Entrance to Kanesville (Council Bluffs, Iowa)

Item

Title

Entrance to Kanesville (Council Bluffs, Iowa)

Creator

Frederick Piercy
English, active United States, 1830–1891

Date

1853

Materials

Sepia on paper

Description

Frederick Piercy accompanied a group of Mormon converts from England to Utah in 1853, depicting their lengthy and taxing trek at every stage. Upon his return to England, Piercy’s sketches were reproduced as engravings in Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley (1855), a book regarded as a compelling visual travelogue of immigration in the American West. Of the locale depicted here, Piercy wrote, with typical candor, “I found Kanesville to be a very dirty, unhealthy place.”

Source

The John Driscoll American Drawings Collection

Identifier

2018.186

Rights

This image is posted publicly for non-profit educational uses, excluding printed publication. Other uses may not be permitted.