Picturesque Edmonton N.W.T.

C.W. (PHOTOGRAPHER) MATHERS

Publication: Albertype Co, nd (ca 1895), New York

9 1/4" x 11 1/4" in grey paper wrappers with title in white ink, 4 1/2" round photograph of a country scene glued to cover and tied at spine with cord. A collection of forty-two photographs of Edmonton, glued directly to pages. All pictures are 5 3/4" x 7 3/4," black and white photographs. Also includes one 5 3/4" x 15 1/2" black and white panorama photograph of Edmonton at front of collection. All pictures offer description printed at bottom in white ink along with with C.M. Mathers. Collection includes street scenes, schools, hospitals, churches, Old Fort Edmonton, and various residences. Also shown are a steamboat on the Saskatchewan, coal miners, gold washing, a plowman, Red River cart, and other scenes of country life. A few photographs highlight the fur trade and Indigenous peoples, including a fur sorting room, sled dogs, and Cree and Sarcee people posing for photographs. Born in Lucknow, Ontario in 1868, Charles Wesley Mathers moved to Edmonton in 1891. One of the earliest photographers in Edmonton, Mathers not only photographed the growing city but life in other parts of northern Canada at the turn of the 20th century. In 1901 he accompanied William H. Connor, an independent trader from Edmonton to the mouth of the Mackenzie River and along the river routes of the Northwest Territories. Mathers documented his trip, photographing hunting and trading activities for a souvenir album called "The Far West." Mathers passed away in California in 1950. Edges of wrappers and spine are chipped. Pages lightly worn from handling, but pictures are fine.