1850-1860 Rochlin and Rochlin

Harriet and Fred Rochlin, Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West, Houghton Mifflin Co.: Boston, 1984, 1854, 1853

     " . . .

     " . . . Another memorable sojourner was Solomon Nune Carvalho, (1815-1897 ) oil painter, photographer, and daguerreotyper, who spent one extraordinary year in the Far West. From September 1853 to September 1854 he participated in a historic and treacherous expedition, which he recorded in oil paintings, daguerreotypes-the first taken of the Far West-and a trip diary and letters upon which he based Incidents of Travel and Adventure in the Far West. The book opens with a description of his first meeting with the organizer and leader of the journey, which occurred on August 22, 1853.
     "After a short interview with Col. J.C. Fremont, I accepted his invitation to accompany him as artist of an Exploring Expedition across the Rocky Mountains. A half hour previously, if anyone had suggested to me the probability of my undertaking an overland journey to California, even over the emigrant route, I should have replied there were no inducements sufficiently powerful enough to have tempted me. Yet in this instance, I impulsively, without even a consultation with my family, passed my word to join an exploring party, under the command of Col. Fremont over a hitherto untrodden country in an elevated region, with the full expectation of an arctic winter . . . I know of no other man to whom I would have entrusted my life under similar circumstances.
    "Colonel John C. Fremont, celebrated American soldier, explorer, and politician, planned the arduous winter journey, his fifth and final expedition in the West, to demonstrate the feasibility of a year-round transcontinental rail route along the thirty-eighth parallel. Carvelho's task was to provide Fremont with daguerreotypes to illustrate the proposal.

     " . . .

     "Cared for by the Mormons, Carvalho recuperated, then continued on to Los Angeles. He spent from June until September in the City of Angeles, where on the invitation of Samuel and Joseph Labatt he participated in the organization of the Hebrew Benevolent Society, the first Jewish organization in Los Angeles. The Labatts in turn helped Carvalho start a photographer's and artist's studio to earn money for his trip home.

    " . . ."  pp. 175, 176

(Back to Sources)

 Kelyn Roberts 2017