William H. Illingworth
William H. Illingworth (20 September 1844 – 16 March 1893) was an
Early life
William Henry Illingworth was born in
Shortly after Illingworth's return to St. Paul in 1866, he joined Captain James L. Fisk's fourth expedition to the Montana Territory. Working with photographer, business partner and expedition member George Bill, Illingworth produced 30 stereographs from this expedition that likely became the basis of a gallery and studio that he and Bill opened the following year in St. Paul. From 1870 to 1873, Illingworth worked as a photographer for railroad construction crews. Sometime in the 1870s, Illingworth and William McLeish formed a partnership called Illingworth & McLeish, that produced stereographs.
Custer's 1874 expedition to the Black Hills
Probably due to his experience on the fourth Fisk expedition, Illingworth was selected as photographer to Custer's 1874 military expedition by then-Captain
While on the expedition, Illingworth produced about 70 glass plates – 60 of them were landscapes of the Black Hills and portraits of members of the 7th Cavalry. Most of his images are considered to be very well composed from both a technical and artistic perspective.
Captain Ludlow was pleased by Illingworth's work, but after the conclusion of the expedition Illingworth did not provide Ludlow with six sets of plates as promised, instead providing one partial set. In his preliminary report on the expedition published in the 14 September 1874 issue of the
Personal life and later years
Illingworth was widowed twice and his third wife divorced him in 1888. Alone, an alcoholic and in poor health, Illingworth committed suicide with his hunting rifle on 16 March 1893.
Illingworth's legacy
Illingworth produced some 1,600 negatives of the West and Midwest during his career. Many of these photos still exist in collections due to Illingworth’s son who found the negatives in a St. Paul attic, and later sold his father's collection to a man named Bromley. Bromley, in turn, sold the Black Hills images for $60 to the South Dakota State Historical Society in 1919.
Because of Illingworth's images, historians have been able to determine the exact boundaries and layouts of several of the 7th Cavalry's 1874 camps, the condition of the Black Hills forests along the expedition's route, and the appearance of many of the soldiers and civilians who accompanied the expedition. In this way, Illingworth's work provided later generations insight into key events of his time.
References
- Grafe, E., and P. Horsted. Exploring With Custer. 2003. Golden Valley Press, Custer, South Dakota.
- Krause, H., and G. D. Olson. Prelude to Glory. 1974. Brevet Press, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
- Minnesota Historical Society. Directory of Minnesota Photographers. Accessed 6 March 2007.
- Radabaugh, J. S. "Custer Explores the Black Hills 1874". Military Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 1962–1963), pp. 162–170.