The world according to Mary Marks

March 11, 2025 | Category: Our Collective History

Mary Marks holds a gold pan and kneels at the edge of a river to pan for gold.
Mary Marks pans for gold in the lower Blue River valley.

This Women’s History Month, we’re going to do something a little different. Since a picture’s worth a thousand words, we’re going to have Mary Marks speak for herself with a photo blog of her historical images. These photos, created by Marks between 1890-1910, show what life was like in Breckenridge. While the larger Mary M. Marks Photograph Collection features a wide variety of subjects, we are featuring these photos that show women in front of and behind the camera, circa 1890-1910.

John Marks holds his wife Mary's hand to walk across fallen trees in a forested area near Breckenridge.
Kate Schwalbach with Mrs. Quinn, Mrs. Foster, and Mrs. Foster's daughters, Minnie and Francis, at the Oro Grande survey and engineering crew's campsite.
Mary Marks, right, and her sister Kate Schwalbach recline on a log over a small creek at Gold Run ditch near Breckenridge.
Interior of John and Mary Marks' home in Breckenridge. In the foreground is the parlor, with a bookcase filled with books, a side table with curved legs, and a large cylindrical heating stove. Standing behind the stove is Mary Marks.
Mary Marks poses with her bicycle at the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Harris Street.
John and Mary Marks use a grinding wheel to sharpen tools at the Oro Grande survey and engineering crew's campsite.
Kate Schwalbach and Alice Miller sit on the ground under a tree in the Goose Pasture area south of Breckenridge.
Kate Schwalbach walks down a dirt path or road in a forested area near Breckenridge.
Mary Marks poses at the entrance to a hard rock mine near Breckenridge.
Mary Marks poses on narrow-gauge railroad tracks south of Breckenridge.

The images shown above are just a small selection of Marks’ collection. To view all of the digital images in the Mary M. Marks Photograph Collection, visit the Breckenridge History Digital Archives!

All Photos credit Mary M. Marks Photograph Collection, 1890-1910; Utah State University Library. Courtesy Breckenridge History.

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