Cross-Country Travel in the 1800s – by Donna Schlachter – with giveaway

 

We take a lot for granted today when we hop in our car or line up at the airport or consider taking a train across the country. Not only did travel in the 1800s take tens or hundreds of times longer than today, it was far more dangerous, expensive in relation to the cost of living, and uncomfortable.

Regardless of the mode of travel, just about every trip could prove deadly. From runaway horses to buffalo blocking the rail line, to your ship sinking in a storm or your canoe or barge sinking in a flash flood, your arrival was never a done deal.

But the 1800s were a time of immense progress, and the tales of rich soil and forests and gold fields west of the Mississippi lured many. In fact, many of those tales were fabricated by men who’d never even been west of the Old Man River.

 

Photo Courtesy of Donna Schlachter

Expansion to the west began primarily by settlers following in the tracks of previous explorers, hunters, and trackers. Employing covered wagons, these settlers left most of their lives behind, trading it for a pair or two of oxen or mules, a wagon, and enough supplies to last for several months. Prices for food, clothing, and wagon parts were inflated along the trail because mercantiles and way stations knew they had little competition. But fording rivers, dysentery, and attacks from Indians killed many. It’s said that there is a body buried every mile along the Oregon Trail.

Other dangers included horses stampeding, hunger, getting caught in an early storm in the mountains, losing the trail and perishing from hunger, not packing enough water to cross the desert, along with animal attacks, snake bites, and the various maladies that come along, including appendicitis, broken limbs, and childbirth.

Westward travelers typically left from one of three points: Independence, MO; Saint Joseph, MO; or Council Bluffs, IA. The trails from these cities converged in central Nebraska, following the local rivers across Nebraska and Wyoming. On the western side of the Continental Divide, the Mormon Trail led to Salt Like City, while the Oregon-California Trail took settlers to Idaho. Journeys usually left in the spring to avoid winter storms, but often an early storm caught travelers unawares.

While the Oregon Trail was one of the best-known roads—if it were to be called such—the Cumberland Road transformed the country around the turn of the 1800s. It was the first road funded by the federal government, and it took decades to complete. By 1825, the road was celebrated in song, story, painting, and poetry. It ran from Cumberland, Maryland and terminated in Vandalia, Illinois. While we wouldn’t consider it cross-country today, it crossed the known union of the time.

From Wikipedia Common Files

Traveling by steamboat was usually much more pleasant, unless you ran aground, as Mark Twain did. Steamboats were popular passage on the Mississippi, although there were other routes, as well, such as Providence to New York. Sailing on the seaward side, strong gales often threatened passengers and ships alike.

From Wikipedia Common Files

Canals were thought to be the next best thing. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, reduced the time it took to get from New York to Chicago in half, plus it was much more comfortable than riding in a carriage on a gravel or unpaved road.

One comment often made about the ships was that the food was excellent, even compared to the finest of hotels. However, while the cruise sounds luxurious, calm, and filled with good food, not all was well. In some cases, the bridges were so low that folks had to lay flat on the deck to avoid being decapitated.

From Wikipedia Common Files

Railroad passenger travel has almost disappeared today due to other faster modes of transportation, but in 1812, it was still a dream that passengers could travel almost as fast as a bird (15-20 miles an hour). With speeds like that, they could set out from Washington in the morning, breakfast in Baltimore, midday meal in Philadelphia, and supper in New York the same day.

In 1827, the first thirteen miles of track opened, and because there was a lot of money to be made, expansion happened quickly. However, with no government oversight and substandard construction, train derailments happened often and people died.

Westward expansion of the railroad was slow to catch on, however, mostly because of the Rocky Mountains. Laying rail along that path seemed a fool’s errand. Instead, individual local railroads cropped up, unconnected or duplicative. With the local expansion of railroads, technically, track only needed to be laid between Nebraska and California. Now folks could travel from one end of the country to the other in less than four days, so long as there were no washouts, bison or cattle herds blocking the rail, deep snow, floods…

Passengers asserted that the train seating was far more comfortable than a stagecoach, a covered wagon, or a horse.

 

From Wikipedia Common Files

Prior to land crossings, the only way to get from one coast to the other was via a ship southward, around Cape Horn, then north, for the better part of a year. Being on the sea for an extended time like that increased your chances of falling ill or getting injured or even dying. Re-supplying along the way meant opportunities to run amuck of the local natives, who were often distrustful of white people.

  

In my book, Tina, we find an orphaned young woman who lives in a covered wagon in Loveland, Colorado, who is left in charge of her younger sisters. She must earn money to feed and house them, but when she falls victim to danger, what will she do? You can check out the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Tina-Prairie-Roses-Collection-2023-ebook/dp/B0BWGKGYTL  and the series here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R8DSMB4?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1680033081

 

 

 

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She also coaches writers at any stage of their manuscript. Learn more at www.donnaschlachter.com/Tapestry

 

 

 

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Resources:

Grunge https://www.grunge.com/667139/what-it-was-really-like-to-travel-across-the-us-in-the-1800s/

http://gdc.gale.com/archivesunbound/

 

 

 

City of Bayous

Houston, Texas

Although I born in and grew up in Dallas, Texas, I came to Houston at the age of 21 in June of 1957 right after graduation from Baylor University. Since that time I have been fascinated by the history of this city that isn't on the Gulf, but still has a large shipping port at Port Houston on the Houston Ship Channel.

One hundred and twenty years before that Augustus and John Allen founded the city at the junction of Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou in 1837. The brothers had traveled about East Texas looking for land to acquire and develop, and finally decided on the flat prairie along the two bayous as their choice. The brothers purchased the land in 1836 for $10,000 from Elizabeth Parrot. The land encompassed 1247 acres.

In May of 1837, the Texas Congress met for the first time in Houston with the town designated as the Capital of Texas. This is drawing of the building that was constructed to serve as the Capitol Building.

However, in January of 1840, the congress voted to move the capital to Austin where it remains today.    

Houston became known as a wild and wooly town and faced financial difficulties as well as an outbreak of yellow fever that drained the town. A large group of citizens made it their goal to gain some type of order. Just two weeks after the capital moved, congress voted and Mirabeau B. Lamar signed for the town to establish a Chamber of Congress which then began a clean-up that allowed the town to grow in a little more orderly fashion.  

When the first steamship visited the port in December of 1837, the town had only twelve residents. A few months later, 1,500 people had arrived and 100 houses comprised the town. This picture came later as the port grew and became a busy port for the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston was a part of the independent nation of Texas until it was formally annexed as a state in 1846. Then, in addition to the port activity, the town began railroad development. Houston still grew as more people headed toward the coast. By the 1860's the town began to have the look of a city as multi-storied buildings were built along Main Street. This how Houston looked at that time just before the Civil War.

Railroad development ceased as the nation entered the Civil War. Houston then served the Confederacy as a regional military logistics center. 

Houston still grew as more people headed toward the frontier and then the coast. During reconstruction in 1869, the Ship Channel Company was formed to deepen Buffalo Bayou and make it easier for ships to access the port. Despite the unrest, Texas businessmen joined together to develop the railroad system. At the same time the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and El Paso were being built up and expanded.

Houston continued to grow after it was readmitted to the Union. Freedman opened businesses and worked for wages under contract, the Freedman's Bureau stepped in and prevented abuse of the contracts. However, despite the rich history of the birth of the state and Houston, African Americans had a hard time voting because of Jim Crow Laws the state enacted to make voting more difficult if not impossible for these citizens. Segregation also became legal across the state.  

Houston in the 1870's

By Augustus Koch (1840-?). - http://www.birdseyeviews.org/zoom.php?city=Houston&year=1873&extra_info=, Public Domain, 

Several significant events took place in Houston. It was the site of the first State Fair of Texas in 1870, but the fair relocated to Dallas in 1878. A new streetcar service conveyed visitors between the fair in "Midtown" and Central Houston. The cars were pulled by mules from 1874 to 1891 when they were switched over to electric streetcars. By the end of the century, at least ten railroads did business in Houston, the Sisters of Charity Hospital had opened its doors, and the Houston Post and Houston Chronicle newspapers had been founded.

Railroad picture By John D. Roberts - Library of Congress

According to the 1900 census, Houston now had a little over 58,000 living in the city. The city continued to grow. Next month I'll write more about the city in the early days of the 20th Century.

Do you still live in or near the city where you were born? If not, how long have you been away and where are you now?

Martha Rogers is a multi-published author and writes a weekly devotional for ACFW. Martha and her husband Rex live in Houston, Texas where they are active members of First Baptist Church. They are the parents of three sons and grandparents to eleven grandchildren and great-grandparents to six. Martha is a retired teacher with twenty-eight years teaching Home Economics and English at the secondary level and eight years teaching Freshman English at the college level. She is a member of ACFW, ACFW WOTS chapter in Houston, and serves as President of the writers’ group, Inspirational Writers Alive. 

All Aboard the Jarrett-Palmer Express

After 1869, when Leland Stanford drove the ceremonial Golden Spike connecting the Union Pacific and Central Pacific rail lines to create the first transcontinental railroad in America, passengers could travel from coast-to-coast by rail. The voyage took approximately one week, at speeds averaging 20 mph.

The week-long trip was incredibly fast for the time, but in 1876, the trip was accomplished--one time only--in just eighty-three hours.

Henry Jarrett & Henry Palmer are the duo responsible for coming up with this amazing event. One might suspect they were in the railroad business, but in fact, they managed a New York theatre company. Eager for a way to promote their troupe, they determined they'd travel to the west coast by rail in four days, where the actors would get off the train and perform Henry V in San Francisco.

It was an incredibly complicated, cooperative effort that required tremendous planning and expense. Naturally, the trip received a good deal of press in the months leading up to the departure--which Jarrett & Palmer must have enjoyed, since tickets to Henry V sold well, too. At last the big day came, and with much fanfare, the train pulled out of the station in Jersey City, New Jersey, on June 1, 1876.

To complete the journey in the four-day time frame, trains would have to move at high speeds, and necessary stops would have to be as short as possible. All the way to California, rail workers ensured as smooth a path as possible, clearing the way of debris and diverting other trains onto side tracks so the Lightning Express could zip by. At every scheduled stop, supplies, water, and coal were ready for quick loading, as were staff, including conductors, brakemen, firemen and engineers. Likewise, the engine was switched out five times to avoid mechanical issues.

The Lightning Express must have caused a great deal of inconvenience for the railroads and passengers on other trains, but if anyone minded, they seem to have been in the minority. Day and night, people lined the tracks to get a gander at the train, and several towns shot off fireworks when it passed. Reportedly, a man's funeral was interrupted by the coming of the train; everyone went to look at it and returned to the church to finish the service afterwards. 

Businesses and agencies got in on the act, too. The New York Times shipped its newspaper to Chicago on the train, Wells Fargo put a safe in the baggage car, and the USPS created a postmark for mail that went on the train. 

Being a passenger on the Lightning Express wasn't the most comfortable experience, however. Traveling at a high rate of speed wasn't as smooth then as it is on modern trains. The jarring and jolting made it difficult to sleep, walk, or cook, so most food was served cold. When passengers did manage to catch a few winks, they awoke to cinders on their faces.

To be a coast-to-coast trip, the passengers took the train as far as it would go, Oakland, California, and boarded a ferry to take them to San Francisco. A mob was waiting, even though the train was twelve hours early.

At last, the passengers arrived in San Francisco. Despite a few difficulties with equipment and weather, the Lightning Express completed the trip in just three days, eleven hours, and 39 minutes--an astounding achievement in technology.

The production of Henry V was a success, too, just as Jarrett & Palmer hoped, but the legacy of the express train known by their names is far more lasting as a mechanical achievement, national source of pride and celebration, and a stepping stone for more efficient travel in America. 

For more, read: The Jarrett-Palmer Express of 1876, Coast to Coast in Eighty-Three Hours, by J. C. Ladenheim, Harvest Books, 2008.

Find on Amazon for more information

GIVEAWAY:

The Jarrett-Palmer Express inspired the train in my new novella, The Honeymoon Express, just released as part of The Rails to Love Collection by Barbour Publishing.

Enter to win a copy of The Rails to Love Collection by expressing interest in the comments and including a way to reach you before 11:59 pm EST Oct 6, 2016. A winner will be announced here on Oct 7. (Sorry, US only, please.)

BIO: Susanne Dietze is the author of nine new and upcoming historical romances. She has a special affection for trains because her father is a railroad enthusiast who pegged the engine on the book cover as being from New Zealand. You can learn more about her on her website at www.susannedietze.com.

Time Zones, Trains, and a Giveaway!

What time is it? Throughout most of history, this question was answered according to the position of the sun. When the sun was overhead, everyone in the village knew it was noon—even before the technological advent of a town clock or pocket watch.

If one traveled, it was understood that an adjustment must be made to one’s personal timepiece.

But when the railroad came along, the times, as they say, started changing. Literally.

From http://www.railswest.com/time/

By the early 1880’s, there were more than 300 time standards in the United States. In addition, each train station set its own time standard, and oftentimes, it didn’t match the local solar time of the town it was in. Even if the time standards did match, published timetables listed dozens of arrival and departure times for the same train, each referencing a different local time zone. The railway station at Chicago boasted multiple "official" clocks, each bearing a different time. Passengers and employees alike were frustrated and confused.

"Great Railway Station of Chicago" around 1880. By Unknown or not provided (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

To keep trains running, a more efficient, uniform system of telling time was required.

The railroad companies were so powerful at this time they could avoid the U.S. and Canadian governments and set their own time standards. They created over a hundred of them. As one can imagine, it didn’t help much.

In 1870, Charles Dowd proposed four time zones for North American railroads, but it wasn't until 1878 that the idea stuck, when a Scottish-born Canadian named Sandford Fleming (1827–1915) developed a system of worldwide time zones. (In addition to being known as the father of standardized time zones, he was a railway engineer, inventor, and the designer of the first Canadian postage stamp! No wonder he was knighted.) 

Sir Sandford Fleming. Public Domain

Fleming proposed the earth's division into 24 time zones, one for each hour of the day, spaced fifteen degrees longitude apart, since the earth spins fifteen degrees every hour.

Fleming’s idea met some resistance. It took five years for U.S. railroad companies to abandon the hundred time zones they'd been using to implement the handful Fleming proposed, but the change became official on November 18, 1883. The continental U.S. was divided into Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones—for railroad purposes, at least. 

1883, Public Domain

Many citizens in both countries followed the new time standards, since railroads were such an important part of their lives. However, not everyone did, and it took another 35 years for the use of Fleming's time zones to become mandatory in the U.S.

Perhaps one reason folks hesitated was a resistance to the tremendous power the railroads held. Others may have assumed the notion wouldn’t stick, or would prove too difficult to observe. After all, condensing 300 local times zones to 4 was no minor undertaking. Nevertheless, all U.S. states complied when Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918. 

Time still fluctuates for us. Time zones shift to form new borders, daylight savings is debated, and we still watch the sun. But next time you hear a train whistle, you’ll know that’s how the time was set.

***

GIVEAWAY!

Railroads and time zones have a part to play in my upcoming novella, One Word from You from the Austen in Austin Volume I Collection, which releases January 15 from White Fire. I’m offering an e-book of the collection to one randomly chosen commenter at the end of the post.

In your comment, share about a train travel experience you've had...or would like to have. I'll tell you one of my favorite train experiences, too! If you share this post on Facebook or Twitter, let me know in the comments and I’ll give you an extra entry—but please include your email address in your comment so I can contact you! Giveaway ends 1/8/16 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

***

Austen in Austin, Volume I

Four Texas-Set Novellas Based on Jane Austen's Novels

Discover four heroines in historical Austin, TX, as they find love--Jane Austen style. Volume 1 includes:

If I Loved You Less by Gina Welborn, based on Emma
A prideful matchmaker examines her own heart when her protégé falls for the wrong suitor.

Romantic Refinements by Anita Mae Draper, based on Sense and Sensibility
A misguided academy graduate spends the summer falling in love . . . twice.

One Word from You by Susanne Dietze, based on Pride and Prejudice
A down-on-her-luck journalist finds the story of her dreams, but her prejudice may cost her true love . . . and her career.

Alarmingly Charming by Debra E. Marvin, based on Northanger Abbey
A timid gothic dime-novel enthusiast tries to solve the mystery of a haunted cemetery and, even more shocking, why two equally charming suitors compete for her attentions.

Each novella is available individually, too.

ABOUT SUSANNE:

Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others. A pastor’s wife and mom of two, she loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. Susanne is the author of five new and upcoming novellas; her newest, One Word From You, is in White Fire’s Austen in Austin Volume I. 

Shipping or Rail: How Small Towns Got Their Goods

Shipping has been one of the most important means of transportation throughout history. Even as far back as ancient times, shipping was used to transport both goods and people, and entire cities developed because of natural harbors and trade routes. Things were much the same when Europeans first settled the United States. Boston and New York both became great cities because they had natural harbors where ships could dock and shelter.

While this might not surprise you about big cities, did you know the same is true of small towns? Whether located on rivers or natural harbors, many towns in the United States and across the globe came into existence do to geography.

This is particularly true of towns along the Great Lakes. A lot of effort and attention was put into laying a railroad that would span from the East Coast to the West Coast after the Civil War. But no such effort was put into connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border. 

Eagle Harbor, Michigan, the town I'm featuring in my new Eagle Harbor Series, was accessible mainly by water. It had a pier where large ships could dock and received all of its imports and exports exclusively through shipping. The railroad didn't come to Eagle Harbor until 1907, and numerous towns similar to Eagle Harbor exist in other places along the Great Lakes. 

Rail was essential for towns that weren't on a river, Great Lake, or ocean. If a town didn't have a port and didn't have a train depot, then sending and receiving goods could be done only through horses and wagons, which severely limited the amount of imports and exports from an area.

Oftentimes short, local railroad lines were laid from coastal towns to villages farther inland. In that respect, many towns relied on a combination of both shipping and rail to get their supplies. Such is true of the old Delaware Mine and Central Mine in Michigan's Copper Country. A local train track ran the five miles from Eagle Harbor's port to the crowded mining town of Central, where over 1,000 people depended on the supplies being shipped to them.

In my newest Eagle Harbor novel, Love's Sure Dawn, I deal with the important role shipping played for towns that would otherwise be completely isolated. My hero is the son of a shipping company owner, and my heroine spends time working as a cook on one of the ships that runs from Eagle Harbor to Chicago. Oftentimes in novels, characters walk into a general store and find fabric, boots, saddles, and the like. It was fun to include a little bit about how all those boots and bolts of fabric got to be in the general store in the first place.

~.~.~.~.~

No matter how hard she tries to help, Rebekah Cummings always ends up causing more problems than she solves. This time, though, things will be different. She'll find a way to pay her family's debts, even if doing so requires leaving Eagle Harbor. Maybe then they'll start treating her as a capable woman who makes her own choices.

Gilbert Sinclair is going to marry an heiress. With his latest business venture sunk at the bottom of Lake Superior, he needs money to replace the steamship he lost, so he heads to Chicago where his father's business connections should land him a suitable wife. Like most things in his meticulously planned life, everything goes as expected—until he discovers Rebekah Cummings working as the new cook on his ship.

Rebekah well remembers the pain she endured the last time she tried trusting Gilbert, and Gilbert can't afford to pursue the love of a working class woman. But they can't stop the forgotten feelings swirling between them--or ignore the sacrifices they'd both have to make for a future together.

Learn more about Naomi and her books at www.naomirawlings.com.

Composite Photography of William Notman

The rapid advancement of photography must have been a wonderful thing to common people in the 19th century. For the fraction of a portrait's price, one could keep a photograph of their loved one close at hand, or even on their person. In North America, photo studios and travelling booths could be found almost anywhere, including most survey crews having a photographer as part of the team.

However, if you wonder why the people in those older photographs look weary and unhappy, it's probably because having a photograph taken was a tedious task which called for long periods of immobility. Body stands and props were needed to maintain stillness while facial muscles strained after minutes of holding a smile.

Scotsman William Notman was an amateur photographer when he emigrated to Canada in 1856. After a short stint working at a dry goods firm, he set up a small studio in Montreal, Quebec. Success soon had him moving into the elegant building next door which allowed rooms for the studio, dressing rooms, art department and processing stations.

Mr. William Notman Sr., Montreal, QC, 1861
 William Notman (1826-1891)

© McCord Museum

William Notman Studio, Montreal, QC, ca 1875
William Notman (1826-1891) 

© McCord Museum

Gaining in popularity at the time was the small carte-de-visite, patented in Paris in 1854, which could be displayed in an album or in a frame as a cabinet-card. Cheaply made, these business card-size photographs were quick to catch on with the general public, but lacked the detail finesse of the daguerreotype. 

Notman's success was due to eschewing the popular daguerreotypes while putting his efforts into the wet collodial process which had been perfected in the 1850's by the Englishman, Frederick Scott Archer. The revolutionary wet collodial process was so technically challenging that a slight timing or chemical error at any step would put the photograph at risk. But once accomplished, and unlike the daguerreotype process, unlimited copies could be printed from the glass negatives, and the resulting photographs could be displayed in whatever size and wherever the owner wanted.

If you're interested in seeing the wet collodial process in action, check out this brief video from the J. Paul Getty Museum about Photography: The Wet Collodial Process.

With the ability to produce larger images while keeping the sharp detail of the daguerreotype, the Grand Trunk Railway commissioned Notman to document the construction of Montreal's Victoria Bridge. (This is the same bridge the train passes beneath in my post, Trains on Ice.)

Portfolio - CANADA EAST, portfolio from the Maple Box, 1859-1960, measuring 76.2 x 91.4 x 5.1 cm (30 x 36 x 2 in) William Notman (1826-1891) © McCord Museum

The above images showing the Victoria Bridge are only a few of the 500 photographs about Canada which Notman collected into one of two special portfolios to be presented as an official gift to Queen Victoria's heir, Albert Edward, HRH the Prince of Wales, upon his 1860 goodwill visit to Canada and the United States. A large maple box contained two leather-bound portfolios, one entitled Canada East, and the other Canada West. Each lavish portfolio measured 76.2 x 91.4 x 5.1 cm (30 x 36 x 2 in) and was held together by a silver clasp. Apparently, Queen Victoria liked the gift so much, she designated Notman, "Photographer to the Queen".

According to the McCord Museum, Notman created a duplicate set which he submitted to the 1862 International Exhibition in London and was awarded a medal for "excellence in an extensive series of photographs." Check the McCord Museum link for images and video of the actual maple box and photograph portfolios.

By 1864, the William Notman Studio had a total of 35 employees, many of which were photographers who had spread out across British North America and into parts of the United States. 

Back when Notman emigrated from Scotland, photographers were already experimenting with composite imagery all over the United Kingdom and Europe as well as in North America. Yet it wasn't until the late 1860's when he started experimenting himself. Only a couple years after his first crude attempts, Notman created his famous huge Fancy Ball Skating Carnival photograph.

Photograph - Skating Carnival, Victoria Rink, Montreal, QC, painted composite, 1870

William Notman (1826-1891) Silver salts, oil on canvas - Albumen process, 

137 x 176 cm (60 x 70 inches) © McCord Museum

As stated earlier, taking photographs was a long process of immobility. If keeping a dozen or so people from moving was difficult, taking a photograph with a couple hundred participants was impossible. Composite photography used the cut and paste technique to create photographs where numerous participants blend seamlessly together - and into - a painted background.

Along with the technical aspect, Notman's Skating Carnival stood out because of its huge size and use of color. Even today, a 5 ft x 6 ft photograph demands attention. But Notman had a vision and decided the large fancy dress skating carnival to be held in honor of Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria's third son who at the time was stationed with the Rifle Brigade in Montreal, was the perfect opportunity to promote his business.

The Notman Studio put an ad in the paper requesting anyone who would be at the carnival and wished to be in the photograph make a sitting appointment wearing their costume. 150 people responded to the ad, which included the following starting off with the man of the hour himself:

Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert, 

Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, 

Montreal, QC, 1870
William Notman (1826-1891)
© McCord Museum

Mr. Reynolds in costume, Montreal, QC, 1870
William Notman (1826-1891)
© McCord Museum

Miss F. Prior, posed for a composite, 

Montreal, QC, 1870
William Notman (1826-1891) 
© McCord Museum

Missie Hattie Atwater on skates,
Montreal, QC, 1869-70
William Notman (1826-1891) 
© McCord Museum

Turning the individual photographs into the finished product took several steps, but if you want to see where each of the above 4 individuals are positioned in the final photograph, check out the animated composite gallery feature at the McCord Museum.

Like a paint-by-number, a plan is required to show the position of each participant.

Photograph - Numbered key for the Skating Carnival composite of 1870, copied 1900-30 William Notman (1826-1891) © McCord Museum

Photograph - Skating Carnival, Victoria Rink, Montreal, QC, 1870  William Notman (1826-1891) Silver salts on paper mounted on paper - Albumen process, composite photograph © McCord Museum

I've skipped steps for brevity, but if you're interested in the process, check out the McCord Museum for more information.

Once the public saw the completed Skating Carnival photograph, William Notman's studio never looked back.

The Grand Trunk Railway composite photograph below is just one example of the meticulous work Notman employed to create memorable group photographs.

Photograph - Grand Trunk Railway Engineering Department group, composite, 1877, Notman & Sandham, Silver salts on paper mounted on card - Albumen process © McCord Museum

For games, activities, videos and animations of 19th century photography, check out the wonderful resources and virtual exhibits of the Notman Studio at the McCord Museum.

Join me on my next posting day on May 5th when I present a series of photographs under the heading, Is it Real or Composite?

So your turn... I think what astounded me most while researching this topic were the photographic techniques available during the 3rd quarter of the 19th century. What about you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their four kids. Anita's stories are set, but not limited to the western prairies. She is blessed to be included in Guideposts Books A Cup of Christmas Cheer collection. Anita is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita Mae at  www.anitamaedraper.com

Tidbits About Union Station in Kansas City, MO.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Paul and I drove 18 hours to Independence, MO. to where our daughter and her family recently moved. On Tuesday we visited the Union Station in Kansas City, MO. So, I thought I'd thought I'd share a tidbit or two from our visit.

The first impression as you drive up to Union Station is "what the heck—why is there a large bug greeting you as you drive into the parking lot?" Personally, I don't know. We didn't find an answer to the question, but it does make you wonder, especially when you see large bugs in the Lionel train sets in the back of the station. (Upon further exploration, I found a link to a large bug exhibit online.) When you step into the station you are awed by the intricate work with stone and architecture. Here's a picture of the ceiling that accents the fine details that went into the creation of this station. Note the chandelier as well.

Union station was built in the early 20th century, opening in Oct. 1914, making it 100 years old last month. Here's a link to a timeline with historic pictures of the construction of the station. www.unionstation.org/timeline.
The original station was called the "Union Depot" and opened in 1878.

Kansas City is perhaps the closest location to the middle of the United States as one can get to. Union Station—with the advent of the trains criss-crossing the states—naturally became a hub of the train rails. Today you can still come by train to the station, and there were plenty of trains on the tracks when we visited. There was also a great showcase of Fred Harvey and his restaurants through the display of the china used in the restaurants. Here is a picture of the most common southwestern pattern.

Here is a set of dishes that were commemorative plates of the Grand Canyon which were sold at the Harvey stops.

Another marvel of the architecture was the design of the floors: terra cotta design in marble. Here's a sample of the floor.

So if you're ever in the area you should take and spend some time at Union Station. There was so much more to explore but our time was limited. I look forward to going there again. As today marks the beginning of preparation for the Christmas season, I'll leave you with this picture of Paul and I at the base of the Christmas tree at Union Station.

Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE will be released November 1, 2014. It is the second in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series. If you are interested in 19th Century Carriages & Wagons follow the enclosed link.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.