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Antique albumen stereoview (stereograph) published by Charles Weitfle of Central City, Colorado, from his series “Stereoscopic Views of Colorado Scenery, On Union Pacific R.R.” The printed caption at lower left reads: 400 Hanging Rock, Echo Canon. The view shows a large overhanging conglomerate rock formation at upper right, a second detached balanced rock at left, a dry sagebrush hillside in the foreground, a small gable-roofed wooden building with a telegraph or utility pole beside it, and a rail grade running along the canyon floor with distant hills beyond. Warm sepia tone on a gray / greenish-gray card mount with rounded corners.
Verso (back) printing: Weitfle’s Stereoscopic Views of Colorado Scenery, On Union Pacific R.R., with the descriptive paragraph on the Union Pacific route from Omaha to Ogden; the Colorado Industrial Association roundel with the motto OMNIA VINCIT LABOR; the award roundel to Charles Weitfle for Best Collection Photographic Views of Colorado Scenery, 1878; the imprint Photographed by Chas. Weitfle, Central City, Colo., Headquarters for Colorado Views, Over 300 different Views for sale; and Also Awarded the Silver Medal of 1879. The verso also carries a red rubber-stamp retailer’s mark: Barkalow Bros., Railroad News Agents, Ogden, Utah.
About this view:
Charles Weitfle (1836-1921) was one of Colorado’s most prolific stereoview publishers, active in Central City from 1878 and in Denver from about 1880-1881 until a fire destroyed much of his negative stock in 1883. Because the back names both the 1878 Colorado Industrial Association award and the 1879 silver medal, this card dates no earlier than 1879, and the Central City imprint places it at about 1880-1883.
Hanging Rock is a conglomerate formation at the mouth of Echo Canyon, Summit County, Utah, a well-known landmark on the first transcontinental railroad route. The same Weitfle title is held in the Utah State University stereoview archive (cataloged there as No. 455, Hanging Rock, near Echo, U.P.R.R.), and this Echo Canyon subject belongs to Weitfle’s Union Pacific numbering series, which runs roughly 400-460 for the Echo and Weber Canyon views.
An honest point of uncertainty: Echo Canyon is in Utah, not Colorado, and Weitfle is documented to have purchased and republished negatives made by other photographers. I cannot confirm whether Weitfle personally made this negative or acquired and reissued an existing Union Pacific view. It is offered as published by Weitfle; the original photographer of the negative is not established.
The Barkalow Bros. stamp is a period retailer’s mark. The Barkalow brothers of Omaha, Nebraska held the Union Pacific news agency from the 1860s and sold views to travelers along the line, so the stamp documents that this card moved through the transcontinental railroad souvenir trade.
Condition: Good and complete. Age-toning and tan discoloration, heaviest toward the edges and corners of the back. General light soiling. Rounded corners with light corner and edge wear and slight fraying at one corner. A couple of faint diagonal surface creases / scratches are visible in the left-hand image, particularly across the detached rock at left. Light scattered foxing specks. Both images are clear with good contrast and full tonal range. No tears, no paper loss, both images fully intact and firmly mounted. Please review all photographs, which form part of the description.
