Ohio History Journal




J

J. C. WILD, WESTERN PAINTER AND LITHOGRAPHER

 

by JOHN FRANCIS MCDERMOTT

Professor of English, Washington University

On the 8th of April 1840 the St. Louis Missouri Republican an-

nounced that "Mr. C. Wild, of this city, proposes to publish in

the course of a few weeks, a set of views of this city. . . . The

paintings from which the engravings will be taken are ready for

examination at his painting office on Locust Street between Main

and Second Streets, to which the attention of the public is invited."

All those paintings have disappeared, but the lithographs from

them mark the beginning of that notable set of early western views,

The Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated, now the rarest as well as

the most pictorially important lot of prints for the St. Louis area.1

Of the early life of John Caspar Wild almost nothing is known.

A. H. Sanders, who knew the artist in the last years of his life in

Davenport, Iowa, identified him as a native of Zurich, Switzerland,

who as a young man had lived in Paris for fifteen years before he

emigrated to the United States.2 His known art-life in America

began in Philadelphia in 1831 when four uncolored panoramic views

of that city, taken from the State House looking north, south, east,

and west, drawn on stone by Wild, were published by J. T. Bowen.3

By 1835 (or possibly two years earlier) he was living in Cin-

cinnati. The Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio in that

city owns five water colors signed by Wild and dated by them "about

 

1 For special courtesies and assistance in assembling these facts about John Caspar

Wild I wish particularly to thank Virginius C. Hall, director of the Historical and

Philosophical Society of Ohio (Cincinnati); Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, curator of the

Smith College Museum of Art; the Old Print Shop of New York; the late John H.

Bailey, director of the Davenport Public Museum, and W. E. Whittlesey, secretary

of that museum (Davenport, Iowa); R. N. Williams 2d, director of the Historical

Society of Pennsylvania; Massey Trotter of the Print Room, New York Public Library;

Charles van Ravenswaay, director, and Marjory Douglas, curator, of the Missouri

Historical Society (St. Louis); Margaret Scriven, librarian, and Alfred F. Hopkins

and H. Maxson Holloway, former and present curators of the Chicago Historical

Society; Clarence E. Miller, librarian of the Mercantile Library (St. Louis); Lucile

Kane, curator of manuscripts, Minnesota Historical Society; Boyden Sparkes of

New York; and Arthur C. Hoskins and Stratford Lee Morton of St. Louis.

2 Add H. Sanders wrote the sketch of Wild's life which appears in Franc B. Wilkie,

Davenport Past and Present (Davenport, 1858), 307-310.

3 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania owns a set of these lithographs; they

measure eight and one-quarter inches by twelve and one-half.

111



112 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

112     Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

1835." These pictures, approximately twenty-four by thirty-four

inches, are perhaps more interesting historically than artistically.

They are street views which represent the "Public Landing" (Fig.

1); "Fourth Street, West of Vine"; the "Northeast Corner of

Walnut and Fourth Street"; "Third and Vine Streets--North Side";

"Fourth Street, East of Vine." It is probable, though not proved, that

he did other views of the city and its principal buildings and that

he lithographed these paintings as he did his later work in Phila-

delphia and St. Louis. No lithographs of Cincinnati subjects, how-

ever, seem to be extant.

One other view apparently belongs to this period; of it there are

three (possibly four) versions. Although not signed, they are almost

certainly by the same hand and have every appearance of being the

work of Wild. One, owned by the Historical and Philosophical

Society, is described as a water color about twenty-six by thirty-four

inches (Fig. 2). The second is a gouache painting about nineteen

by twenty-six inches offered for sale in 1946 by the Old Print Shop

of New York City.4 Except for difference in size these are identical

treatments of the subject. Lately, Virginius C. Hall, director of the

Historical and Philosophical Society, has turned up a photograph

(made in 1853 or later) of another painting "almost identical"

with the water color already mentioned; his records for this subject

carry the date 1833--the original of this photo has not been

located. A fourth version (gouache, ten by fifteen inches) is owned

by Richard S. Hawes of St. Louis; it differs only in minor details

from the others. There has been some dispute about the dating

of this subject, but judging from the size of the town depicted,

it must have been done in the early eighteen thirties. It will not

be unreasonable to assume that Wild was in Cincinnati by 1833

and that one of these four pictures is the earliest of his western

views.

Apparently Wild remained in Cincinnati for several years, for

he was entered in the city directory for 1836-37 as a landscape

painter with a studio at 133 Main Street. But no sooner was he

listed as a regular citizen of the place than he must have returned

to Philadelphia. In 1838 J. C. Wild and J. B. Chevalier, Litho-

4 See plate in The Old Print Shop Portfolio, V (January 1946), 120.



J

J. C. Wild                        113

graphers of 72 Dock Street, Philadelphia, published a book of

Views of Philadelphia, and Its Vicinity. According to the title page

this was "a collection of Twenty Views, drawn on stone, by J. C.

Wild, from his own sketches and Paintings. With Poetical Illus-

trations on each Subject, by Andrew M'Makin. Patrons, beneath your

fostering smiles alone, We ply the pencil, or impress the stone;

With anxious care, our pleasing task pursue, and paint the City's

'Lions' to your view." The book was issued in blue paper covers

at three dollars; the lithographs, uncolored, were about five by

seven inches. The twenty subjects were:

1. Fairmount, from the Basin                     11. State House (Fig. 3)

2. United States Bank                                12. Pennsylvania Institution for

3. Merchants Exchange              the Instruction of the Blind

4. View from the Inclined Plane                 13. Pennsylvania Hospital

5. The Girard College                                 14. Market Street

6. Eastern Penitentiary                               15. University of Pennsylvania

7. U. S. Naval Asylum                               16. U. S. Mint

8. Alms House                                           17. Christ Church

9. Moyamensing Prison                             18. Manayunk

10. Philadelphia, from the Navy                  19. St. John's Church

Yard                                                     20. Laurel Hill Cemetery

Copies of this rare publication are to be found in the Historical

Society of Pennsylvania and the New York Public Library. The

latter owns also an edition published by J. T. Bowen of Phila-

delphia in 1848, the plates of which have been colored by hand.

During this second period in Philadelphia Wild reissued (1838)

his panoramic views of that city; although they are printed on a

slightly larger sheet, apparently he used the stones prepared seven

years earlier, the only difference being in the copyright line and the

addition of the Wild and Chevalier office.

Once more Wild turned to the West. He must have gone now to

St. Louis, for on April 29, 1839, the Daily Evening Gazette re-

ported: "We have before us a very neatly colored lithographic

drawing of St. Louis, as seen from the opposite shore. The litho-

graphic work was executed by Mr. Dupre's well known establish-

ment; where the sketch was drawn and colored by Mr. J. C. Wild."

This print (Fig. 4), approximately seventeen by twenty-six inches,



114 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

114      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

is the rarest as well as the most attractive of all the Wild views of

St. Louis from the Illinois shore.5 The caption on the plate informs

us that the scene was "painted from nature," but this original, like

most of Wild's paintings, has disappeared.

During the next twelve months Wild painted eight more local

scenes, which were on view as early as April 8, 1840. Twenty days

later the Missouri Republican identified the pictures as "A view of

St. Louis as you ascend and as you descend the river;6 a view from

Chouteau's Pond, with the king of fishermen in sight [Fig. 5];7 a

view of Water street from below the Market House; a view of the

Episcopal Church; of the Second Presbyterian Church; of the Catholic

Cathedral and of the New Court House and Hotel." None of these

paintings can now be located. The purpose in showing the pictures,

however, was not to sell them but to arouse public interest in the

artist's plan to lithograph the views for subscribers "with a full

description of each drawing for the moderate sum of four dollars

for the eight drawings plain, or eight dollars colored. . . . With

each drawing he has preserved accurately the land marks around,

and in less than five years each will be of double value as showing

something of what St. Louis was."8 The work of Wild, the Daily

Pennant declared, "should be hailed as a public benefit, and assisted

by liberal patronage.--Even the excuse of hard times should not

be considered available in such a case."9

The date of publication of this set of lithographs is uncertain.

They were surely ready in the fall of the year, for on October 21,

1840, the Daily Evening Gazette reported that Wild had been

"employed, for some time past, in executing some drawings on

 

5 The only copy of record is that in the Stokes Collection in the New York Public

Library. On July 8, 1839, the Missouri Republican acknowledged receipt from

E. Dupre of a lithographed likeness of Bishop Rosati (from a portrait by Gerke);

no lithographer's name was given-it is possible that this was also the work of

Wild. Both were advertised for sale in the Daily Evening Gazette for several months

beginning July 17.

6 That these two paintings were new and different views of the city is made

clear by comparison of the litho of the 1839 view with those of the "North East"

and "South East" views of 1840.

7 The reproduction here is from the lithograph, of course, not the painting. The

Missouri Historical Society has an oil by Henry Lewis, painted in Dusseldorf about

1900, which is almost identical in detail with Wild's litho. Apparently Lewis used

as a basis for his picture not his own sketchbook but Wild's lithograph.

8 Missouri Republican, April 28, 1840.

9 April 8, 1840.



J

J. C. Wild            115

stone, from sketches, exhibiting views in our city and neighborhood.

They are now completed. They comprise eight views."10 Presumably

the venture was successful, for in the Missouri Republican of Decem-

ber 10, 1840, we discover that Wild announced a "second edition

of the Views of St. Louis, consisting of the eight views already

lithographed, and four others, the subjects of which will probably

be the U. S. Arsenal, Theatre, St. Louis Hotel and St. Louis Uni-

versity." The price for the lot of twelve plain was to be six dollars;

twelve dollars colored. From these notices it seems clear that Wild

issued his first and second editions of the Views of St. Louis as

books or portfolios with letterpress in addition to the lithos. No

copies of such a publication, however, have been recorded.11

Three months later the enterprise was considerably expanded.

On March 13, 1841, the Missouri Republican carried the announce-

ment that Wild, "favorably known here as the publisher of 'Views

of St. Louis,'" had commenced "the publication of a work en-

titled 'The Valley of the Mississippi'" which was to include "all

the most picturesque scenes, Natural curiosities, and also views

of the principal cities and towns in the Great West; with historical

descriptions." It was to be issued in monthly numbers, each con-

10 The Daily Pennant on April 20, 1840, reported: "We have seldom been more

gratified than we were on Saturday, during a visit we paid to the establishment

of Mr. J. C. Wild, on Locust street. His series of 'Views of St. Louis' consist of

eight elegant and extremely accurate lithographic prints, beautifully colored,--repre-

senting among others, the new Court-House, the Second Presbyterian Church, and

several beautiful landscape views in the vicinity of the city. The cathedral is peculiarly

excellent, and strikes us as being one of the best things of the kind which we have

ever seen." The Pennant man must certainly have been in error in reporting the views

as lithographic prints. The Missouri Republican in its stories of April 8 and 28

mentioned paintings only. The Daily Evening Gazette of April 28 carried a similar

report: "We have seen some beautifully colored drawings of scenes in St. Louis,

executed by Mr. J. C. Wild, which are so very accurate and pleasing, that we cannot

forbear calling attention to them. They are designed to show the plan of a set of

drawings to be done on stone by Mr. Wild, provided sufficient encouragement be

given for that purpose." The Gazette story of October 21 would seem to be final

proof that the paintings were shown in April and the lithos available in October.

11 Prints of these first issues are extremely rare. Of the first set of eight the

Missouri Historical Society has, in color, all but the "South East View of St. Louis."

These prints have an overall size of thirteen by seventeen and one-half inches, with

the picture measuring ten by fifteen and one-quarter. Six are inscribed: "Published

and Lithographed by J. C. Wild at the Missouri Republican Office." The "North

East View of St. Louis from the Illinois Shore" bears the legend: "Painted from

Nature and drawn on Stone by J. C. Wild. Published at the Republican Office."

Stratford Lee Morton of St. Louis has a fine set of the first eight views in color. The

New-York Historical Society also has several of these first large issues. No copies

have been located of the second lot of four except as reproduced in the Valley

Illustrated.



116 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

116      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

taining four views, those of the first number being the ones pre-

viously published but "reduced in size to correspond with the work."

Lewis F. Thomas, described as "one of the most lively and accom-

plished writers of the west," was to do the letterpress to accompany

the pictures.12 Altogether, "it will form an elegant work to transmit

to eastern friends to give those who have never been west an idea

of Western science, western scenery, &c." Wild apparently issued

a prospectus at this time, for the editor of the St. Louis Western

Atlas on March 20 declared: "Mr. Wild must revise his title page.

The orthography of certain words that figure there is faulty, and

should be corrected."13

Nothing more concerning the new art publication was printed

for several months. In the meantime the Republican reported on

June 28 that Wild had made "a most accurate and handsome litho-

graphic view of the s. b. Missouri the King of Western boats, in

full run opposite Selma." In the opinion of the writer "it would

when colored make a handsome parlor ornament." From the time

of issue I am inclined to believe that this print was made in the

size and style of the Views of St. Louis. The view of Selma in the

Valley Illustrated (1842) was probably reduced from this earlier

litho; for the Missouri, however, which was destroyed by fire in

August 1841, a small boat marked "TWS" was substituted.14

On July 20 an advertisement in the Missouri Republican indicated

the scope of business carried on by "J. C. Wild Publisher of the

Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated." He informed his friends and

the public generally that he was prepared "to execute Lithography,

in all its various branches, views of Buildings, Cities, Scenery, and

Steamboats, &c. Also Maps, Professional, Visiting and Invitation

Cards, Bills of Exchange, Labels, Circulars, &c." His place of

business was now at the Missouri Republican office on Main Street.

12 Lewis Foulk Thomas, according to a card in the Daily Pennant on May 9, 1840,

was an attorney-at-law. Verse contributions of his appeared in the Missouri Re-

publican and the New Era at various times between 1841 and 1846. His Inda, a

Legend of the Lakes; with Other Poems (St. Louis, 1842), was reviewed at length

by S.D.T. in the New Era on August 24, 1842. In 1847 Thomas' Rhymes of the

Route, in Mexico was published in Washington, D.C.; his Cortez, the Conqueror

(a five-act tragedy) was published in the same city ten years later.

13 No copy of this prospectus has been found. Examination of extant cover titles

and title pages suggests that Wild took the hint.

14 Arthur C. Hoskins of St. Louis owns an interesting variant of this Selma print.

It is about fifteen by twenty-six inches, colored. Superimposed in the foreground is a

view of the steamboat Alec Scott, drawn by Captain H. S. Blood.



J

J. C. Wild                           117

Perhaps it was the pressure of such business that had delayed

progress on the book. The first number of the Valley Illustrated

was ready by July 15, 1841.15 The buff cover page bears the in-

formative title: THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI ILLUS-

TRATED in a SERIES OF VIEWS embracing pictures of the Prin-

cipal Cities and Towns, Public Buildings remarkable and picturesque

Scenery, on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Drawn and Litho-

graphed by J. C. Wild, Literary Department by Lewis F. Thomas.

(No scenes on the Ohio were published in any of the nine parts.)

It is decorated with a picture of marching soldiers about to be

ambushed by an Indian warrior, while, to the right, settlers are

seen building a cabin; in the center distance is a view of the

Mississippi.

In addition to this cover Wild supplied a decorative title page

which shows a party of settlers gathered around a campfire at

night, with wagons, animals, and a lurking Indian in the back-

ground (Fig. 6). Although the late William Clark Breckenridge

thought these two scenes might be the work of Charles Deas, it

is almost certain that this artist during the summer of 1841 was in

the neighborhood of Fort Snelling; we cannot definitely locate him

in St. Louis before November, whereas these plates must have been

done in June or July at the latest.16 Furthermore, the title page

lithograph bears the typical Wild signature. For plates in the first

number Wild redrew on stone the "South East View of St. Louis"

(now labeled "View of St. Louis from the Illinois Shore"),17 the

 

15 On that day the Daily Evening Gazette announced: "We have now on our

table the first number. . . . [It] contains a view and sketch of the city of St. Louis--

of the Cathedral--of the Court House and of the Theatre."

16 John Francis McDermott, "Charles Deas, Painter of the Frontier," Art Quarterly,

XIII (1950), 293-311.

17 Three more variants have been located of the views from the Illinois shore.

Facing page 1 of De Smet's Voyages aux Montagnes Rocheux et un annee de sejour

chez les tribus indiens du vaste territoire de l'Oregon (Malines, 1844) appeared

Wild's "View of St. Louis" from the Valley Illustrated, reduced to little more than

three inches by five, colored, and published without credit to the artist. The second

variant issue is a "South East View of St. Louis From the Illinois Shore Published

by George Wooll No. 71 Market Street St. Louis, Missouri Copyright secured."

This colored litho is also Wild's-the only possible explanation of the legend is

that Wooll came into possession of Wild's stone after the death of the artist in 1846.

The Missouri Historical Society has a copy on which someone many years ago

wrote the date 1836! This print is nine and one-quarter by fourteen inches. The

third variant is a "North East View of St. Louis" issued by Wooll without credit

to Wild; Knox College owns one of these prints (ten by fifteen and one-quarter

inches).



118 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

118       Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

Cathedral,18 the Court House (all from the first lot of Views),

and the St. Louis Theatre (from the second group). The plates

(actual size of picture) in this and succeeding issues vary from

four and one-quarter to four and three-quarters inches in height

and from    seven and one-quarter to eight and three-quarters in

width; the four panoramic plates in the eighth and ninth parts

from   about eight and one-eighth to eight and three-quarters in

height and from sixteen and one-half to eighteen inches in width.

The second number appeared late in August. The Missouri Re-

publican on the 25th reported its issue without describing its con-

tents but added, "It is no small compliment to the Editor and

Artist, that a large number of copies have been ordered expressly

for the purpose of sending them to Europe." The five pictures

presented included St. Louis University (from the second set of

Views of St. Louis), the old Chouteau mansion,19 the interior of

the Church of St. Francis Xavier, a view of St. Charles, Missouri,

and a view of Carondelet.

The same newspaper on October 6 announced the September (or

third) number of the book, the appearance of which had "been

delayed by the indisposition of the Editor."20 This "valuable and

interesting number" contained views of "Alton, of Monk's Mound,

in St. Clair county, of Jefferson Barracks, of St. Louis Medical

College [Fig. 7], and of the Engine House of the St. Louis Fire

Company." The fifth print was an extra or supplement.21

18 The view of the Cathedral exists also as a steel engraving (four and one-half

inches by seven and three-eighths) by J. T. Hammond, published in the first volume

of the Catholic Cabinet (St. Louis, 1843). It was reproduced in 1843 or 1844 on

a letterhead. See note 25 below.

19 "This is the most ancient mansion in our City. ... It is a grand old edifice-

and infinitely better fitted for the heats of our summer climate, than the great majority

of our more modern dwellings. ... It has been the scene of many grave and gay

assemblies. In it was for many years transacted much of the business of a house

whose affairs embraced a multitude of operations, extending over a wide and wild

expanse of country, involving heavy outlays and realizing rich returns. ... As the

building is doomed to fall, it is some consolation to know that, in Mr. Wild's

lithography, its appearance has been very accurately preserved." Western Atlas,

August 28, 1841.

20 "Appeared yesterday," said the Pennant on October 5, 1841.

21 G. G. Foster, editor of the St. Louis Daily Pennant, at this time proposed to

issue a periodical called the Prairie Flower. On October 13 the Pennant announced

that "the lithographed prospectus for this work is now out, and our friends are in-

vited to call at Dinnies & Radford's to examine it. It is a beautiful thing and does

great credit to Mr. Wild the artist." No copy of this prospectus has been located;

nor has any copy of the Prairie Flower been found.



J

J. C. Wild                      119

The October (fourth) part was reported in the Missouri Re-

publican of November 10 as including "a view of Kaskaskia, Illinois;

a view of the ruins of Fort Chartres, Ill.; a view of the U. S.

Arsenal, below St. Louis, and a view of the Falling Spring, near

Cahokia." A plan accompanied the picture of the fort. The "Arsenal"

had previously been issued in the second set of Views of St. Louis.

On the 11th of December we read in the same paper that two

numbers were about to be published, but not until Christmas Day

was the long postponed November issue mentioned again and then

only because the Missouri Republican was printing that day Lewis F.

Thomas' account of the Piasau legend. Some explanation of the

delay we find in the announcement in the Republican on January 10,

1842, that twenty-year-old Sarah Ann Humphreys Wild, daughter

of William Humphreys and wife of the artist, had died two days

before.

At last the November and December numbers, "delayed by the

indisposition of the publisher, Mr. Wild," were in the hands of

the subscribers, the Republican reported on February 2, 1842. The

first contained views of the Piasau Rock near Alton, of the mouth

of the Missouri River, of St. Charles College, and of a prairie on

fire. The second was comprised of views of Cairo City (Fig. 8), of

Selma, of Grand Tower and the Devil's Bake Oven, and of Barbeau's

Creek at Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.

The seventh number was not reviewed by the press. Officially

the January issue, it probably did not appear until late March or

possibly April.22 The scenes represented were the Second Presby-

terian Church (from the first set of Views of St. Louis), Cahokia,

Illinois (winter scene), the St. Louis Hospital, and a view at Illinois

Town (now East St. Louis) with St. Louis in the distance.

The eighth and ninth parts (for February and March) were

actually issued in May, according to the New Era of May 31. In

each number were two panoramic views of St. Louis, north, south,

east, and west, taken from the observatory of the Planters House.

Besides the regular book issue, the Missouri Republican of June 2

tells us, Wild made "a number of these views" to sell singly.

22 A letter from a "Subscriber" in the Missouri Republican for March 23, 1842,

described this number as then "in preparation."



120 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

120       Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

With these numbers the Valley Illustrated ceased. According to

the cover page Wild had planned a volume of two hundred pages

of letterpress and fifty views to be published in monthly parts (at

one dollar each) over a year's time. However, nine parts only were

issued, with thirty-four plates (to which are added the cover and

title page scenes). Difficulties of some sort developed with Lewis

F. Thomas: the last three numbers were edited by J. E. Thomas,

his brother.23 Wild continued to live in St. Louis for at least two

years; why he ceased publication of this interesting series remains

unknown.24

Attention should be called to several features of the Valley Illus-

trated plates. In the handling of his subjects the artist allowed him-

self some liberty. The Court House, for example, in 1840 looked

like Wild's view only in the architect's drawings, for when finished

many years later the building did not conform to all the details of

the picture; and the Theatre, which had been opened in 1837, never

was adorned with the portico which its builders had planned and

sketched. It should be noted, too, that when the plates of the

Valley were redone from the Views of St. Louis they were not

merely cut down in size, but altered in detail. The "View of St.

Louis from the Illinois Shore" is not exactly the same as the "South

East View of St. Louis." The larger issue of the Second Presby-

terian Church is a far more pleasing picture because the full block

to the right of the church is in view, whereas in the Valley the plate

is cut off after the residence immediately beyond the church.

Although Wild had originally declared that he intended to

23 In a letter to the Daily Evening Gazette (April 18, 1842) J. E. Thomas men-

tioned that he had "had charge of the 'Valley of the Mississippi Illustrated,' &c.,

as editor dating from the 7th number inclusive." On June 4 an announcement in the

St. Louis New Era declared that L. F. Thomas had "not been Editor of the Valley

of the Mississippi Illustrated for the last three months." It was probably at some time

before this break that Wild made the lithograph from the Deas portrait of Thomas

used as frontispiece to the latter's Inda. See note 12 above.

24 A collation of the Valley Illustrated by William Clark Breckenridge can be found

in James Malcolm Breckenridge, William Clark Breckenridge, His Life, Lineage and

Writings (St. Louis, 1932), 263-274. Copies of the Wild-Thomas volume are scarce

and imperfect. Except for some missing title pages (which may possibly have never

been printed) that owned by the Chicago Historical Society seems to be perfect; tha??

in the Clements Library is likewise almost perfect. The New-York Historical Society

the Mercantile Library of St. Louis, the Missouri Historical Society, all have partia??

copies. Stratford Lee Morton has another complete copy (except for the missing title

pages mentioned). In 1948 Joseph Garnier published in St. Louis a facsimile edition

of the original work.



J

J. C. Wild                              121

reissue all the Views of St. Louis in the Valley Illustrated, the

Chouteau Pond, Water Street (the Levee), and the Episcopal Church

of the first lot were not included in the later publication, nor was

the St. Louis Hotel of the second batch of Views. Another print

which was not listed among the twelve Views and did not appear

in the Valley Illustrated--possibly his most pleasing street scene-

is a view (owned by the Missouri Historical Society) of the First

Presbyterian Church (Fig. 9). A colored print in the size of the

Views, it is inscribed "Published by J. C. Wild No 9, Second Srt

[sic] St. Louis Mo. Drawn and Lithographed by J. C. Wild."

From the address we may assume that it was not done in the first

two or three years of his residence in St. Louis; for the directory

of 1842 listed the artist at 45 N. First, whereas that of 1845 placed

him on the "east side of Second South of Chestnut," that is, in the

first block of North Second Street.

There is extant a fifth general view of St. Louis by Wild, which

may be his last picture of the city. Taken from midriver, it presents

a close-up of the waterfront; the Mississippi, however, is made to

look like a placid lake or bay. Engraved by J. T. Hammond of St.

Louis, it was published (a plate four and one-half by seven and

three-quarters inches) in the Cincinnati Ladies Repository for January

1845, as an "entirely new" engraving. This print, however, was

extant as a letterhead early in 1844, for Henry B. Whipple picked

up a copy when he visited the city in the first week in April.25 So

far as can be determined Wild made no lithograph of this picture.

25 Lester B. Shippee, ed., Bishop Whipple's Southern Diary, 1843-1844 (Minne-

apolis, 1937), 132-137. In the original manuscript diary a number of prints were

pasted by way of illustration; of three reproduced by Shippee, two (unidentified)

are St. Louis pictures by Wild. One is the Hammond engraving of the Cathedral

(note 18 above); the other is the Ladies Repository view. Whipple's copies were

on letterheads acquired in St. Louis; they measure four and one-half by seven and

one-half inches, and four and one-half by seven and three-quarters.

An additional element of confusion in the record of Wild's views of the city is

suggested by the report of exhibits at the Mechanics Fair in November 1841; there

the artist showed "a lithographed view of St. Louis, colored" and "a new view

of St. Louis, taken opposite the Southern or lower part of the city." Missouri Re-

publican, November 27, 1841. The first mentioned could be the 1839 view, the

"North East" or the "South East" of the original series issued in October 1840, or

the litho in the Valley Illustrated (July 1841). The second, however, if the reporter

was accurate in describing it as a new view, could be none of these. Could it have

been either the painting from which the Ladies Repository view was engraved or the

engraving itself? Or was it possibly still another picture of the city? No lithograph

of this Ladies Repository view has ever been recorded; it forms a curious exception

in his career.



122 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

122      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

How many paintings Wild produced in St. Louis besides the

first nine no one knows. It is quite probable that he did water colors

of all his subjects. The only example that has been located, how-

ever, is a water color view of Carondelet (twenty-two by thirty-

five inches), owned by the Mercantile Library of St. Louis; it is

signed and dated 1841.

Five years Wild had spent in St. Louis.26 In the Valley Illustrated

he had presented many views of the Mississippi from the Ohio to

the Missouri. He began to think it was time he pictured the towns

of the Upper Mississippi. In June 1844 he went up to Davenport to

take "a view of that place with its surrounding scenery." Now, on

July 25, the Daily Evening Gazette announced that "the sketch has

been completed, and may be seen at the bookstore of Mr. Keith."

The result of this trip was probably the painting of that city

now in the Davenport Public Museum, signed and dated 1844 (Fig.

10). It was probably of this picture that a St. Louis newspaper

correspondent, sightseeing in Davenport in July 1845, wrote: "The

bluffs below the town afford the proper point of view, and the

artist, Wilde, formerly of St. Louis, has in a really fine drawing,

given a lively idea of it."27

In September 1844 Wild extended his sphere of activities con-

siderably by venturing to Fort Snelling. According to a letter of

introduction he carried from Benjamin Clapp of Pierre Chouteau

Jr. and Company of St. Louis to H. H. Sibley at Mendota, he was

setting out on this trip "to improve his health .. . and to make some

sketches of scenery &c in [the] romantic country of St. Peters."28

A. H. Sanders later declared that he had traveled with Wild in

1846, but either he was in error or Wild made another trip in that

year. On this excursion, Sanders reported, Wild "made a number

of small sketches, but they were never reproduced on canvass."29

We do not know what those sketches were, but Sanders was again

in error, for at his death two years later Wild left water colors of

26 Early in 1844 Wild did a litho view of Col. Brant's Tobacco Warehouse and

a litho of the Rev. Dr. Potts of the Second Presbyterian Church from a portrait by

William C. Cooper. Daily Evening Gazette, February 24, 29, 1844.

27 Weekly Reveille, August 11, 1845; John Francis McDermott, "An Uppe

Mississippi Excursion," Minnesota History, XXII (1941), 22.

28 Sibley Papers, Minnesota Historical Society.

29 Wilkie, Davenport Past and Present, 308.



J

J. C. Wild                           123

the Falls of St. Anthony and of Fort Snelling (Fig. 11). The first

is lost; the last, a gouache and pastel, nineteen and one-quarter

inches by twenty-nine and seven-eighths, has for the last fifty years

been in the family of Boyden Sparkes of New York and has just

been acquired by the Minnesota Historical Society.30

Although errors crept into his account of Wild, Sanders remains

our principal source for the last years of the artist's life and has

given us our only picture of him. He wrote that Wild at that time

was "a tall spare man of about forty years, with long raven black

hair, whiskers and moustache, and restless brown eyes. He had, at

times, a worn and haggard look, the result, doubtless, of ill-health,

and a life-long battle with the world for the bare means of sub-

sistence." He was a man who had "neither humor of his own, nor

an appreciation of humor in others. He looked tragedy, thought

tragedy, and his conversation outside of business and art, was never

much more cheerful than tragedy."31

In 1845 (?) Wild painted a view of Davenport and Rock Island

and made colored lithographs of it. Sanders said that he commenced

another painting of Davenport which was never finished. In this

same year he made paintings (and subsequently lithographs) of

Dubuque, Galena,32 Muscatine, and Moline. The next year he

painted a picture of the ferry at Davenport; it is now in the

collection of Henry McCullough of that city. Sanders described it

at length as

a fancy sketch which was the nearest approach to an artistical smile of

which Mr. Wild was ever known to be guilty. . . . This little oil sketch

represented three notable characters of the village, each of whom, at that

time, was personally known to almost every man, woman, and child in the

place. They were collected at the well-remembered ferry-house, and near the

equally well-remembered old bell-post. The bell there suspended was then

30 Mr. Sparkes writes that this picture was given to his mother about 1900 by

the ninety-year-old widow of an army officer in Cincinnati. It is possible that an

officer at Fort Armstrong may have bought it after Wild's death. But there is no

proof that the painting reproduced here is that mentioned in the records of Wild's

estate; it is quite possible that Sparkes's picture was painted in 1844 for a Fort

Snelling officer and that the picture in the Wild estate was another view of the fort.

31 Wilkie, Davenport Past and Present, 308-309.

32 The "Undentified City" which was reproduced as Plate 89 in I. N. Phelps Stokes

and Daniel C. Haskell, American Historical Prints (New York, 1933) is Wild's

??ithograph of Galena. It measures twenty and one-quarter by thirty and one-quarter

inches.



124 Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

124      Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Quarterly

furiously jingled, and often with disagreeable pertinacity, by those who

wished to call the old ferryman, Mr. John Wilson, from the opposite side.

The ringer was generally considered under personal obligation to stand

to his post some time, in company with his horse and vehicle, if he had any

to cross over, so that the ferryman might with proper deliberation determine

whether the skiff or horse-ferry-boat were required by the nature of the

cargo. The large person of Mr. LeClaire sits in a buggy, to which is attached

the notable old white horse that used to drag his master about the place.

Close by stands Mr. Gilbert McKown, whose store was on Front street,

a few steps distant, but whose burly figure and good-humored face, seen

on any street, seemed a part and parcel of the town, and directly identified

with its corporate existence. The third figure is Sam Fisher, as he was

familiarly called by every acquaintance. . . . Sam Fisher was the best

fisher in the town, a good story-teller, and had a most marvelous memory

of past times and incidents, of facts and dates, which united to some peculiar

eccentricities of character, exclusively and honestly his own, made him a

conspicuous character. One of his smaller eccentricities is shown in the

picture. He is standing with his pants drawn up to the top of one boot,

and down to the sole of the other-using a favorite gesture, and evidently

doing the talking, of course.33

Wild died at Davenport in August 1846. His will, dated the 2d

of that month, indicated his intention to settle there, for he was

engaged to Mary Jane Wild (a cousin?), to whom he left his

watch and chain, his breast pin, and his horse. The lot which he

had bought in town he left to his brother Conrad along with his

three presses, two of which were still in St. Louis. Another member

of his family apparently was George Wild, to whom he willed his

hunting gun. These three, all residents of Davenport, obviously

constituted his close relatives.

The achievements of the last year or two of his life are best shown

by the exciting list of paintings and lithographs to be found in the

probate file on the settlement of his estate. The inventory sub

mitted on October 30, 1846, and related papers listed oil painting

of Galena, Dubuque, Davenport, Moline, Fort Armstrong, and

Bloomington, and water colors of Davenport, Fort Snelling, th

Falls of St. Anthony, and a prairie on fire (the latter may have

been the subject lithographed for the Valley of the Mississippi)

For these the appraisers thought ten dollars each a reasonable value

33 Wilkie, Davenport Past and Present, 308-309.



J

J. C. Wild                           125

Poor Wild's lithographs apparently had not sold too rapidly.

Still in his possession at the time of his death were ten plain lithos

of St. Louis, eighty plain of Galena and Dubuque (that is, separate

views of the two towns), nine colored of Galena, thirty-two colored

of Dubuque (Fig. 12),34 twenty-eight plain and eight colored of

Moline, and forty-five plain and two colored of Bloomington. These

were appraised at one dollar plain and two dollars colored; in the

several records of sales they generally brought fifty cents or a dollar

more. In addition there were several "lots" of lithographs and

apparently ten "Miss. Valleys." No record of purchasers was made,

however, and one can only wonder today what became of this

great lot. Few indeed of either lithos or original paintings can now

be located.

 

34 Copies of this colored lithograph hang in the Davenport Public Museum and

the Chicago Historical Society; that in the latter measures twenty and one-eighth

inches by thirty and one-sixteenth.