Alexander Gardner was one of the preeminent U.S. photographers during and after the Civil War. He owned a studio in Washington D.C. The British Boundary Commission was one of the groups conducting the northwest boundary survey, following the settlement of the U.S./Britain northwest border in 1946 as the 49th parallel.
Five 8.5"x7" mounted second-generation photographic prints of historic northwest settlements. All are labeled but undated. Two are of Fort Colville, two of Fort Vancouver, and one of the Kootenay Mission. All bear common branding: "A. Gardner, Photographer. 511 Seventh Street, Washington. Published by Philp & Solomons, Washington." However, these second-generation images, photographs taken of photographs. The original images were British Boundary Commission photographs (ca. 1860-1861); those images were later photographed by Gardner on behalf of the British and American Joint Commission for the Final Settlement of the Claims of the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural Companies, which was investigating claims submitted in 1865 by those companies for losses suffered in relinquishing their rights below the U.S. - British border.
The five images are in their original order, as identified by lettering. Titling below is taken verbatim from the mounts. H.B. Co. abbreviates "Hudson's Bay Company's," while B.B. Commission is "British Boundary Commission."
This collection is open and available for research use.
[Item description] Alexander Gardner Photographs of British Boundary Commission Photographs, 1821-1882 (PC 96)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
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