Cairo, IL 1861 - Panorama stitching technology meets 1861 photography.

cromagnondan

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Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Just discovered this civil war forum, and someone suggested I post this handiwork of mine to this forum.
In 1861, as far as we can tell, a photographer, perhaps the Cairo photographers Dunn and Faul of 6th and Levee, went up on the St. Charles Hotel, the tallest building in Cairo, or so I believe, and took some photographs. These survive and are available as tif images, which means high resolution, on the Library of Congress website. A observation that these photographs formed a 'near panorama' of Cairo in 1861 got me thinking, well, modern 'stitching' software allows one to join multiple photographs into one panoramic view provided the photographs have overlapping elements. Zoom.it is a Microsoft service for hosting large panoramic photographs. Photographs 1 and 2 are looking South. Photographs 3, 4 and 5 looking west, and photograph 6, looks North along the Ohio. So photographs 1 and 2 can be stitched together, as can photographs 3, 4, and 5 to make some amazing panoramas. Photograph 6 was omitted because it can't be linked into the panorama. (Photograph 6 is perhaps the most interesting as it shows the Levee and some riverboats, but it does not match up with the other photographs. ) Climb onto the roof, put your quarter in the binoculars, and zoom in on Cairo in 1861.
http://zoom.it/afER
http://zoom.it/PLnJ
 
Just saw this... neat stuff. Please let us know if you find another home for them... and I'd be interested to see the "orphan" photo 6 as well.
 

That's it. An interesting detail in that image.
danrice2.jpg

This sign is on a fence on the left edge of the photo, past the Railroad Depot.
Dan Rice was the 'Bob Hope' of the day. I don't know if he was in Cairo at the time, but he traveled up-and-down the rivers before-and-after the Civil War giving circus shows. He would have not been allowed south of Cairo during the war, and the fact that he had given shows in the South, and perhaps had included 'pro-Southern' content, got him booed in performances early in the war. (Whatever his personal beliefs, he quickly adopted lots of Pro-Union content.) He's been called a 'clown' but his act was monologue and banter. I imagine he was a fast-talking type, like Robert Preston doing Harold Hill in Music Man. He looked like Uncle Sam in later years, or rather, Uncle Sam looks like him. Some say 'Dan Rice' was the artist's inspiration.
 
When you get a chance, revisit Cairo. Drove through there once rather than through Paducah. Trust me, Paducah is much, much nicer. Cairo is the armpit if not the crotch of the US.
 
When you get a chance, revisit Cairo. Drove through there once rather than through Paducah. Trust me, Paducah is much, much nicer. Cairo is the armpit if not the crotch of the US.
Heyday was about 1900. River business left, railroad business left, and declining ever since. Its reason for being, easy access to two rivers, is no longer important.
 
Really great stuff! Thanks for the post…I wonder what regiment that's in formation!
That image wit the men drilling in front of the barracks, one of the images that I used to make the panoramic view, is entitled, "Headquarters and barracks of Col. Morgan's Regt." So, its most likely the 10th Illinois. From another site comes this description, "The Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry was one of the six Regiments called for by the Governor's order of April 16, 1861. It was formed from the first four companies that reported at Springfield, April 20, 1861, which were ordered to Cairo on the 22d, and there, with three other Infantry and three Artillery companies, the Regiment was organized, and mustered by Captain John Pope, April 29, 1861, into the United States service for three months, with B. M. Prentiss as Colonel, J. D. Morgan, as Lieutenant Colonel, and Charles H. Adams as Major. The early promotion of Prentiss to a Brigadiership made Morgan Colonel, Adams Lieutenant Colonel and John Tillson Major. Thus organized, it remained at Cairo, doing garrison duty, during its three months' service: twice making movements of reconnoissance, one toward Columbus, Ky., and again to Benton, Mo. It enlisted, and was mustered into the three years' service, July 29, 1861, by Captain T. G. Pitcher at Cairo; thence was soon removed to Mound City, Ill., where it remained through the winter, taking part in January, 1862, in the movement of Grant's forces toward Columbus and Paducah. In February it was stationed at Bird's Point, Mo., and while there, March 1, had brisk engagement with Jeff Thompson's troops, near Sykeston, Mo., taking several prisoners and two field pieces.
 
Great photos. I enjoyed them. Thanks for posting. Thanks to Andy, too, for the riverfront scene.
 
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