Edward Meyer Kern né le 26 Octobre 1822 mort en 1863 photographe et artist américain.
Born in Philadelphia, Edward Kern was the youngest of three brothers who were survey artists. Despite suffering from epilepsy from a young age on, he participated in several key expeditions to the American West.
He served as topographer on John Fremont's third expedition that crossed the Plains and Rockies to California in 1846. He was under Fremont's command during the Mexican War and later was artist and photographer on other expeditions to the Northwest and from California to China.
In 1848 and 1849, he traveled with Fremont on his Fourth Expedition, this time with his brother, Benjamin, whom he persuaded to join. The expedition goal was finding a railway route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but the plan went awry.
Fremont attempted to cross the Rocky Mountains along the 37th and 38th parallels in the winter to demonstrate that it was an all-season road, but ten of his men died from cold and starvation. Heading south to warmer climes, he took most of the other members down the banks of the Rio Grande River, and they went west to southern California through Arizona along the Gila River.
However, Edward's brother, Benjamin, stayed behind, taking refuge in Taos, and then was murdered, allegedly by Indians, when he and a companion tried to return to the winter camp site to retrieve supplies.
While Kern was with the Fremont expedition in Northern California, the Fremont Party committed genocide against the Klamath Indians and Kern drew pictures of the result. During the Bear Flag Revolt, Kern was placed in command of Sutter’s Fort, overseeing prisoners, while Sutter, a friend of Kern’s, was held as a virtual prisoner in his own home. While there, Kern was also appointed to manage funds for aiding the survivors of the Donner Party.
From 1853 to 1855 Edward Kern was on the ship USS Vincennes on an expedition to East Asia, along with four sister ships. By the time the Vincennes reached Hong Kong, the captain, Cadwalder Ringgold, was declared insane, and invalided home, although he recovered and served later commands. Kern moved to using photography as well as drawing during this trip. While he was on the Vincennes, the sloop put in at Hilo and Honolulu, where Kern recorded images of the Sandwich Islanders, by sketch and by daguerreotype. Later the expedition landed on the shores of Siberia, where Kern spent several weeks. They returned home via Tahiti and San Francisco.
In 1858 he sailed for California, Hawaii, and Japan, under Captain John Mercer Brooke, returning in 1860.
Later Kern established a studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He died Nov 1863 at his home there.
His diaries were discovered under the floorboards in an old hotel in Delaware Water Gap, Pennylvania. It was many years later when they were made available to David Weber for his book on Richard Kern (brother of Edward). Kern’s diary and papers are now held at Yale University.
Over eighty of his works are held at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The majority of his papers are in the Huntington Library, San Merino, CA.
In honor of Kern, Fremont named Kern River after him, and Kern County is also named for Edward Meyer Kern.
