A photographer from Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, Samuel C. Mills produced the earliest surviving photographic record of the Oregon Trail

Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...

 and California Trail

California Trail

The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...

, from Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 Territory, to Camp Floyd

Camp Floyd

Camp Floyd was a short-lived U.S. Army post near Fairfield, Utah, United States. The site is now a Utah state park known as Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum.-Camp Floyd:...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 Territory.

Early years

Born October 8, 1833 in Washington, D.C., Samuel C. Mills was the son of John and Mary Mills. As a young man, he worked in his father's shoe factory. In 1856, he became an apprentice in the photography studio of Blanchard P. Paige in D.C. By 1858, he was working in a studio on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Simpson Expedition, 1858-59

In 1858, Captain James H. Simpson

James H. Simpson

James Hervey Simpson was an officer in the U.S. Army and a member of the United States Topographical Engineers.-Early years:He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on March 9, 1813, the son of John Simpson and Mary Brunson. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1832 and was...

, an officer in the Army's Topographical Engineers, was assigned to the reinforcements being sent to Utah Territory as part of the so-called Utah War

Utah War

The Utah War, also known as the Utah Expedition, Buchanan's Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between LDS settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the United States government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 until July 1858...

. He hired Samuel Mills as the photographer for his expedition. They departed Fort Leavenworth on May 31, 1858 and headed west, with Mills producing photographs along the way. His surviving images include photographs of Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth

Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...

, Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...

, Fort Laramie, Devil's Gate

Devil's Gate (Wyoming)

Devil's Gate is a natural rock formation, a gorge on the Sweetwater River a few miles southwest of Independence Rock. The site, significant in the history of western pioneers, was a major landmark on the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail although the actual routes of travel did not pass through...

, and Fort Bridger

Fort Bridger

Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...

.

After arriving at Camp Floyd

Camp Floyd

Camp Floyd was a short-lived U.S. Army post near Fairfield, Utah, United States. The site is now a Utah state park known as Camp Floyd / Stagecoach Inn State Park and Museum.-Camp Floyd:...

, Mills accompanied Simpson's detachment in surveying a new road to Fort Bridger

Fort Bridger

Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...

 up Provo Canyon

Provo Canyon

Provo Canyon is a canyon located in unincorporated Utah County, Utah, USA and Wasatch County, Utah. Provo Canyon splits between Mount Timpanogos on the north and Mount Cascade on the south. The canyon extends from Orem on the west end to Heber City on the east. The canyon's main thoroughfare is...

. Upon their return, the photographer then made a series of negatives of Camp Floyd to illustrate the nature of the post.

In May 1859, Captain Simpson set out on his famous exploration across the Great Basin

Great Basin

The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...

 of present Utah and Nevada. The available evidence suggests that Samuel Mills remained behind. Upon Simpson's return, they departed Camp Floyd heading back east to write their survey reports. Mills arrived back in Washington, D.C. in the fall of 1859.

Later History

Samuel Mills continued work as a photographer for several years in Washington, D.C. following his return from the Simpson Expedition. He married about 1861 and during the Civil War, served as a hospital steward. Later, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in Washington in 1872. He was soon afterward appointed as a police court judge, a position he held until his death. In later life, he was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Masons. He also founded a temperance organization known as the Sons of Jonadab. Samuel Mills died on October 7, 1911 and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery

Congressional Cemetery

The Congressional Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the final resting place of thousands of individuals who helped form the nation and the city of Washington in the early 19th century. Many members of...

in Washington, D.C.