Peter Britt
Large-Format Portrait of Stephen Meek, Fur Trapper and Guide of the Pacific Northwest, 1880s
Albumen print
7 x 10 inches overall
with Britt's backmark and other notations mount verso.
with Britt's backmark and other notations mount verso.
Born on the fourth of July, 1807, Stephen Meek was a fur trapper and guide of American West, perhaps best remembered for leading a large wagon train known as 'The...
Born on the fourth of July, 1807, Stephen Meek was a fur trapper and guide of American West, perhaps best remembered for leading a large wagon train known as 'The Lost Train' along a trail eventually named Meek's Cutoff.
Meek went out West initially as a fur trapper, and then began guiding wagon trains. In 1845, rumors about Walla Walla and Cayuse Indians attacking settlers on the Oregon Trail inspired the search for a new route. Meek claimed knowledge of a passable route through the Oregon Desert, and led a group of around a thousand settlers off the Oregon trail to avoid passage through the Blue Mountain. The journey proved very dangerous, and the caravan suffered from sickness, critical lack of water, and treacherous terrain. Many pioneers died along the journey, and Meek and his wife, blamed directly for the events, eventually had to flee for their lives. Nevertheless, this initial expedition of Meek Cutoff allowed for many future settlements and wagon roads in previously unknown parts of eastern and central Oregon.
Meek would later spend time in the mines of the California Gold Rush before settling in Siskiyou County, California. In 1865, after the death of his wife Elizabeth, he returned to his work as a guide and trapper. Stephen Meek died in Etna, California, on January 8, 1889, at the age of 81. He was later immortalized as a character in the popular computer game "Oregon Trail.'
Pioneering photographer and artist Peter Britt was born in Switzerland in 1819, immigrating to the United States with his father in 1845. Unable to make a living painting portraits, Britt decided to learn the art of photography, studying in St. Louis under the prominent Daguerreotypist, J. H. Fitzgibbon, before opening his own studio in Highland, Illinois. Five years later, Britt sojourned west to seek his fortune, joining three other Swiss immigrants on the Oregon Trail, landing in Portland, Oregon. Unhappy there,, Britt moved to southern Oregon shortly thereafter, settling in the newly established mining camp of Jacksonville, where he would remain until his death more than 50 years later.
From the Oregon History Project:
Over his long career, Britt took thousands of photos of southern Oregon and its people, tracing the region's development from a rough mining frontier to a settled agricultural landscape. Although specializing in portraits, Britt also became an avid outdoor photographer, traveling around the region in a portable studio he dubbed "The Pain," a pun on Bain, the manufacturer of the wagon. In 1874, he took what would become his most famous photograph, the first ever taken of Crater Lake.
Britt was also an avid horticulturist, establishing the first orchard in the Rogue Valley in the 1850s. He pioneered the use of smudge pots to protect the trees from late frosts. He also planted one of the first vineyards in the region.
The photograph bears a few different notations on the verso, including one that notes the photo was gifted by Britt's son to "B.N.P." a reference to Benjamin N. Powers, an early Western photo collector and possibly a publisher.
Meek went out West initially as a fur trapper, and then began guiding wagon trains. In 1845, rumors about Walla Walla and Cayuse Indians attacking settlers on the Oregon Trail inspired the search for a new route. Meek claimed knowledge of a passable route through the Oregon Desert, and led a group of around a thousand settlers off the Oregon trail to avoid passage through the Blue Mountain. The journey proved very dangerous, and the caravan suffered from sickness, critical lack of water, and treacherous terrain. Many pioneers died along the journey, and Meek and his wife, blamed directly for the events, eventually had to flee for their lives. Nevertheless, this initial expedition of Meek Cutoff allowed for many future settlements and wagon roads in previously unknown parts of eastern and central Oregon.
Meek would later spend time in the mines of the California Gold Rush before settling in Siskiyou County, California. In 1865, after the death of his wife Elizabeth, he returned to his work as a guide and trapper. Stephen Meek died in Etna, California, on January 8, 1889, at the age of 81. He was later immortalized as a character in the popular computer game "Oregon Trail.'
Pioneering photographer and artist Peter Britt was born in Switzerland in 1819, immigrating to the United States with his father in 1845. Unable to make a living painting portraits, Britt decided to learn the art of photography, studying in St. Louis under the prominent Daguerreotypist, J. H. Fitzgibbon, before opening his own studio in Highland, Illinois. Five years later, Britt sojourned west to seek his fortune, joining three other Swiss immigrants on the Oregon Trail, landing in Portland, Oregon. Unhappy there,, Britt moved to southern Oregon shortly thereafter, settling in the newly established mining camp of Jacksonville, where he would remain until his death more than 50 years later.
From the Oregon History Project:
Over his long career, Britt took thousands of photos of southern Oregon and its people, tracing the region's development from a rough mining frontier to a settled agricultural landscape. Although specializing in portraits, Britt also became an avid outdoor photographer, traveling around the region in a portable studio he dubbed "The Pain," a pun on Bain, the manufacturer of the wagon. In 1874, he took what would become his most famous photograph, the first ever taken of Crater Lake.
Britt was also an avid horticulturist, establishing the first orchard in the Rogue Valley in the 1850s. He pioneered the use of smudge pots to protect the trees from late frosts. He also planted one of the first vineyards in the region.
The photograph bears a few different notations on the verso, including one that notes the photo was gifted by Britt's son to "B.N.P." a reference to Benjamin N. Powers, an early Western photo collector and possibly a publisher.