The Golden Potlatch (or Potlatch Days) was a festival in Seattle, Washington, United States in 1911–1914 and 1934–1941. The idea of an annual Festival in Seattle followed the success of the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in 1909. The 'Golden Potlatch' event was conceived to keep Seattle in the public eye. Seattle wanted to have an event that would challenge the Portland Rose Festival and gain national attention. Seattle's Potlatch festival was also a way for a certain class of Seattleites—specifically, the city's new commercial elite—to tell stories about the city and its history. Called a "triumph of symbolism" by one observer, the Potlatch appropriated Native imagery to create a regional vision of civic development. The name derived from the potlatch, the Chinook Jargon name of a festival ceremony that had been practiced by indigenous peoples of the region; "golden" reflected Seattle's role in the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s. First Golden Potlatch, July 17–21, 1911 The first Golden Potlatch took place July 17–21, 1911. It used Klondike Gold Rush imagery, reenacting the 1897 arrival of the steamboat Portland with its legendary "ton of gold". The Portland carried the festival's presiding figure, King D'Oro, avatar of golden wealth, along with a retinue of hoary prospectors and rambunctious dancing girls. Roughly 300,000 people attended parades, concerts, automobile races up Queen Anne Hill, and an airplane piloted by United States Navy Lt. Eugene Ely. Water events have always been a feature of Golden Potlatch (and later Seattle Seafair) events. The first Golden Potlatch in 1911 had a small United States Navy fleet; the British sent a sloop-of-war. There was even a hydroplane exhibition run by the "Triad" owned by Glenn Curtiss of airplane fame. In 1911, Robert A. Reid, Seattle, published a number of postcards as part of his Pacific Northwest Photographic Series to publicize the Golden Potlatch. These postcards identified Seattle as a destination available by 'sea, land and rail'. The Hopf Bros Co. of Seattle published another series of postcards by Edward H. Mitchell. These postcards provide a glimpse of tourist sights such as Mount Rainier and the totem pole at Pioneer Square; commercial aspects of Seattle including Colman Dock and the Grand Trunk Pacific dock; and downtown street views such as First Avenue looking north, Second Avenue looking south from Spring Street, Second Avenue Looking North, Third Avenue looking north, Fourth Avenue looking south and Pike Street looking East. Second