Horatio N. Rust Photograph Collection

A collection of photographs compiled by Horatio N. Rust (1828-1906), U.S. Indian agent and archaeological artifact collector. The main focus of the collection is Indians of Southern California and the Southwest in the late 19th century, including a set of photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers. There is also a collection of photographs related to abolitionist John Brown and his descendants living in the West.

The collection has been divided into five groups:

(photCL 7) Album of Indians of Southern California and the Southwest, approximately 1886-1905.

A photograph album compiled by Rust, documenting Indians living in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico, approximately 1886-1905. Includes group portraits of Indian school students in California; members of the Cahuilla, Luiseno, Morongo, Mojave, Hopi, and Navajo tribes; the Indian Council at Pala, 1886; and scenes in Pechanga, Soboba and other native communities of Southern California.

(photCL 8) Trip to Arizona, 1895

Photographs made mostly by A. C. Vroman during Rust's 1895 trip from Southern California to Arizona to see the Hopi Snake Dance at Walpi. Rust was accompanied by Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, Vroman, and Charles J. Crandall. Views include Hopi and Navajo Indians and scenes of pueblo life; the Snake Dance at Walpi; the Grand Canyon; the Petrified Forest; desert landscapes; a group portrait of Mojave Indians at Needles, California; and several views of Rust and his fellow travelers with guides, wagons and supplies.

(photCL 9) John Brown Collection, approximately 1850-1897.

Photographs, prints and ephemera pertaining to abolitionist John Brown and his family. Includes portraits of Brown, his family members, supporters and other abolitionists; participants in the raid on Harper's Ferry and officials involved in Brown's trial; views of Harper's Ferry and buildings related to the raid; and views of Brown's grave and home in New York. There are also several views of Jason and Owen Brown's Las Casitas homestead in the mountains near Pasadena, California, and a scene of mourners gathered at Owen Brown's grave. A few additional items in the collection were acquired from other sources and transferred to the collection at various times.

(photCL 10) U.S. Bureau of Ethnology Expedition Photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers, approximately 1879-1881.

Views of pueblo villages and surrounding landscape; some show people and details such as pottery, ovens, and food and water sources.

(photCL 11) Photographs and Lantern Slides of Artifacts and Indians of California, Southwest and Great Plains, approximately 1870s-1890s.

Views of artifacts, some of which were excavated by Rust himself, as he describes in captions; Indians from Great Plains and western tribes; Indian schools in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Perris, California; Southern California Indians. The lantern slides are mostly copies of photographs elsewhere in the Rust Collection, such as: Southwest Pueblo views by John K. Hillers (photCL 10); Rust's trip to Arizona, 1895, with A. C. Vroman (photCL 8). Topics of other slides: Southwest Indians by photographer Frederick H. Maude; San Gabriel Mission; two views of H. N. Rust's home; Aztec artifacts and ruins.