Interpreters of the Western Experience

Photos of the Railroad, Reporters, Photographers, Correspondents and Members of the Press
We have gathered a collection of some of the best and most interesting photos taken during the American frontier days. They are from the National Archives in Washington D.C.
Please browse at your leisure. Meditate on the humble beginnings of the United States of America.
This page is dedicated to showing photos of the Interpreters of the American Western Experience

"Press representatives accompanying excursion party to a point on 100th meridian -- 275 miles west of Omaha, Nebraska Territory." By John Crbutt for the Union Pacific Railroad, October 24, 1866. 111-SC-85703. Staff of the Daily Reporter in front of their office. Corinne, Boxelder Co., Utah Territory By William H. Jackson, 1869. 57-HS-718.
Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image
 
"Fred W. Loring, in his campaign costume, with his mule 'Evil Merodach.' Taken about 48 hours before he was brutally murdered by Apache--Mohaves, while en route from Prescott, A. T. Arizona Territory to San Bernadino, Cal., by stage. Loring had been with the Wheeler expedition as general assistant and correspondent, and was returning to the East with a mind stored with rare adventure and scenic wonders." By Timothy H. O'Sullivan, 1871. 106-WA-145. "McKay, the San Francisco Bulletin correspondent taking notes on the battlefield near Gen. Gillem's camp. At the left are two Warm Springs scouts, on the lookout for Modocs." Modoc Indian War, in California and Oregon lava beds, 1872--73. 111-SC-82307.
Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image
 
"Distant view of Ancient Ruins in lower part of Cañon de Chelle Arizona Territory ... Showing their position in the walls and elevation above bed of cañon." A member of the Wheeler Expedition is sketching the ruins from the foreground of the photograph. By O'Sullivan, 1873. 77-WE-4l. John K. Hillers at work with his negatives. In camp, Aquarius Plateau, Utah Territory Hillers was a photographer with the John Wesley Powell Geological Survey. By Hillers, ca. 1872. 57-PS-809.
Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image Click to Magnify   •  Full-size Image