American Historical Ephemera & Photography

6 1/4 x 3 3/8 in. stereoview on cardstock mount (heavy toning, light spotting, and wear to mount edges and corners). Photographer's imprint and location printed on mount recto. Ink inscription reading "Peck Mill and Ledge" on verso.

[With:] 6 1/4 x 3 in. stereoview on cardstock mount (toning, heavy spotting, and wear to mount edges and corners). Mitchell's imprint and location printed on mount recto.

[Also with:] 6 1/4 x 3 in. stereoview on cardstock mount (toning, light spotting, tiny area of loss to lower left corner of right panel, and wear to mount edges and corners). Various ink inscriptions on mount recto include "old works," "mill," "new works," and others. Ink inscription on verso reads, "Tiger Mine, Mill and Hoisting / Works. / Watch the white 'dumps[?]' on 1 & 2 and the view is quite natural." 

Daniel Francis Mitchell was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, a long way from Arizona Territory, the region he would become famous for capturing in his widely marketed photographs. After spending several years with his family in the east, and serving as Deputy County Clerk in Junction City, Kansas, Mitchell finally made his way to Prescott in June of 1876 via the C&A stagecoach. He very quickly set to work as a photographer, producing highly sought-after images of his new locale as evidenced by a September issue of the Arizona Weekly Miner, which lauded: "D.F. Mitchell Esq., the photographer, has sent us two handsomely taken and artistically executed stereoscopic views of the Prescott schoolhouse. Proud as we are of this magnificent building, it brightens our admiration and increases our veneration to know that we have a man among us capable of transferring its shadow indelibly to paper, in order that we may admire it at home and send it abroad. Mr. Mitchell has a large number of Arizona scenes suitable to send away, and we are told by those who have had experience that nothing is more highly prized in California as coming from Arizona than these views."

Mitchell became well-known in Prescott through his photographic and other business ventures as well as his support of the community. He opened The Capital Art Gallery, formed partnerships at various times with fellow photographers William H. Williscraft and Erwin Baer, served as clerk of the Board of Supervisors, and even contributed to community funds for the building of the Prescott and 35th Parallel Railroad. Like so many of his fellow Arizonans, Mitchell was also lured into the mining industry. Newspapers refer to his various mining activities including his partnership in several claims including Good Luck on Lynx Creek. As Mitchell's interests and investments in mining claims grew, his apparent interest in the photography business waned, and in 1896 he sold his gallery to H.L. Hammaker. 

Rowe, Jeremy. Arizona Stereographs 1865 to 1930. Nevada City: Carl Mautz Publishing, 2014.