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Mammoth plate photographs of the North American West
Title
Mammoth plate photographs of the North American West.
Published
1874-1898.
Physical Description
57 photographic prints (in 4 boxes) : b & w ; 53.5 x 43.0 cm. and smaller.
Notes
Title devised by cataloger.
Captions inscribed in the negatives created by Jackson.
Manuscript inscription on the recto and verso of several photographic prints.
Photographs previously bound in a volume with the spine title "Photographs by Ezra Meeker and W. H. Jackson." The original boards and spine are filed with the collection.
Provenance
Gift of Frederick W. Beinecke.
Biographical / Historical Note
A mammoth plate is a photographic negative plate, 18 by 21 inches (53.5 x 45.7 cm.) or larger, from which photographic prints are made through contact printing.
Summary
Photographs created from mammoth plate negatives primarily by photographers Carleton E. Watkins and William Henry Jackson of various locations in the American West, primarily in the states of California, Colorado, and Oregon, as well as Arizona, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming Territories, ca. 1874-1898.
Photographs by Watkins consist of images created in the states of California and Oregon, and in Arizona, Montana, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming Territories, ca. 1874-1890.
An image created by Watkins of Tombstone, Arizona Territory shows the Old South Shaft Ore Quarry of the Tough Nut Mine with a view of the town, the Dragoon Mountains, and the Cochise Stronghold in the distance, 1880.
Images created by Watkins in California consist primarily of locations in Yosemite National Park, including Half Dome, Sentinel Rock, Tutocanula Pass (consisting of El Capitan and Cathedral Rocks cliff), and views of the Yosemite Valley from the Mariposa Trail and Eagle Point, 1878-1881. Other images from California include two different views from the top of Round Top Mountain, with one of the images showing a view of the Blue Lakes and the other the Mokelumne River, 1879; views in the vicinity of San Gabriel showing residences and wine houses of the Lake Vineyard, near the Sierra Madre Mountains and a date palm tree on the grounds of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, ca. 1874-1880; a view of the Carmel Valley from the Mission Road, Monterey; and a view of a waterfall, probably the Palisades Falls on the North Fork American River at Soda Springs, ca. 1874-1880.
Images created by Watkins in Marysville, Montana Territory, consist of a view of the town, three interior views of a mill, and a view of the Drumlummon Mine and the Maskelyne Tunnel, 1884-1885 or 1890.
Images created by Watkins along the Columbia River, Oregon, consist of views of rock bluffs along the river, a Native American village located at the Dalles, a winter view of the river with snow-covered shores, and a view of the Tooth Bridge and Eagle Creek Crossing, 1884-1885.
Images created by Watkins in Washington Territory include a view of the Spokane Falls of the Spokane River, a mill in Port Ludlow, and ships at a dock in Port Madison on Bainbridge Island, 1882.
Images created by Watkins of geothermal features in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Territory, consist of Giant Geyser, Grotto Geyser, Old Faithful Geyser, and Pulpit Terrace, 1884-1885.
A majority of the images created by William Henry Jackson depict locations and geological features in Colorado, while other images show locations in Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, and Oregon, 1878-1898.
Images from El Paso County, Colorado, created by Jackson include geological features in the Garden of the Gods, such as Cathedral Spires, Gate Rock, Tower of Babel, and the abutting Seal Rock and Bear Rock, with many images showing Pikes Peak in the distance; a view of Monument Park showing eroded sandstone rock formations; a view of a waterfall identified as Castle Falls, on North Cheyenne Creek in North Cheyenne Canyon; a view of Phoebe's Arch, near Palmer Lake; a view of Sheltered Falls on Ruxton Creek; a view of foothills and snow on Pikes Peak and Austin Bluffs; a view of Seven Falls (also known as Cheyenne Falls) on South Cheyenne Creek in South Cheyenne Canyon, and a view of Fountain Creek near Colorado City with a snow-covered Pikes Peak in the distance.
Images from Gunnison County, Colorado, created by Jackson include a view of the Curecanti Needle rock formation in the Black Canyon with the Gunnison River and the railroad of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company, and a view of a man standing on a rock by the Gunnison River near Sapinero.
Two images in the Royal Gorge, Fremont County, Colorado, created by Jackson show the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad near the Arkansas River, with one of the images showing a suspension bridge known as Hanging Bridge.
Other images created by Jackson in Colorado include a view of the city of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County and the stone and wood frame buildings at the Yampah Hot Springs bathhouse and pool; a view of the Georgetown Loop and tracks of the Colorado Central Railroad Company in Clear Creek Canyon in Clear Creek County; a view of Cathedral Spires and the Platte Canyon of the South Platte River with tracks of the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Railroad Company in Jefferson County; a view of people sitting in a horse-drawn carriage on a dirt road in Ute Pass, showing Twin Creek and Rainbow Falls, in Teller County; and a view of Sierra Blanca mountains, a stream and railroad tracks, possibly in Costilla County.
Images created by Jackson in Utah include a view of Bridal Veil Falls on the Provo River in Provo Canyon, Utah County; and a view in the vicinity of Echo, depicting men standing and sitting on a rock formation identified as Pulpit Rock, Summit County.
Other images created by Jackson include a view of the Twin Falls waterfall on the Snake River, Jerome County, Idaho; a view of Rio de los Pinos and rock formations in the Toltec Gorge, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico; and a view of Multnomah Falls on Multnomah Creek in Multnomah County, Oregon.
The collection includes an additional view created by F. Jay Haynes that shows an unidentified body of water beside two railroad tracks and a telegraph line; and an image probably by Watkins or Haynes that depicts an interior view of large industrial machinery in a brick building.
Format
Images
Language
English
Added to Catalog
June 01, 2002
References
Mammoth Plate Photographs of the North American West. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Cite as
Mammoth Plate Photographs of the North American West. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Subjects
Genre/Form
Mammoth plate.
Photographic prints.
Also listed under
Bookmark As
Citation
