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Ralph P. Bieber Photographs of the Overland Trail: Finding
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photCL 469
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Title: Ralph P. Bieber Photographs of the Overland Trail
Dates (inclusive): 1950s-1960s
Collection Number: photCL 469
Creator:
Bieber, Ralph P. (Ralph Paul), 1894- photographer.
Extent:
726 photographs in 13 boxes + 3 pieces of ephemera in 1 envelope.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: The collection contains photographs by historian Ralph P. Bieber (1894-1891) documenting the central overland route to California
as it appeared in the 1950s. The images show the route
through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California that was used by pioneers and gold seekers
beginning in the mid-19th century.
Bieber also created categories such as "Donner Party sites," "Gold Discovery Sites," and "Sites associated with John C. Fremont."
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on April 8, 2015.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Ralph P. Bieber Photographs of the Overland Trail, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Ralph P. Bieber's son, William P. Bieber, in 1986.
Custodial History
Transferred from the Manuscript Department, December 2004.
Processing/Project Information
Photo Archives volunteer Jane Apostol rehoused the collection and prepared the container list portion of the finding aid in
2005. Diann Benti updated and created
and created a machine readable version of the finding aid in March 2015.
Ralph P. Bieber (1894-1981) was a historian of the American West who served on the faculty of Washington University in St.
Louis for many years. Between 1931 and 1940, Bieber edited the
Southwest Historical Series for publisher Arthur H. Clark. As a result of his editorial duties, Bieber became increasingly
fascinated with the great migration to California during the Gold Rush era.
He ultimately began a project of his own to document the overland experience during the critical first year of the Gold Rush.
He ferreted out thousands of sources, taking voluminous and highly-detailed
notes that comprise the manuscript portion of his collection. He also made several trips along the central route to California,
and the photographs here are the result of trips taken in the 1950s.
This collection contains photographs by historian Ralph P. Bieber documenting the central overland route to California as
it appeared in the 1950s. Bieber visited the sites in conjunction with a project to record every aspect of the
trails and circumstances associated with the migration of people to California during the Gold Rush years and subsequently.
The images document the route through Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and California. Bieber organized
and annotated the photographs himself, and his original order, based primarily on
print size, has been maintained. Additionally, Bieber created photographic categories such as “Donner
Party Sites,” “Gold Discovery Sites,” and “Sites associated with John C. Frémont.” Note that Bieber did not arrange the photographs
geographically.
Related materials in the Huntington Library
The Huntington also holds a large collection of research files (approximately 50 boxes) assembled by Ralph P. Bieber
in the course of editing the Southwest Historical Series for the Arthur H. Clark Company and undertaking a book (never completed)
on the first year of the California Gold Rush. Researchers who wish to obtain more information about the research files should
contact
the H. Russell Smith Foundation Curator of Western Historical Manuscripts.
The collection is organized first by size of the photograph (8 x 10 in., 11 x 14 in., 3.5 x 5.5 in.)
and then alphabetically by location name within each size.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Overland journeys to the Pacific -- History -- Photographs.
California -- Gold Discoveries -- History -- Photographs.
Overland Trails -- Photographs.
Photographs.