[WESTERN AMERICANA]. BELL, William (1830-1910), photographer. Grand Canon, Colorado River, Near Paria Creek, Looking West. 1872.

8 x 10 7/8 in. albumen photograph on 16 x 20 in. "War Department" cardstock mount (image has lightened; spotting and soiling to mount). No. 6 of 26 photographs from Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Expedition of 1872 - Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler, Commanding. Titled and numbered on mount recto, with Bell's imprint lower left. (Some spotting and minor toning primarily to mount.)

View of the Grand Canyon from the landmark Wheeler surveys. 

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Only a small percentage of the 300 negatives Bell took during the expedition survived the trip back East. Bell used two cameras: an 11 x 8-inch camera for large prints, and an 8 x 5-inch for stereo cards.  He used both wet and dry collodion processes, resulting in photographs characterized by dark foregrounds with elements becoming lighter as distances increase.