Evelyn Cameron came to eastern Montana from England in 1889 with her husband, Ewen, and settled on a ranch near Terry on the Yellowstone River.
The work
To support the ranch, Cameron taught herself photography in the 1890s. For about three decades she photographed homesteaders, cowboys, sheepshearers, wildlife and badlands landscapes, developing glass-plate negatives at home. She also kept daily diaries describing ranch life.
Rediscovery
Her negatives and diaries survived her death in 1928. They were later brought to wide attention by writer Donna Lucey and are held by the Montana Historical Society, which makes many images available to the public.
Visiting
The Prairie County Museum & Evelyn Cameron Gallery in Terry (101 Logan Ave.) shows her photographs. It is open in summer and by appointment off-season, so check with the museum before you visit.
For more background, see our explainers on Jeannette Rankin, Chief Plenty Coups, and Montana agriculture by the numbers. Find more stories in our People & Profiles section.
Sources
- Montana Historical Society Research Center, Evelyn Cameron collection: https://mhs.mt.gov/research/
- Prairie County Museum & Evelyn Cameron Gallery: https://www.pcmuseum.org/