Mt. Hood from near Vancouver, Washington

CARLETON E. WATKINS (1829-1916)

Mt. Hood from near Vancouver, Washington

1867

Watkins achieved critical acclaim but had difficulty selling his photographs and often found himself unable to fund his photographic excursions. With a loan from American geologist J. D. Whitney (1819-1896), Watkins set out from California in 1867 to photograph Oregon and the Columbia River region. The weather was problematic for making negatives, but Watkins managed to capture many views that The Oregonian newspaper praised as "accurate representations of localities which are well known ... and which have thousands of times awakened the wonder and unbounded admiration of the beholder." The prestigious Shanahan's Art Gallery in Portland displayed his Oregon and Columbia River photographs, but-as was Watkins's lot-sales there were minimal. In 1872, Watkins published fifty-one of his mammoth photographs in Photographs of the Columbia River and Oregon. The photograph of Mt. Hood, on display here, was included in this book (plate no. 15).

Albumen print

Princeton Collections of Western Americana, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Purchase, J. Monroe Thorington Fund.