Visual Materials

Photograph album of Colorado frontier towns

Description: A photograph album containing 113 images of frontier towns, scenery, and residents of Colorado, 1860s-1871. The album is inscribed: "Photos brought home from Colorado - U.S. by J. V. Smedley, May 1871" and contains handwritten captions. Georgetown, Denver, Blackhawk, and other frontier towns are seen in bird's-eye-views and street scenes, along with some portraits dating from the 1860s. Views of Denver include the first buildings, streets with storefronts, and an 1868 photograph by Williams & McDonald of a covered wagon train lined up in a circle with several teams of horses. Landscape photographs depict the Rocky Mountains, Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak, and two images of a farm and small town titled "Maxwell Land Grant, New Mexico." A few Native Americans are seen in carte-de-visite portraits captioned: "Spotted Tail, Chief of the Cheyennes"; "Pia, Chief of the Utes, a notorious scalp taker"; and "Jack & Pop. Utes." Other portraits are identified as "Mariano Modena - A Mexican"; "Jim Baker"; and "James P. Beckwourth" (a.k.a. Beckwirth, Beckwith), the African American frontiersman and adventurer.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1860s-1871.
Call number: photCL 216
Provenance: Purchased from Sotheby's, June 1977.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
Rights: The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining permission rests with the researcher.
Dimensions: images 20 x 13 cm or smaller
Associated organization: Williams & McDonald (Denver, Colo.),
Find out more: View in the Library catalog(Opens in new tab)

Photograph album of Colorado frontier towns

Visual Materials

A photograph album containing 113 images of frontier towns, scenery, and residents of Colorado, 1860s-1871. The album is inscribed: "Photos brought home from Colorado - U.S. by J. V. Smedley, May 1871" and contains handwritten captions. Georgetown, Denver, Blackhawk, and other frontier towns are seen in bird's-eye-views and street scenes, along with some portraits dating from the 1860s. Views of Denver include the first buildings, streets with storefronts, and an 1868 photograph by Williams & McDonald of a covered wagon train lined up in a circle with several teams of horses. Landscape photographs depict the Rocky Mountains, Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak, and two images of a farm and small town titled "Maxwell Land Grant, New Mexico." A few Native Americans are seen in carte-de-visite portraits captioned: "Spotted Tail, Chief of the Cheyennes"; "Pia, Chief of the Utes, a notorious scalp taker"; and "Jack & Pop. Utes." Other portraits are identified as "Mariano Modena - A Mexican"; "Jim Baker"; and "James P. Beckwourth" (a.k.a. Beckwirth, Beckwith), the African American frontiersman and adventurer.

photCL 216

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Album of photographs of Los Angeles County, California, and Denver, Colorado

Visual Materials

An album with approximately 250 photographs of Los Angeles County, California, and Denver, Colorado. Views of Los Angeles and vicinity include street scenes, oil derricks, Angel's Flight, the North Beach Bath House and Bowling Pavilion in Santa Monica, Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica, Castle Green in Pasadena, and Cawston Ostrich Farm and its solar-powered engine, the "Solar Motor" (a cone-shaped reflector used to collect and focus sunlight). Views of Denver include the State Capitol building and the BPO Elks Golden Jubilee celebration, held in 1914. Several winter scenes (probably from Colorado) feature large groups ice-skating. There are views of unidentified rural landscapes of plains, farms, and railroad tracks through wooded areas. A photograph near the end is labeled "A study in bronze" and shows six Native American children seated on two donkeys with a Native American man standing nearby.

photCL 68

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[Photograph album of scenes of California, Colorado, and Utah]

Visual Materials

Photograph album containing commercial images of scenic views of natural landscapes, tourist destinations including hotels and landmarks, and town streets, mostly in California, as well as some in Colorado and Utah. Photographed locales include San Francisco, Yosemite, San Diego and Coronado, Denver, and Salt Lake City. 27 photographers are by Isaiah W. Taber of San Francisco; other photographers represented are Maude, Slocum, Reed, W.H. Fletcher, and Johnson. The album compiler is unidentified.

photCL 419

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Photograph album of Colorado settlers, towns, and scenery

Visual Materials

An album of 81 albumen photographs of Colorado, containing amateur photographs as well as views by photographer W. H. Jackson, which are credited in the lower corner "W. H. J. & Co." Views include elevated views of Aspen and Glenwood Springs; scenic railroad routes in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs; Green Mountain Falls Hotel; and the rustic grave of Helen Hunt Jackson on Cheyenne Mountain. Some of the amateur photographs are dated July 1890, and include images of men, women, and children outside a modest, shingled house; in front of a log cabin; or having a picnic. One photo is captioned "Cary's Camp and Marion Mine, July 18, 1890" and another reads "Mr. Van Fleet, Mrs. Van Fleet, Miss May, Mr. Woodruff, Miss Smith, Mr. Jewett, Mrs. Jewett / August 4, 1890 / Pike's Peak or Bust." Handwritten captions appear throughout album.

photCL 220

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Photograph album of Colorado settlers, towns, and scenery

Visual Materials

photCL 220

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Thomas Nast family photograph album

Visual Materials

Studio portraits of German-American cartoonist Thomas Nast, his wife Sarah Edwards Nast, and their five children, Julia, Thomas Jr., Edith, Mabel, and Cyril. There are 3 portraits of Nast, including a 3/4-length standing portrait in a fur-trimmed coat, and 6 portraits of Sarah at various ages. The children are pictured from childhood to adulthood, except the youngest, Cyril, who is only seen as a boy. The portraits were primarily made by photographers E. G. Lacey and Mrs. E. G. Lacey in Morristown, New Jersey, and Napoleon Sarony in New York City. There are a few unidentified photographs of children, including two tintypes of a baby, and a copy photograph of a man posed with a beer tankard. A few photographs have dates handwritten on the backs.

photCL 324

Photograph album of Colorado frontier towns

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