George P. Thresher Negative Collection of the Southwest: Finding Aid. No online items

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1 No online items George P. Thresher Finding aid prepared by Michelle Sanchez. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Photo Archives 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California Phone: (626) URL: The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. George P. Thresher photcl 449 1

2 Overview of the Collection Title: George P. Thresher Collection of the Southwest Dates (inclusive): approximately Collection Number: photcl 449 Creator: Thresher, G. P. (George P.) Extent: 408 photographs in 8 boxes : 83 glass plate negatives and 129 film negatives in 7 boxes; 8 lantern slides and 188 copy prints made from the original negatives in 1 box. Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Photo Archives 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California Phone: (626) reference@huntington.org URL: Abstract: A collection of glass plate and film negatives by amateur photographer and Los Angeles real estate broker George P. Thresher ( ) focusing on the American Southwest and Native Americans of the region, particularly of Arizona, and the Gila River crossing area, from ca to Tribes depicted include Yuma, Apache, Navajo, Maricopa, Pima, and Papago (Tohono O Odham). There are views of native peoples in their daily lives, as well as posing in studio portraits. There are also landscape and town views, including Phoenix, Arizona, Santa Fe, New Mexico, missions at San Antonio, Texas, and the Salt Lake Temple in Utah. Language: English. Access Advance arrangements for viewing negatives must be made with the Curator of Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please visit the Huntington's website: Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Preferred Citation George P. Thresher Collection of the Southwest. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance Purchased from Alta California Books, February 24, Biographical George P. Thresher was born on September 11, 1854, in Massachusetts and immigrated to California in Described variously as an amateur photographer and real estate developer, he lived in Los Angeles until his death in 1927 at the age of seventy-two. Between 1904 and 1926, Thresher appears in the Los Angeles business directories, often listed as a real estate broker with office addresses on either the 200 or 300 block of Broadway. At various points in his career, he served as the Director of the Artesian Company of Los Angeles and the Vice President of the Los Angeles Building Company. He married Florence Evans Stone in 1878 and they had three daughters together. From 1905 until his death, he resided at 37 Westmoreland Place in Los Angeles. Thresher took up photography at some point in his life, concentrating his efforts on California and the Southwest. A few of his photographs depicting missions and similar subjects appear in books by noted lecturer, author, and promoter, George Wharton James. James credited images to Thresher in The Old Franciscan Missions of California (1913), In and Out of the Missions of California (1906), and Through Ramona s Country (1909). Thresher eventually sold his negatives to Charles C. Pierce, the proprietor of a large photographic supply business and studio as well as the largest picture library in Los Angeles. Once Pierce purchased a photographer s images, he rarely credited the creator, stamping his own name on the print instead. This practice may explain some of the confusion surrounding attribution of Thresher s prints, which are variously credited to Pierce and George Wharton James. Adding to the confusion, some of Thresher s negatives in the Huntington collection appear to be copies of images by other photographers of the period. NOTE ON SOURCES: George P. Thresher photcl 449 2

3 Information drawn from County of Los Angeles death certificate and Western History-Material document at the Los Angeles Public Library. Copies of both documents are in the collection file. Letter from C.C. Pierce to Leslie E. Bliss, Librarian at the Huntington, November 16, See C.C. Pierce Collection File (photcl Pierce), Photo Archives. See also the C.C. Pierce Collection finding aid for more information on Pierce and his business. Scope and Content of Collection A collection of glass plate and film negatives by amateur photographer and Los Angeles real estate broker George P. Thresher ( ) focusing on the American Southwest and Native Americans of the region, particularly of Arizona, and the Gila River crossing area, from ca to The majority of the Thresher Collection contains images of towns and sites in Arizona, including Phoenix, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Montezuma Castle, Peach Springs, and adobe ruins. Photographs of Texas are well represented in the collection, including many views of Missions San Concepcion, San Antonio de Valero (the Alamo), San Francisco de la Espada, and Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. There are also images of Colorado (Garden of the Gods, Pike s Peak, and Castle Rock), New Mexico (Santa Fe, Tesuque, and possibly Laguna), and unidentified pueblos. Notable portraits from California are of Victoriano, chief of the Soboba Indians, and his unnamed third wife. There is a separate and very interesting sequence of images depicting the Mount Beauty Mine and its operations in San Diego County, California. A small assortment of lantern slides is at the end of the collection showing Indians of Arizona, California, and New Mexico ( ). There are no copy prints for the following negatives: (16), (23.1), (33), (40.1), (45.1), (63), (80.1), (96), (111), ( ), (131), ( ), and (157). It appears that the Thresher images at the Huntington are a sub-section of a larger collection that the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, purchased in The Thresher photographs at the Bancroft depict the California Missions and various scenes in Los Angeles and California generally from 1899 through See William Roberts, California Views of George P. Thresher, in Bancroftiana (November 1981), pp Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog. Adobe houses -- Photographs. Apache Indians -- Photographs. Hopi Indians -- Photographs. Indians of North America Funeral customs and rites -- Photographs. Indians of North America Southwest, New -- Photographs. Luiseño Indians -- Photographs. Maricopa Indians -- Photographs. Mines and mineral resources--california--san Diego County -- Photographs. Mission San Antonio de Valero -- Photographs. Mission Concepcioń (San Antonio, Tex.) -- Photographs. Mission San Francisco de la Espada (San Antonio, Tex.) -- Photographs. Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo (San Antonio, Tex.) -- Photographs. Mission San Xavier del Bac (Tucson, Ariz.) -- Photographs. Missions, Spanish -- Photographs. Montezuma Castle (Ariz.) -- Photographs. Navajo Indians -- Photographs. Salt Lake Temple -- Photographs. Sihasapa Indians -- Photographs. Tohono O Odham Indians -- Photographs. Ute Indians -- Photographs. Wickiups -- Photographs. Yuma Indians -- Photographs. Buckskin Charlie, Ute chief -- Photographs. Casa Grande (Ariz.) -- Photographs. Castle Rock (Colo.) -- Photographs. George P. Thresher photcl 449 3

4 Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs, Colo.) -- Photographs. Gila River (N.M. and Ariz.) -- Photographs. Las Vegas Hot Springs (N.M.) -- Photographs. Peach Springs (Ariz.) -- Photographs. Phoenix (Ariz.) -- Photographs. Pike s Peak (Colo.) -- Photographs. Pueblo of Laguna (N.M.) -- Photographs. Salt Lake City (Utah) -- Photographs. Santa Fe (N.M.) -- Photographs. Tesuque Pueblo (N.M.) -- Photographs. Film negatives. Glass negatives. Lantern Slides. s. Photographs. Portraits. Box 1 Copy prints (Items 1-190) Arizona Item 1 Phoenix Woman and child outside residence. Item 2 Street scene with Mexican children playing. Item 3 Cave opening in cliff. Graffiti? Item 4-5 (variant) "Turk on horseback." s Item 6 Horse and rider. s Item 7 Arizona Falls on Salt River, near Phoenix. Flagstaff area George P. Thresher photcl 449 4

5 Arizona Item First relay station between Flagstaff and Grand Canyon. (8) ; a cropped version of (8.1) negative. Item 9 Dinner station halfway to Grand Canyon. Item 10 Garden of the Gods [Actually located in Colorado, not Arizona] Entrance to the Garden of the Gods. Item Balance Rock. s Item 14 "Mother Grundy" (rock formation). Item Mission San Xavier del Bac. (16) glass plate negative, no print; (17) glass plate negative. Item Montezuma Castle. s; same image. Item Indians at Peach Springs. s Item 27 Indians at Yuma Station, Item 28 Hotel.. Item 27 Gila River Crossing Cooking shelter. Item 28 Village with granary. Item 29 Woman with metate. George P. Thresher photcl 449 5

6 Arizona Item 30 Woman winnowing grain. Item 31 Wickiups. ; no print. Item 32 Wickiup. Item 33 Granary. and negative. Item 34 Woman carrying pot on head. Item Family outside adobe structure. s ( are variants) Item 38 Family outside adobe structure. Woman with metate. Item 39 Brush structure. Item 40 Adobe structure; wagons under shed roof. Item 40.1 Adobe structure; wagons under shed roof., no print; same image as (40). Item 41 Irrigation ditch. Item 42 Cactus and mesquite near Gila River. Item 43 Cactus with arrows. George P. Thresher photcl 449 6

7 Arizona Item 44 Mother and child. and 2 positives (glass and film) Item 45 Mother with child on back. and positive Item 45.1 Mother with child on back. Slight variation in pose. and glass positive, no print Item 46 Woman with pot on head. Copyright Item 47 Cooking shelter. Copyright and positive Item 48 Winnowing grain. Item 49 Weaving basket [Pima]. and film. Item 50 Woman carrying large pot. and film. Item Papago woman making pot. (51) and (53) glass plate negative; (52) film negative. Item 54 Native Americans identified by tribe Apache chief. (Used as illustration in Arizona Illustrated). Item 55 Hopi woman (with basket, pot, corn). Item 56 Navajo man (blanket in background). Item 57 Maricopa woman ("Slippery Kate"). George P. Thresher photcl 449 7

8 Arizona Item 58 Papago woman. Item 59 Papago man and oven. Item 6 Yuma chief, with bow and arrows. Item 61 Yuma man. (color added) Item 62 Two Yuma women. Item 63 Native Americans not identified by tribe Family inside dwelling, (Metate, basket, buckets)., no print Item 64 Blind woman. Item 65 Woman, two men (one with rifle) outside wickiup. Item 66 Woman holding bow and arrows and with child in carrying basket. Item 67 Two women potters. Item 68 Family by wickiup at Leemore [Lemmon?]. Positive Item 69 Family at Leemore (?) just returned from funeral. Positive Item 70 Men and scoop-shaped basket. George P. Thresher photcl 449 8

9 Arizona Item 71 Man with staff. Item 72 Woman weaving. Item 73 "Juan, the Indian wood carrier." Item 74 Hopi (?) man in doorway, with his feet on ladder. Item 75 Miscellaneous [Ramada]. Item 76 Wickiups. Item 77 "Old time Indian method of burying dead: a custom now obsolete." Item 78 Baskets. (Pima?) Item 79 [Mexican] family outside adobe. One of the women is making tortillas. Item 80 [Mexican] family outside adobe. Item 80.1 [Mexican] family outside adobe. Variant of (80), no print. Item 81 [Mexican] family outside adobe. Item 82 Front of Doña Martina's house. George P. Thresher photcl 449 9

10 Arizona Item 83 Desert landscape with adobe houses on dirt road. Item 84 Adobe ruins, "Banditti." [Arizona?] Item 85 Adobe residences. [Arizona?] Item 86 River landscape. [Arizona?] Item 86.1 Rock face with cave openings. [Arizona?] Item 86.2 Rock face with rock structure built against it. [Arizona?] Item 86.3 Desert landscape with animal carcasses. [Arizona?] Item 86.4 Burro outside log structure. [Arizona?] No negative California Item 87 "Victoriano, Chief of the Soboba Indians (136 years old)." Item 88 Captain Victoriano. Item 89 Victoriano's third wife (107 years old). Item 90 Native American woman (California?) inside brush hut. Item 91 Luiseño basket maker, Soboba. George P. Thresher photcl

11 California Item 92 Luiseños, San Luis Rey.. For photographs of mines in San Diego County, see Colorado Item 93 Typical Denver homes. Item 94 Castle Rock. Item 95 Pike's Peak Railroad: engine and car at Manitou. Item 96 Railroad station, Pike's Peak (rear view)., no print. Item 97 Railroad station, Pike's Peak (front view). Item 98 Government building, Pike's Peak. Item 99 Granite Canyon. Item 100 Seven Falls and view of Cheyenne Canyon.. [Scene doesn't seem to match title.] Item 101 Prospect Dome, Cheyenne Falls.. [Scene doesn't seem to match title.] Item 102 "Buckskin Charley and band of Ute Indians." Idaho George P. Thresher photcl

12 Idaho Item Wickiups, Bannock Reservation. s [Montana] Item "Indian camp. Blackfeet, Piegans, Saree, and Bloods. Item Near Gleiohan, B. C." [Missing] Nevada Item Las Vegas. s Item 110 Las Vegas, Hot Springs.. [: Research has shown that (#110) Las Vegas Hot Springs are actually located in New Mexico] New Mexico Item 111 Sante Fe., no print Item Santa Fe. s Item 115 Beggar, Sante Fe. Item 116 Beehive oven, Santa Fe. Item 117 Schoolhouse and school children, Sante Fe. Item 118 Schoolroom, Sante Fe. George P. Thresher photcl

13 New Mexico Item 119 Government building, Sante Fe. Item Street scene. Men on burros. Wall posters for opera (The Rose) and Seligman Bros., Santa Fe., General Merchandise. No negative Item Hot Springs basket maker. Positives, no prints Item 122 Hot Springs washing place. Positive, no print Pueblos Item 123 Laguna (?).. (Same view identified on another neg envelope as Isleta.) Item 124 Laguna (?). ; identified on negative envelope as Isleta, but same view as (123). Item 125 Laguna. Item 126 Brush structure, Tesuque. Positive Item Tesuque. s Item 131 Tesuque., no print Item 132 Church, Tesuque. Item 133 Unidentified pueblo. George P. Thresher photcl

14 New Mexico Item 134 Unidentified pueblo. Item 135 Unidentified pueblo. Texas Item 136 El Paso. Plaza in winter. Item 137 El Paso. Plaza in winter. Positive. Same image as (136) Item 138 Houston. Open air restaurant. Item 139 San Antonio. Entrance to the Alamo. Item 140 San Antonio. The Alamo. Item 141 San Antonio. The Alamo and two freight wagons. and positive Item 142 Missions La Purísima Concepción de Acuña. [Founded 1716, established in San Antonio 1731.] Item 143 San Francisco de la Espada, SW corner. "Built 1731." (Ruins). Item 144 San Francisco de la Espada, NW corner. (Ruins). Item 145 Mission San Francisco de la Espada. George P. Thresher photcl

15 Texas Item 146 San Francisco de la Espada. "3rd mission." Ngative Item Granary, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. s Item 149 Main doorway, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Item 150 Window, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Item 151 Chapel door, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Item 152 Undercroft?, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Item Front façade, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. s Item 155 Side view, San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Item 156 Ruined arches (San José?). Item 157 Bullfight montage., no print Utah Item 158 Salt Lake City. Mormon Temple. Item 159 Salt Lake City. Mormon Temple Annex. George P. Thresher photcl

16 Utah Item 160 Salt Lake City. Outside Mormon Tabernacle. Item 161 Ogden. Washington Avenue. Mount Beauty Mine (San Diego County, California) Item 162 Chihuahua Valley, looking south. Item 163 Mount Beauty trip. From top of Chihuahua Mountain showing Warner's Ranch and Chihuahua Valley. Item 164 President's office. Item 165 Secretary's office. Item 166 Mining camp. Item 167 Croppings, looking north. Item 168 Croppings, looking south. Item 169 Two tunnels and two dumps. Item 170 Tunnel One and Tunnel Two. Item 171 Tunnel One, or upper tunnel. George P. Thresher photcl

17 Mount Beauty Mine (San Diego County, California) Item 172 Tunnel entrance, dump, and ore. Item 173 Tunnel and men at work (lower tunnel #2). Item 174 Tunnel, long range. Item 175 Main draw, looking north. Item 176 "Our abundant water supply." Item 177 Mill site. Item 178 June Bug Tunnel and outcroppings. (Mount Beauty Mine?). Item 179 June Bug Tunnel. (Mount Beauty Mine?) Unidentified scenes Item Industrial activity (mining?) Item Hillside houses.. on (183): "Don't print from this." Item 184 Railroad tracks. Item 185 Man with 2 burros. George P. Thresher photcl

18 Unidentified scenes Item th Street showing Reed Hotel and Public Library. [Also shows Adams Bros. photographers.] Flag at half mast. ; print is backwards Item 187 Street scene with French Hotel. Item 188 Saloon. Item 189 Cemetery. Item 190 Building in rocky landscape. "CH" painted on one slab. No negative Box 1 Lantern slides (Items ) Arizona Item 191 Blind woman. Same as (64) Item 192 Item Blind woman. Brush structures. California Item 195 Woman in brush hut. Same as (90) Item 196 Three Luiseños, San Luis Rey. Same as (92) New Mexico Item Hot Springs basket maker. Same as ( ) George P. Thresher photcl

19 s s Access Information Advance arrangements for viewing negatives must be made with the Curator of Photographs. Neg. Box 1 s 1-31 Neg. Box 2 s Neg. Box 3 s Neg. Box 4 s Neg. Box 5 s Neg. Box 6 s Neg. Box 7 s George P. Thresher photcl