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Kirby,WY - Hot Springs County - c1895 - Locomotive Photograph :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
Kirby,WY - Hot Springs County - c1895 - Locomotive Photograph :
Cabinet card of a locomotive followed by three passenger cars, stopped on the tracks; with engineers, railroad workers, passengers, and two young boys on horseback posing nearby. The photo measures 7" x 5" with a very narrow border, mounted on a dark matte measuring 9" x 7". The contrast is high, while the focus is good. There are several small spots and several lightly colored lines on the image, otherwise very fine. The matte has very slightly worn areas on each corner, with a water spot noted on the lower left corner. "Photo by C.E. Welch, Worland WYO" appears near the bottom of the image, while "The First Train through the Big Horn Basin to Kirby Wyo" is handwritten in pencil on reverse. Lt. Henry Maynadier was the first official representative of the US Government to explore the Bighorn Basin in 1860, while the discovery of gold in Montana in 1863 resulted in a large influx of people. By 1864 two trails connected the Oregon Trail with the Montana gold fields: the Bozeman and Bridger Trails. While the Bozeman Trail skirted the Big Horn basin to the east and north, the Bridger Trail ran north through the Basin. Increased settlement of the Bighorn Basin occurred following the building of the railroad. After the Basin was reached by railroad in the late 1800s, an intensive campaign was begun to attract settlers. Despite warnings that the quarter section plots could not be successfully cultivated, dry land farming, cattle and sheep ranching became major industries during the late 1880s and early 1890s. Coal mining began in the Bighorn Basin around 1902 after the establishment of mines in Elk Basin and Oregon Basin; notably the Schoob Mine, which later became the Wiley Mine [Ref: blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Cody].