This dramatic image of the Grand Canyon was apparently taken in April of 1872, at a time when many easterners were still scoffing at the verbal descriptions of the West as gross exaggerations. Barely visible in the distance, a man is seated at the very edge of one of the upper ledges of the nearest cliff on the left. The Colorado River snakes its way far below, and disappears around a bend. As far as the eye can see are rocks, rock cliffs, rock mountains, rocky plains, with only the lone person seated in the distance giving any evidence of life.

That person is John K Hillers (1843-1925), who was to become one of the most important photographers of the American West. This photo was taken on John Wesley Powell’s second expedition through the Grand Canyon. Hillers had been hired to help row one of the boats, but he became interested in the work being done by the expedition photographer E O Beaman. In January 1872 Powell fired Beaman, and his place was taken by his assistant, James Fennemore, who took this picture. Hillers became Fennemore’s assistant and learned the mechanics of wielding the large plate camera and developing the glass negatives. By the summer of 1872 Fennemore became too ill to continue, and Hillers took over, beginning his distinguished career in photography. Some of our future posts will feature his portraits of Native Americans.