A very large High Sierra panorama by Bledsoe. Date and location undetermined.
A monumental photo by J.W. Bledsoe went on sale in 2018 at Swann Galleries in New York. It is a somewhat characteristic High Sierra panorama, taken from a peak that is as yet undetermined. At 10 feet long, it is the largest panorama by Bledsoe I have seen documented.
https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2489++++++56+&refno=747686
The San Francisquito Canyon dam underwent one of the worst dam collapses in US history. JW Bledsoe photographed the dam during construction, and also photographed the infrastructure. This is one of the generator houses from the project, photographed about 1926. The dam collapsed in March, 1928, and the resulting flood killed around 400 people, including a cousin of Bledsoe’s. I visited the site in 2005, and took photos of one of the two remaining generator houses (a third was entirely swept away by the flood, with only the foundations remaining). This generator house includes a museum for the LA Dept. of Water and Power, and is decorated with large (10×12 foot) prints of Bledsoe’s photos. I also happen to be a big fan of Pelton water wheels, which is an obsession that dates back to a college physics exam.
Diptych image showing water storage in the Sierra Nevada and its role in supplying water to agriculture. Captions read: “Summer scene in the Sierras back of Reedley, showing a part of the water shed of Kings River and the storage of water in the form of snow which, gradually melting, furnishes the water for irrigating a half a million acres in the great San Joaquin Valley,” and; “Vineyard scene near Reedley, showing what the water which falls in the lofty Sierras does when it reaches the plain, transforming a desert into a garden. Photo taken near the High School Building at Reedley.”
Text on photographs reads: “Kaweah [landscape?] Sierra Nevada Range looking East from Alta Meadows. Sequoia National Park as seen July 1, 1907. Copyright J.W. Bledsoe Photo,” and “Smith Ferry Sight, Kings River, Calif., copyright ’07 J.W. Bledsoe Photo.”
Thanks to Ken Zech I was already familiar with the Smith Ferry image, but I have not seen the Kaweah panorama before. It would be wonderful to find the original! I suspect that this diptych might have been produced for the L.A. Aqueduct project, but have no direct evidence of that.
Photographs by J. W. Bledsoe
Upper photo dated July 1, 1907, lower photo also dated to 1907, but day is not given.
Courtesy Reedley Historical Society, Reedley, California
The J. W. Bledsoe Homestead in Weedpatch CA (on the outskirts of Bakersfield, about 100 miles South of Traver). Note the wagon, labeled “Photographs and Views, Bledsoe & Jenkins.” The girl in the wagon is Caroline, born January 1889 in Sumner, CA (now East Bakersfield). Seated is probably Alice Pursell Bledsoe (J. W.’s wife), who looks to be pregnant.
Date unknown, ca 1893 based on Caroline’s apparent age.
Photographer unknown, but probably J. W. Bledsoe.
Bledsoe family homestead a few years after the previous photo. Note cat in foreground (at base of central tree), chickens and wagon to left center.
Date unknown, but probably roughly 1900 based on the growth of the trees.
Photographer unknown, but probably J. W. Bledsoe
A homestead cabin in a wooded area, possibly a lumber camp. Year unknown.
Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe when located in Traver, CA, which dates the photo to roughly ~1885-1888.
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