T1901

Pre-Columbian America

First Americans Crossed Over From Asia

Collins Cover Announcement 

LAND BRIDGE 

"How majestic! Nineteen little people bundled in furs moving onto the doorstep of two empty continents."

James A. Michener 

ALASKA

This COLLINS First Day Cover reaches the pinnacle of what I hope to achieve in creating items that collectors will truly treasure. It brings together a great Ftarnp issue, a great hand-painted cachet, and a great First Day cancel.

As for the fifty-cent airmail stamp, it commemorates the land bridge from Asia to Alaska upon which the first humans entered the continents of North and South America. I think that James Michener best captures the dramatic importance of this event in world history in the opening chapters of his novel ALASKA. The people, of course, never realized that they were leaving one continent and entering another. Also, they took part in no extraordinary immigration as the land bridge only stretched some sixty miles. But the journey of several days surely took place and I dedicate this cover to those brave, anonymous souls who unknowingly introduced the western hemisphere to the footprint of man.

My "entire" hand-painted cachet captures exactly my mind's image. A resolute band of determined wanderers trek upward to a new beginning. They are dressed in furs and skins and carry or pull their limited possessions. Behind them, a herd of mammoths follow the same erosion cut through which the clan has recently climbed. In the distance below the immigrating humans and animals, the lowlands of the land bridge stretch bark toward their Asian starting point. Michener, in his masterful

work describes it thus:

"...Twenty thousand years ago the level of the world's

oceans was more than three hundred feet lower than it is now...Land areas which had previously been separated were now joined by necks of land.. .The most spectacular join was that of Alaska to Siberia, for it united two continents, allowing animals and people to pass from one to the other.. .When the nineteen gathered at the eastern edge of the village, they were formidable in appearance, since the men wore such massive pieces of fur clothing that they looked like hulking animals.

They carried long pikes as if going to war...The five women had different styles of dress featuring decorated skins.. .The ten children were like a collection of flowers for the clothes they wore were varied in design and color" with them they took "ultra-precious bone needles, skins not yet sewn into clothing, shallow bowls carved from heavy wood or bone, long-handled cooking spoons of ivory; no furniture of any kind, but sleeping pads for everyone and fur blankets for each family...Emigrations like theirs would produce such tremendous consequences in world history -- the opening up of two entire continents to the human race."

The next component of this COLLINS First Day Cover is really quite remarkable. The First Day postmark is absolutely incredible and is without question the perfect cancel for this issue. It came about by an Anchorage COLLINS collector putting me in touch with a collector in Nome who would be willing to service my covers on First Day in the remote village of Wales, Alaska. With almost tears of joy in my eyes I refer you to a map of the Bering Strait and you will see that Wales is on the very tip of land where Asia is closest to North America -- the very place where the land bridge existed. This ranks right up there as one of the finest First Day postmarks that I've ever offered. The stamps were flown on Issue Date from Anchorage to Nome and then on to Wales via a chartered private plane.

That this FDC will be another building block in the reputation of COLLINS there can be no doubt. The issue is another in the AMERICA series depicting pre-Columbian peoples. The land bridge subject matter is a historic moment in time. My handpainted cachet captures beautifully and realistically in dramatic fashion the immigration of humans and animals. And, the First Day postmark from Wales, Alaska -- closest point to Asia -- will go down as one of the great cancels in our hobby's history. And, only available from COLLINS.

Just as a beautiful sunrise is a visual delight to the soul, the mental image of that first small group of humans venturing forth over the land bridge is an opportunity for each of us to conjuecture up an imaginative impression for the soul.

"Nineteen little people bundled in furs..." How majestic, indeed. Item #T1901. $10.25.

Autum 2019 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 19 T1901 — Alaska/Asia Land Bridge — 10/12/91

This stamp honored those individuals who were the first people ever to cross from Asia over the land bridge that once crossed the Bering Strait to present-day Alaska. The descendants of these small groups eventually populated North and South America. John A. Michener captured this monumental moment in world history when he wrote in his acclaimed novel Alaska the following: "How Majestic! Nineteen little people bundled in furs moving onto the doorstop of two empty continents." My hand painted cachet captures a small group as they first step into North America. Three mammoths with large, curved tusks follow in the distance. A fabulous artwork portrayal.

The day of issue postmark is a legendary cancel in the history of Collins Covers. It is from Wales, Alaska which is an Eskimo village of approximately 350 on the coast near Russia. There are no roads in or out. On the day of issue, Collins collector Nicki purchased the new stamps in Anchorage and put them on a plane to her friend Leo in Nome. I had sent him my covers a week earlier. After picking them up, he affixed the stamps and then flew with his daughter in his small Cessna to Wales. The covers were taken to the tiny one-person post office in the village hall. There they received their day of issue postmark at the very spot where the land bridge had existed. You can read in detail how this amazing project played out on page 87 of my book.