Posted on 08/17/2013 8:45:52 AM PDT by re_tail20
These remarkable 19th century sepia-tinted pictures show the American West as you have never seen it before - as it was charted for the first time.
The photos, by Timothy O'Sullivan, are the first ever taken of the rocky and barren landscape.
At the time federal government officials were travelling across Arizona, Nevada, Utah and the rest of the west as they sought to uncover the land's untapped natural resources.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Gorgeous sepia-tinted pictures show the landscape as it was charted for the very first time
Hope this hasn’t been posted before. I did check.
Ltr
simply carrying a camera and the necessary equipment such a Glass Plate Negatives....ie. FILM... to make such photos to those locales was a mission of great courage back in those days.
Thank you.
When I was a child in the ‘40s and deep into the romance of the weekly Saturday morning “Westerns” that showed at the local movie house, I told my father that when I grew up I wanted to “move out West”. My father laughed and said, “You’re in California, and that’s about as far west as you can get.”
I was so disappointed, since my paved street filled with houses on small lots and kids riding bicycles looked like nothing in the movies.
BTW, my family moved to CA at about the time those early photos were taken. I wonder what those pioneers would thnk now!
Ping
Very cool.
About a year ago ;) Seriously there was almost the identical article with many of those pix a while back. And they are still breathtaking.
I live near the Mohave County AZ pic site. Beautiful area in a desolate 130 deg way. A must see in the winter though.
Beautiful pictures....I love sepia.
very nice..back when the feds didn’t start owning them
Thanks for posting.
Just stunning. I had the honor and pleasure of riding a bicycle across the country many years ago, and the West is breathtaking. God is amazing in His creation.
Those pictures are awesome. Amazingly clear and in many cases very artistic compositions. It’s like a time machine to be able to see those sort of pictures from the Wild West. Imagine towing the camera equipment of that era around the West.
Amazing pictures.
The previous expedition to explore this area was in 1776, by two Spanish priests. They left Santa Fe hoping to discover an easy land route to Monterey, California. They gave up after many months, never reaching California, but documenting the area between the Rockies and California.
These early photographers and painters were the first people who could document the west for the benefit of the people living east. Much of the interest in setting up national parks and preserving the beauty of the west came from viewing these photographs and paintings.
Bflr
depp is an ............
Those are some amazing pictures.
When I visited the Snake River area, calling it the “Shoshone Falls” was an exaggeration. What I saw was more like the “Shoshone Trickle.” I would love to see the falls sometime.
If you drive the interstate (90 or 94) across the north, you can see some really spectacular scenery.
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