Wyoming
State Archives

While in Appleton, Joseph learned the skills of portrait photography, details of both the collodion wet plate process and the new gelatin dry plate process . He arrived in Cheyenne, probably at the suggestion of two brothers who worked for the Union Pacific, without a camera, a studio, or a clientele. He bought the studio and equipment of Wyoming pioneer photographer Charles Kirkland, and in July of 1889, Stimson began making portraits.

In 1900 Stimson was hired as a publicity photographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad needed photographs to help change the image of the scandal-plagued railroad and Stimson was given free rein to photograph anything that might draw investors to the railway. Besides the obvious subject of the railroad itself, Stimson was to photograph natural wonders, city scenes, farms and ranches, mining and irrigation projects, and anything else that might bring money to the new railroad.

In 1903 Stimson's reputation as a scenic photographer had grown to the point that he was asked by the state of Wyoming to provide one hundred eighty-two hand colored Wyoming scenes that would be displayed at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to be held the following year in St. Louis. He was awarded a silver medal for his views of mining and machinery, and two more silver medals for two other displays. By 1906, after only ten years in scenic work, Stimson had gained national recognition as a photographer and artist.

Stimson died in 1952 at the age of 82 and is buried in Cheyenne. His collection was acquired by the state of Wyoming in 1953 and consist of over 7500 photographs, many of them on eight-by-ten glass-plate negatives. The collection also has several over sized hand tinted prints, many framed by Stimson personally. This collection is available to the public through the Wyoming State Archives. Copyright to the Stimson Collection is held by the Wyoming State Archives.