Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave, 1863

Processed by Chris McDonald.
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
1996

Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave, 1863

Collection number: BANC PIC 1905.16894- -A

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

  • The Bancroft Library.
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
  • Phone: (510) 642-6481
  • Fax: (510) 642-7589
  • Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
  • URL: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BANC/
1996
Finding aid and digital representations of archival materials funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
    Processed and encoded by:
    California Heritage Digital Image Access Project staff in The Bancroft Library and The Library's Electronic Text Unit
    Digital images processed by:
    The Library Photographic Service
    Finding aid completed:
    August 1996
© 1996 The Regents of the University of California

Descriptive Introduction

Collection name: Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave,
Date (inclusive): 1863
Collection number: BANC PIC 1905.16894- -A
Size: 44 prints, 14 x 11 cm. or smaller (3 prints mounted)
Photographer: D'Heureuse, R. (Rudolph)
Repository: The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave prints were transferred from the William H. Brewer Fieldbooks (BANC MSS C-B 313-328), which were a gift of Francis P. Farquhar.

Access Restrictions

Original prints are restricted. Use viewing prints only. Use of original photographs only by permission of the appropriate curator.

Digital Representations Available

Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item] Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave, 1863, BANC PIC 1905.16894--A, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Scope and Content

The Photographic Views of the Mojave Route, El Dorado Canyon and Fort Mojave collection contains 41 photographic prints taken by Rudolph D'Heureuse in 1863. Pictured in the collection is the Mojave Desert region from the San Bernardino Valley and Cajon Pass eastward to the Colorado River and Fort Mojave of Arizona. The reason D'Heureuse photographed this section of the "Mojave Road" and the adjacent region is unclear. It is most likely that he was surveying the area in association with either the Macedonia Mining District or the California State Geological Survey. D'Heureuse's work is considered to be the earliest extant body of survey photographs of this region.
The emphasis of the photographs is the geological and botanical features of the area. Many valleys, hills, mountains, plains, and canyons, as well as cacti, yucca and other plants of the region are pictured.
Locations featured in the collection include the Cajon Pass, the Mojave River, the Colorado River, Fort Mojave, San Bernardino Valley, El Dorado Canyon, and the Providence Mountains, as well as more obscure areas such as New San Pedro, Point Rock, Camp Cady, Warm Soda Springs, Marl Spring, Rock Springs, Lewis Spring, and the Tetchatticup Tunnel.
Also pictured in the collection are surveyors, Mojave (or Piute?) Indians, soldiers and other unidentified persons, as well as dwellings, camp sites and miscellaneous structures.
In 1869, the photographs in the collection were obtained from D'Heureuse by William Henry Brewer, one of the members of the California State Geological Survey. Brewer lists the prints, however, in his 1864 fieldbook [William H. Brewer Fieldbooks, BANC MSS C-B 328], presumably as retrospective notes entered subsequent to receipt of the photographs in June, 1869. The collection title and container listing appearing in this finding aid were originally transcribed from this fieldbook entry by Francis P. Farquhar. The photograph numbers correspond to those listed by Brewer, with numbers 1 and 33 lacking, as in Brewer's original list. Mounted duplicates exist for 3 of the prints.
[Information on D'Heureuse and his photographs from Palmquist, Peter E. and Thomas R. Kailbourn, Pioneer Photographers of the Far West: A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865, Stanford University Press, 2000, with supplementary information from research notes of Germaine Moon, Barstow, CA, 1979, filed in the curatorial Artist Files of The Bancroft Library.]

Related Collection

Title: William H. Brewer Fieldbooks, 1861-1864,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 313-328

 

Group 1

 

:2 Quartermaster's department at New San Pedro

 

:3 San Bernadino Valley and San Bernadino Mt.

 

:4 House of Woosencroft (i.e., Wozencraft), formerly Mormon Elder Lyman's for himself and 5 wives, San Bernadino

 

:5 Martin's. 12 mi [miles] from San Bernadino

 

:6 Cajon Pass Tollgate

 

:7 Lanes, on first crossing of Mojave

 

:8 Point Rock, in 1863 the last habitation on the route

 

:9 Sugar Loaf

 

:10 Forks of the roads

 

:11 Camp Cady

 

Group 2

 

:12 Mojave River above the caves

 

:13 Warm Soda Springs (Soda Lake)

 

:14 Marl Spring

 

:15 Cedar Spring Canyon (Providence Mts.)

 

:16 Rock Spring

 
 

Upper Camp Eldorado Canyon :18:19

 

San Juan Camp, Eldorado Canyon :20A:20B

 

:21 John Moss and Piute Chief Tercherrum

 

:22 Mojave Piutes (Asper-ka-miah (t?) or Eagles ?)

 

Group 3

 

:23 Cactus, Eldorado Canyon

 

:24 Yucca tree at Cedar Spring Canyon

 

:25 Cactus and small Yucca at Rock Spring

 

:26 Shojas (cholla?) and plants of Eldorado Canyon

 

Tetchatticup Tunnel from the west :27A:27B

 

:28 Tetchatticup Tunnel from the northwest

 

:29 Pilot Mt., Eldorado Canyon

 

:30 Below San Juan Cabin, Eldorado Canyon

 

:31 Eldorado Canyon from San Juan Camp, downwards

 

:32 Parts of Shojas and other plants

 

Group 4

 

:34 Rock Springs from Upper Hold (March 6, 63?) [1863]

 

:35 Phila [Philadelphia] Company at Rock Springs

 

:36 Macedonia Mts. and plains from Rock Springs

 

:37 Colorado River at Fort Mojave

 

:38 Capt [Captain] Atchison, his orderly and clerk in the rear of his dwelling, Ft. [Fort] Mojave

 

:39 Dr. [doctor] Stark and Indians, Fort Mojave

 

:40 Indians and soldiers

 

:41 Group of Indian chiefs and others, Fort Mojave

 

:42 Carpenter shop, Fort Mojave

 

:43 Indian girl (Topsy and captain's cook), Fort Mojave