Sigismund Bacstrom

Sigismund Bacstrom
Born	c. 1750 Germany
Died	1805 England
Occupation	Doctor, surgeon, naturalist, translator
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Sigismund Bacstrom (c.1750-1805) ^[1] was a doctor, a surgeon, and a notable artist of the early Maritime Fur Trade.^[2] His drawings of the people and places he encountered on his voyages show the meticulous precision of a surgeon and scientist rather than the hand of a trained artist.^[3] He was also a prominent author and translator of Alchemy and Rosicrucianism documents, many of which are still in print.^[4]

Early History

Little is known of Bacstrom’s early history. His name is probably Swedish, but he is believed to have been born in Germany. He claimed to have been trained as a physician, surgeon and chemist at the University of Strausburg. He served as a surgeon in the Dutch navy from 1763 to 1770, then moved to England.

Bacstrom was employed by the famous naturalist Joseph Banks as a secretary from 1772 to 1775, accompanying the naturalist on a scientific exploration of Iceland. He was then engaged by Captain William Kent of the Royal Navy, a friend of Joseph Banks and collector for him, until 1779. Over the next decade he made at least six voyages as surgeon on merchant vessels, including voyages to Greenland (Spitsbergen), Guinea, and Jamaica.

In the late 1780‘s Bacstrom found a patron, whose name is unknown, who established him in an expensive laboratory in Marylebone to conduct research in natural philosophy. When his sponsor died in 1789, Bacstrom again found himself without work. He eventually received sponsorship to collect samples for Banks on a voyage around the world via Cape Horn, Nootka Sound, China and the East Indies that was to be undertaken by a group of London merchants as a commercial venture.^[5]

Pacific Voyage

Sealing camp, Cape Horn, Jackal and Prince Lee Boo

The vessels chosen for this voyage were the Butterworth, a former French frigate of 392 tons, a large sloop named the Jackal (sometimes written as Jackall or Jack Hall), and a smaller sloop named Prince Lee Boo, all under the command of Captain William Brown. They sailed from England in late 1791. By March of 1792 they were encamped on Staten Island near Cape Horn, slaughtering seals and boiling their oil.

They sailed across the Pacific to the Marquesas Islands in June, reaching Vancouver Island on the Northwest coast of North America in July of 1792.

Bacstrom left the Butterworth at Nootka on Oct. 15 “on account of the ill and mean usage I received from Capt. W. Brown and his Officers.”^[6]

He was briefly a guest of the Spanish officers at Nootka before being welcomed on board the Three Brothers, a brig out of Newcastle, sailing with the schooner Prince William Henry. On the Three Brothers, Bacstrom sailed up into Haida Gwaii and into Southeast Alaska near what is now Sitka. There are many drawings from this period of the voyage.

The wife and child of Hatzia a chief in Port Rose South End of Queen Charlotte's Island circa 1793

Cunnyha an Indian Chief on the North-Side of Queen Charlotte's Island, N.W. Coast of America,

Returning to Nootka, Bacstrom took passage as surgeon on the American flagged brig Amelia for China. But just outside Macao she was stopped by the British cruiser HMS Lion, and her true papers were found to be French. She was therefore seized as a British prize of war, leaving Bacstrom stranded in Canton.

He eventually signed on as surgeon aboard the Warren Hastings, an ex-East Indiaman of 600 tons flying Genoese colors, with a British captain, and a crew from 13 different nations, bound for the Cape of Good Hope and Oostende. But, led by the French chief mate, the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian crew mutinied and took possession of the ship, confining Bacstrom and others below deck as prisoners. They then sailed to Mauritius where the ship and her cargo were condemned as a French prize of war.

After 6 months in Mauritius, Bacstrom was able to buy passage on an American ship bound for New York, but his ship was once again captured by a British naval ship, this time in the Virgin Islands, and once again the ship and cargo were seized as a prize of war.

Thanks to help from the governor of the British Virgin Islands, George Leonard, Bacstrom eventually arrived home in London July 23, 1795, four years and eight months after he left.^[7]

Later Years

While in Mauritius, Bacstrom was initiated and admitted into the Fraternity of Rosicrucians.^[8][9] On returning to London, he proceeded to support himself by publishing both prints of his drawings from his voyages, and texts on mystical themes,^[10] presumably with the support and patronage of the London Rosicrucians. He is considered by some to be “one of the most important scholars of alchemy in the last few centuries.”^[11]

Sigismond Bacstrom died in 1805.^[12]

References

Henry, John Frazier (1984). Early Maritime Artists of the Pacific Northwest Coast, 1741-1841. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press. 

Vaughan, Thomas (1982). Soft Gold: The Fur Trade and Cultural Exchange on the Northwest Coast of America. Portland OR: Oregon Historical Society Press. 

Cole, Douglas (Summer 1980). "Sigismund Bacstrom's Northwest Coast Drawings and an Account of his Curious Career". BC Studies (Vancouver BC: University of British Columbia Press). 

McLean, Adam. "Bacstrom's Rosicrucian Society". Hermetic Journal No.6 1979. Retrieved 3 May 2014. 

"Bacstrom, Sigismund. Copy of the Admission of Sigismund Bacstrom into the Fraternity of Rosicrucians". Harvard Divinity School. 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2014. 

External Links

• The copy of the admission of Sigismund Bacstrom into the Fraternity of Rosicrucians (Rosicrucianism) by the Comte de Cazal in 1794 is in the Andover-Harvard Theological Library at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.