Otto William Geist (December 27, 1888 – August 3, 1963), a.k.a. Aghvook, was an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and naturalist who worked in the circumpolar north and for the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was created in 1917 and comprises three separately accredited universities on 19 campuses. The system serves nearly 30,000 full- and part-time stud ...

for much of his adult life.

Biography

Geist was born in Kircheiselfing,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

to Franz Anton Geist and his wife. He had 14 brothers and sisters. Geist came to

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

in the early 1920s with his brother Joseph, and worked for the

Alaska Railroad Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, as an engineer on board the

sternwheeler A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were w ...

''Teddy R.'', and as a miner in

Bettles, Alaska Bettles ( in Koyukon language, Koyukon; ''Atchiiniq'' in Iñupiaq language, Iñupiaq) is a city in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. It is near Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. The ...

. In 1925 he began collecting Native artifacts and in 1926 began collecting for the university, with support from university president Charles E. Bunnell. While on

St. Lawrence Island St. Lawrence Island ( ess, Sivuqaq, russian: Остров Святого Лаврентия, Ostrov Svyatogo Lavrentiya) is located west of mainland Alaska in the Bering Sea, just south of the Bering Strait. The village of Gambell, located on t ...

in 1927, he commissioned

Siberian Yupik Siberian Yupiks, or Yuits (russian: Юиты), are a Yupik peoples, Yupik people who reside along the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula in the far Russian Far East, northeast of the Russia, Russian Federation and on St. Lawrence Island in Alask ...

artist Florence Nupok Malewotkuk to draw a series of drawings of everyday scenes and people for the university. Some drawings were also included in Geist's report ''Archaeological Excavations at Kukulik'', published by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Geist helped to organize the

Alaska Territorial Guard The Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG), more commonly known as the Eskimo Scouts, was a military reserve force component of the US Army, organized in 1942 in response to attacks on United States soil in Hawaii and occupation of parts of Alaska by Jap ...

. Geist died in 1963 from parasites in uncooked meat (probably bear meat).R. Dale Guthrie,
The Nature of Paleolithic Art
' (University of Chicago Press, 2005), p. 244.

Legacy

The building on the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

campus currently known as Signer's Hall was named the Otto William Geist Building and housed the University's museum. The museum moved to a new building on the campus's West Ridge during the 1980s, which was also named for Geist. Geist Road, a

section line In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System The Public Land Survey System (PLSS) is the surveying method developed and used in the United States to plat, or divide, real property for sale and settling. Also known as the Rectang ...

road marking the southern boundary of the UAF campus, as well as a major arterial road on the west side of Fairbanks and the road connecting the Johansen Expressway to the

Parks Highway The George Parks Highway (numbered Interstate A-4 and signed Alaska Route 3), usually called simply the Parks Highway, runs 323 miles (520 km) from the Glenn Highway 35 miles (56 km) north of Anchorage to Fairbanks in the Alaska Interi ...

, was also named for him. Mount Geist (10380 ft/3145m), in the Alaska Range 87mi S SE of Fairbanks, was also named for him, to honor this “pioneer researcher of paleontology, archeology and glaceology in Alaska …”

References

Otto W. Geist: A Legend in His Own Lifetime
news release by Charles J. Keim, August 6, 1963. *''Aghvook, White Eskimo. Otto Geist and Alaskan Archaeology''. 1969. Charles J. Keim. Fairbanks, Alaska:

University of Alaska Press The University Press of Colorado is a nonprofit publisher supported partly by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, the University of Colorado, the University of Northern C ...

.
The Long View
"The Austrian skier, the German archaeologist, and the country that sees subversives everywhere," by Ross Coen,

The Ester Republic ''The Ester Republic'' is a small, independent monthly newspaper published in Ester, Alaska, and established January 1999. The paper serves as an alternative media publication for the Tanana Valley. It is the only newspaper that has been published ...

, v. 10. n. 7, July 2008. 1888 births 1963 deaths People from Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska {{US-academic-scientist-stub