Frank Badger, an operator at the Saldern Logging Company Camp, was likely the photographer for some of the images in the collection. Badger was a steam engineer, musician, logger, and photographer. He moved from Clatskanie, Oregon to Grays River, Washington before 1900 and briefly became a successful dairy farmer in the 1910s, before returning to work in logging by World War II. Although the first name is unknown, according to Carl Mautz, a photographer named Badger worked for the company in the 1890s. Others mentioned in the logging photos include George Sorensen, another operator at Saldern, and W. Boyles, who may be Robert William Boyles, a logger for Long-Bell Lumber Company in Kelso, Washington.
Nora Kessell Hamm was the daughter of Oris Allen Olmsted who owned a farm in Crooked Creek, Washington and worked in ranching at Grays River, Washington. Around 1895-1900, Kessell Hamm, two girlfriends, and other companions took a well-photographed excursion on the sternwheeler Montesano to Astoria, a twin steam engine sternwheeler that first launched in 1882 for the Shoalwater Bay Transportation Co. and operated until 1903 on a route between Ilwaco-Long Beach, Astoria, Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, and the lower Columbia River area. Kessell Hamm then traveled by train and bicycle into Long Beach, Washington where they camped, saw a steam locomotive, and visited a beach.
Frank Canaris (1854-1937), the photographer of the unidentified photo of a young woman riding a horse at Long Beach, was a Swiss-American who originally worked out of Long Beach, Washington in 1881, along with his first wife, Catharine Canaris (1859-1938). Catherine was also a pioneering Swiss-American photographer. The two eventually operated the Harvest Home Hotel, Crystal Bathhouse, and ran a photographic studio and curio store, before divorcing in the late 1890s.
From the end of the 19th Century into the first decade of the 20th Century, there was a small logging and sawmill industry in Grays River, Wahkiakum County, Washington, and Columbia County. Near the Malone Farm on Grays River during the progressive era, individuals like William Kessell and organizations like the Saldern Logging Co. ran logging operations which included logging camps, a sawmill, and a holding pond. Along with logging, farming, and shipping also took place in Grays River and the Washington Coast along the lower Columbia River.
Arranged in 2 series.
Twelve original mounted albumen and gelatin silver photographs documenting the logging and sawmill industry in Grays River, Wahkiakum County, Washington, and Columbia County from the end of the 19th Century into the first decade of the 20th Century. Images possibly taken by Frank Badger, Helene Badger, Frank Canaris, and Nora Kessell Hamm.
No restrictions on access.
Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Purchased from Zephyr Books, July 2023
Photos appear to be the work of Frank Badger