This is a kickoff for checkpoints on research of the Association's 1909 railway excursion to Seattle and back.

In October I joined a seminar put on by Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. They're working with some other groups, like the Seattle Public Library and the Mayor's Office, to get community members to write historical research papers to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition.

I looked down the list of special days and decided to try and figure out what happened on June 7, 1909, and why the Chicago Association of Commerce sponsored that day.

My initial goals were simply to determine: what was this organization all about; and why were they trying to impress Seattle by buying a day at the fair?

Since I've developed an interest in digging into photos on The Commons on Flickr, I have two new major goals. First, identify as many men as possible in the group portrait taken in front of the Forestry Building. Second, try to prove the assumed link between the Chicago newspaper men photo and Chicago Association of Commerce Day.

I've learned many new research techniques, and of course I've found all kinds of unexpected information about this group of Chicago businessmen and the harried trip they took to every worthwhile city in the Pacific Northwest.

I expect to write a paper in the end, so this will be a chronicle of how I get there.