On the print:
Sketch By R.H. Rem. (mistake? R. H. Kern) Lith of Sarony Major & Knapp. New York
Coo-Che-To-Pa Pass
View looking up Sahwatch Creek Seprbr 1st
About this print:
"After traveling for some distance through some easy plains and small hills and valleys Gunnison and his men run into the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are North Americas longest and have the tallest mountains in all of North America. Gunnison did not have the man power or the fire power to blast a hole through the mountains so they were forced to find a way around it. Gunnison arrived at Coo-che-to-pa Pass on August 27, 1863 [sic][1853] and was still within eight miles on September 6, surveying the area and the area around it for multiple days attempting to find the best path for a future railroad. After seeing many valleys and small passes in the mountains within miles of camp he made the observation that “the disposition of the mountains indicates that a line can be carried from the Coo-che-to-pa Pass southwesterly for some distance, passing behind the hills which divide the two southern valleys described above, and descending the most western one, securing a better grade than by following Pass creek.” With the area being very hilly and many water streams coming between these valleys he felt in his opinion that Coo-che-to-pa Pass was the best area to place a train line, having the least amount of elevation inclines and declines as well as few creeks and streams to build bridges over."
The Sawatch Range is just southeast of Aspen. This pass is not indicated but is likely in this area.
"Richard H. Kern (1821−1853) was the older brother of the artist Edward Meyer Kern. Richard was an illustrator and scientist who, like Edward, accompanied the surveyor John C. Frémont on an expedition through the Rocky Mountains. He later worked for the U.S. Army, drawing topographical views of Indian territories. He was killed in an ambush in 1853, the year after his brother painted his portrait."
"In 1853, the U.S. congress sent several teams of surveyors from the Corps of Topographical Engineers to survey potential rail routes from the Mississippi to the Pacific. They were accompanied by naturalists and artists who were to capture the images of the "wild west". It was a dangerous expedition with Captain John W. Gunnison, artist R.H Kern, and seven others from Gunnison's survey team being killed in October of 1853, by the Ute Indians in Utah. These lithographs were part of the official government report which would ultimately determine the rail route and forever change the United States."
This is one of the sketches from the above expedition in which he was killed.
Sarony, Major, & Knapp was but one iteration of a variety of lithographic partnerships involving Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896); brothers Henry B. Major (born in England, 1820-1887) and Richard Major (born in England, 1825-1894); and Joseph F. Knapp (1832-1891) and his son Joseph P. Knapp (1864-1951).
The credit lines on their prints for this iteration of reflect the following timeline:
1856-1867: Sarony, Major & Knapp
In America on Stone, Harry T. Peters wrote that Napoleon Sarony “was the leading spirit, supplying ideas, securing artists, and drawing most of the portraits, in which he was especially interested.” Sarony is remembered both for his lithographic and photographic work. He was born in Quebec, Canada, and came to New York around 1836. He did lithographic work for Henry R. Robinson and Currier & Ives before starting his own firm with Henry Major in 1845.
Sarony, Major & Knapp emerged in 1857, when they joined with Joseph F. Knapp. In an interview, Sarony later remembered, “In 1858 I sold out my interest [in Sarony, Major and Knapp] and went to Paris to Study art.
Even though Sarony was no longer active in the firm, the name “Sarony, Major & Knapp” appears on prints into the 1860s. The separate firm of Major & Knapp appears in directories as early as 1864. Trow’s Co-partnership and Corporation Directory of New York City for 1864 identifies Richard Major and Joseph F. Knapp as the partners in “Major & Knapp.” In general, from 1845-1855, the “Major” referred to Henry B. Major, and from 1855-1868, it referred to Richard Major, though city directories list both brothers as lithographers at the same business address into the mid-1870s.
Knapp later became president of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. His son, Joseph P. Knapp founded the American Lithograph Company in 1891.
Actual lithograph measures 7 1/8" by 9 1/2"