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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     

Displaying 1951 - 2000 of 2802
Keyword Search
Search by Sawyer Number (use only the number)
Title
SWY2116

Sunset, Columbia River

SWY2117

Flathead Lake, Montana Shoreline and Angel Point

SWY2118

Flathead Lake, Montana--Sunset from Angel Point

SWY2119

Flathead Lake, Montana--J. Roderick\'s Home

SWY2120

Kalispell, Montana--Ex-Governor Robert B. Smith\'s Home, Flathead Lake

SWY2121

3-Year-Old Orchard, Ex-Governor Robert B. Smith\'s Home, Flathead Lake, Montana

SWY2122

Kalispell, Montana--3-Year-Old Apple Orchard, J. C. Woods

SWY2123

Kalispell, Montana--Orchard, Flathead Lake, J. C. Woods

SWY2124

Kalispell, Montana--Orchard, Flathead Lake, J. C. Woods

SWY2125

Kalispell, Montana--The Whiteside Orchard near Kalispell

SWY2126

Kalispell, Montana--3-Year-Old Wealthy Apple Tree, G. H. Adams

SWY2127

Kalispell, Montana--Seven-Year-Old Duchess Apple Tree, G. H. Adams

SWY2128

Kalispell, Montana--Five-Year-Old Wealthy Apple Tree, O. C. Estes

SWY2129

Kalispell, Montana--Six-Year-Old Ben Davis Apple Orchard, O. C. Estes

SWY2130

Kalispell, Montana--Four-Year-Old Duchess Apple Tree, Griffin and Stannard\'s Place

SWY2131

St Ignatius Mission Interior

SWY2132

St Ignatius Mission, Montana Interior

SWY2133

St Ignatius Mission, Montana Interior, Altar

SWY2134

St Ignatius Mission, Montana, Father D\'Aste and Father Dimier

SWY2135

St Ignatius Mission, Montana, Father D\'Aste and Father Dimier

SWY2136

St Ignatius Mission, Montana, Father D\'Aste

SWY2137

St Ignatius Mission, Montana, Father D\'Aste

SWY2138

St Ignatius Mission, Montana, Father Dimier

SWY2139

Fathers of St Ignatius Mission, Montana

SWY2140

St Ignatius Mission, Montana--Church and Fathers\' Residence

SWY2141

St Ignatius Mission, Montana Church

SWY2142

Town of St Ignatius Mission, Montana and Flathead Indian Reservation

SWY2143

Flathead Lake, Montana--Tree of Alexandra Apples, J. Roderick

SWY2144

Slide & Dead Timber on the Trail to St Mary Lake

SWY2145

Cabin

SWY2146

Trick Falls on Two Medicine River, Montana

SWY2147

Pinnacle Peak and Big Horse Basin, Idaho

SWY2148

Looking Southeast from Triple Divide Mountain, Montana

SWY2149

Glacier National Park--Two Medicine Lake, Middle

SWY2150

Glacier National Park--Two Medicine Lake, Middle--Reflections

SWY2151

Glacier National Park--Two Medicine Lake

SWY2152

Mt Baker and Swift Creek Canyon, Washington

SWY2153

Unlabeled

SWY2154

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2155

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2156

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2157

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2158

Crater Lake and Phantom Ship

SWY2159

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2160

Crater Lake 1923

SWY2161

Crater Lake 1923 North from Skell Head--Shows Diamond Lake, Mt Thielsen

SWY2162

Crater Lake 1923--Mt Thielsen from Sentinel Rock

SWY2163

Mt Rainier Above the Drifting Fog

SWY2164

Mt Rainier from Maroon Lake--Indian Henry

SWY2165

Unlabeled