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Hunting in Alaska with Oscar Vogel, 1954-1976

 Collection
Identifier: MS 267

Scope and Contents

The photographs, many with verso notes, show hunters and hunting trophies, including moose and caribou antlers, sheep horns, and bear hides. Verso notes indicate the points scored by several of the trophy antlers and the place they ranked in the record books. Hunters identified in the photographs include Max Harshberger, Kenny Tozer, Ed “Red” Beeman, “Tex” Eubank, Robert Moller, Dave Bell, Rocky Seago, Benny Brousard, Dick Digrajay, L. H. Waltersdorf, and Bob Leighty.

The letters are largely written to D. Orville Ebersole, from Oscar Vogel, Johnny Luster, and David Bell. There are also several letters written to D. Orville Ebersole from his wife and children and miscellaneous others. There is also a copy of a letter written by Oscar Vogel in response to a man named “Wade” who had complaints about his hunt.

Following the letters is a small diary notebook and loose-leaf notes kept by Ebersole on his Alaska hunts. There is a partial draft of an article titled “Alaska Dream Hunt” by D. Orville Ebersole, and there are color copies of photographs taken on a hunt. Finally, there is a folder of travel brochures and pamphlets, and a folder with two newspaper articles and the article from Alaska magazine (May 1979).

Dates

  • 1954-1976

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to research.

Conditions Governing Use

Request for permission to publish or reproduce material from the collection should be discussed with the Librarian.

Biographical Note

Ebersole, D. Orville

In 1940, Daniel Orville Ebersole married Ruth M. Ebersole in Claysburg, Pennsylvania, where they had an Electric Service and Sporting Goods business. D. Orville Ebersole died in 1990, and his wife, Ruth, died in 1999. Their daughter, Elaine M. Conrad is the donor of the collection. D. Orville Ebersole brought hunters from Pennsylvania to Alaska for hunts guided by Oscar Vogel, and it is their correspondence and shared photographs that form the bulk of this collection.

Oscar Vogel, according to an article in Alaska magazine on “Guiding in Alaska,” was one of Alaska’s finest big game guides, “known for producing huge trophies on quality hunts.” Hunters from all over the world came to his headquarters at Stephan Lake to go on hunts lasting from 14 to 30 days. Traveling among remote camps on foot, most hunters went after the “Big Four”: a ram, a grizzly, a moose, and a caribou. Oscar Vogel guided his first hunt out of Stephan Lake in 1935 and his last in 1969; in 1977, Vogel was honored by the Alaska Professional Hunters Association for his life-long adherence to principles of fair chase hunting.

Extent

1 Volumes (1 box) : 11 folders 37 photographs Letters, brochures, pamphlets

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection was donated by Elaine Ebersole Conrad, May 19, 2011 (Accession number 2012-006).

Processing Information

Photographs were sleeved in Mylar; letters, organized by author and by date, were filed in folders; a map, travel brochures, and pamphlets for Oscar Vogel’s Stephan Lake Hunting Camps were organized in folders.

Title
Finding aid for Hunting in Alaska with Oscar Vogel, 1954-1976
Status
In Progress
Author
Processed by: Gayle Goedde, April 2012. ArchivesSpace Finding Aid by: Freya Anderson
Date
2019 May
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections Finding Aids Repository

Contact:
PO Box 110571
Juneau AK 99811-0571 US
907-465-2920
907-465-2925
907-465-2151 (Fax)