Carl Schuchard Lithographs
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0339
Scope and Content
The collection consists of 48 lithographs of Carl Schuchard's drawings made during the A.B. Gray Survey of 1854. Twelve of the lithographs were completed by Bien and Sterner Lithographers in New York and 34 by Middleton, Wallace and Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The lithographs depict scenes along the route of the survey, which sought a possible route for a southern trans-continental railroad. These scenes represent some of the earliest depictions of the territory newly acquired from Mexico as a result of the Mexican-American War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the Gadsden Purchase.
Dates
- 1856
Language of Materials
English
Access and Use
The materials contained in this collection are available for research under supervised conditions in the Research Room.
A searchable, online database to the images in this collection may be accessed at http://archphotos.nmsu.edu/
A searchable, online database to the images in this collection may be accessed at http://archphotos.nmsu.edu/
Copyrights
The copyrights associated with this collection have not been transferred and assigned to New Mexico State University.
Biographical Sketch
Carl Schuchard (1827-1883) was born September 18, 1827 in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. He was educated as a mining engineer at the school of mines in Frieburg, Germany. In 1849 he emigrated to the United States, first to join in the clamor of the California Gold Rush, then settling near Fredricksburg, Texas. In 1853 Schuchard was employed as artist for the Andrew B. Gray survey to map a possible railroad route along the thirty-second parallel for the Texas Western Railroad Company. The survey team set out on New Year's Day 1854 from San Antonio, traveling through Texas to El Paso del Norte, then to Fort Fillmore, Las Cruces and Mesilla, New Mexico. After striking southwest into parts of northern Chihuahua, the survey continued into the Chiracahua Mountains of Arizona then past Spanish ruins at Babacomeri, the mission of Tumacacori, Tubac and Arivaca. The survey team then continued to Fort Yuma, at the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, and finally to San Diego, California. The report of the A.B. Gray Survey, featuring lithographs made from Schuchard's drawings, was published in Cincinnati in 1856. Sadly, all of Schuchard's original drawings were consumed in a fire at the Smithsonian Institution in 1865.
After the survey, Schuchard continued with his mining interests and helped form the Arizona Mining and Trading Company, in order to explore the possibility of mining silver and gold in the new Arizona Territory. Logistical and financial difficulties brought an end to Schuchard's participation in the project and he returned to the Fredricksburg area around 1859, where he owned a sheep ranch and married Anna Stahl. Mrs. Schuchard died in early 1862, not long after giving birth to their only son, Herman. Following his wife's death Schuchard moved to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico where silver mining again became his chief pursuit. He opened the Sierra Mojada Silver Mines and the Corralitos Mining Company, where he remained as manager until his death on May 4, 1883.
After the survey, Schuchard continued with his mining interests and helped form the Arizona Mining and Trading Company, in order to explore the possibility of mining silver and gold in the new Arizona Territory. Logistical and financial difficulties brought an end to Schuchard's participation in the project and he returned to the Fredricksburg area around 1859, where he owned a sheep ranch and married Anna Stahl. Mrs. Schuchard died in early 1862, not long after giving birth to their only son, Herman. Following his wife's death Schuchard moved to the state of Chihuahua, Mexico where silver mining again became his chief pursuit. He opened the Sierra Mojada Silver Mines and the Corralitos Mining Company, where he remained as manager until his death on May 4, 1883.
Extent
1.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
German mining engineer and expedition artist who accompanied A. B. Gray and his party on their 1854 reconnaissance survey for a transcontinental railroad route along the 32nd parallel for the Texas Western Railroad Company. Twelve of the lithographs were done by Bien and Sterner Lithographers in New York and thirty-four were done by Middleton, Wallace and Company of Cincinnati. Not all of these images appear in the Gray report which was published in Cincinnati in 1856. There are scenes from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The original drawings were lost in a fire in one of the Smithsonian galleries in the mid-1860s.
Acquisition
- Rg83-47. Silverman Galleries
General
Contact Information
- Archives and Special Collections
- New Mexico State University Library
- P.O. Box 30006
- Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003-8006
- Phone: (575) 646-3839
- Fax: (575) 646-7477
- Email: archives@nmsu.edu
- URL: https://lib.nmsu.edu/archives/
General
- Title
- Register of the Carl Schuchard Lithographs, 1856
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- Processed by Austin Hoover, October 1999 and Dennis Daily, January 2004.
- Date
- © 2002
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- February 2004: Encoding of added finding aid material by Maura Kenny.
- June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//New Mexico State University::Archives and Special Collections//TEXT (US::NmLcU::Ms #0339::Carl Schuchard Lithographs)//EN" "nmlcu1ms0339.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- January 2004: This electronic finding aid was updated to current finding aid standards by Dennis Daily. Updates included: container list.
- June 28, 2004: PUBLIC "-//New Mexico State University::Archives and Special Collections//TEXT (US::NmLcU::Ms #0339::Carl Schuchard Lithographs)//EN" "nmlcu1ms0339.sgml" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15).
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository