2022-01-22, 10:52 PM
Step into a Death Valley time machine back to 1926 for a photo-journal trip report by five Los Angeles Automobile Club members of their adventures in Death Valley prior to it becoming a monument/national park. They drove from Los Angeles and turned north from what is now Baker, CA into Death Valley, then to Rhyolite, Death Valley Junction and back home via Yermo, CA with a stop in Calico Ghost Town.
I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in these 76 classy images and studying not only the people but the artifacts, structures, geology and compositions because I've been lucky enough to visit a majority of these locations including Calico, CA in 1965 as an 8th grader on a science field trip. Here's a photo of me along with my science teachers and classmates at the Calico Graveyard. I'm the blond kids second from the bottom with my buddy pretending to be dead on my lap.
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...n-1964.png
Notes on the video, photos, and journal entries: That dry lake bed I believe is the large one southwest of Baker across I-15. I've heard of the Confidence Hills but not the Confidence Mines. I believe the party drove up southern Death Valley along the west side, rather than what is now Badwater Road because they appear to be driving west to east across the Devil's Golf Course and the image of the lowest point in the USA appears to be on the west side rather than at Badwater. What they call Superstitious Canyon appears to be present day Golden Canyon but maybe it is Desolation Canyon? I'm pretty sure it's Golden Canyon because it appears Manly Beacon is in the background in one image.
I'm keen on matching up my growing collection of vintage DEVA images with current photo shoots from the exact same locations so if you have some solid guesses of the camera locations of any images in this video please drop a reply. I lowered the volume of the background music to make it less distractive and if you don't like it just mute because there is no narration. There are more details about the source of the photos at the bottom of this post.
The Death Valley Automobile Trip photograph album containing 76 prints appears to be the record of a sightseeing trip made from Los Angeles to Death Valley in 1926. A written record--in the form of diary entries--is also included and consists of a series of detailed captions describing the landscape, landmarks, and individuals encountered in Death Valley. Neither the diarist nor the photographer is identified. The album displays no one emphasis: it consists of a broad range of photographs, from the automobiles and sight seers to the landscape, abandoned mines, schoolhouses, hotels and homesteads of Death Valley.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13...tire_text/
I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in these 76 classy images and studying not only the people but the artifacts, structures, geology and compositions because I've been lucky enough to visit a majority of these locations including Calico, CA in 1965 as an 8th grader on a science field trip. Here's a photo of me along with my science teachers and classmates at the Calico Graveyard. I'm the blond kids second from the bottom with my buddy pretending to be dead on my lap.
http://salamandersociety.com/deathvalley...n-1964.png
Notes on the video, photos, and journal entries: That dry lake bed I believe is the large one southwest of Baker across I-15. I've heard of the Confidence Hills but not the Confidence Mines. I believe the party drove up southern Death Valley along the west side, rather than what is now Badwater Road because they appear to be driving west to east across the Devil's Golf Course and the image of the lowest point in the USA appears to be on the west side rather than at Badwater. What they call Superstitious Canyon appears to be present day Golden Canyon but maybe it is Desolation Canyon? I'm pretty sure it's Golden Canyon because it appears Manly Beacon is in the background in one image.
I'm keen on matching up my growing collection of vintage DEVA images with current photo shoots from the exact same locations so if you have some solid guesses of the camera locations of any images in this video please drop a reply. I lowered the volume of the background music to make it less distractive and if you don't like it just mute because there is no narration. There are more details about the source of the photos at the bottom of this post.
The Death Valley Automobile Trip photograph album containing 76 prints appears to be the record of a sightseeing trip made from Los Angeles to Death Valley in 1926. A written record--in the form of diary entries--is also included and consists of a series of detailed captions describing the landscape, landmarks, and individuals encountered in Death Valley. Neither the diarist nor the photographer is identified. The album displays no one emphasis: it consists of a broad range of photographs, from the automobiles and sight seers to the landscape, abandoned mines, schoolhouses, hotels and homesteads of Death Valley.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13...tire_text/
Life begins in Death Valley
Though life was a bit more difficult physically, it was far simpler. I’ve often wished I was alive and a young man in those years and have experienced such a trip. And maybe old enough to have lived and worked in Rhyolite during it’s boom. In a cushy job, of course …
By default iMovie keeps it turned on for stills.