Loading

In 1862 an Indiana state representative observed that the transcontinental railway " . . . could never be constructed on terms applicable to ordinary roads . . . It is to be constructed through almost impassible mountains, deep ravines, canyons, gorges, and over arid and sandy plains . . . " This photograph of the American River's precipitous canyon illustrates the accuracy of those words. A team of nearly seven thousand men, mostly Chinese, was required to blast and cut the curving roadbed along this three-mile path. To place the blasting powder and light the fuses, men were lowered in chairs or baskets, after which they yelled to a man above to haul them up. Hugging the Cape Horn mountainside, this train paused momentarily with a number of brave men standing on top of its boxcars, overlooking the cavernous gorge some twelve to twenty-two hundred feet below. Trains passing through Cape Horn often stopped so tourists could get out of their cars and gaze at this awe-inspiring gorge and grade.

Details

  • Title: [Cape Horn, C.P.R.R.]
  • Creator: Carleton Watkins
  • Date Created: about 1878 - 1885
  • Physical Dimensions: 20.8 × 30.5 cm (8 3/16 × 12 in.)
  • Type: Print
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Albumen silver print
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 94.XA.113.23
  • Culture: American
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Gift in memory of Leona Naef Merrill and in honor of her sister, Gladys Porterfield
  • Creator Display Name: Carleton Watkins (American, 1829 - 1916)
  • Classification: Photographs (Visual Works)

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps