It is indeed a wonder that so many photographs have survived the hardships of the western experience, because early negatives were made of large glass plates. Private citizens and Government officials took the recently developed camera on their western adventures to record nature's curious sights and the marks that they made on the landscape. This transition from a 'wild' western frontier into organized segments of a federal union is documented in photographs. The discovery of gold would soon draw thousands more across the country. The religious persecution of the Mormons had led them to begin their migration westward by this time. The West had long been explored and settled, however, the opportunity for legitimate land ownership along with other historic events caused a greater number of people to travel.

(69-N-13606C)īy 1848 the United States had acquired official title to the contiguous land stretching westward to the Pacific, south to the Rio Grande, and north to the 49th parallel. Cover photograph: A Pioneer Family in Loup Valley, Nebr., ca.

Images of the old west