C.R. Savage
1869
Dale Creek Iron Viaduct, Promontory, Utah

Albumen print
23 x 28.4 cm
 
Bassenge Photography Auctions
Auction (17 June 2009, Sale 93, Lot 4270)
 
Title and photographer's name in the negative in lower right coner, mounted to board (slight traces of use). As a photographer under contract with the Union Pacific Railroad, Charles R. Savage traveled to California in 1866 and then followed the rails back to Utah. He photographed the linking of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific on Promontory Summit, at Promontory, Utah in 1869. He joined two other famous photographers, Andrew J. Russell and Alfred A. Hart, in documenting this historic event and this series is considered his most famous work. Savage also photographed scenic areas of the west including Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, and created many images documenting the growth of Utah towns and cities. He also traveled extensively over western North America, taking pictures in areas of Canada and Mexico, and in areas from the Pacific Ocean to Nebraska in the mid-west. Most of Savage's archived photographs, produced by several different early photographic methods, were lost in 1883 in a disastrous studio fire.
 
LL/32473