 pounds. It was carved in 1963 by Jones Yeltatzie, Laura Zahn photo"
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/4/1963
"KING SIZED KING - Jones Yeltatzie, veteran Haida carver, puts the finishing touches on a king-sized king salmon which will be displayed at the National Bank of Alaska for a week, then will be transferred to a mounting near the fish ladder on Ketchikan Creek. Yeltatzie's "lunker" weighs 300 pounds.
NO FISH STORY
"Grand-Daddy" Of All Salmon On Display
"The largest king salmon in the world," is on display at the Ketchikan Branch of the National Bank of Alaska. Ten feet long and weighing over 300 pounds, the king is carved of red cedar. "If you caught this one, you'd sell it to a sawmill," a Chamber of Commerce member said.
The replica, of the Chinook salmon is a project of Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee, which plans to mount it above Ketchikan Creek opposite the fish ladder. The committee expects it to become a tourist attraction.
The salmon, which the committee says is to become a monument to the fish which has made Ketchikan the "Salmon Capital of the World," was carved by Haida totem carver Jones Yeltatzie. eltatzie was born in Howkan.
Yeltatzie's totem work and other carvings may be seen at various points throughout the city.
The Chamber of Commerce asks all Ketchikan residents to contribute to the cost of erection of the salmon. jar to receive contributions has been placed near the "salmon" in the bank lobby.
Chamber officials hope to raise $2,000 through contributions, renewal of memberships and new memberships. Funds also will be used for repairing of the Welcome Arch.
Plans also call for the erection of signs to guide ferry system travelers to trailer parks and scenic spots.
The Ketchikan Pulp Company has offered a substantial contribution if funds also are raised from other sources, said Emery F. Tobin, Tourism Committee charman.
Other members of the committee are Johnny O'Connor, Gordon Zerbetz, Bob Gray, Gordon Lloyd, Harry Romine, James Walsh, Ken Eichner and Joe Blazek."
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/12/1963
"King Salmon Carving Eye-catching
The 10-foot red-cedar King salmon carved by Jones Yeltatzie for the Chamber of Commerce is displayed in the window of the First National Bank, where it is "drawing much interest," bank personnel noted.
The excellent reproduction of a salmon later will be mounted on a rock shoulder above Ketchikan Creek near the fish ladder, as a tourist attraction and a monument to the fish which have made Ketchikan the "Salmon Capital of the World."
The Tourist Committee of the Chamber invited the public to participate in helping to pay the cost of the carving and also to provide funds for more signs directing visitors to points of interest. It also hopes to repair the Welcome Arch over Mission Street.
The need for signs was indicated recently when one visiting motorist, bound for downtown Ketchikan, became confused because the ferry had turned around before docking at the terminal. He drove his car toward the City Dump and was followed by three other confused motorists.
"We hope that more people will donate toward the cost of these needed signs and the fish," said Emery F. Tobin, chairman of the Tourist Committee. "There is a jar in the bank near the salmon. Drop something in it - even if it is only two bits," he said. "Everything helps.""
Ketchikan Daily News article, Wednesday, June 27, 1963
"Cedar 'Salmon To Be Widely Traveled "Fish"
Like the fish it represents the 10-foot red cedar King salmon which has been on display throughout the city is due for some wanderings before heading up Ketchikan Creek to its final resting spot.
Members of the Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee, who commissioned the carving by Haida carver Jones Yeltatzie, announced that the "fish" will be shipped to Seattle for week long display in the office of Pacific Northern Airlines there, then on to Portland and San Francisco for similar displays.
Sign painter Ed Myer of Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines is preparing a decorated crate for the fish. The salmon is later to become a monument to the city's fishery resource and will be placed beside Ketchikan Creek as a tourist attraction."
Ketchikan Daily News article, 1/2/1964
"Big Salmon To Make Lengthy Tour
During the next three months, sportsmen in the central states will have an opportunity to see the largest King salmon ever carved.
The 350-pound, 10-foot red cedar salmon produced for the Ketchikan Chamber of Commerce by Jones Yeltatzie was shipped back to Seattle today aboard a Pacific Northern plane.
It will be exhibited at shows for fishermen and hunters in four big cities as part of a touring display
The big life-like salmon was turned to Ketchikan recently aff drawing hundreds of thousands of people to windows of the Pacific Northern and United Airlines offices in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.
The state of Alaska has made arrangements for its showing at four cities Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Detroit. At the request of the Travel Division of the Department of Economic Development and Planning, the hugh "fish" again was crated by the Tourist Promotion Committee the Chamber of Commerce and flown to Seattle as a public service by PNA. The state Of Alaska will take charge of it from there and has made arrangements for its exhibition.
The "fish" will be returned to, Ketchikan about April 15 and installed on a rock just above the foot of the fish ladder at Ketchikan Creek as a monument to the millions of salmon which have ascended the creek to spawn, or which have been processed in the canneries and cold storages here. It will be, that is, unless it is taken to the World's Fair in New York and exhibited there -which: s a possibility.
Photo of Salmon on concrete pillar"
Ketchikan Daily News article, 6/11/1979
"Salmon's back
The salmon is back, and it's not even the spawning season yet. The giant king, located on the rocks downstream from the salmon ladder on Ketchikan creek, is a 10-foot long carving that weighs 300 pounds. It was carved in 1963 by Jones Yeltatzie, Laura Zahn photo"
Collection:
Ketchikan Museums, KM 92.2.22.2
Click to Enlarge
Jones Yeltatzie's salmon
Jones Yeltatzie's salmon