Many whites who moved into those frontiers were surprised by the presence of 'black half-breeds' already living in areas in which they expected no black residents. Regardless, other black men and women followed the expanding railroad system that moved westward and the cattle trails that crisscrossed the West. Though itinerant photographers accompanied the earliest wagon trains westward, virtually none were black. African-American pioneers were far fewer in number and apparently less interested in documenting their adventures than they were in merely surviving. As a result, photographs of Western black Americans do not begin to appear in large numbers until nearly the turn of the century.
Earlier photographs are even more rare.
The photographs are remarkable in their casualness - attention getting because the men, women and children are simply transitional personalities in the daily record of Western exploration and settlement. Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne. Young Carter Jackson of Green River, Wyoming, relaxed in a casual pose for a 'parlour' photographer in 1910. His garb indicates that it was a special occasion, one for which he tried valiantly to conceal his injured right hand. This photograph shows the black troopers as they worked on the buildings.