Collection Contents
Photographic Views of Kern County, California [1881-1889]
The front cover of the album has gilt-stamped lettering that reads: “Kern County, California. C. E. Watkins, Photo. San Francisco, Cal.” Inside is a title page with a printed paper label that reads: “Photographic Views of Kern County, California. / By Watkins, 427 Montgomery St. and 27 New Montgomery St., under Palace Hotel, San Francisco.” The photographs are mounted on board, and each has a printed paper label with a title and Watkins' imprint mounted below the photograph. There is no writing in the album.
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Late George Cling Peaches [1889]
Note: Printed on label after title: "These peaches were picked from my young orchard, four miles south of Bakersfield, planted in the months of February and March, 1888. The trees consequently have been but eighteen months planted, and as they were but one year old from the bud at the time of planting, the total age of the trees is but thirty months. A photograph of the orchard accompanying will show the size and thriftiness of the trees. S. W. Wibble [sic] / We hereby certify that we are well acquainted with the orchard from which the peaches above refer to were picked, and we know the above statement from Mr. Wibble [sic] to be correct. / C. Brower, President / W. E. Houghton, Secretary / Kern County Board of Trade." [Correct spelling is Wible.] Naef no. 975.
View Up Kern River, From Bluff Above the Water Gates [1880-1881]
El Gobernador. Built at S.P.R.R. Shops, Sac., Cal. [1886-1889]
Note: View of men posed with a steam locomotive. Printed on label after title: "Drain of Cylinder, 21 inch. Stroke, 36 inch. Total weight of engine, 73 tons. Weight on drivers, 64 tons. Diam. of drivers, 4 ft., 9 in. Weight of tender, light, 50, 650 lbs. Total length of engine and tender, 65 ft., 5 in. Driving Wheel Base, 19 ft., 7 in. Rigid Wheel Base, 14 ft., 7 in. Water capacity of tender, 3600 gals." The label for this print does not have Watkins' photograph number and none is given in Naef, dated 1887-1889; Green dates 1886-1889 in correspondence June 12, 2019.
Central Pacific Railroad and Views Adjacent [chiefly 1876; a few approximately 1879-1880s].
The front cover of the album has gilt-stamped lettering that reads: “Central Pacific Railroad and Views Adjacent / C. E. Watkins, Photo. / San Francisco, Cal.” Inside is a title page with a printed paper label that reads: “Central Pacific R.R. and Views Adjacent / Photographs by C. E. Watkins, / San Francisco, Cal.” The photographs are mounted on board, and each has a printed paper label with a title and Watkins' imprint mounted below the photograph. There is no writing in the album.
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It is unclear whether these photographs were made under commission from the Central Pacific, but many of the 1876 railroad and landscape views were used, uncredited, in the railroad’s official guidebook, The Pacific Tourist (Green, p. 323).
Note on dates for Plate nos. 5-8, 10-18, 20-22, and 44-48: Naef dates these "approximately" 1876, but Tyler Green dates them firmly 1876 in correspondence June 12, 2019. They are dated 1876 below.
Farrell [sic] & Palmer's Lightning Express. / C.P.R.R. [1876]
C.P.R.R. Transfer Boat "Solano," Port Costa / Waiting for the Train [approximately 1879]
Note: The label for this print does not have Watkins' photograph number; [682] is from Naef, who dates it 1876, however the "Solano" did not start carrying trains until 1879. ("The Largest Ferryboat in the World" by H. E. Wright, Scientific American, March 4, 1905.)
Summits of the Sierras [1879]
The front cover of the album has gilt-stamped lettering that reads: “Summits of the Sierras / C. E. Watkins, Photo. / San Francisco, Cal.” Inside is a title page with a printed paper label that reads: “Summits of the Sierras / Photographs by C. E. Watkins, / San Francisco, Cal.” The photographs are mounted on board, and each has a printed paper label with a title and Watkins' imprint mounted below the photograph. There is no writing in the album.
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From Mt. Lola / Looking toward Round Top (not visable [sic]), South Head on left foreground; Castle Peak to right of center in distance. [1879]
Round Top. / Azimuth from west across chasm. Instruments from left as follows:—Man holding bitimeter rod; Solar Radiator; Plane table; Verticle [sic] Circle House; Prof. Davidson with large Heliotrope; Reconnoitering Telescope; The Odolete House, Azimuth; Refraction Station; Astronomical Observatory. In lower right corner are steps leading to bridge over chasm with life lines. [1879]
Round Top. / From western ridge looking east. Trail (blasted out) on extreme left foreground. Station Observations etc. in same. Summit City in middle of middle distance. To right of middle distance lie Blue Lake. Mokelumne Canon winding to foreground on left. [1879]
View from Round Top. / Looking westward. Pyramid, Round Top Proper, Azimuth Mark in left background. Mt. Tallac in middle background. Woods Lake in foreground under it. Lake Tahoe to right of Mt. Tallac. Red Mountain and Carson Pass on extreme right. [1879]
View from Round Top. / Looking to N. W. Red Mountain in extreme left middle distance. Hope Valley, Job's Peak, and Carson Pass in middle distance on left. Lake Collonna in left middle distance. In foreground is Lake Winnemucca and back of it the hill called the Elephant. Cory's Peak in right background. [1879]
View from Round Top. / From a point just below Azimuth. Stanislaus Mountain toward Mt. Dana in left background. Mokelumne Mountain in distance over the cleft in foreground. Three Brothers in distance over the sharp, higher pinacle to right cleft in foreground. Mokelumne Canon (2800 ft. high) winding from middle distance to foreground. [1879]
View from Round Top. / Looking east, left foreground, vertical walls just east of Azimuth. Cory's Peak left of center in background. Summit City in middle of middle distance. Silver Mountain in background to right of Silver City. Blue Lakes in middle distance on right. [1879]
Arizona and Views Adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad [1880]
The front cover of the album has gilt-stamped lettering that reads: “Arizona and Views Adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad / C. E. Watkins, Photo. / San Francisco, Cal.” Inside is a title page with a printed paper label that reads: “Arizona and Views Adjacent to the Southern Pacific R. R. / Photographs by C. E. Watkins, / San Francisco, Cal.” The photographs are mounted on board, and each has a printed paper label with a title and Watkins' imprint mounted below the photograph. There is no writing in the album.
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Old South Shaft Ore Quarry, Tough-nut Mine. Part of Town of Tombstone. Dragoon Mountains, with Cachise [sic] Stronghold in back-ground, Arizona. [1880]