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Issac G. Davidson photographs, approximately 1880-1888

Overview of the Collection

Photographer

Davidson, Issac Grundy

Title

Issac G. Davidson photographs

Dates

approximately 1880-1888 (inclusive)

Quantity

83 photographic prints (2 boxes) ; various sizes

Collection Number

PH0332

Summary

Photographs of Tacoma, views along the Columbia River, and views along the route of the Northern Pacific Railway over Stampede Pass between Pasco and Tacoma, circa 1880-1888.

Repository

University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu

Access Restrictions

Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages

English

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Biographical Note

Issac Grundy Davidson was born in Warren County, Illinois, in 1845. His family moved to Oregon in 1850 and soon he was trained in farming and bookkeeping for a printing business. Soon after in 1869, Davidson married into the pioneering family of D.L. Riggs from Salem, Oregon by marrying his daughter, Sarah O. Riggs. The Riggs family traveled to Oregon in 1853 and were well known blacksmiths and machine workers. Davidson began taking photographs around 1880. He had a studio in Portland, Oregon as early as 1883. In 1885, Davidson moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he established a photography business.

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Content Description

The collection contains photographs taken along the route of the Northern Pacific Railway over Stampede Pass between Pasco and Tacoma; Scenes in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River and views in Tacoma.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Three photographs Micahel Maslan 1993; two photographs Michael Fairley; one photograph C.D. Raymond May 21, 1957

Processing Note

Processed by Karma Deki Tshering, 2010; Erin Mettling, 2012; revised by Stefanie Terasaki, 2013.

Item 61a transferred from the Northern Pacific Railroad Collection PHColl 357.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Rooster Rock, Columbia River
  Copy of photo from the book Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 1
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Cape Horn, Columbia River, view of several pinnacles and waterfalls
  Original photo used in book from Oregon Railway and Navigation Co.Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 2
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Multnomah Falls, Oregon
  
  Copy of photo from the book from Oregon Railway and Navigation Co.Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in Oregon.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 3
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Castle Rock, Columbia River
  Copy of photo from the book Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 4
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Passage of the Dalles, Columbia River
  Copy of photo from the book Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 5
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: View from Upper Cascades, Columbia River
  Copy of photo from the book Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 6
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Davidson's Advertisement for Oregon and Washington landscape view photography
  Copy of advertisement from the book Oregon Railway and Navigation Co.Summer Saunterings, 1882.
  
  Dates: circa 1800s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 7
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Oregon Railway train between The Needles rock formation
  Photograph is similar to ones used inSummer Saunterings.
  
  Dates: 1882
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 8
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
- Description: Officer's quarters, Fort Stevens, Oregon
  
  Dates: undated
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/1, Item 9
  
  Location: Oregon and the Columbia River
Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887

The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that was operational from the Pacific Coast to Minnesota. Construction on the railroad started in 1870 and Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington was selected as the western terminus on July 14, 1873. By 1883 the main rail line connecting Minnesota and Portland, Oregon was completed with further planned connections underway. In 1884 after much financial struggle including the bankruptcy of the Railway's then president, Henry Villard, a connection was built between Tacoma and Seattle. The new line was poorly built and did not provide adequate service and by 1887 Seattle was determined as the new terminus for the Railway.
- Description: Tracks and entrance to Stampede Pass tunnel
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 10
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 11
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Two men on railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 12
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Group of nine men on railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 13
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Men standing on large railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 14
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Mostly finished railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 15
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Train cars on snow covered tracks
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 16
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle on hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 17
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle in winter
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/2, Item 18-19
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Man sitting on railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 20
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle in the snow
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 21-22
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Man sitting on tracks
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 23
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Train on trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 24
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Two men standing on very large railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 25
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
- Description: Switchback tracks on hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/3, Item 26
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887
Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Trestle over Green River Gorge
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 27
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Six men on railroad bridge
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 28
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railroad bridge over river
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 29
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Train on bridges above a camp
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 30
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Men with handcar on railroad trestle along hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 31
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railroad trestle and cars of the Northern Pacific Railway
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 32
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle along hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 33
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Two men standing on handcar on railroad trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 34
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle along hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/4, Item 35
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Five men around a handcar on a railway trestle near bridge
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/5, Item 36
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/5, Item 37-42
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Five men on railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 43
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 44
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Five men standing on railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 45
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 46-47
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle over river
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 48
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Bridge in Yakima County
  Caption on photo: 5" Xing [crossing] Yakima.
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/6, Item 49
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/1, Item 50-51
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle over river
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/1, Item 52
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/1, Item 53-55
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle over river
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/1, Item 56
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railway trestle on hillside
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/1, Item 57
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Railroad flatcars carrying ore on trestle
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/2, Item 58
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Trestle over gulley in cleared forest
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/2, Item 59
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Short trestle in cleared forest
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/2, Item 60
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Man on a rail bike on a trestle, route of the Northern Pacific Railway
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/2, Item 61
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
- Description: Group of men standing on trestle, Cascade Division
  Written on front: Last Spike. Edgar Wickersham, water man.
  
  Dates: 1886
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/2, Item 61a
  
  Location: Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887
Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Building near Stampede Pass Tunnel
  Stampede Pass is in the Cascade Range and was discovered in 1881 by Virgil Bogue. The Northern Pacific Railroad created the Northern Pacific Cascade Division and handled the Stampede Pass Tunnel that was completed in 1888 and was 1.86 miles long. The completion of the tunnel allowed for a connection through the Cascades from Yakima to Tacoma.
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 62
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Waterfall at Stampede Pass, east end tunnel
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 63
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Men on railroad, Stampede Pass
  Written on verso: "Last spike"
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 64
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Men standing on porch of building
  
  Written on photo: Headquarters, Eagle Gorge
  
  Eagle Gorge in the Cascades was discovered and named during the explorations of Green River and Stampede Pass by the Northern Pacific Railway Company.
  
  Dates: January 1, 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 65
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Materials yard, Eagle Gorge
  
  Dates: January 1, 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 66
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Men and women outside a log building
  
  Dates: circa 1887
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 67
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Man next to ore cart on tracks
  Written on verso: Unidentified metals mine, probably eastern Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1889-1890
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 68
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Men, women, and horses around a building mine
  Written on verso: Unidentified metals mine, probably eastern Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1889-1890
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 69
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
- Description: Men and children posed in front of building
  Written on verso: Unidentified metals mine, probably eastern Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1889-1890
  
  Container: Box/Folder 2/3, Item 70
  
  Location: Railroad Camp, circa 1887
Washington
- Description: Photograph of a drawing of front and side of the Tacoma Hotel, Tacoma, Washington
  The Tacoma Hotel was designed by Stanford White, an architect from New York and built in 1884. It was positioned over Commencement Bay and had views of Mount Rainier. In 1935 the Hotel was burned down by a fire.
  
  Dates: circa 1888
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 71
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Photograph of a drawing of rear view of Tacoma Hotel with boats and dock, Tacoma, Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1888
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 72
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Panorama of Tacoma, Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1800s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 73
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Mount Rainier from Tacoma, Washington
  
  Dates: circa 1800s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 74-75
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Lumber yard at the Utsalady Mill
  Written on photo: P.M. Co. Utsalady Mills Puget Sound Aug 9-13th 1883
  
  Dates: August 9-13, 1883
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 76
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Men and a woman outside a log cabin, N.B, Turner's home
  Written on verso: Cascade Tunnel, Washington Territory, N.B. Turner's Residence
  
  Dates: circa 1880s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 77
  
  Location: Washington
- Description: Interior of bank
  
  Dates: circa 1880s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/7, Item 78
  
  Location: Washington
People
- Description: Sports team
  
  Dates: circa 1880s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/8, Item 79
  
  Location: People
- Description: Reverend Myron Eels
  Myron Eels was born to pioneer missionaries Cushing and Myra Eels in 1843 in Spokane, Washington. Myron Eels father, Cushing Eels worked to create Whitman College in 1859. In 1871 Myron attended Hartford Theological Seminary in Connecticut and by 1874 he was working as a missionary on the Skokomish Reservation. He is known for his extensive research into the histories of the Pacific Northwest and its peoples.
  
  Dates: circa 1880s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/8, Item 80
  
  Location: People
- Description: Portrait of a man
  
  Dates: circa 1880s
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/8, Item 81
  
  Location: People
- Description: Portrait of a man
  
  Dates: between 1883 and 1885
  
  Container: Box/Folder 1/8, Item 82
  
  Location: People

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Issac G. Davidson photographs, approximately 1880-1888

Table of Contents

Overview of the Collection

Biographical Note

Content Description

Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Restrictions on Use

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Processing Note

Detailed Description of the Collection

Oregon and the Columbia River

Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, winter, circa 1887

Northern Pacific Railway, Washington, summer, circa 1887

Railroad Camp, circa 1887

Washington

People

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms