What's it like riding the "Rico," taking photos?
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
This weekend, I had just a taste of what it might have been like to ride the rails and shoot photos in the 1890s with William Henry Jackson in his traveling dark room in Colorado. I had a seat, regular class, on the next car ahead in the train. But when it stopped for de-boarding, I asked the conductor if I could drift on back through what was once Jackson's business car "Rico" at the end of the excursion train.
The famed Western photographer William Henry Jackson used the Rio Grande Southern business car "Rico" (originally D&RG car
B-21) as his mobile home and darkroom during his iconic 1890s photography excursions through the rugged San Juan Mountains of Colorado.
History of the "Rico"
Construction & Rebuilding:
The car was originally built as a standard passenger coach by Billmeyer & Small in 1880 for the Denver & Rio Grande (D&RG) railroad. In 1892, it was rebuilt into a business car and named "Rico".
William Henry Jackson Special:
Jackson utilized this narrow-gauge luxury car as a traveling office and photo studio, famously attaching it to RGS trains (like Engine No. 9) to capture breathtaking views of Lizard Head Pass and the surrounding mining country.
Renaming: In 1909, the car was briefly renamed "Montezuma," and later designated as B-21 in 1921.
Preservation:
Following the abandonment of the Rio Grande Southern in 1951, the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club purchased and rescued the historic car. Today, the meticulously restored RGS Business Car No. B-21 "Rico" has been beautifully preserved and is proudly exhibited as part of the permanent collection at the Colorado Railroad Museum located in Golden.
From History Colorado and Colorado Encyclopedia :
William
Henry Jackson (1843–1942) was one of the best-known photographers of
the American West. He is renowned for his photographs of Colorado’s
mountain scenery, many of which show now-famous landmarks such as Mount
of the Holy Cross, Garden of the Gods, Mesa Verde, and Royal Gorge. His
photographs captured the vastness of Colorado’s beauty and helped lure
many people to the state from the late nineteenth century onward.
Today,
Jackson’s images provide Americans with a glimpse of the American West
on the cusp of great change, helping them see what familiar landscapes
looked like as humanity ushered in the age of industrial mining, timber
harvesting, large-scale irrigation projects, and other modern
developments.
Early Life :
William Henry Jackson was born to
George Hallock Jackson and Harriet Maria Allen on April 4, 1843, in
Keeseville, New York. Jackson learned to paint from his mother, a
hobbyist. He worked as a colorist at photography studios in Troy, New
York, and Rutland, Vermont, where he learned photographic technique. At
the age of nineteen Jackson enlisted in the Civil War, serving for nine
months in Company K of the Twelfth Vermont Infantry. While en route to
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Jackson’s regiment was diverted to
Westminster, Maryland, to guard trains—missing one of the war’s
bloodiest affairs. After the war, Jackson returned home, where he
enjoyed landscape painting. A disagreement with his sweetheart
precipitated Jackson’s move West.
In 1868 Jackson relocated to
Omaha, Nebraska, and opened a photography studio with his brother Ed. A
year later William married Mollie Greer. She and their baby died during
childbirth in 1872. In 1873 Jackson married Emilie Painter. Their union
produced three children: Clarence, Louise, and Hallie.
Hayden Survey :
A
chance meeting with Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, director of the United
States Geological Survey of the Territories, changed the course of
Jackson’s career. In early 1870, Jackson became the official
photographer of the “Hayden Survey.” For nine seasons, Jackson worked
with Hayden to document the landscape in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. In
1871 Jackson photographed the Yellowstone area, and his photographs
helped convince members of Congress to designate Yellowstone as the
nation’s first national park on March 1, 1872.
Over the next
five years of the survey, Jackson photographed Colorado from its
southwest corner across the Rocky Mountains. His photographic equipment
consisted of bulky cameras supported by sturdy tripods, fragile glass
plate negatives, and a portable darkroom, including bottles of
chemicals. Jackson processed the negatives in the field, allowing him to
see his results immediately. If he was dissatisfied, Jackson could wipe
off the photographic emulsion and reuse the negative.
During
the Colorado years of the survey, Jackson perfected his mountain views,
photographed small towns, and took images of Native American life. He
used a wide variety of photographic formats, from stereographs to
spectacular, multiplate panoramas. His most popular subjects included
several of Colorado’s Fourteeners, especially Mount of the Holy Cross.
While Jackson made the first photographs of the Native American sites
near Mesa Verde, the survey did not find the Cliff Palace, the most
famous cliff dwelling in the area.
Photography Business:
In
1879 Jackson, now a famous photographer, chose to open a studio in
Denver. Jackson knew the state well, and with duplicate negatives from
his survey work, he already had a strong inventory of Colorado views.
Commissions
from the railroad industry supported Jackson for many years. He worked
for the Baltimore & Ohio, Denver & Rio Grande, Mexican Central
Railway, New York Central, Philadelphia & Reading, and the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe. Some provided private cars, allowing Jackson and
his traveling companions the freedom to stop at any location. His
photographs of beautiful scenery along the railroad routes were
displayed in railroad offices, sold to tourists, and used as the basis
for engravings published in brochures and advertisements. Even those
unable to leave home could purchase Jackson’s photographs.
The
economic downturn of 1893 devastated Colorado’s economy, including
Jackson’s business. At the same time, photographic printing technology
and publishing methods were rapidly evolving, making it easier to mass
produce half-tones and gravures. The original photographic print held
less value. In addition, amateur photography gained popularity with the
introduction of Kodak cameras.
Jackson desperately needed to
change his business model and increase cash flow. An offer to join the
World’s Transportation Commission, a three-year project to document
railways and other types of transportation around the world, fit the
bill. Harper’s Weekly magazine agreed to publish illustrated articles
about the trip, based on Jackson’s photographs. Jackson photographed
scenes in Egypt, Ceylon, India, New Zealand, Siberia, and several other
locations. Beset by budget problems, the trip lasted only eighteenth
months.
Leaving Colorado:
In 1897 Jackson joined the Detroit
Publishing Company, a major photography firm. A year later, the Jacksons
left Denver and moved to Detroit. Jackson, a partner with the firm,
contributed 20,000 negatives to the business. The company specialized in
converting black-and-white photographs to color lithographs called
Photochroms. Jackson’s images, now mass-produced in a range of sizes
that included newly popular postcards, were sold in stores, in hotels,
and through mail-order catalogs. Jackson made photographs for the
Detroit Publishing Company until 1903, when he took over the role of
plant manager. The company thrived until after World War I, going
bankrupt in 1924.
In 1924 Jackson moved to Washington, DC. He
lived with his daughter and resumed his interest in landscape painting.
In 1936 Jackson painted four murals, based on the four major
nineteenth-century geologic expeditions, for display at the Interior
Department building in Washington. Jackson’s ghost-written
autobiography, Time Exposure, was published in 1940.
On June 30,
1942, at the age of ninety-nine, William Henry Jackson died in New York
City. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.
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