.
1855 Tinted
Lithograph from the Pacific Railroad Survey
..
.
Summit
of the Nearest Ridge
South
of the Grand (Gunnison) River
Traversed
in passing around lateral canons, 12 o'clock, September, 12, 1853
.
On
the maps and in the narrative of the Survey, what is now called the Gunnison
River (in honor of Captain Gunnison who led this part of the Railroad Survey),
was referred to as the "Grand River." The northern part of the Colorado
River, which historically was also sometimes called the Grand River, is
referred to as the Nae-Un-Kah-Rea or Blue RIver on these maps.
(larger scan and history
below)
Print
Type:...Tinted
Lithograph - a
lithograph printed from 2 or 3 stones, one producing the details of the
image in black ink, and 1 or 2 others providing some wash-like coloring
(typically fawn, blue, green or gray).
Print
Date:...1855.
Print
Title: Summit of the Nearest Ridge South of Grand
River, Traversed in passing around lateral Cañones 12 o'clock, September
12..
Artist:...John
Mix Stanley (1814-1872) from a sketch by Richard
H. Kern (1821-1853).
Richard Kern was actually the
artist of the Pacific Railroad Survey at the 38th and 39th parallels; he
was the one who made the original drawings and paintings. Because he was
killed in October, 1853 by Ute Indians in Utah, John Mix Stanley prepared
the images for lithography. Stanley, a noted artist himself, was
artist to the northern route of the USPRR Survey under Gov. Isaac Stevens,
that explored the area between St. Paul and Puget Sound.
Lithographer:
A. Hoen & Co., Baltimore.
Image
Size: 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches.
Total
Size including margins: 11 3/8 x 8 1/8
inches.
Please see larger scan with margins below.
~~~~
History:...In
1853, the U.S. Congress authorized the Corps of Topographic Engineers to
undertake a survey of potential rail routes between the Mississippi River
and the Pacific Ocean. This print is an illustration from the report
of the survey at the 38th and 39th parallels under the leadership of Captain
John W. Gunnison, assisted by Lt. Edward G. Beckwith, who surveyed routes
in Kansas, Colorado and Utah. Gunnison, Richard H. Kern, topographer
and artist to the expedition, and seven others were killed by Ute Indians
along the Sevier River in Utah. Beckwith assumed leadership and the
survey explored routes at the 41st parallel which Beckwith (and Gunnison
before him) recommended as an economical and practicable route.
Although this suggestion had little influence at the time of the survey,
the first transcontinental railroad completed in 1869, when the Union Pacific
and the Central Pacific Railroads were joined at Promontory Point, Utah,
basically followed Beckwith's route.
~~~ The Gunnison survey
group crossed the Cochetopa Pass in early September, 1853, and traveled
along what is now called the Gunnison River, reaching the area of what
is now Grand Junction around September 19-20.
.. |