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Thomas Almond Ayres was an American artist in the early-mid 19th century best known for his early drawings of Yosemite Valley.

Early Life
Ayres was born in 1816 in Woodbridge, New Jersey. In 1840, he moved with his family to Wisconsin, and he worked for a short time as a draftsman in Minnesota. In 1849, he moved to California to join the gold rush. He quickly gave up prospecting, however, and began to travel around California, sketching scenery and gold rush camp life. Ayres primarily worked in line drawings with pencil or charcoal, although he also worked in other media.

Yosemite Drawings
By 1855, Englishman James Mason Hutchings noticed Ayres' work. Hutchings planned to start a magazine about California and, having heard of the wonders of Yosemite, thought that an illustrated article on the area would help sell the first issue. Hutchings invited Ayres to join the first ever Yosemite tourist party. Ayres accepted, and on June 27th, 1855, he created the first picture of Yosemite's landscape. The party spent five days in Yosemite, and Ayres made five more sketches. When Hutchings published lithographs of two of Ayres' drawings, they also became the first images of Yosemite in wide circulation. In 1856, Ayres made a second trip to Yosemite, this time to draw areas around the Merced River. In 1857, the New York American Art Union exhibited his drawings of Yosemite, which quickly became popular, and reproductions were widely requested.

Several of Ayres' Yosemite sketches were collected by Admiral James Alden and remained in the family until his grandniece Mrs. Ernest Bowditch donated them to the Yosemite Museum.

Today, Ayres works reside in the Yosemite Museum, the De Young Museum, the Society of California Pioneers, the Oakland Museum, the New York Public Library, and at least one private collection.

Later Life and Death
After his Yosemite drawings brought him some attention, Harper & Brothers hired Ayres to illustrate several articles on Southern California. Ayres completed the drawings in Los Angeles and intended to bring them to San Francisco. Hearing that the boat on which he had booked his passage was unreliable, he switched his ticket to the schooner the Laura Bevan. On April 26th, 1958, the Laura Bevan was caught in a storm and sank. Her crew and passengers, including Ayres, drowned at sea, while in a cruel twist of fate, the boat on which Ayres had originally planned to travel arrived safely in San Francisco.

Due to Ayres' short life and the loss of his Southern California sketches in the shipwreck, few of Ayres' works survive today.

1855
1. Inspiration Point, "Valley of Yosemite"
 * Original title: "Scene in the Valley of the Yo Hemity, California. The Cliff of El Capitan, looking West."
 * Lower left-hand corner text: "Drawn from Nature by T. A. Ayres, No. 1."

2. El Capitan
 * Original Title: "Scene in the Valley of the Yo Hemity, California. The Cliff of El Capitan, looking West."
 * Lower left-hand corner text: "Drawn from Nature by Tos. A. Ayres, 1855."

3. Yosemite Domes
 * Original Title: "The Domes of the Yosemite. From the Valley looking East, Morning."
 * Lower left-hand corner text: "Thos. A. Ayres, 1855"

4. Bridalveil Fall, "Cascades of the Rainbow"
 * Original Title: "Cascade of the Rainbow. Valley of the Yo Hemite, California. Drawn from Nature :by Thos. A. Ayres, 1855."

5. Yosemite Falls
 * Original title: "The High Falls, Valley of the Yosemite, California. Drawn from Nature by T. A. Ayres, 1855, No. 5."

6. "The Ford Entrance to the Yo-Hemity Valley"

1856 (known works)
1. Illillouette Original title: "Falls of Ta-sa-yue, South Fork, Valley of the Yosemite, California. Drawn from Nature, Thos. A. Ayres."

2. Nevada Falls Original title: "Falls of Awanee, Middle Fork of Merced."

3. Mirror Lake Original title: "Lake of the North Fork, Valley of the Yosemite."

4. Vernal Fall Original title: "Falls of Ca-no-pah, Middle Fork, Valley of Yosemite, California. Drawn from nature by Thos. A. Ayres, 1856. No. 8."