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
| Title | Alternative Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 |
 | Plate 68 | Huerfano River, composite sketch and photograph |
| 52 |
 | Plate 69 | Wet Mountains, Huerfano R, sketch |
| 53 |
 | Plate 70 | Wet Mountains, Huerfano River photograph |
| 54 |
 | Plate 71 | Wet Mountains, Huerfano River composite sketch and photograph |
| 55 |
 | Plate 72 | Les Trois Tetons in the distance, Sierra Blanca, sketch |
| 56 |
 | Plate 73 | Photograph of Les Trois Tetons from higher up |
| 57 |
 | Plate 74 | View of Sangre de Cristo Pass, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 58 |
 | Plate 75 | View of Sangre de Cristo Pass, composite lithograph and sketch |
| 59 |
 | Plate 76 | Sangre de Cristo Pass area, panoramic photograph |
| 60 |
 | Plate 77 | Sangre de Cristo Pass area, panoramic photograph and sketches |
| 61 |
 | Plate 78 | In Sangre de Cristo Pass, Aug. 11th, sketch |
| 62 |
 | Plate 79 | Sangre de Cristo Pass area, panoramic photograph |
| 63 |
 | Plate 80 | Sangre de Cristo Pass area, panorama of sketches |
| 64 |
 | Plate 81 | Sangre de Cristo Pass area, composite of photograph and sketches |
| 65 |
 | Plate 82 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, panorama of sketches |
| 66 |
 | Plate 83 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, panoramic photograph |
| 67 |
 | Plate 84 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, composite of panoramic photograph and sketches |
| 68 |
 | Plate 85 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, looking toward San Luis Valley, Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 69 |
 | Plate 86 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, looking from the summit down Gunnison's Creek: Stanley lithograph from Kern sketch |
| 70 |
 | Plate 87 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, composite of panorama of sketches and two lithographs |
| 71 |
 | Plate 88 | Sangre de Cristo Pass [untitled sketch] |
| 72 |
 | Plate 89 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, photograph |
| 73 |
 | Plate 90 | Sangre de Cristo Pass, composite of photograph and sketch |