Humboldt Pass, Great Basin Nevada – Beckwith Survey Engraving, c.1855

About this piece

Humboldt Pass in the Great Basin, an original steel engraving from the Pacific Railroad Surveys, taken from the report of the exploration of the 41st parallel led by Lieutenant Edward G. Beckwith (volume II). The heading at the top reads "U.S.P.R.R. Expl. & Surveys 41st Parallel" and "Expl. by Lieut. Beckwith, Vol. II," and the caption below gives the title "Humboldt Pass," with the view taken from a high peak east of the pass.

A single tall tree stands at the left of the foreground, with its branches reaching across the top of the scene, and a few dark conifers grow on the slope below it. At the right a rocky cliff drops away steeply into a broad valley. Beyond it successive ridges recede toward a distant horizon of snow-capped mountains under a soft, hazy sky. The names of the engraving and printing house in Washington, D.C. appear in the lower margin, together with lines of caption text about the divide between the Humboldt and Columbia drainages.