Getty Museum

American River, from Green Bluffs

Date

negative 1866–1869; print after 1870

Medium

Albumen silver print

Culture

American

Department

Photographs

Institution

Getty Museum

Trains passing above the American River often stopped so that tourists and photographers could get out and gaze at the awe-inspiring gorge. While the tourists simply viewed the scenery, photographers like Alfred A. Hart documented them, usually incorporating part of the train in the composition. Though Hart made this stereograph, its mount bears Carleton E. Watkins's name. Watkins was a San Francisco-based photographer who also chose the railroad as a primary subject. Because Hart's negatives belonged to the Central Pacific Railroad, they were subsequently printed by other company photographers who, like Watkins, did not properly credit Hart.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.