Le photographe Robert Benecke a été missionné par la Kansas Pacific Railway pour effectuer une série de clichés le long de la ligne de chemin de fer de la compagnie.
Cette compagnie exploitait plusieurs lignes longue distance de l’État du Kansas dans les années 1870, étendant le réseau ferroviaire national vers l’ouest à travers cet État et jusqu’au Colorado. Sa ligne principale était une voie de transport importante qui a ouvert la colonisation des grandes plaines centrales, et sa liaison de Kansas City à Denver a été le dernier maillon du réseau ferroviaire pour aller d’un océan à l’autre en 1870.
Benecke a saisi de nombreux clichés le long de cette voie ferrée offrant ainsi des vues du Kansas, du Colorado et du Missouri. Des dépôts, des ateliers, une locomotive avec chasse-neige, des ponts, des villes, des paysages, des chasseurs de buffles, du bétail, des pistes de course de chevaux, etc… Tout la vie qui était organisée autour se reflète dans ses images d’époque.
Après la bataille de boules de neige des frères Lumière en video couleur, Voici donc 62 photos le long du chemin de fer Kansas Pacific en 1873:
(plus de ses clichés sur le compte flickr de Southern Methodist University)
No. 1. General Offices of the Kansas Pacific Railway corner Fifth Street and Broadway, Kansas City, Mo.
No. 2. Taxidermist’s Department of the Kansas Pacific Railway. Buffalo Heads used for advertising purposes
No. 3. General view of Kansas City, Mo., from corner of Tenth Street and Broadway
No. 4. Railway Bridge over the Missouri River at Kansas City, Mo.
No. 5. Railway Bridge over the Kansas River near Kansas City, Mo.
No. 6. General view of the Kansas Pacific Railway Machine Shops at Armstrong, Kansas
No. 7. Machine Shops at Armstrong, Kansas
No. 8. Roundhouse at Armstrong, Kansas
No. 9. General view of Lawrence, Kansas
No. 10. State University of Kansas, on Mount Oread, Lawrence, Kansas
No. 11. Stud Farm and Race Track, Lawrence, Kansas
No. 12. Passenger Bridge over the Kansas River and Waterworks Dam in course of construction, Lawrence, Kansas
No. 13. Hotel and Railway Station at Topeka, Kansas
No. 14. Passenger bridge over the Kansas River, Topeka, Kansas
No. 15. The Mid-Day rest. Quail shooting at St. George
No. 16. The Valley of the Kansas River, looking East from St. George, Kansas
No. 17. The Kansas River, looking West from St. George, Kansas
No. 18. Manhattan, Kansas. Taken from the summit of Mount Prospect
No. 19. Bridge over the Blue River, Manhattan, Kansas
No. 20. Kansas River and Passenger Bridge looking west, Manhattan, Kansas
No. 21. A Valley of the Kansas River from Mount Prospect, Manhattan, Kansas
No. 22. The Texas Cattle Trade. Train of Empty Stock Cars at Junction City, Kansas
No. 23. Freight Engine number 22
No. 24. Railway and Passenger Bridge over the Republican River, Junction City, Kansas
No. 25. Junction of the Kansas Pacific and Junction City and Fort Kearney Railways. Junction City, Kansas
No. 26. Grist Mill at Solomon City, Kansas
No. 27. Falls of the Solomon River at Solomon City, Kansas
No. 28. Salt Works at Solomon City, Kansas
No. 29. Brookville, Kansas
No. 30. Kansas Pacific Railway Roundhouse and Company’s Buildings at Brookville, Kansas
No. 32. Mushroom Rocks at Elm Creek
No. 33. Ellsworth, the great shipping point for Texas Cattle
No. 34. Stock Yards and Shutes for loading cattle at Ellsworth, Kansas
No. 35. Frouher Settlements. No. 1. Wilson, 240 Miles west of the Missouri River
No. 36. Arboriculture on the prairie – 2 1/2 years from the seed at Wilson, Kansas
No. 37. View on the Smoky Hill River at Wilson, Captain Matthew’s House and Coal Mine Bluff
No. 38. Coal Canon at Wilson, Kansas
No. 39. No. 2, Frontier Settlements, Bunker Hill
No. 40. Valley of Cedar Creek, Bunker Hill, Kansas
No. 41. The »Burnt City » near Bunker Hill, Kansas
No. 42. Valley of the Saline River and old Buffalo Trails near Bunker Hill, Kansas
No. 43. No. 3, Russell, Kansas
No. 44. View on Big Creek, Russell, Kansas
No. 45. Duck Shooting on Big Creek, Russell, Kansas
No. 47. General view of Victoria Railway Bridge over North Fork of Victoria River
No. 49. Railway Hotel at Ellis, built of stone from the Ellis Quary
No. 50. Quary of White Magnesian Limestone at Ellis, Kansas
No. 51. The »Hog Back » at Ellis, Kansas
No. 52. Kansas Pacific Railway Roundhouse at Ellis, Kansas
No. 53. Main Street of Ellis, Kansas
No. 54. The Kansas Pacific Railway Photograph Car at Ellis, Kansas
No. 55. In Case of Emergency. Snow plow
No. 56. The Buffalo Hunters’ Home at Sheridan, Kansas
No. 57. Wallace Station and Railway Hotel 400 miles west of the Missouri River
No. 58. Carson, the Northern Terminus of the Arkansas Valley R. W.
No. 59. Railway Hotel and Station at Hugo, Colorado
No. 60. Kansas Pacific Railway Depot at Denver, Colorado
No. 61. General View of Denver looking North-West
No. 62. Highland View Hotel and Denver looking East
No. 63. Kansas Pacific Railway Machine Shops at Denver
No. 64. Wild Buffalo in Colorado
autoportrait
Toutes les photos: crédits Robert Benecke.
