Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh collection of photographs and drawings of the Colorado River region.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains approximately 900 photographic prints, relief halftones, postcards, negatives, tintypes, and pen-and-ink drawings depicting the Colorado River region and other areas of the West, and portraits of Native Americans. The photographs were collected by Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh and date from 1871-1934. The collection is organized into two series: Photographs and Drawings. Box 7 contains Oversize material. Restricted Fragile Papers contains negatives; photographic prints produced from these negatives have been supplied in Series I, Photographs, as surrogates.
Series I, Photographs , (boxes 1-5) contains early photographs by E. O. Beaman, James Fennemore, and John K. Hillers, photographers on the 1871 Powell expedition. The collection also includes relief halftones of their photographs, which evidently were created to be used as illustrations for Dellenbaugh's books, primarily The Romance of the Colorado River and A Canyon Voyage. In addition, there are photographs by Dellenbaugh and other amateur photographers who traveled in the West, as well as by professionals, including William Henry Jackson and the Kolb Brothers. Locations depicted include Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and Havasu Canyon, the Colorado and Green Rivers, Zion National Park, miscellaneous photographs of Arizona, California, Colorado, and Utah. The portraits are of expedition members and Native Americans.
The photographs are organized alphabetically by photographer: under each photographer, they are listed alphabetically by subject. The photographs were primarily identified by caption information. Where captions were not present, identifications were drawn from reference to Dellenbaugh's published works. Unidentified photographs are listed at the end of the series, arranged by subject. Many of these are early albumen prints and may be by Beaman, Fennemore, or Hillers. Copy prints produced from negatives acquired with the collection are interfiled where appropriate.
Series II, Drawings , (box 6) contains 24 drawings by Dellenbaugh which were used as illustrations in The Romance of the Colorado River and Breaking the West.
Oversize , (box 7) contains material from Series I, and is organized in box order.
Dates
- 1870-1934
Creator
- Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935
- Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876
- Fennemore, James, 1849-1941
- Hillers, John K., 1843-1925
- Klemm, Robert C.
- Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
- Scharff, Seward
- Kolb Bros
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research. Box 8 (cold storage): Restricted fragile material. Reference surrogates have been substituted in the main files. For further information consult the appropriate curator.
Conditions Governing Use
The Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh Collection of Photographs and Drawings of the Colorado River Region is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired from Edward Eberstadt & Sons.
Extent
3.48 Linear Feet (7 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection contains approximately 900 photographic prints, relief halftones, postcards, negatives, tintypes, and pen-and-ink drawings depicting the Colorado River region and other areas of the West. The early photographs are by E. O. Beaman, James Fennemore, John K. Hillers, photographers on the 1871 Powell expedition. The collection includes relief halftone prints of their photographs, evidently created for inclusion in Dellenbaugh's books on the Colorado River and the West. In addition, there are photographs by Dellenbaugh and other amateur photographers who traveled to the West, as well as by professionals William Henry Jackson and the Kolb Brothers. Subjects include the Grand, Glen, and Havasu Canyons, the Colorado and Green Rivers, Zion National Park, miscellaneous photographs of Arizona, California Colorado, and Utah, and portraits of expedition members and Native Americans. There are 24 drawings by Dellenbaugh which were used as illustrations in Romance of the Colorado and Breaking the West.
FREDERICK SAMUEL DELLENBAUGH (1853-1935)
Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh, artist, topographer, explorer and author, was born September 13, 1853 in McConnelsville, Ohio. After graduating from high school in Buffalo, New York, Dellenbaugh's interest in painting and boating led his uncle Almon Harris Thompson to introduce him to John Wesley Powell. Thompson was Powell's brother-in-law and served as second-in-command and chief topographer of Powell's second expedition down the Colorado River in 1871-1873. Powell appointed the seventeen year old Dellenbaugh expedition artist and assistant topographer.
The expedition embarked at Green River, Wyoming, and passed the winter of 1871-72 at Kanab, Utah. In the early spring and summer of 1872, Dellenbaugh and Thompson explored north of Kanab through Potato Valley and discovered the Escalante River, the last major river discovered in the contiguous United States. They continued on to the Aquarius Plateau and the Henry Mountains. In August and September 1872, the expedition traveled through the Upper Grand Canyon, but Powell called a halt to the expedition at Kanab Creek, due to the dangerous currents in the Canyon. The group spent the winter of 1872-1873 creating a map of the area they had explored.
Following the expedition, Dellenbaugh traveled in the West, lived with the Hopi Indians for six months, and studied painting in France. He married Harriet Otis in 1885 and settled in New York. There he wrote and lectured about the West, publishing in 1902 The Romance of the Colorado River and in 1908, A Canyon Voyage, which described the second Powell expedition.
In 1899, Dellenbaugh served as expedition artist on E. H. Harriman's expedition to Alaska and Siberia. In 1906, he accompanied Harriman on an expedition to Spitzbergen, Norway. In later years he continued to travel in the West, served as librarian to the National Geographic Society, and founded the Explorer's Club. He died in New York City on January 29, 1935.
- Arizona -- Pictorial works
- Beaman, E. O. (Elias Olcott), 1837-1876
- Colorado -- Pictorial works
- Colorado River (Colo.-Mexico) -- Pictorial works
- Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 -- Portraits
- Fennemore, James, 1849-1941
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Utah and Ariz.) -- Pictorial works
- Grand Canyon National Park (Ariz.) -- Pictorial works
- Green River (Wyo.) -- Pictorial works
- Havasu Canyon (Ariz.) -- Pictorial works
- Hillers, John K., 1843-1925
- Klemm, Robert C.
- Kolb Bros
- Photographic prints -- West (U.S.)
- Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
- Scharff, Seward
- Tintypes (prints)
- Utah -- Pictorial works
- Zion National Park (Utah) -- Pictorial works
- Title
- Guide to the Frederick Samuel Dellenbaugh Collection of Photographs and Drawings of the Colorado River Region
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- by Diana Smith
- Date
- December 2000
- Description rules
- Beinecke Manuscript Unit Archival Processing Manual
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.