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