Portrait of William Mulholland with a surveyor's scope on a tripod.

Portrait of William Mulholland with a surveyor’s scope on a tripod.

This is probably J.W. Bledsoe’s most famous photograph: it shows William Mulholland, the driving force behind the Los Angeles Aqueduct, ca. 1908-1913. It has been widely reproduced in histories of the Aqueduct. I have a print in my personal collection that has been signed by a descendant of Mulholland’s.

Photograph by J.W. Bledsoe

From the collection of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power/California Historical Society