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The American West, 150 Years Ago
http://www.theatlantic.com ^ | May 24, 2012 | Alan Taylor

Posted on 05/24/2012 12:32:22 PM PDT by BO Stinkss

In the 1860s and 70s, photographer Timothy O'Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, (many of his photos appear in this earlier series), O'Sullivan joined a number of expeditions organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The teams were comprised of soldiers, scientists, artists, and photographers, and tasked with discovering the best ways to take advantage of the region's untapped natural resources. O'Sullivan brought an amazing eye and work ethic, composing photographs that evoked the vastness of the West. He also documented the Native American population as well as the pioneers who were already altering the landscape. Above all, O'Sullivan captured -- for the first time on film -- the natural beauty of the American West in a way that would later influence Ansel Adams and thousands more photographers to come. [34 photos]

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Arizona; US: Colorado; US: Idaho; US: Nevada; US: New Mexico
KEYWORDS: history; photos; sourcetitlenoturl
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To: BO Stinkss
They look nothing like Elizabeth Warren.

:) LOL

When the Pequots were building Foxwoods, Donald Trump said, "They don't look like Indians!"

21 posted on 05/24/2012 1:56:01 PM PDT by ExCTCitizen (If we stay home in November '12, don't blame 0 for tearing up the CONSTITUTION!!)
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To: ExCTCitizen
I wonder if the PC police censored the photo selection. Arizona was a wild and woolly place at that time. I saw several Indians armed with bows, but not one firearm anywhere. This less than 9 years after the Civil War, during a period where everyone in Arizona was under threat of Apache attack!
22 posted on 05/24/2012 2:55:32 PM PDT by marktwain
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To: BO Stinkss

Truly amazing. Thanks for posting.


23 posted on 05/24/2012 2:57:12 PM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: Kartographer

Thanks for posting this!


24 posted on 05/24/2012 2:59:20 PM PDT by leapfrog0202 ("the American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery" Sarah Palin)
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To: Kartographer

......that’s what it looked like in 1965 when I went to school there. The only thing missing is the Casa Luna and the Holiday Inn on Cerrilos Road.


25 posted on 05/24/2012 3:41:31 PM PDT by Recon Dad (Gas & Petroleum Junkie)
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To: BO Stinkss

Great photos! My part of the West still looks like that.


26 posted on 05/24/2012 3:49:17 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
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To: BO Stinkss

Those are wonderful pictures.
Thanks for posting.


27 posted on 05/24/2012 4:19:05 PM PDT by TheConservativeParty ("War." Andrew Breitbart)
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To: BelegStrongbow

****Image #12 reminded me of the desert scenes in ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’.****

Back in 1961, my dad took us kids driving on the backside of Carlsbad, NM.

It looked just like the town in GB&U. It was a Sunday, all adobe buildings, no pavement, the Cantina was open.


28 posted on 05/24/2012 5:23:24 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: Kartographer
On this photographic Ode on a Distant Prospect of Santa Fe, what are we looking at
in the flatness of the foreground? Are those long lines walls of some kind?
Are they still there? Where are all the people? Still sleeping?

Is this a photo of the sunrise or sunrise or sunset? And, how did Mr. O'Sullivan
get up so high as to get this angle? (I suppose that is a part of the unspoken
mystery of the view.)

In the nearer distance, are all those structures adobe? What purpose do they serve?
Is that an Armory in the upper mid-left? How far are the first mountains?
and in what direction?

An amazing image! And NO AUTOS in this whole panorama -- but one would think at least
a wagon ought to be seen somewhere in this expanse! It shows such a vast stillness!!

As an aside, my great-grandfather was still a pioneer, at this 1873 time clearing a site in western
New York State, still wild near Pennsylvania's Potter County northern border. The deed
to the land had to come from France, from Paris. The family lived in a log cabin until a house
was made from milled wood off its own site.

Marvellous things were still going on in this country at that time.

Thanks for this link!

29 posted on 05/24/2012 9:53:30 PM PDT by imardmd1 (I may not always be free, but usually reasonable.)
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To: BO Stinkss

Beautiful pictures. Visited Canyon de Chelly a long time ago and the pictures brought back fond memories. I really want to act like a tourist and tour our beautiful state...again! So much to see.


30 posted on 05/24/2012 10:22:05 PM PDT by azishot
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To: BO Stinkss

These pics are not that old. Only about a life time and a half ago.

But things sure have changed.


31 posted on 05/24/2012 10:59:31 PM PDT by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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Comment #32 Removed by Moderator

To: BO Stinkss

The very first picture, of Black Canyon in Mojave County, AZ is now, I suspect, filled by Lake Mead.


33 posted on 05/25/2012 12:51:05 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: imardmd1; CedarDave; LegendHasIt; Rogle; leapfrog0202; Santa Fe_Conservative; DesertDreamer; ...

The best I can tell you is I say the picture was most likely taken from Fort Marcy And the large building on the left side of the photo I believe is the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis. I believe the view is to the southwest of Fort Marcy as that is the only direction that there would be land that flat.

Anyone?


34 posted on 05/26/2012 4:04:48 AM PDT by Kartographer ("We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.")
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To: Kartographer

I have a book I recommend if you are interested in old photography.

WITH A CAMERA IN OLD NAVAHOLAND by EARLE R. FORREST.

Published by University of Oklahoma Press.


35 posted on 05/26/2012 6:57:25 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Anything Goes, Phantom of the Opera, Nice work if you cn get it, EVITA. On BROADWAY last week.!)
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