Visual Materials

Antrim illustrations: Tampico to Mazatlan

Description: Photographs of watercolor paintings and black and white drawings in Antrim, Journals, 1849, of Scenes in Journey of Antrim Across Mexico (Tampico to Mazatlan) in 1849, on way to gold mines of California. Originals in Division of Manuscripts, Library of Congress. (Negatives on file at Huntington.)
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1950s-1960s
Call number: photCL 469
Creator: Bieber, Ralph P (1894-1981)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Ralph P. Bieber's son, William P. Bieber, November 1986. Transferred from the Manuscript Department, December 2004.
Dimensions: various sizes +
Find out more: View in the Library catalog

Main plaza of Tampico, looking north

Visual Materials

This collection contains photographs by historian Ralph P. Bieber documenting the central overland route to California as it appeared in the 1950s. Bieber visited the sites in conjunction with a project to record every aspect of the trails and circumstances associated with the migration of people to California during the Gold Rush years and subsequently. The images document the route through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California. Bieber organized and annotated the photographs himself, and his original order, based primarily on print size, has been maintained. Additionally, Bieber created photographic categories such as "Donner Party Sites," "Gold Discovery Sites," and "Sites associated with John C. Frémont." Note that Bieber did not arrange the photographs geographically.

photCL 469

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