36 Nebraskaland • March 2026
T
hese pages contain rare photographs of the Nebraska
portion of the Oregon, Mormon and California trails
in the 1860s. Photography existed during the decades
when hundreds of thousands of people were heading
west. Why so few photos?
Consider photographer Charles Savage. An English-born
Mormon missionary, Savage learned photography in New
York before opening a studio in Florence, Nebraska, in 1859.
During his 1866 journey to Utah, he made the Nebraska trail
images shown here.
Making photos in the field was not easy. Savage brought
along a heavy, specially-built photography wagon. This
rolling, sheet-iron-sided darkroom was 9 feet long and 6 feet
high and filled with drawers for his chemicals and glass-plate
negatives.
"Every time he wanted to make a negative," writes
historian John Carter, "he had to concoct his solutions, set up
a camera, and pour his emulsion onto a piece of glass, expose
and then develop it, all before the plate dried. This process
could occupy upwards of half an hour."
Savage made the trip with a group of Mormon emigrants.
Not surprisingly, they did not want to wait while he stopped
to make a photo, and by 1866, it was dangerous to lag too
far behind the group. Native Americans had lost patience
with the ongoing encroachment on their land. Even so,
Savage managed to make a number of photos, some of which
still exist.
The town of Florence — now part of Omaha — started out
as the 1848 "Winter Quarters" when the first groups of Latter-
Day Saints headed to Utah. By 1866 the town of Wyoming
— a bit north of Nebraska City — had become the Mormons'
preferred "jumping-off" point. Savage made a photo of the
emigrant camp before they departed around July 8.
From there, they followed a cutoff route to Fort Kearny,
where Savage made another photo. He wasn't very happy
with it. Because of high winds and the long exposure time,
the waving branches are hardly visible and the trees look
like stumps.
Continuing west, Savage complained of constant wind
that somehow did not disperse the swarms of green flies
and mosquitoes. With daily temperatures rising over 100
degrees, it was often too hot for photo chemicals to work
properly. That was the case when the group arrived at Scotts
Bluff about midday, and Savage regretted that he could make
no photo before they had to depart.
Fortunately, he was able to photograph Chimney Rock.
with
Charles Savage
By David L. Bristow, Nebraska State Historical Society
Along the Trail
Mormon Camp, Wyoming, Nebraska.
NSHS RG3351-PH0-31
