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[The Devil's Slide, Utah]

Creator

American Photographer · 1829–1916

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At twenty, Carleton Watkins headed out to California to make his fortune. After working as a daguerreotype operator in San Jose, he established his own practice and soon made his first visit to the Yosemite Valley. There he made thirty mammoth plate and one hundred stereograph views that were among the first photographs of Yosemite seen in the East. Partly on the strength of Watkins's photographs,

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Date: 1873–1874
Medium: Albumen silver print
Culture: American
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

Carleton Watkins's arresting image of the Devil's Slide, an unusual limestone slab formation in Weber Canyon, Utah, was probably made as a souvenir for railroad tourists. Watkins likely traveled aboard this train, which was clearly posed for the photograph. Despite the steam that continues to escape from the engine, the engineer stands in the locomotive's doorway beside the wood supply, far from the controls and looking directly at the photographer. Recognizing that attractive images promoted tourism, railroad officials instructed engineers to be accommodating about stopping for the purposes of photographers.

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