Ontario Forestry Branch - 1925-1930
An interesting photo album documenting work with the Ontario Forestry Branch and the Dominion Forest Service in Western Canada during the period of 1925-1930.Images document time spent along Loch Lomond and Lake Superior in Ontario, and later on Mount Shunda in the Canadian Rockies. There is also a much smaller section of images covering work in the orange groves of Florida and in the Southern United States. The album is captioned throughout -- extensively so in the segment on Alberta -- providing context and humor to the images.
Our author, who is pictured but not identified, was employed by the Ontario Forestry Branch in 1928 around Loch Lomond and Lake Superior, just south of Thunder Bay. Approximately seventy of the images relate to this region. They show the scenery, wildlife, and the camps and operations of the forestry service. Most are captioned in some way: "The Cook loading a canoe"; "Cliffs at mouth of Carp River"; "O.F.B. camp Loch Lomond survey." Several later images show the Temagami district of northern Ontario, including the Mattagami River and its dam, as well as an image captioned, "Indian cabin flooded by Mattagami River."
The last several leaves of the album are devoted to the author's work with the Dominion Forest Service in Alberta and British Columbia in 1930. These photos are generally larger, 4 x 5 inches, and more extensively captioned. The opening image is a panoramic shot of the Big Horn Mountains in Alberta seen forty miles distant. The next shows the small town of Brazeau: "Looking north from Brazeau to Mt. Baldy on left and Mt. Shunda on right. Brazeau is a coal mining town 120 miles west of Red Deer, Alberta, and lies just inside the first range i.e. Brazeau Mts. Elevation of town 4000 ft. Mt. Shunda 6700 ft." This series of sixty photographs depicts the area around Mt. Shunda, including sweeping scenery and towns, as well as the forestry camps and activities. One image of three men in a tent from out on the trail is captioned, "Over night camp from main camp to reach out-of-the way territory. Frank, Mac, and Obey. Note it rained over night, also note holes in tent." There are mentions of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and several images of stations and tracks.
Incongruously placed in the middle of the album is a group of images from 1925 documenting time spent working in the American South. These thirty-five images briefly document the trip to Florida: "Crossing the Roanoke River, Virginia"; "On a road in Georgia" (depicting a Black man in a goat-drawn cart); "Two tramps outside Philadelphia". There are individual images of the orange grove ("Young trees about 5 yrs. out, Hiawassee Orange Grove, Florida), along with shots of the cabin, wash day, loading fertilizer for the grove, and the "View from our shack."
Various locations in Ontario, Alberta, and the Southern U.S.]: 1925-1930. 165 photographs on forty-four leaves. Most images approximately 3 x 4 inches, or 2 x 3 inches, with a few larger. Oblong octavo. Original brown cloth album with black paper pages, string-tied. Light wear to album, first leaf detached. Internally clean with some minor wear, most images captioned. Altogether, an interesting album of images documenting one young man's time in the Canadian Forestry Service, as well as his earlier adventures working with trees in the American South. Very good.
