Today’s post will be a short one, as this photo is for the most part a mystery to me. If you think you can add anything to what I know about this photo, please let me know in the comments section!
This photo comes to me from my mother, who in turn got it from my grandmother, Harriet Eva (Askew) Prettyman. It’s a photo of two men with peavey hooks on a wooden bridge over a river with floating timber. They appear to be taking a break from their job of guiding the logs down the river. My guess is that the photo is from Minnesota, that it dates to the 1890s, and that it pictures someone from either the Askew or Scott families.
Other random bits
From what little I know about bridges, this bridge appears to be a two-panel uncovered wooden truss bridge.
By the reinforced nature of the river banks, it’s clear that this river saw a lot of log drives.
The photographer is listed as “Richardson Photographers”, but there are nine photographers named Richardson according to the MNHS Directory of Minnesota photographers.
The photograph itself is technically quite poor: the large double-exposure at the left indicates that the photographer accidentally exposed the film or glass plate while loading or unloading the camera, or before developing. The focus on the two men is also quite poor.
The negative appears to have been numbered 3669.
If you can tell me anything about this photo, please do!