Glenn Willumson's Article on Hart

Alfred Hart: Photographer of the Central Pacific Railroad

by

Glenn L. Willumson

History of Photography (London),
(January/March, 1988), Volume 12, No. 1, pp. 61-75.
Reprinted by kind permission of History of Photography

From 1864 to 1869 the construction of the first transcontinental railroad was systematically documented in photographs by Alfred A Hart.' As official photographer of the Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) he carefully photographed from the railhead at Sacramento, California, to the celebration of the completion of the rail line at Promontory, Utah (figure 1). In spite of the acknowledged importance of his documentation, little has been known about the life of the photographer, and some of what has been published is factually inaccurate.' Details of Hart's somewhat checkered and adventurous career as a photographer provide a new appreciation for his photographic accomplishments. Trained as a painter in New England, he was an influential figure in the development of Western landscape photography.'

Alfred Hart was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on 28 March, 1816, the second child of Eliphaz and Eliza Hart. His father was a silversmith working in the shop of his older brother, Judah Hart, a respected silver craftsman of the period.' In 1838, Alfred Hart moved to New York City, where he continued art studies begun in his home town of Norwich.' The exact nature of his early art training is unclear, although there is some evidence that it may have included formal art study.6 Returning to Norwich in 1840, he married and began a career as an itinerant portrait painter (figure 2).

Two examples from this early period, painted portraits of Katherine and Martha Kendrick, display the formalistic style of the travelling limner painter (figures 3 and 4). The canvases appear to have been painted largely in the studio and finished on commission. Apart from colour, the girl's dresses are identical, as are the position of the body, the style of the hair, and the treatment of the hands, shoulders, and ear. The only individuality the portraits show is in the two girls' faces and the flowers they hold. Special attention is paid to the treatment of the eyes and the mouth in an effort to communicate a sense of each girl's character.

In 1848 Hart moved his family to Hartford, the state capital of Connecticut. There is no documentation regarding the reason for the move, but probably the growing numbers of travelling daguerreotype photographers, who could offer an exact likenesses at modest cost, provided stiff competition for an itinerant portrait painter.' By moving to Hartford, Hart was able to avail himself of other commercial outlets for his talent and to expand into other artistic genres.

While continuing to paint portraits, he took up a new form of middle class art and entertainment, the moving panorama. What distinguished the moving panorama from earlier panoramic paintings was its combination of sound, special lighting and moving pictures. The finished painting consisted of a narrative sequence on long wide canvas. The latter was stretched between two large spools, hidden by curtains on either side of the stage (figure 5). The canvas was advanced from one reel to the other in front of an audience, stopping at each 'frame', while a lecturer, accompanied by music and light effects, described each scene's significance .8 Visits to moving panoramas were popular during the period - New York City newspapers advertised five different and simultaneous presentations in October 1852, for example.

Alfred Hart specialized in religious panoramas, the second of which, New Testament and Scenes from the Holy Land, was taken to New York City and exhibited in October 1852. The New York Herald advertisement of Hart's painting demonstrates the showmanship that accompanied the exhibition of moving panoramas:

Professor Hart's Great Moving Panoramic Mirror of the New Testament and Scenes in the Holy Land, has arrived and will be on exhibition at the Lecture Room, in the Chinese Building no. 511 Broadway, for a few days commencing on Monday evening, October 18 - This great and magnificent work of art, the largest in the world, has been painted at an immense outlay of money, and has never been equalled in the interest it has excited, or the favor with which it has been received. Prof. Hart will deliver lectures descriptive of the painting. Appropriate music will accompany the Exhibition for particulars see programmes . . . 9 Photography was a natural outgrowth of Hart's work with the moving panorama - both the moving panorama and photography were commercial art forms involving highly technical apparatus and serving the needs of an emerging middle class. The popular interest in panoramic painting, and in photography, had enticed other American painters. Samuel F. B. Morse, a promising painter in the early years of the American Republic, began his career as a European trained artist and later turned to photography."' When he returned to the USA in 1815/1816, he travelled as an itinerant portraitist in New Hampshire, turning later in his career to monumental canvases, precursors to the moving panorama. Morse travelled with these large paintings, charging admission to his exhibitions. Discouraged by public apathy to his themes, Morse gave up painting in 1838. In 1839 he was in Paris when Daguerre made his dramatic announcement about the invention of photography. Morse, interested in the scientific advancement exemplified by the process, announced the invention in a letter to the New York Observer and, on his return to USA, became a practising amateur daguerreotypist. For Alfred Hart it was economic necessity, rather than intellectual fascination, that turned him to photography."

In 1857 he entered into partnership with a prominent Hartford daguerreotype photographer, Henry H. Bartlett." judging from their advertisement the partnership was intended to combine Hart's painterly talents and Bartlett's photographic ones.

It stated: Bartlett & Hart have facilities for making a greater variety of fine pictures than any other establishment in the State. Photographs in oil colours upon canvas or paper.' 3 It is difficult tojudge the public interest in Hart's re-painted photographs, only one extant oil portrait seems to be the result of this partnership." But even if these commissions were few, Hart was undoubtedly also important to the firm as a retoucher and tinter of photographs." It seems likely that during this time he also learned the technique of photography and may have helped as an operator.

The partnership was, however, a brief one, and by the early 1860s Hart had moved his family to Cleveland, Ohio. There he opened an art store selling looking glasses, picture frames, and engravings." By 1863, Alfred Hart had resumed his vocation as an itinerant portraitist, but now the camera had replaced the canvas. While maintaining an art supply business in Cleveland, Hart travelled through California mining towns advertising in local newspapers (figure 6).17 In 1864, his Cleveland store reflected this activity and his interest in photographic views. It advertised 'Photographic Stock' -presumably accumulated in the West. 18

The extent of Hart's earliest work in California photography is difficult to determine, as many of his images are unaccredited.19 The record of his business transactions with the CPRR, and evidence of his work for the San Francisco photo- publishers Lawrence & Houseworth, however, demonstrates the significance of his photographic activity. This record suggests that Alfred Hart was already an established photographer when the CPRR purchased 32 negatives from him in January 1866.

ALFRED HART'S WORK FOR THE CPRR

The Company's interest in photography had begun at least a year earlier. A small newspaper article in January 1865 noted:

Photogarphic (sic) - The Central Pacific Railroad Company is having taken a series of photographic views of the more interesting points on the line of the road. Yesterday the artist took views of the 'Bloomer Cut' and also of Newcastle. The work will be continued till (sic) all the views of interest are taken. 20

It is known that on 18 March, 1865, one William Dickman was paid by the CPRR 'for making one view of/bridge across American River/One view of Bloomer Cut'." Presumably, then, he was the author of the views mentioned in the newspaper article. However, considering the railroad construction a noteworthy event, and a commercially exploitable one, the San Francisco firm of Lawrence & Houseworth also sent their photographer to take pictures of the new railroad. In the summer of 1865, the CPRR directors bought over 500 of these stereoscopic prints from Lawrence & Houseworth." In January, 1866, the directors purchased 32 stereoscopic negatives from Alfred Hart, and from then on Hart seems to have been the official photographer of the CPRR .23

The first negatives purchased from Hart were sent to New York City where Collis Potter Huntington, the CPRR vice-president, had them printed by the firm of Whitney and Paradise. The label on the verso of these stereographs contains the first publicized credit of Alfred Hart as the Company photographer. It reads: NEGATIVES BY A.A. HART./Published by Whitney & Paradise, 585 Broadway, New York. It was unusual for such a clear credit line to be given and it suggests that Hart may already have worked out a clear arrangement with the company. As company photographer Hart was granted special privileges by the directorate, apparently including transportation for his travelling wagon (figure 7), and the authority to stop the railroad construction whenever he needed to compose his picture. In exchange he provided the CPRR with negatives from which the Company directors selected the official CPRR series of 364 stereographic photographs.

The man responsible for the selection was the company attorney, judge Edwin Bryant Crocker. judge Crocker was given his choice of Hart's negatives, and he enthusiastically endorsed Hart's photographs. Crocker wrote to Huntington:

I inclose (sic) some stereoscopic views recently taken - with a descriptive list. The no's. you will find on the back of the views in a corner. Some of them were taken while considerable sun still remained on the high points. As a work of Art they cannot be surpassed."

Crocker's interest in 'Art', however, had its practical side. There is no doubt that the CPRR photographs were inextricably tied to the Company's promotional efforts. In 1867 Crocker paid for woodcuts to be made from ten of the CPRR photographs and, then, to be published in the San Francisco Sunday Mercury. He intended to have the wood blocks sent to the East Coast where he suggested Hunting-ton have them republished. Huntington, however, brusquely dismissed Crocker's suggestion as uneconomical: As to the proposition of the S. F. 'Sunday Mercury' to print views, &c., we to pay $40 each for engraving, &c.; I think it would not pay, as we are not selling any securities in Cal. and the paper is not taken on this side, and I do not think that the Harpers would republish it, and Leslie is only taken by women and children."

Despite Huntington's disdain, Crocker had the woodcuts made and the images were published in Harper's Weekly on 7 December, 1867.26 These photographs stressed the aspects of the CPRR series that were important to the company - the difficulty of construction, proof of success, and the dramatic and picturesque quality of the landscape (figures 8 and 9).

Not only reproductions but the mounted prints, too, became instruments of company policy. In the summer of 1867, both the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads pushed towards Utah. Officials from both companies went to Salt Lake City in search of Mormon support and labour. A set of stereographs accompanied the Central Pacific delegation and Crocker related their importance to Huntington:

I sent a full set of our views by Richardson to Brigham Young + he was highly pleased with them. He [Brigham Young] had some from the Union Pacific, but they did not compare to ours." With his photographs acting as early railroad publicity, it is not surprising that one finds Alfred Hart associated with other aspects of railroad promotion. In 1869, he published a map of the western end of the transcontinental railroad. Entitled The Traveller's Map of the Central Pacific Railroad of California and its connectionsfrom the Pacific Ocean to the Great Salt Lake, it provided important details for the traveller such as the distance between stations, stage connections, and the general topography of the landscape. 18 Furthermore, we know from a later edition of the map that it was lavishly illustrated with woodcut engravings made from Hart's stereographs.29

In 1870 he began an even grander project. A Traveller's Own Book served as a complete guide of the railroad journey from Chicago to San Francisco, not only providing a description of the natural beauty of the trip, but suggesting, also, the best accommodations along the route.' Like the map, the book was illustrated, this time with chromolithographs made from Hart's CPRR photographs and supplemented with Union Pacific Railroad views by Andrew J. Russell. This was an early form of the guide book that proliferated in the 1870s and 1880s. However, Hart's own book was not widely distributed and, as a result, may not have been a major influence on later travel books of the transcontinental journey. 31 1

ALFRED HART'S WORK FOR LAWRENCE & HOUSEWORTH

Hart's negatives of the CPRR that were not purchased by the railroad were often sold to Lawrence & Houseworth, a San Francisco optical firm which had branched into the merchandising of photographs and stereographs. In fact there is evidence that Hart's first commercial work was done for that firm. When Alfred Hart first began working as an itinerant photographer, Lawrence & Houseworth was aggressively expanding into the photographic publishing business. Because neither George Lawrence nor Thomas Houseworth were photographers, they advertised for negatives in local newspapers throughout Northern California: 'Wanted - Stereoscopic Negatives of every place of interest on the Pacific Coast for which a fair price will be paid'." Lawrence & Houseworth's first company photographer appears to have been Charles L. Weed, the first man to photograph the Yosemite Valley."" He worked for the firm until February 1865, when he left California and sailed to Hawaii. This forced Lawrence & Houseworth to rely principally on a new photographer for stereographic negatives between 1865 and 1867.34 That photographer, in this writer's opinion, was Alfred Hart. Evidence of his early association with the firm as well as duplicate and variant images of the CPRR negatives demonstrate Alfred Hart's extensive work for Lawrence & Houseworth between 1864 and 1869.

Seeking to enlarge their existing stock of negatives, Lawrence & Houseworth sponsored a photographic expedition into the Sierra Nevada mountains, Yosemite, and the Sequoia Big Trees in 1864. There is evidence that both Charles Weed and Alfred Hart were among the expedition members.'-' A stereograph published in 1866 by Lawrence & Houseworth clearly shows 'ALFRED HART NY' carved in a section of the Sequoia Big Tree in Calaveras County and demonstrates Hart's presence in the area about the time of the Lawrence & Houseworth expedition. 16 Variants of photographs published by Alfred Hart of Yosemite and the Big Trees can be found in Lawrence & Houseworth negative stock, but the strongest evidence of Hart's early work for the firm is in the CPRR photographs.

Sixteen negatives from the CPRR series were first published by Lawrence & Houseworth, and 15 of them were later sold to the CPRR by the firm .3' These photographs were among the almost 1000 negatives that were added to the firm's sales catalogue after the 1864 photographic expedition through California. When they were incorported into the CPRR series, the negatives were credited to Alfred Hart.

The stylistic evidence of the same unusual camera viewpoint, used on three different occasions, supports this attribution; (figures 10 and I I are examples). In both of these views the photographer placed his camera and tripod on the cab of the locomotive. This gave the viewer, especially when seen in the three dimensionality of the stereoscope, a sense of the onrushing speed of the locomotive. There are also clear examples of later photographs first pubished by Alfred Hart for the CPRR and later re-published by Lawrence & Houseworth without credit to the cameraman.

170. Cement Ridge, Old Man Mountain in distance (figures 12 and 13) was published by Hart in two different versions. The location and composition are similar, but in figure 13 the camera is set farther away from the locomotive and the scene includes two men on top of the box cars. Shortly after its publication by Hart the first negative was sold to the CPRR and the second to Lawrence & Houseworth who retitled it: 1266. Cement Ridge near Crystal Lake, on the Central Pacific Railroad. Old Man Mountain in the distance.

There are variants of photographs in the CPRR series that were never published by Hart, but were sold directly to Lawrence and Houseworth. 1098. Grading the Central Pacific Railroad - Sailor's Spur and Fill, 12 miles above Alta, Placer Co. (figure 14) is compositionally and iconographically similar to Hart's published photograph of the same subject, 90. Bank and Cut at Sailor's Spur. 80 miles from Sacramento (figure 15). In fact, they appear to have been photographed within minutes of each other and share a similar concern for composition. In both images a branchless tree separates the railway graders who struggle, ant-like, to fill a gap in the side of the mountain. Both images provide a panoramic viewpoint that places the construction in its environmental context.

Alfred Hart worked for his commercial clients, the CPRR and Lawrence & Houseworth, at the same time. His primary allegiance seems to have been to judge Crocker and the CPRR, but Hart also sold nearly identical views to Lawrence & Houseworth. Interestingly, the CPRR did not object to this practise, only insisting on the right of first selection. It is possible that in the first years of Hart's documentation they may even have encouraged this duplication, viewing it as increased publicity.

Apart from working for two different corporate employers, Hart also pursued small private commissions. He travelled in a wagon specially built for photography, with dark-room facilities and storage for chemicals and glass plates. Every summer between 1865 and 1868 he rode through the Sierra Nevada mountains taking photographs of the railroad (figure 16) and advertising his skills as a photographer. His 1868 trip over the Sierras can be documented by his newspaper advertisements in that traded on his association with the Railroad. 'Stereoscopic views of the Central Pacific Railroad' read the July headline in the Placer Herald. 18 His August advertisement in the Reno Crescent made even more explicit use of his railroad connection for personal promotion.

ALL ABOARD FOR THE PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY

. . . Come in time, and do not loose (sic) this opportunity of getting a good Photograph of yourself and family, as I shall only remain a few days. No one is expected to receive a picture which does not please them. Call Immediately and see the Stereoscopic views of the Central Pacific Railroad. All pictures at Sacramento prices. Views of residences, etc., executed in a superior manner.39 Hart prospered under this arrangement. In April 1869, as official photographer for the CPRR, he joined the dignitaries aboard CPRR president Leland Stanford's special train to the celebration at Promontory, Utah, of the transcontinental railroad's completion (figure 17). Immediately after his return, Hart sold 21 negatives of the Promontory excursion to the CPRR. In June 1869, he was awarded the first prize at the California State Fair for 'the best uncoloured photograph 140 and he opened a studio that he lavishly advertised in the Sacamento Business Directory." His photo-processing business boomed as the CPRR, undoubtedly anticipating a huge tourist demand, ordered over 7000 stereographic prints between June and October 1869 .42 But by the end of the year this thriving commercial venture ended.

By 1869, Alfred Hart must have been relying increasingly on the CPRR for business. Not only had their purchases been steadily increasing but Thomas Houseworth began to buy negatives from different sources." As a result, when the CPRR commissions ceased, Hart was financially devastated. It is likely, by the way, that this change was a result of the departure of Hart's principal patron, judge E. B. Crocker, from the railroad's Board of Directors. After suffering a stroke in 1869, judge Crocker resigned from the CPRR directorate and without such high-placed patronage, Hart was soon replaced by the boyhood friend of Collis P. Huntington, Carleton E. Watkins." Although Hart's negatives were never again the commercial success of the late 1860s, Watkins continued to sell them under his own name until their destruction in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.45

ALFRED HART'S LATER CAREER

Little is known about Alfred Hart's activities during the years immediately following his departure from the CPRR. During that time he seems to have given up photography, and travelled on the newly opened railroad line." Moving to Denver he opened a studio for painted portraits, as is indicated by an article in the Rocky Mountain News:

Mr. Hart, an artist of merit, late of St. Louis, but who has located in Denver to make it his home, has been here a couple of months, Mr. Hart's specialty is portrait painting. His rooms are over Martin & Nuckolls' store, Larimer Street, where he will be pleased to see our citizens."

He is not listed, however, in the Denver City Directory and in the summer of 1872 moved back to California.

Here he entered a group of paintings in the art competition at the California State Fair. In June 1872, judges at the Fair awarded him the gold medal for portraiture and the first prize for the 'Most Meritorious Exhibition of Paintings' (figure 18). The gold medal for landscape had been awarded earlier to William Keith, but Hart's statement to the judges seems to have convinced them of the merit of his entries. He argued that William Keith's paintings were 'unfinished in many respects' after which he continues by articulating the aesthetic criteria by which he felt paintings should be judged;

Any painting, to be entitled to high rank as a work of art, must not only be finished in the sense that leaves nothing more to be added to its composition in the way of thoroughly elucidating the story intended to be told by the artist. It should tell the story at a glance. It should represent nature in a grand manner in her most beautiful and attractive forms and colours . . . Unity of effect and story are as important to the painter of an epic landscape, and certainly require as much power in the originating mind of the artist who designs and paints it, as is involved in the writing of a drama." His insistence on idealization clearly demonstrates Hart's romantic attitude toward the landscape.

The scarcity of paintings attributed to Hart, however, makes stylistic evaluation difficult. The few examples extant from this period are uneven. Some show a careful rendition of detail (figure 19) and provide evidence of his skill as a painter; others appear hastily painted, broad brush strokes of colour barely covering the raw canvas. It is possible that these latter products are the result of commercial demands for quick, cheap landscape paintings.49 Given Hart's limner background, and specialization in portraiture, he was hardly the man to succeed In a facile commercial style, however. We know that Hart's medal brought him little financial success and reviews of his work were mixed.

During the 1872 to 1878 period, Alfred Hart lived in San Francisco and annually exhibited at the San Francisco Art Association as well as in commercial galleries. He continued to exhibit narrative tableaux but it appears his limner painting style was poorly suited to the rendition of the human body. One critic for the San Francisco Newsletter commented:

At Snow & Roos' (San Francisco) gallery there is a picture of 'The First Temptation', by Mr. Hart, which has completed our conversion to the Darwinian theory . . . We can account for the expulsion; such a pair indeed ought not merely to have been expelled from the garden - they should have been strangled ere the deed was perpetrated . . . Is this artist aware that the Holy

Book expressly speaks of Adam as created in the image of God? Hart, sin no more! In the good old times, they would have burned you at the stake for such a libel."

His pure landscapes, however, may have been more carefully painted as a San Francisco Chronicle review is more laudatory, calling them:

the product of years of study, toll and observation in half the States of the Union, on hill and plain, in wood and valley, by lake and mountain stream . . . Among the lot are several studies of high Sierra scenery, accurate in outline and warm and sympathetic in colouring . . .51

Hart seems to have enjoyed little commercial success and in May 1875, he auctioned many of his paintings." Soon afterwards he left San Francisco and moved to New York City. Directories both in New York and San Francisco, for the next 25 years most often list Alfred Hart as a landscape and portrait painter. Nevertheless, he retained an interest in photography. In New York City he was a dealer in photographic materials during 1878-1879, and, returning to San Francisco the following year, he was an artist for the photographic firm of Showers and Betancue. In June 1881, he patented a design for a folding magic lantern .53 Seven years later, in January 1888, he patented a process for the reproduction of photographs that required an artist to retouch the projected half-tone negative. 14 Like many pioneer photographers, Alfred Hart's last years appear to have been spent in poverty. He was supported, at least in part, by his daughter, Lillie, and his son, Charles .55 He is last noted in the New York Business Directory of 1905-1906 when, at the age of 89, he appears as 'a publisher of artistic blueprints'. He returned to California and died in the Alameda County Infirmary on 5 March, 1908, 23 days before his ninety-second birthday.

In examining the life of Alfred Hart one gains an appreciation for the economics of early photography. Because it was a commercially exploitable medium, photographs were often controlled by a business organization. This fact makes infinitely more complex the question of artistic authorship. For example, it was the publishing firm of Lawrence & Houseworth, and not a photographer, which was honoured with a bronze medal at the Paris Exposition of 1867. This award, the first international recognition of Western landscape photographs, played an important role in the history of American photography.56 Yet neither George Lawrence nor Thomas Houseworth was the photographer. As we have seen, the photographs in the exhibition, at least most of the 341 stereographs, were largely the work of Alfred Hart." Yet because of the economics of early photography, it was the business organization that was recognized and awarded the medal. As a result, Alfred Hart's influence and artistic talent as a photographer have remained unnoticed. This is one of the great tragedies of Hart's life, a life that undeservedly ended in obscurity*

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to gratefully acknowledge research support from the University of California Regents and the Northern California Locomotive and Railway Association. Many individuals assisted me with my research but in particular I would like to thank: Mr. John L. J. Hart, great grandson of Alfred Hart, for providing me with details regarding his genealogical research; Mrs S. Hart Moore, who painstakingly examined the Hart family papers for references to Alfred Hart; Ms. Pauline Grenbeaux, photohistorian, formerly at the California State Railroad Museum, for sharing a wealth of accumulated research on Alfred Hart; and Mr. Peter Palmquist who provided valuable suggestions and assisted me throughout my research.

REFERENCES AND NOTES

1 . Alfred Hart's middle name is unknown. Although he often used his middle initial, no document lists his full name. Mr. John Hart has suggested it may have been Armstrong, the maiden name of Alfred's mother and the middle name of Alfred's older brother, Oliver.

2. The two main sources for information about Alfred Hart are C. Terrill, 'An Early California Photographer: C. E. Watkins', News Notes of California Libraries, 13 (January 1918), p. 29ff; and W. Naef and J. Wood, Era of Exploration: The Rise of Landscape Photography in the American West, 1860-1885, New York Graphic Society, Boston (1975), p. 45ff.

3. For a discussion of photographic aesthetics in Western landscape photography, see Era of Exploration (note 2).

4, Craftsman and Artists of Norwich, Converse Art Gallery, Norwich, Connecticut (1965) include silver crafted by both Judah and Eliphaz Hart.

5. H. W. French, Art and Artists in Connecticut, Lee & Shepard, Boston (1879), p. 88.

6. An 1876 inventory of the artist's daughter Lillie Hart Stone includes a crayon drawing by Alfred Hart of Judith and Hoifernes (sic) with the note: Medal at Art Academy Exhibition.

7. For a discussion of the success of the daguerreotype in America see R. Rudisill, Mirror Image: The Influence of the Daguerreotype on American Society, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque (1971).

8. The most complete discussion of the moving panorama is found in L. Parry, 'Landscape Theater in America', Art in America, 59 (November/December 1971), p. 53ff.

9. New York Herald (16 October, 1852), p. 7, c. 5. This citation

is courtesy of J. E. Arrington, and found in G. Croce and D. Wallace, New- York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America, Yale University Press, New Haven (1957), p. 296.

10. Biographical information on Morse can be found in: Samuel F B. Morse: Educator and Champion of the Arts in America, National Academy of Design, New York (1982).

11. The photographer of the Union Pacific Railroad, Andrew J. Russell, was also a painter who turned later to photography. Although not as accomplished a painter as Hart, Russell also painted panoramas before turning to photography shortly before the Civil War. (This information courtesy of Ms. Susan Williams, former curator of the Andrew J. Russell Archive at the Oakland Museum and currently at the Doe Library, University of California, Berkeley).

12. For a list of Bartlett's partnerships see F. and M. Rinhart, The American Daguerreotype, University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia (1981), p. 382; and S. Fuller, 'Checklist of Connecticut Photographers, by Town: 1839-1889', Connecticut Historical Society Bulletin, 47 (Winter 1982), p. 126.

13. Hartford City Directory (1858-1859), p. 293. (Citation courtesy of Pauline Grenbeaux).

14. One extant example of this collaboration is Hart's portrait of Governor Alexander Hamilton Holley currently in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society. The painting does not seem to have the rigid geometry of Hart's earlier portraits. The date of the painting, 1857, corresponds to the beginning of the Bartlett & Hart partnership and the Connecticut Historical Society's accession record of the painting contains a genealogical researcher's note 'enlarged from a photograph'. The location of such a photograph is unknown but a daguerreotype by Bartlett of the Governor's wife, Sarah Coit Day, also in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society, establishes a connection between Governor Holley, Henry Bartlett, and Alfred Hart.

15. The union of the painter and the photographer is discussed in M. A. Root, The Camera and the Pencil, (1864); Reprint: Helios Press, Pawlet, Vermont (1971).

16. Cleveland City Directory (1863-1864), p. 17.

17. Hart's advertisement appeared early in the season just as the snow was melting. See: La Porte Mountain Messenger (20 June, 1863). (Citation courtesy of Mr. Mead Kibbey).

18. Cleveland City Directory (1864-1865), p. 91. The logo on the reverse of many of Hart's early stereographs, 'The World as Seen in California', suggests a commercial outlet outside the State.

19. Mr. John Hart has correspondence that indicates Alfred Hart moved to California alone and was later joined by his son, Charles. Hart's wife and daughters apparently remained in Cleveland, as Baker's Cleveland Directory lists Alfred Hart as a resident until 1869 when the family moved to Denver, Colorado.

20. Stanford University Archives, Leland Stanford Scrapbook A, p. 33.

21. CPRR Voucher Series, Southern Pacific Collection, California

State Railroad Museum, 25 March, 1865, voucher 249. At that time William Dickman was in the employ of the Nahl Brothers, one of whom, Charles Nahl, was one of the finest Western genre painters of the period. (Citation courtesy of Mr. Peter Palmquist). 22. Ibid., 7 July and 31 August, 1865, vouchers 734 and 1507. 23. Ibid., 2 January, 1866, voucher 2. This is the first payment voucher from the CPRR to Alfred Hart for photographic work. From a strictly commercial standpoint the exclusive use of Alfred Hart is puzzling. On 2 January, 1866, the CPRR paid Alfred Hart $5.00 per negative for 32 negatives but on 29 January, 1866, the company bought 15 negatives from Lawrence & Houseworth paying $4.00 per negative. Presumably, one reason they employed Hart was because he charged them $2.50 for finished prints, $1.00 per dozen less than Lawrence & Houseworth. 24. Collis P. Huntington Papers, 1856-1901, California State Railroad Museum, (Microfilm), 2 August, 1867, E. B. Crocker to Collis P. Huntington. 25. Ibid., 23 August, 1867, Collis P. Huntington to E. B. Crocker. Huntington's reference is to the two competing New York illustrated weekly magazines: Harper's Weekly and Leslie's Illustrated Weekly. 26. CPRR Voucher Series, (see note 21), 30 December, 1867, voucher 1354. My efforts to locate a copy of the San Francisco Sunday Mercury have been unsuccessful. 27. Collis P. Huntington Papers, (see note 24), 2 August, 1867, E. B. Crocker to Collis P. Huntington.

28. Evidence of an early edition of the map comes from a catalogue card in the Los Angeles Public Library. The map itself is missing from the collection.

29. For a study specific to this map see P. Palmquist, 'Alfred A. Hart and the Illustrated Traveller's Map of the Central Pacific Railroad', Stereo World, 6 January/February 1980), pp. 14ff. (Citation courtesy of Ms. Pauline Grenbeaux).

30. Hart's book is rare but can be found in the Beinecke Library, Yale University; California Historical Society, San Francisco; Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; and Library of Congress.

The photographs chosen for illustration and the quality of the illustrations vary from one printing to the next. Although widely varying in quality, style, and usage, chromolithography is a printed-colour lithograph in which the image is composed of at least three colours, each applied from a separate stone. For further information see: P. Marzio, The Democratic Art, David Godine, Boston (1979).

31. For example: H. T. Williams, The Pacific Tourist, New York (1879).

32. La Porte Mountain Messenger (June, 1863). This is the same month that Alfred Hart advertised his services in the newspaper. (Citation courtesy of Mr. Mead Kibbey).

33. P. Palmquist, 'California's Peripatetic Photographer: Charles Leander Weed', California History, 58 (Fall 1979), p. 207ff.

34. P. Palmquist, Lawrence & Houseworth/ Thomas Houseworth.- A Unique View of the West, National Stereoscopic Association, Columbus, Ohio (1980), p. 42, note 24.

35. For a treatment of the evidence regarding Weed's participation on the expedition see: Ibid., p. 13.

36. See: 910[a] Section of the Original Big Tree, Near view, Mammoth Grove, Calaveras County. (Information courtesy of Mr. Paul Hickman, University of New Mexico).

37. When incorported into the Hart CPRR Series they were

numbered 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 50, 65, 134, 135, 137, 139, 143, 145, 148. These rare examples can be found in the collections of the Stanford University Archives and the California State Library. 38. Placer Herald (4 July, 1868), p. 3, c. 1. 39. Reno Crescent (I August, 1868), p. 2, c. 3.

40. Transactions of the California State Agricultural Society (1869), p. 206.

41. Sacramento Business Directory (1870), p. 159.

42. CPRR Voucher Series, (see note 21).

43. When George Lawrence retired in 1868, Thomas Houseworth assumed full control of the business. In the face of increasing competition, Houseworth committed himself and his financial resources fully to maintaining the firm's

preeminent position in photo- publishing. To do this he employed several photographers in place of the one or two the firm had previously used. See: Lawrence & Houseworth, (see note 34), p. 29f.

44. The first mention of Carleton Watkins in the Central Pacific voucher series is on 31 October, 1870. This is not in payment for photographic work, however, but an advance of 50 dollars. CPRR Voucher Series, (see note 21), 31 October, 1870, voucher 963. The CPRRs first purchase of photographs from Watkins was in March 1871.

45. Although he incorrectly asserts that Watkins bought the negatives from Hart, Charles Terrill mentions Watkins' control of the negatives, and subsequent destruction of Watkins' studio (see note 2). This information is updated in P. Palmquist, Carleton E. Watkins: Photographer of the American West, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque (1983), p. 36, 47f.

46. Hart is noted as travelling west through Omaha, Nebraska on the transcontinental railroad on 3 October, 1870. See: L. Rasmussen, Ship and Rail Series, Colma, California (n. d.), p. 43.

47. Rocky Mountain News (8 September, 1869), p. 3, c.2.

48. Transactions of the California State Agricultural Society (1872), p. 175f. (Citation courtesy of Ms. Pauline Grenbeaux).

49. A discussion of the painting of quick, inexpensive paintings in the West can be found in D. Miller, California Landscape Painting, 1860-1885: Artists Around Keith and Hill, Stanford University Art Gallery, Palo Alto (1975), p. 22ff.

50. San Francisco and California Advertiser (18 October, 1873), p. 4, c. 2. 51. San Francisco Chronicle (25 May, 1875), p. 3, c. 8.

52. An article the day following the sale commented: 'The sale of Alfred Hart's paintings at Newhall & Co. yesterday was not as well attended nor as successful as it should have been, considering the general merit of the collection. The aggregate amount of money realized was $1,350'. (San Francisco Chronicle, 27 May, 1875, p. 3, c. 4).

53. Alfred Hart, Letters Patent No. 242,823 (14 June, 1881), p. 1. (Citation courtesy of Mr. John L. J. Hart). 54. Alfred Hart, Letters Patent No. 376,802 (24 January, 1888), p. I (Citation courtesy of Mr. John L. J. Hart).

55. Personal correspondence, Charles N. Hart to Lillie Hart Stone, 18 December, 1888, and 14 December, 1904. (Citation courtesy of Mrs. S. Hart Moore).

56. The importance of this award in the history of Western landscape photography is discussed in Era of Exploration, (see note 2), p. 35.

57. For a discussion of the exhibit and a listing of the subject matter of the stereographs see: Lawrence & Houseworth, (see note 34), p. 27.

Figure 1. Alfred A. Hart, 357. The Rival Monarchs. Scene at Promontory Point 10 May, 1869, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 in. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California

Figure 2. Unknown, Portrait of Alfred A. Hart, c. 1845, Sixth plate daguerreotype, 7 x 8.3 cm. (Colorado Historical Society, Jerome Family Collection, Denver, Colorado)

Figure 3. Alfred Hart, Miss Martha Kendrick, c. 1844, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 63.5 cm. (The Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut)

Figure 4. Alfred Hart, Miss Katherine Kendrick, c. 1844, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 63.5 cm. (The Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, Connecticut)

Figure 5. Diagram of the machinery for John Banvard's "Moving Panorama of the Mississippi", from Scientific American (16 December, 1848)

Figure 6. Advertisement from La Porte Mountain Messenger (18 July, 1863)

Figure 7. Alfred Hart, 167. Emigrant Gap, Looking East, Yuba Mountains in Distance (detail), Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 8. Alfred Hart, 70. Blasting at Chalk Buffs above Alta, Cut 60 feet deep, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 9. Alfred Hart, 339. Alcove in Palisades, Ten Mile Canyon, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 10. Alfred Hart, 137. Bound for the Mountains, 12 Mile Tangent - 3 Miles from Sacramento, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x l0.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 11. Alfred Hart, 56. Rounding Cape Horn. Road to Iowa Hill from the River, in the Distance, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 12. Alfred Hart, 170. Cement Ridge, Old Man Mountain in Distance, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 13. Alfred Hart, 170. Cement Ridge, Old Man Mountain in Distance, (illustrated) Half-stereo c. 7.5 x 7.7 cm. (image) (Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California).

When published by Lawrence & Houseworth retitled, 1266. Cement Ridge Near Crystal Lake, on the Central Pacific Railroad. Old Man Mountain in the Distance, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10. 3 cm. (Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California)

Figure 14. Lawrence & Houseworth, 1098. Grading the Central Pacific Railroad - Sailor's Spur and Fill, 12 Miles above Alto, Placer Co., Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California)

Figure 15. Alfred Hart, 90. Bank and Cut at Sailor's Spur. 80 Miles from Sacramento, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 16. Alfred Hart, 120. Scene near Summit Tunnel, Eastern Slope of Western Summit, Half-stereo c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California)

Figure 17. Alfred Hart, 357. The Last Rail is Laid. Promontory Point, Utah May 10, 1869, Half-stereo, c. 7.9 x 10.3 cm. (Stanford University Archives, Palo Alto, California). Leland Stanford, the President of the CPRR stands in the centre of the photograph, holding the sledge-hammer above his head.

Figure 18. Alfred Hart, Scene from 'The Deerslayer', 1866, oil on canvas, 75.5 x 62.5 cm. (Private Collection)