Item No. 3853235

A rare CDV view of Benjamin L. E. Bonneville, the army officer best known for his 1830s exploration of the Oregon country. On the reverse is the imprint of St. Louis photographers Outley & Bell. The image was part of an album assembled by Colonel Bernard J. D. Irwin, who had first met Bonneville as the two travelled together from New York to the Arizona Territory in 1855. Irwin’s handwriting on the reverse identifies Bonneville with a date of 1868, although the image likely dates to the war years when Bonneville was headquartered in St. Louis. The image measures about 2 1/2” x 4”.

Brigadier General Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was a French-born officer of the United States Army who graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1815 and served on the western frontier for over fifty years. He is best known for his 1832 expedition into the Rocky Mountains and Oregon country, later chronicled by Washington Irving. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and during the Civil War held administrative and recruiting posts, helping organize and supply Union forces in Missouri and later commanding Benton Barracks at St. Louis. He was breveted brigadier general in 1865, retired in 1866, and died at Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1878.