Photograph, Placer Mining

Description

Mounted albumen print of a placer mining operation, 1870-1880. Two men, one with an pic ax on his shoulder, the other holding a shovel filled with rocks, stand on either side of a sluice box. The Hayden Survey expeditions, led by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, mapped and documented much of the American West between 1867 and 1878. This photograph is an early example of a photo print used to highlight Hayden's findings for the US Geological Survey of the Territories. William Henry Jackson served as a photographer on multiple expeditions in the 1870s, and used many views like this one to secure his rise as an influential photographer on the national stage. Jackson would go on to operate his own photo studio in Denver between 1879 and 1893, take commission work from major railroad companies, and join the Detroit Publishing Company in 1897. Inscription: Printed on recto "Department of Interior, U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories. Prof. F.V. Hayden in charge. W.H. Jackson, Photo." Handwritten on the verso: "Presented 2-9-61 by Joseph P. Oliver, 6108 Maywood Rd., Mt. Wash. Baltimore, Md, Hayden expedition, Neg #272?"