John Karl Hillers (1843, Hanover, Germany – 1925) was an American government photographer. Hillers came to the United States in 1852. He was a policeman and then a soldier in the American Civil War, first with the

New York Naval Brigade New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, then in the army, he re-enlisted after the war and served with the Western garrisons until 1870. He worked as a teamster in Salt Lake City, when he met John Wesley Powell. Originally hired as a boatman for the second Powell expedition down the Colorado River in 1871, Hillers began to replace

Walter Clement Powell Walter Clement Powell (1850–1883) was an American photographer and the first cousin of Major John Wesley Powell. Powell was a participant and assistant photographer on Major Powell's second trip down the Colorado River The Colorado River ...

, John W. Powell's cousin and assistant to the expedition's photographers, first to E.O. Beaman and then to

James Fennemore James H. Fennemore (1849–1941) was an American photographer. The Getty Museum has a collection of his work. The Library of Congress also has his work in their collection. The James Fennemore House in Beaver, Utah is listed on the National Regis ...

. Hillers was Powell's chief expedition photographer on the trip down the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

the next year. He went on to spend twenty years exploring and photographing the American West, and is known particularly for his portraits of Native Americans. He was the first staff photographer of Powell's

Bureau of Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...

(from 1879) and after returning to Powell's US Geological Survey in 1881 continued

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Interior D ...

work until he resigned in 1900. Although he officially retired in 1900, he continued to take photographs for the United States Geological Survey until 1919. He was the photographer of the first James Stevenson expedition to the Southwest, which brought Frank H. Cushing to Zuni. 3,000 negatives from the Powell Surveys and 20,000 negatives from his association with the Bureau of Ethnology have been credited to John K. Hillers. John Karl Hillers is the namesake of Mount Hillers, in Utah.

References

Sources

* William Culp Darrah: ''Beaman, Fennemore, Hillers, Dellenbaugh, Johnson, and Hattan'', in: ''Utah Historical Quarterly'', Vol. 17, Nos. 1-4, 1949, pp. 491–503. * Don. D. Fowler: ''′Photographed All the Best Scenery′: Jack Hillers' Diary of the Powell Expeditions, 1871–1875,'' University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 1972. * Don D.Fowler: ''The Western Photographs of John K. Hillers: ′Myself in the Water′'', Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1989. * Don. D. Fowler: ''Cleaving an Unknown World: The Powell Expeditions and the Scientific Exploration of the Colorado Plateau'', University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, 2012. (updated publication containing Hillers' diary and photography).

External links

A short biography

Historical Photograph Collections from th
University of Oregon Libraries

Photography of J.K. Hillers
from the USGSbr>Photographic LibraryStereoviews of Indians and the Colorado River from the J.W. Powell Survey, ca. 1869-1864, (includes photography by John K. Hillers)
finding aid and online photo collection,

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

, University of California, Berkeley
Inventory of Photographs Made by John K. Hillers of Zuni, Hopi and Navaho Country [graphic], 1879
at The Bancroft Library
The John K. Hillers Photographs of Zuni, Hopi, and Rio Grande River Pueblos
a
The Newberry Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillers, John K. American photographers 1843 births 1925 deaths United States Geological Survey personnel Hanoverian emigrants to the United States People of New York (state) in the American Civil War