The meeting of the rails at Promontory Point May 10, 1869 (detail)

In 1868 at age thirty-eight Andrew J. Russell, painter and photographer, embarked on an expedition to document the construction of the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad. Often times credited as the official photographer of the Union Pacific Railroad, Russell worked with complete cooperation of the railroad as he traveled across country with the railroad to Promontory Point, Utah.

To complete his visual record of this historic event to unite the continent by rail-Russell would make three trips one in 1868 and two in 1869. On these trips he would travel with all of the equipment he would need to create his photographs. A typical inventory would include: an unwieldy and bulky 30-pound view camera, a stereo camera, lens, a darkroom tent, glass plates (which he cut himself in two sizes 10 by 13 inches for the view camera and 4 by 8 for the stereo) and many bottles of chemicals. Russell would then transport these fragile materials by wagon over steep and rocky terrain.

	Russell Slideshow

The product of Russell's work is a collection of over 200 imperial plate negatives (10 x 13) and over 400 stereo negatives. These western views show the back breaking work of building a railroad, the rich mineral resources of the Rocky Mountains and the vast landscapes that invited settlement. These images document not only the building of the railroad but also provide us the unique opportunity to view the American West before and after the invasion of the railroad. Russell's photographs illustrate a pivotal period of American history when the nation's attention was shifted from war in the South to the economic opportunity in the West which made possible the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.