Photographer Timothy H. O’Sullivan is perhaps best known for his photos of the Civil War, which include his famous “Harvest of Death” photo. But after covering the war, O’Sullivan decided to strike out West, and when he came back, he brought with him some of the earliest photos of the (quite literally) “wild” American West.
O’Sullivan’s explorations of the American West were done as part of different US Government-funded expeditions. Between 1867 and 1869, he was part of the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel led by Clarence King.
Afterwards, in 1870, he joined a survey team in Panama to survey for a canal across the isthmus, and then spent 1871 to 1874 in the southwestern United States, surveying west of the 100th meridian West under Lt. George M. Wheeler.
The south side of Inscription Rock (now El Morro National Monument), in New Mexico. Taken in 1873
Shoshone Falls, near present-day Twin Falls, Idaho. Taken in 1868.
Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Taken in 1868.
Water Rhyolites, near Logan Springs, Nevada. Taken in 1871.
Aboriginal life among the Navajo Indians. Taken near old Fort Defiance, New Mexico, in 1873.
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