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J.F. Ford Photographs, 1896-approximately 1910

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Ford, John Fletcher
Title
J.F. Ford Photographs
Dates
1896-approximately 1910 (inclusive)
Quantity
18 black and white photographs (1 box) ; various sizes
37 negatives (1 box) : glass ; 6 x 8 inches
1 photograph album
Collection Number
PH0701
Summary
Images of fishing activities, oystering, logging camps and timber activities along the lower Columbia, construction of Benson Rafts, and various ships. Album produced for the Northwestern Lumber Company with photographs of logging operations, log rafts, and boats in Washington State.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Glass plate negatives are not available for viewing. Selected images can be viewed on the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections website. Contact Special Collection for more information.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

John Fletcher Ford was born in1862 in Minnesota. He moved to Ilwaco, Washington in 1893 and became a pastor and evangelist. Local newspapers praised Ford as “a genial gentleman” and “one of the best known citizens of Pacific County.” As an ardent opponent of liquor, Ford was a vigorous proponent of the temperance movement.

In addition to his ministry, Ford photographed numerous fishing and logging activities, visiting nearly every camp and fishing district along the Columbia River, as well as scenic views of the area. From 1900 to 1908, he operated a photography studio called “Foto Studio,” in Portland with John T., Charles W., and Richard S. Ford.

Ford was stricken with pleurisy during the last year of his life and died February 16, 1914 in Ilwaco. As a tribute to his geniality, newspapers reported upon the impressive numbers of visitors who had come to pay tribute. In his obituary, the Columbia River Sun hailed his photographic work as “extremely interesting and valuable and a veritamine [sic] of picturesque illustration.”

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Historical Background

Ilwaco was founded around 1848 and incorporated in 1890. The major occupation was fishing and in the seafood industry. At one time, Ilwaco had a bad reputation because of the gillnet wars fought there from 1884 to 1910. Gillnet and trap fishermen fought over fishing ground rights, sometimes to the death. Fishing was often done with a seine, a large fishing net that hangs vertically in the water by attaching weights along the bottom edge and floats along the top. Seine fishing offered the advantage of being able to net fish without having to be concerned with the visibility of the nets in the water, as the seine hangs from the top of the water to the bottom of the river, lake or bay.

Willapa Bay, located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington near Ilwaco, is a large inlet of salt water separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Long Beach Peninsula. The bay is fairly shallow, with half of the volume of water inside it entering and leaving with every tide. It is bordered by several smaller towns and unincorporated communities such as Raymond, South Bend, and Tokeland. After the depletion in the 19th century of the natural oyster beds in California and Oregon, Willapa Bay became one of the nation's largest commercial producer of oysters.

In 1879, Simon Benson, a Norwegian immigrant from Wisconsin, settled in Oregon and bought timber lands in the vicinity of St. Helens and the lower stretches of the Columbia River, down river of Portland. Benson was among the first timbermen to use steam donkey engines and small railroads instead of oxen teams to haul logs to water. Another innovation of Benson’s was his famous “Benson rafts," developed as an alternative to the high costs of railroad or ocean barge transportation along the Pacific Coast. After finalizing the initial design, Benson hired John A. Festabend to supervise construction of the cigar-shaped rafts, which were assembled in the calm waters of the Wallace Slough, near Clatskanie, Oregon. Benson rafts were the first ocean-worthy lumber rafts. These cigar-shaped assemblages of logs, held together tightly by stout chains. Benson’s rafts were transported the 1,100 miles to San Diego during the summer, arriving at his saw mill roughly 15 days after leaving Clatskanie. Between in 1906 and 1941, over 120 Benson rafts were sent to San Diego from the Columbia River, with only 4 lost to storm or fire during that time. More than half the time, the rafts were “deck loaded” with processed lumber like shingles, fence posts, poles and spurs to maximize profits. Benson’s mill in San Diego then sold the resultant lumber to the lucrative California market.

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Content Description

The collection contains images of fishing activities (seining, shell fishing and oystering), logging camps and timber activities along the lower Columbia River, various ships and the construction of Benson Rafts.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Printouts of digital scans made from the glass-plate negatives are available for reference purposes.

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions might exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact the repository for details.

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Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

Donor of prints mounted on board, Mrs. E.R. Stromquist, June 6, 1957.

Glass-plate negatives purchased from Richard Sasaki, 2002.

One print from Cultural Images, 2021.

Album source: Zephyr Used & Rare Books, February 2022.

Processing Note

Processed by Tom Dobrowolsky, 2005; Linda Wagner and Megan Peacock, 2006.

Album added by Arlene G. Cohen, 2022.

Original photographs were transferred from the Industries and Occupations Collection, in the repository, in 2005.

Related Materials

Northwestern Lumber Company records

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

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Subject Terms

  • Beaches--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Booms (Log transportation)--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Clamming--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Fishing--Washington (State) --Photographs
  • Log transportation--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Logging--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Logs--Washington (State) --Photographs
  • Lumber industry--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Oystering--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Piers--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Sailing ships--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Ships--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Timber--Rafting--Washington (State)--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
  • Wharves--Washington (State)--Photographs

Personal Names

  • Lundeen, John--Photographs
  • Lundeen, Nels--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Clatskanie (Or.)--Photographs
  • Columbia River--Photographs
  • Deep River (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Ilwaco (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Stella (Wash.)--Photographs
  • Willapa Bay (Wash.)--Photographs


2007 (Last modified: 2/24/2023)

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