[WESTERN AMERICANA]. O'SULLIVAN, Timothy (1840-1882), photographer. A group of 2 albumen photographs of Shoshone Falls, Idaho, from Clarence King's Survey of the Fortieth Parallel. 1868.

7 3/4 x 10 5/8 in. albumen photographs on 12 x 17 1/4 in. cardstock mounts with "US Engineer Department, Geological Exploration. Fortieth Parallel" printed in lower margin (each with variable degree of spotting and soiling, toning, some chipping and edge wear to mount). Each inscribed in contemporary pencil at lower right. Photographs referenced in Davis and Aspinwall's 2011 book Timothy H. O'Sullivan: The King Survey Photographs. Scenes include Shoshone Falls, Idaho, 1868 [D&A, plate 99]. -- Shoshone Falls, Idaho, 1868 (different view) [D&A, plate 101].

The photographs were taken by Timothy H. O'Sullivan during the Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel led by Clarence King from 1867-1869 and 1872. The expedition was ordered by the War Department and approved by Congress in 1867 for the purpose of exploring land along and north of the fortieth parallel north, from eastern Wyoming, through southern Idaho, northern Utah, northern Nevada, and northern California.

Shoshone Falls is a waterfall situated on the Snake River in south-central Idaho, northeast of Twin Falls. Sometimes referred to as the "Niagara Falls of the West," Shoshone Falls is 212 feet high and flows over a rim approximately 1,000 feet wide.