In 1853 Richard Hovendon Kern was hired as topographer and artist for a government-sponsored reconnaissance led by Captain John Williams Gunnison. Kern sketched landscape panoramas as the group made its way from St. Louis toward San Francisco. When the expedition reached Sevier Lake, Utah, however, it was attacked by a band of Indians. Seven men, including Kern and Gunnison, were killed, and Kern's drawings were stolen. The sketches were soon recovered and eventually carried to Washington, D.C.
Robert Shlaer, an accomplished daguerreotypist, came across Kern's sketches many years later at the Newberry Library in Chicago. He was inspired to locate the views depicted in the drawings and to photograph them, as nearly as was possible, from the same spot where Kern had stood when he sketched them. This collection juxtaposes Kern's drawings with Shlaer's photographs, presenting 389 illustrations in geographic sequence from east to west
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| Title | Alternative Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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Plate 41 | Wah-ha-ta-gas or Spanish Peaks, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 2 |
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Plate 85 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, looking toward San Luis Valley, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 3 |
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Plate 97 | Fort Massachusetts, at the foot of the Sierra Blanca; Valley of San Luis, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 4 |
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Plate 109 | Peaks of the Sierra Blanca, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 5 |
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Plate 148 | Coo-che-to-pa Pass, color lithograph |
| 6 |
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Plate 153 | Lithograph based on the sketch of Cochetopa Pass up East Pass Creek |
| 7 |
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Plate 256 | View showing the formation of the Canon of Grand River, Stanley lithograph from sketch by F. W. Egloffstein |
| 8 |
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Plate 268 | Rock hills between Green and White rivers, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 9 |
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Plate 272 | Stanley drawing related to his lithograph of Grand (Gunnison) River canyon |
| 10 |
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Plate 278 | Summit of the nearest ridges south of Grand River, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 11 |
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Plate 317 | Green River and Book Cliffs, composite sketch and lithograph |
| 12 |
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Map 4 25% | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 41st paralle, Map no. 4, from the valley of the Mud Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, from explorations and surveys... by Capt. E. G. Beckwith, 3d Artillery |
| 13 |
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Map 1 25% | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 41st parallel, Map no. 1, from the valley of the Green River to the Great Salt Lake, from explorations and surveys... by Capt. E. G. Beckwith, 3d Artillery (copy 1) |
| 14 |
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Map 4 | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 41st paralle, Map no. 4, from the valley of the Mud Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, from explorations and surveys... by Capt. E. G. Beckwith, 3d Artillery |
| 15 |
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Full Route Map 480px h | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 38th and 39th parallels: composite of maps 1 to 4 (copy 2) |
| 16 |
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Full Route Map 25% | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 38th and 39th parallels: composite of maps 1 to 4 (copy 1) |
| 17 |
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Map 1 | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 41st parallel, Map no. 1, from the valley of the Green River to the Great Salt Lake, from explorations and surveys... by Capt. E. G. Beckwith, 3d Artillery (copy 2) |
| 18 |
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Full Route Map 50% | Explorations and surveys for a rail road route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean: route near the 38th and 39th parallels: composite of maps 1 to 4 (copy 3) |
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