"Is this the first picture ever taken of Denver?" That was the question a customer recently asked about the picture at the top of this article.

The picture, which is housed in our Digital Collections (X-22056) under the title, Larimer St. Denver City looking north east, does appear to be an extremely early Denver photo right down to the teams of oxen parked in front of rough hewn, false front saloons.

But is it the first photo of Denver?

How would a researcher, or anyone else be able to tell?

Fortunately for us, the picture itself is loaded with clues, and the Western History and Genealogy Department has the resources to help uncover the mysteries contained in this fascinating photo.

One of the first clues is the initials "R.E.C.," which are inscribed in the lower left hand corner of the photo. The photo cataloger who originally described the picture identified the man behind those initials as Rufus E. Cable. Although we have great confidence in our catalogers, this is an occasion where additional research is warranted. One of the best resources for researching Denver's early days is Jerome Smiley's seminal 1901 work, History of Denver. The 1970 edition of Smiley's book also contains a detailed, though not comprehensive, index that is a gold mine for anyone looking to find the names of early Denver residents. Cable does not, however, appear in Smiley's.

The next stop on our research investigation is the Western History Subject Index. This resource started out as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project aimed at creating an every-name index of the Rocky Mountain News (RMN). Once the WPA was done with their work, our WHG volunteers took over the project and updated it well into the 1990s. Since the RMN began its run in 1859, when Denver was barely a year old, this is an excellent resource for determining if Rufus E. Cable lived in or visited Denver - and what he may have done while he was here.