These 30 Vintage Photos Reveal a Forgotten World From the 1880s
America in the 1880s was rooted in the ruggedness of the frontier yet reaching toward the promises of modernity. Legends like Annie Oakley and Billy the Kid walked the earth, while the Statue of Liberty rose in New York Harbor. In this collection of photos, you’ll find a world in flux: women arming themselves against eviction, Native leaders preserving their heritage, and pioneers of science, sports, and civil service forging new paths.
1. Sits Down Spotted From Crow Nation in Fort Keogh, Montana (1881)
2. Lumberjacks Falling Giant Trees (1889)
3. Sharpshooter Annie Oakley (1885)
4. The O’Halloran Sisters Ready To Stand Off Against Eviction Officers With Poles and Boiling Water During the Irish Land War (1887)
5. Three Blackfoot Men in Calgary, Alberta (1887)
6. Billy the Kid (1880)
7. Marica Paschal, Half-Cherokee Daughter of a U.S. Army Officer (1880)
8. A Man and His Cat (1880)
9. Leaders of the Hunkpapa Lakota: Crow Eagle, Fool Thunder, Iron Thunder, and Slow White Buffalo (1881)
10. Einstein at Three Years Old (1882)
11. The Original Big Wheel (1882)
12. Arthur Wharton, the First Black Player in the History of Professional Soccer (1882)
13. The Cat IS the Hat (1883)
14. Blizzard in New York City (1888)
15. Niagara Falls Frozen (1883)
16. Winner of the Most Scary Woman in the UK award, Heavyweight Boxing Championship of the World, Hattie ‘The Mad Hatter’ Madders (1883)
17. Bass Reeves, a Former Slave Who Became the First Black Deputy US Marshal West of the Mississippi (1885)
18. Cough Syrup Ingredients (1888)
19. Carrie, Mary, and Laura Ingalls (1881)
20. Construction of the Statue of Liberty (1884)
21. Riding a Bicycle Down the Steps of the United States Capitol (1884)
22. A Man Dressed as the King of Billiards With His Sons Dressed as a Cue Ball and an 8 Ball (1886)
23. An Indian Woman, a Japanese Woman, and a Syrian Woman Training To Be Doctors at the Women’s Medical College of Philadelphia (1885)
24. Future President Theodore Roosevelt on a Hunt (1885)
25. Albino Native American Girl From the Hopi Tribe (1886)
26. Between the Mustache and the Turkey, This Is Gold (1885)
27. Beautiful Nubian Woman (1885)
28. Ulysses S. Grant Relaxing on the Porch (1885)
29. First Nations Man With His Wife (1886)
30. Cutting a Sunbeam (1886)
Discover more photos from decades ago:
Go way back by reading Life at the Turn of the Century: 33 Vintage Photos From the 1890s and 19 Photos From the ‘Golden Age’ of Factory Work. For something a little more contemporary, check out 33 Vintage Photos That Show What the Roaring Twenties Was Truly Like.