| Timeline |
| 1830 |
Born near Düsseldorf 7 January |
| 1832 |
Family emigrates to the United States |
| 1853 |
Travels to Germany, studies at the Dusseldorf Akademie |
| 1857 |
Returns to the United States and paints the White Mountains of New Hampshire |
| 1858 |
Joins the Lander surveying expedition - the first of several trips to the west |
| 1860 |
Member of the National Academy of Design until 1902 |
| 1861 |
Keeps in the 10th Street Studio Building, New York City until 1879 |
| 1862 |
Member of the Century Association until 1902 |
| 1863 |
Second trip to the West |
| 1867 |
Another trip to Europe, audience with Queen Victoria, awarded the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon III |
| 1869 |
Awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus of Russia |
| 1871 |
Moves to California |
| 1873 |
Returns to New York |
| 1882 |
Bierstadt's home in the Hudson River valley is destroyed by fire |
| 1883 |
Final trip to Europe |
| 1886 |
Awarded the Imperial Order of the Medjidi from the Sultan of Turkey |
| 1889 |
Travels the coast of British Columbia and Southeast Alaska |
| 1893 |
Wife dies |
| 1895 |
Declares himself bankrupt |
| 1902 |
Dies in New York on 19 February |
