Light on the Prairie: Solomon D. Butcher, Photographer of Nebraska's Pioneer Days

Light on the Prairie: Solomon D. Butcher, Photographer of Nebraska's Pioneer DaysOnce President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted 160 acres of free land to anyone with the grit to farm it for five years, the rush to the Great Plains was on. Solomon D. Butcher was there to document it, amassing more than three thousand photographs and compiling the most complete record of the sod house era ever made. Butcher (1856 1927) staked his claim on the plains in 1880. He didn't like farming, but he found another way to

Once President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act of 1862, which granted 160 acres of free land to anyone with the grit to farm it for five years, the rush to the Great Plains was on. Solomon D. Butcher was there to document it, amassing more than three thousand photographs and compiling the most complete record of the sod house era ever made.

Butcher (1856-1927) staked his claim on the plains in 1880. He didn't like farming, but he found another way to thrive. He had learned the art of photography as a teenager, and he began taking pictures of his friends and neighbors. Butcher noticed how fast the vast land was "settling up," so he formed the plan that would become his life's work--to record the frontier days in words and images.

Alongside sixty-two of Butcher's iconic photographs, Light on the Prairie conveys the irrepressible spirit of a man whose passion would give us a firsthand look at the men and women who settled the Great Plains. Like his subjects, Butcher was a pioneer, even though he held a camera more often than a plow.

Watch an interview with the author.


Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bison Books
Published: 09/01/2012
ISBN: 9780803235205
Pages: 113
Weight: 0.56lbs
Size: 9.00h x 7.09w x 0.31d
Award: Spur Awards - Winner