This image is the oldest known photograph taken in Colorado. The story behind it is fascinating
In The NOCO · KUNC
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Show Notes
Experts at History Colorado have been thinking of different ways to help commemorate Colorado’s 150th birthday this year. One idea they pursued was to track down the earliest known photograph of Colorado.
And what they uncovered is striking: It’s a daguerreotype from 1853, taken during an expedition across the West more than 20 years before Colorado became a state in 1876.
The image depicts a Cheyenne village with two people facing the camera, near what is now Lamar, Colo.
For the curators at History Colorado, the photo also revealed the fascinating story of the photographer – a man named Solomon Nunes Carvalho, who traveled the West with a bulky camera and captured some of the earliest photos of the region.
Erin O’Toole spoke last fall with Sam Bock, History Colorado’s director of Interpretations and Publications, to learn more about the search for the oldest photo and what it tells us about Colorado’s early history.
We’re listening back to that conversation today as part of a week of special episodes kicking off Colorado’s sesquicentennial year.
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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.