Rare Books
Photographic Views of Kern County, California
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Photographic Views of Kern County, California
Rare Books
The 39 photographs in this album illustrate the agricultural industry of Kern County, California, and were made by Watkins on multiple trips to the area between 1881 and 1889. The album itself is not dated, but based on the dates of the photographs, it was most likely assembled in the early 1890s. Views include landscapes of agricultural crops, details of irrigation dams built on a river, livestock, farm workers in the field, farming company ranch houses, and farm owners. Some views depict everyday farm work, such as men harvesting wheat and alfalfa with the aid of horses, tools, and large machinery. Other photographs of note are a detail view of peaches in a crate, and men posed with a steam locomotive built at the Southern Pacific Railroad Shops in Kern County. The first two photographs in the album are interior views of promotional displays of Kern County produce and grains, exhibited in San Francisco in 1889.
137500; 137501; 137502; 137503
Central Pacific R.R. and views adjacent
Rare Books
An album of 48 mammoth plate photographs by Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) of scenes along the California-Nevada route of the Central Pacific Railroad, from ports in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada mountain passes. The majority of views were made in 1876, with a few made later, approximately 1879-1880s. The album begins with a photograph of a locomotive that has just traveled across the continent and has arrived at the Oakland Long Wharf, followed by scenes of a train and its passengers being transported on a railroad ferry. Other Central Pacific Railroad views depict a massive wooden bridge being built over the American River, with one view prominently featuring Chinese workers hauling rock in wheelbarrows. Trains are shown navigating through a mountain pass at Cape Horn, and railroad workers are seen posed with locomotives. Other scenes on the Central Pacific route include Soda Springs recreation area, with views of Mark Hopkins cabin, a man and two women under a gazebo, and a croquet game set up in a meadow. There are a series of views of Lake Tahoe, including two hotels with people posed outside; scenic views of the mountains, lake and surroundings from multiple viewpoints; Emerald Bay; Fallen Leaf Lake; boats and docks; and a lumber mill on the shore at Glenbrook. A narrow-gauge lumber railroad is shown in the mountains near Spooner Summit, and there are two birds-eye-views of the town of Reno, Nevada, that include the train station, buildings and boardwalks.
RB 137501
Arizona and Views Adjacent to the Southern Pacific R. R
Rare Books
An album of 46 mammoth plate photographs by Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) depicting scenes in Arizona Territory and California, 1880. They include mining sites, depots and bridges of the Southern Pacific Railroad, towns, desert landscapes, cactus, and the Spanish colonial mission San Xavier del Bac. Mining scenes are mostly overviews showing buildings, mine shafts, stamping mills, equipment, water reservoirs, and workers. There are several views of the Contention, Tough-nut and Lucky Cuss mines of the Tombstone Mill and Mining Company, established by prospector Edward Schieffelin, the founder of Tombstone, Arizona. A scene of the railroad roundhouse in Yuma prominently features a large locomotive with Native Americans and others posed next to the engine and an engine house in the background. There are a series of views of the railroad bridge over the Colorado River at Yuma that includes views of the U.S. Army's Fort Yuma on the California side of the river, along with Native American huts near the river. A group of unidentified men in western garb are posed in front of the Yuma railroad office, and a few figures and railcars are shown at Dos Palmas Station in the Colorado Desert. Other subjects include a bird's-eye-view of Tucson; architectural details and an interior view of Mission San Xavier del Bac; prehistoric stone ruins at Casa Grande; and a few railroad crossings.
RB 137503
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Kern County, California, mining photographs
Visual Materials
A collection of photographs of mines, miners, and the landscape around the Cove mining district, near Kernville in Kern County, California, especially the Big Blue, Commonwealth, Content, Lady Belle, Red Hill, and Sumner mines and hills, and the surrounding area. Photographs depict the mines and show tunnels, shafts, workers, surveying equipment, camps, and machinery. Other photographs show the countryside and the Kern River, particularly the thirty-four 9.5 x 30 cm panoramas. One panorama shows the intake of the Kern River Company Power Plant and others have captions identifying sites related to the Edison Company. Some of the panoramas have handwritten captions on their versos referencing the "donkey shaft." A small group of photographs near the beginning of the group show family scenes, with two boys, a pair of dogs, and some women, as well as two men standing with a rifles and a dead brown bear. The three largest photographs (20 x 25 cm) are enlargements of some of the smaller images. The first sheet has three illustrations, one of a horse fair, one of a dog, and one of a tree-lined road, copyright 1906 by the Horace K. Turner Company.
photCL 108
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Vol. 1. Yo-semite Valley / Photographic Views of the Falls and Valley of Yo-semite in Mariposa County, California
Rare Books
Watkins made these photographs in Yosemite in 1861, with a camera he made himself to hold glass plate negatives measuring 18 x 22 inches, which was the largest size ever used at that time. The photographs are scenic landscape views of Yosemite Valley, including rivers, waterfalls, massive granite cliffs and boulders, and giant sequoia trees in the Mariposa Grove. One view depicts naturalist Galen Clark (1814-1910) standing in front of the ancient sequoia called Grizzly Giant.
379010
Summits of the Sierras
Rare Books
An album of 41 mammoth plate photographs by Carleton E. Watkins (1829-1916) of the peaks, lakes, and topography of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and views of surveyors and their mountain camp. In 1879, Watkins was commissioned to travel to the peaks of California's Sierra Nevada mountains to photograph the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey led by George Davidson (1825-1911). The photographs in this album were made during that commission, in the summer of 1879. The album opens with a scene of people positioned in front of a hotel on the shore of Lake Independence, followed by views across the lake looking up toward Mount Lola. Watkins then ascended to the survey base at the top of Mount Lola (9,148 ft.), where he made several photographs of the vistas and details of the rocky terrain, including trees, rivers, canyons, and lakes. He also climbed to the summit of Round Top (10,381 ft.), and made several photographs from that viewpoint, including one carefully orchestrated view of Davidson and his team posed with their instruments and an observation hut on the craggy summit. Occasional figures appear on ridgelines in the photographs, and tents and wooden huts erected by the survey team are seen in some views.
RB 137502