SOHS Research Website

The SOHS Sawyer Collection

The images presented here are part of a donation we are calling the Sawyer Collection. The images have come from multiple photography studios, some of them unidentified. Most were taken by the Kiser Studio of Portland, Oregon in the 'Teens and early 'Twenties, especially of rugged scenes in Crater Lake and Glacier National Parks and along the Columbia River. A small collection was taken 1905-07 by photographer H. G. Peabody of Massachusetts and Maine urban and coastal scenes. An anonymous collection portrays architectural and rural views taken in Central Mexico in the same era.

The collection was saved and cared for by William Gruber, who had a long working relationship with the Portland photography studio Sawyer Service Inc. Gruber was the inventor of the popular View-Master, which he produced in collaboration with Sawyer’s. According to the donor, in 1939 Sawyer’s was poised to dispose of these glass plate negatives in order to focus on the View-Master, when Gruber offered to take the plates. Over the past eight decades, the Gruber family has meticulously maintained the collection of approximately 3,000 plates, weighing roughly half a ton. Southern Oregon Historical Society received the plates as a donation in 2019, and has made them publicly available with additional grant funding from Oregon Parks and Recreation and the Oregon Cultural Trust.

SAWYER COLLECTION INDEX WILLIAM GRUBER WHEN THE COLLECTION ARRIVED AT SOHS

Title
SWY2014		Lake Chelan, Washington--Head of Rainy Lake
SWY2015		Lake Chelan, Washington--Foot of Rainy Lake
SWY2016		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2017		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2018		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2019		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2020		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2021		Lake Chelan, Washington--Glaciers, North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2022		Lake Chelan, Washington--Looking Southeast from Bridge Creek Pass
SWY2023		Lake Chelan, Washington--Looking Northeast from North Fork Pass
SWY2024		Lake Chelan, Washington--Miner\'s Cabin on the North Fork Bridge
SWY2025		Lake Chelan, Washington--Camp at North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2026		Lake Chelan, Washington--Twin Falls North Fork Bridge Creek Glaciers
SWY2027		Lake Chelan, Washington--North Fork of Bridge Creek Canyon
SWY2028		Lake Chelan, Washington--On the Trail to North Fork of Bridge Creek
SWY2029		Lake Chelan, Washington--The Stehekin River
SWY2030		Lake Chelan, Washington--On the Trail to Horseshoe Basin
SWY2031		Lake Chelan, Washington--On the Trail to Horseshoe Basin
SWY2032		Lake Chelan, Washington--From the Trail near Horseshoe Basin
SWY2033		Lake Chelan, Washington--Bridge Creek Canyon
SWY2034		Lake Chelan, Washington--Bridge Creek Canyon
SWY2035		Lake Chelan, Washington--Bridge Creek Canyon
SWY2036		Lake Chelan, Washington--Bridge Creek Canyon
SWY2037		Lake Chelan, Washington--Fishing on Bridge Creek
SWY2038		Lake Chelan, Washington--Pack Train Crossing Bridge Creek
SWY2039		Lake Chelan, Washington--Chelan Canyon
SWY2040		Lake Chelan, Washington--Chelan Canyon
SWY2041		Lake Chelan, Washington--Chelan Canyon
SWY2042		Lake Chelan, Washington--Chelan Canyon
SWY2043		Lake Chelan, Washington--Chelan Canyon
SWY2044		Lake Chelan, Washington--Rainbow Falls
SWY2045		Lake Chelan, Washington--Rainbow Falls
SWY2046		Lake Chelan, Washington--Rainbow Falls and Lake Chelan
SWY2047		Lake Chelan, Washington--Head of Lake Chelan
SWY2048		Lake Chelan, Washington from Moores
SWY2049		Lake Chelan, Washington
SWY2050		Lake Chelan, Washington from Moores
SWY2051		Lake Chelan, Washington--Head of Lake Chelan Looking Down from Head
SWY2052		Lake Chelan, Washington--Shoreline
SWY2053		Lake Chelan, Washington--Shoreline
SWY2054		Lake Chelan, Washington--Shoreline
SWY2055		Columbia River--On Steamer Between Wenatchee & Chelan Falls
SWY2056		Columbia River--On Steamer Between Wenatchee & Chelan Falls
SWY2057		Glacier National Park--Head of Lake McDonald at Sunset
SWY2058		Glacier National Park--Lake McDonald--BROKEN CORNER
SWY2059		Glacier National Park--Head of Lake McDonald--Reflections
SWY2060		Head of Lake McDonald--Boats from Hotel
SWY2061		Glacier National Park--Head of Lake McDonald from Hotel Docks
SWY2062		Glacier National Park--Lake McDonald
SWY2063		Glacier National Park--Head of Lake McDonald from Hotel

Title

SWY2014

Lake Chelan, Washington--Head of Rainy Lake

SWY2015