"Just out of the Colorado Mines"

Two (2) historically significant pair of CDVs chronicling the celebrated 1865 transcontinental tour led by Speaker of the House (and future Vice President) Schuyler Colfax, accompanied by prominent newspapermen and civic leaders Samuel Bowles and Albert D. Richardson of the New York Tribune. The tour aimed to assess the resources, mining industries, and feasibility of the Pacific Railroad in the immediate wake of the Civil War.

Views include: 

1. Colfax, Otis, and Bowles. Just out of the Colorado Mines. Uncredited. Period ink inscription supplies the title. 

Full-length group portrait of Speaker of the House Schuyler Colfax, Lt. Governor Charles A. Otis of Illinois, and Samuel Bowles (editor of the Springfield Republican), posed in rough miners' garb directly following their subterranean tour of Colorado gold mines. 

2. [Colfax Expedition Party in Formal Attire.] San Francisco, California: William Shew, 1865. Shew's imprint to verso. 

Full-length group portrait depicting the four distinguished gentlemen of the party sharply attired in formal frock suits.

[Schuyler Colfax, Samuel Bowles, Charles Otis, Colorado Gold Rush, Mining History, Central City Colorado, Transcontinental Railroad, Western Expansion, San Francisco California, 1865 Overland Tour, American West] [Photography, Early Photography, Historic Photography, Carte-de-Visite, CDV, Albumen Photographs, William Shew, California Photographers]

Very good condition overall. The first CDV shows strong contrast and dark tones with minor handling wear and a neatly preserved contemporary inscription along the lower margin. The Shew CDV features deep, even tones, sharp clarity, and a solid mount with a slight rough trim along the left edge not affecting the image.