William Abraham Bell
| William Abraham Bell | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 26, 1841 Ireland |
| Died | June 6, 1921 England |
| Education | University of Cambridge |
| Occupation | physician, photographer early businessman and developer in Colorado |
Dr. William Abraham Bell (April 26, 1841 – June 6, 1921) was an English physician who is best known as a photographer of the American West and a founder and developer of several businesses and towns in Colorado, including Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, and Durango.
Bell was born in Ireland in 1841, the son of an English physician named William Bell. He studied medicine at Cambridge University and practiced at St George's Hospital in London after earning his medical degree.
In 1867, Bell traveled to the United States to study the medical principles of homeopathy in St. Louis. In the United States, he joined an expedition undertaken by the Union Pacific Railroad Eastern Division (later Kansas Pacific Railway) to identify and map a southern route for a railroad connection between Kansas and California. Although Bell had no experience in photography, he was recommended for the post of expedition photographer by the expedition's geologist, John Lawrence LeConte. Accordingly, he undertook a two-week crash course in photography, purchased a camera and darkroom equipment, and joined the expedition in western Kansas, in a region near the Colorado state line that was the scene of active fighting between local Indians and United States military forces.
Soon after his arrival in Kansas, Bell saw and photographed the mutilated body of Sergeant Frederick Wyllyams, a U.S. soldier who had been killed by Indians. The gruesome image was published in Harper's Weekly, which railroad officials considered to be bad publicity and which caused them to become concerned that Bell intended to make money from sale of expedition photos. The railroad hired Alexander Gardner to be chief photographer for the survey expedition. However, the expedition split into two parties, and for a time Bell continued his photographic work as a member of the southern party that scouted a route through New Mexico and west along the 32nd parallel, while Gardner was part of the northern party that followed the 35th parallel. As an expedition member, Bell formed a friendship with the expedition's leader, General William J. Palmer, who was later to become his partner in several business ventures.
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