Collections

The Chicago to Colorado photograph album contains approximately 210 photographs taken by an unidentified photographer related to a tour from Chicago, Illinois, to Colorado and back again through Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Chicago to Colorado photograph album contains approximately 210 photographs taken by an unidentified photographer related to a tour from Chicago, Illinois, to Colorado and back again through Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The album (26 x 32 cm) has black paper covers and a manuscript note inside the front cover that reads: "Tour of 1903." Chicago-related photographs include a commercial street view, the Chicago River, and Lincoln Park. The following 191 photographs were taken in various locations around Colorado, including 20 images of commercial streets, residential streets, and parks in Denver and Colorado Springs; an early motorized sightseeing bus on a Colorado Springs street; and scenic views documenting visits to the Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and the Gunnison River.

Several photographs show the main building and a small cabin at Sprague's Ranch in Moraine Park, Colorado. The travelers, a party of two men and a woman, are shown fishing, posing beside their platform tents, and sightseeing with larger groups. Also shown is the dramatic scenery of Ouray, Colorado, with views of the mountains, the box canyon, Silver Plume mines, and street scenes which include a stagecoach and loaded burros. Following several photographs of hotels in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and a view of the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas, there are three images that show streets in Milwaukee, including the Schlitz Brewery, as well as two additional images of Chicago street scenes.

The Railroad construction photograph album contains approximately 300 photographs taken by an unidentified railroad engineer showing construction projects on the White River Railway, Gordon & Fort Smith Railway, Wabash Southern Railraod, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway in Northern Arkansas, southern Illinois, and Missouri.

The Railroad construction photograph album contains approximately 300 photographs taken by an unidentified railroad engineer showing construction projects on the White River Railway, Gordon & Fort Smith Railway, Wabash Southern Railraod, and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway in Northern Arkansas, southern Illinois, and Missouri.

The album (18.5 x 28 cm) has black cloth covers, and many of the photographs have manuscript captions. Photographs of interest include images of engineers' and contractors' camps on the Antoine River in Arkansas and the Big Muddy River near Zeigler, Illinois, including interiors and exteriors of tent offices and living quarters; work parties (one of which includes a Japanese man identified as "K. Okora") relaxing and eating in camp, using survey equipment, building concrete piers, operating grading machinery, unloading equipment, laying track, and repairing bridges and tunnels, including sections damaged by flooding. Also of note is a photograph labeled "G. M. Callaway on his speeder, 1907," showing a man riding a Fairbanks velocipede railroad handcar. Several family photographs are also present, showing the unidentified engineer who created the album and his wife in their tent "home" at Antoine River, Arkansas, and with their young child at home in Chicago. Additional photographs include street views from Carthage and Kansas City in Missouri as well as Chicago and Benton in Illinois. Also present are three images of Wabash Southern Railway maps that are affixed to the inside of the back cover.

Railroad employees identified in photographs include: R.C. Larimore, Geo. Gentry, J. F. Reidnaar, Ernest Cameron, K. Okora, Carlos Dunn, Don Bradley, Braun, Wherry, Humber, Guy Hardin, Jno. P. Sanderson, Dick Armstrong, H. W. Perstrup, Geo. N. Lampley, Roy Watson, W. R. Smith, H. Rohmer, S. L. Morrow, F. Hammond, and C. L. Moorman.