Inventory of the William Henry Jackson Photographs, 1869-1874

The Union Pacific Railroad, Salt Lake City and Valley, and the Black Hills of Wyoming photographed immediately upon the completion of the road in the summer of 1869.

Views made during August-November, 1870, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Colorado City, Colorado, as well as some parts of Utah.

From Ogden, Utah, via Fort Hall, Idaho, to Fort Ellis Montana then up the Yellowstone River to the lake, to the headwaters of the Madison.

These three photographs, the largest ones in the collection, do not provide titles except for a caption on one of them. They do contain numbers and the Catalogue provided the following descriptions. Jackson made this series in Colorado. These three photographs once formed parts of panoramas.

Jackson also made this series in Colorado. It is listed in: William Henry Jackson, Descriptive Catalogue of the Photographs of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, For the Years 1869-1875, Inclusive, 2nd ed., U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Miscellaneous Publications, No. 5 (Washington: G.P.O., 1875). The geographical location of the scenes is described as: "Colorado. Middle Park, via Berthound Pass; thence to San Juan mining-region, via the Blue River, Hoosier Pass, and the Rio Grande, including all points of interest in Antelope and Boker's Park, and about the head of San Miguel. The La Platta Mountains and the remarkable prehistoric ruins in the cañon of the Mancos and about El Late, taking in finally, on the way back, the Monument Rocks, between Colorado City and Denver." The photographs were made from 5 x 8 inch negatives.

These numbered, but uncaptioned, photographs are all identified by printed labeling as belonging to the Survey, but they do not appear in the Catalogue. However, the numbering of the photographs in each series in the Catalogue has many gaps. At least two series, perhaps three, are probably represented, since there are two different styles of printed labeling and there are two number 57s. Presumably, these photographs date from the later years of the Survey, those after 1875 not listed in the Catalogue. The size and printed format of the first four photographs are identical to those in the series 1869-1872, but the printed format of No. 843 is unique to the collection. The supplied descriptions below take the place of original or Catalogue titles.

These two albumen prints provide titles but not the name of the photographer. Comparison with negatives housed at the National Archives provided the attribution for these photographs. The images are 13 ¼ x 10 inches mounted on 14 x 11 mat boards. The mat boards are gilt-edged. These photographs are identical in size and mounting to five photographs attributed to John K. Hillers. See his California Series.

There are eleven photographs of Indians, portraits of either individuals or groups of two or more persons. All eleven have the name of the U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories printed on them which dates them between 1869 and 1878. Nine of the photographs have Jackson's name printed on them. There are two printing styles, one style for Nos. 4 and 20 and another for all the others. The prints are mounted on 11 x 14 inch boards. Nos. 102 and 335 have rectangular images. The other nine images were all done with oval masks. Nos. 797 and 798 are two oval images on the same print. The principal list of the Indian photographs is William Henry Jackson, Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians, U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories, Miscellaneous Publications, No. 9 (Washington: G.P.O., 1877) This Catalogue superseded the Catalogue of Photographs of Indians, from Negatives in the Possession of the United States Geological Survey, Collected from various sources, and Covering a Period of Twenty-Five Years, 1874, published as a second edition of the 1874 Catalogue cited earlier. Jackson authored both catalogues, but they listed not only his photographs but those of other photographers as well. There is some question about whether or not Jackson made the eleven Indian photographs in this collection, including those with printed labels "W.H. Jackson Photo.," or merely was in charge of their cataloging and issuance. The catalogues list photographs of Indians made by various photographers and in the possession of the Survey. Although the 1877 Catalogue was designed to replace the 1874 Catalogue, both must be used when identifying the photographs, including those in this collection. Several of the photographs listed below were omitted from the 1877 Catalogue but appear in the 1874 Catalogue. There are other problems that suggest caution in the use of the catalogs. Photograph No. 335 was not listed in either edition. No. 248 has two different listings in the 1874 and only one in the 1877. The listings in the 1874 are not entirely in numerical order, and No. 516 was found on the last page. Since the photographs are numbered, but not captioned, errors in identification can easily occur. The titles in the list below are from the 1877 Catalogue, from the 1874 Catalogue when unavailable in the 1877, and supplied when not listed in either source. In several instances, the description for each item provides detailed information concerning the source of the title.

This album (14 x 12 inches) contains 62 photographs taken by Jackson in Yellowstone National Park during 1871-1872. The title of the album is tooled in gold on the spine of the volume. There is no other identification on the volume. Printing on the mat boards identifies Jackson as the photographer. The prints were made and mounted between 1872, the date of the last pictures and the year when Yellowstone became a national park, and 1879 when Jackson moved from Washington D.C., to Denver Colorado. The printing on the boards of many of the photographs identified Jackson as a photographer in Washington. The album contains 52 photographs from 1871 and 10 from 1872. The printing on the boards identifies the 1871 photographs as belonging to two photographic series: Yellowstone Series and Hot Spring Series. These series, designated by the photographer, were not used in the organization of the collection, but are provided as part of the title for each image. The following list itemizes all 62 photographs. They are listed in the order of their appearance in the album. More detailed descriptions are in the Descriptive Catalogue of the Photographs of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories, for the Years 1869 to 1873, Inclusive (Washington G.P.O., 1874) the information folder contains copies of the pertinent pages. Quotation marks around the title indicate that the title was taken from the photograph rather than from the Catalogue or other source