Horatio N. Rust Photograph Collection, 1850-1905

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Summary

Creators:
Rust, Horatio N. (Horatio Nelson), 1828-1906
Abstract:
A collection of photographs compiled by Horatio N. Rust (1828-1906), U.S. Indian agent and archaeological artifact collector. The main focus of the collection is Indians of Southern California and the Southwest in the late 19th century, including a set of photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers. There is also a collection of photographs related to abolitionist John Brown and his descendants living in the West.
Extent:
766 photographs and ephemera in 14 boxes
Language:
English.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection of photographs compiled by Horatio N. Rust (1828-1906), U.S. Indian agent and archaeological artifact collector. The main focus of the collection is Indians of Southern California and the Southwest in the late 19th century, including a set of photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers. There is also a collection of photographs related to abolitionist John Brown and his descendants living in the West.

The collection has been divided into five groups:

(photCL 7) Album of Indians of Southern California and the Southwest, approximately 1886-1905.
A photograph album compiled by Rust, documenting Indians living in Southern California, Arizona and New Mexico, approximately 1886-1905. Includes group portraits of Indian school students in California; members of the Cahuilla, Luiseno, Morongo, Mojave, Hopi, and Navajo tribes; the Indian Council at Pala, 1886; and scenes in Pechanga, Soboba and other native communities of Southern California.

(photCL 8) Trip to Arizona, 1895
Photographs made mostly by A. C. Vroman during Rust’s 1895 trip from Southern California to Arizona to see the Hopi Snake Dance at Walpi. Rust was accompanied by Mrs. Thaddeus (Leontine) Lowe, Vroman, and Charles J. Crandall. Views include Hopi and Navajo Indians and scenes of pueblo life; the Snake Dance at Walpi; the Grand Canyon; the Petrified Forest; desert landscapes; a group portrait of Mojave Indians at Needles, California; and several views of Rust and his fellow travelers with guides, wagons and supplies.

(photCL 9) John Brown Collection, approximately 1850-1897.
Photographs, prints and ephemera pertaining to abolitionist John Brown and his family. Includes portraits of Brown, his family members, supporters and other abolitionists; participants in the raid on Harper’s Ferry and officials involved in Brown’s trial; views of Harper’s Ferry and buildings related to the raid; and views of Brown’s grave and home in New York. There are also several views of Jason and Owen Brown’s Las Casitas homestead in the mountains near Pasadena, California, and a scene of mourners gathered at Owen Brown’s grave. A few additional items in the collection were acquired from other sources and transferred to the collection at various times.

(photCL 10) U.S. Bureau of Ethnology Expedition Photographs of Southwest Pueblos by John K. Hillers, approximately 1879-1881.
Views of pueblo villages and surrounding landscape; some show people and details such as pottery, ovens, and food and water sources.

(photCL 11) Photographs and Lantern Slides of Artifacts and Indians of California, Southwest and Great Plains, approximately 1870s-1890s.
Views of artifacts, some of which were excavated by Rust himself, as he describes in captions; Indians from Great Plains and western tribes; Indian schools in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and Perris, California; Southern California Indians. The lantern slides are mostly copies of photographs elsewhere in the Rust Collection, such as: Southwest Pueblo views by John K. Hillers (photCL 10); Rust’s trip to Arizona, 1895, with A. C. Vroman (photCL 8). Topics of other slides: Southwest Indians by photographer Frederick H. Maude; San Gabriel Mission; two views of H. N. Rust’s home; Aztec artifacts and ruins.

Biographical / historical:

Horatio Nelson Rust (1828-1906) was a U.S. Indian agent, collector of archaeological artifacts, horticulturist, and a Pasadena, California resident and booster. Born in Massachusetts, he became a friend and supporter of abolitionist John Brown (1800-1859), leader of the Harper's Ferry raid. He served as a medical volunteer in the Civil War and afterward helped raise funds for freed Black emigrants to Kansas. His lifelong interest in archaeology led to his exploration of North American Indian antiquities and culture, and he served as federal agent for the Indians of the Mission-Tule River Consolidated Agency in California from 1889 to 1893. His jurisdiction included 22 reservations, most of them in San Bernardino County. He advocated for Indian rights, sometimes stirring controversy, and helped establish an Indian school at Perris, Calif. In 1881, at the age of 53, Rust moved his family to Pasadena, where he became active in community affairs. Rust helped found Pasadena’s first public library, and he established a nursery that he and his family ran for sixty years. Rust died in 1906 at the age of 78.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Nellie Rust Lockwood and her brother, Edward H. Rust (children of Horatio N. Rust.), 1943. A few items in the John Brown Collection (photCL 9) were acquired from other sources and transferred to this collection at various times. Those sources are: Eleanor Billingsley, 1924; Max Farrand, 1934; Fred Lockley, unknown date; William H. Murray, 1916; Mrs. Edward Simmons, 1948. Specific acquisition information is noted at the item level in the contents list of this finding aid.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged by call number as described in the scope content.

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Note:

Finding aid last updated on April 1, 2014.

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Abolitionists -- History -- 19th century.
Abolitionists -- United States -- Pictorial works.
Adobe houses -- California -- Photographs.
Arrowheads -- North America -- Photographs.
Artifacts -- Photographs.
Aztec pottery -- Mexico.
Cahuilla Indians -- Photographs.
Cherokee Indians -- Oklahoma -- Tahlequah -- History.
Cheyenne Indians -- Photographs.
Chiricahua Indians -- Cultural assimilation.
Creek Indians -- Oklahoma -- Photographs
Diegueño Indians -- Photographs.
Expeditions & surveys -- West (U.S.) -- 1870-1890 -- Photographs.
Frontier and pioneer life -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Funeral rites and ceremonies -- Photographs.
Hopi dance -- Arizona -- Walpi -- Photographs.
Hopi Indians -- Photographs.
Human remains (Archaeology) -- Photographs.
Hupa Indians -- Photographs.
Indian basket -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Indian baskets -- California -- Photographs.
Indian baskets -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Antiquities -- Collectors and collecting.
Indians of North America -- California, Southern -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Education -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Great Plains -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Southwest, New -- Photographs.
Luiseño Indians -- California -- Pala -- Photographs.
Mohave Indians -- Photographs.
Navajo Indians -- Jewelry -- Photographs.
Navajo Indians -- Photographs.
Off-reservation boarding schools -- California -- Riverside -- Photographs.
Off-reservation boarding schools -- Photographs.
Perris Indian School -- Photographs.
Photographers -- 1890-1900.
Pueblo dance -- Photographs.
Pueblo pottery -- Photographs.
Pueblos -- Arizona -- Photographs.
Pueblos -- New Mexico -- Photographs.
Sauk Indians -- Photographs.
Seminole Indians -- Photographs.
Snake dance -- Arizona -- 1890-1900 -- Photographs.
Tombs & sepulchral monuments -- Photographs.
Travel -- 1880-1900 -- Photographs.
Travelers -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century -- Photographs.
Ute Indians -- Colorado -- Photographs.
Women travelers -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Photographs.
Yuma Indians -- Photographs.
Business cards.
Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
Clippings.
Cyanotypes.
Drawings.
Ephemera.
Lantern slides.
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century.
Lithographs.
Photograph albums.
Photographs.
Prints.
Souvenirs.
Stereographs.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Boxes 4-7 of photCL 11 contain lantern slides, which are fragile and housed separately from the prints. Advance arrangements for viewing the lantern slides must be made with the Curator of Photographs.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2129
reference@huntington.org
Website