By SARAH LIM
What do Carleton Watkins and Ansel Adams have in common?
They are both well-known Yosemite photographers, and each photographed Merced at least once.
While Adams’ portrait of a drifter in front of the Palace Rooms on 16th Street provides a glimpse of optimism amid the Great Depression, Watkins’ image of El Capitan Hotel and Passenger Depot by the Central Pacific Railroad offers a look at an up-and-coming new town.
As we know, most of Adams’ work has been preserved, but much of Watkins’ was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Just as tragic as his work, Watkins was largely forgotten for most of the 20th century following his death at Napa State Hospital in 1916. To learn more about Watkins, we are going to explore his Yosemite photos and his legacy in creating the National Park.
Carleton Watkins was born in New York in 1829 but came to California at the tail end of the initial Gold Rush in 1851 to make his fortune in gold with his childhood friend, Collis Huntington. Like many gold miners, they got out of the business fast. Huntington would later become a Central Pacific Railroad magnate as one of the “Big Four” who built the first Transcontinental Railroad.
Meanwhile, Watkins found his passion in photography, and in 1858, he began working as a photographer for Hutchings’ Illustrated California Magazine. Watkins made a life-changing decision in the summer of 1861 when he traveled to Yosemite for the first time with his mammoth-plate camera, which captured more detail in the 18×22-inch glass plates. For the depth of the subject, Watkins used his stereoscopic camera to create stereograph cards.
These published photographs, the first to be seen of Yosemite in the East, won the hearts and minds in Washington, D.C. which led to State and Federal protection of the land, including the Yosemite Grant signed by President Lincoln in 1864. Later, Mount Watkins was named in his honor to recognize Watkins’ contribution in preserving Yosemite Valley.
Now that he had established himself as an influential photographer, Watkins opened his first public gallery in 1867. After receiving a silver medal at the Paris Exposition for his large photographic views of Yosemite Valley and the Big Trees of Mariposa Grove, Watkins thought that he might be able to make a living by selling his prints of landscape and nature scenes. So, he opened the Yosemite Art Gallery on Montgomery Street in San Francisco in 1872.
Other than the Yosemite Valley and Big Trees, Watkins worked on many projects, including the opening of the Wawona Wagon Road in 1875. At the time, there was an arrangement with the Central Pacific Railroad for Washburn & Co. to transport Yosemite-bound tourists from Merced to Wawona and then onto the Valley floor. As a result, Watkins, traveling from San Francisco, would have arrived in Merced before transferring to a 4-horse stage operated by Washburn & Co. So, he would have been familiar with the El Capitan Hotel which he later would photograph.
In addition to Watkins, a large contingent of Mercedians, including the Merced Brass Band, took part in this celebration. The Merced party with many distinguished citizens was headed by H. A. Bloss, the proprietor of the El Capitan Hotel. Bloss and Watkins likely met on this occasion if not sooner.
The El Capitan Hotel was viewed by many as the first welcome sign to visitors traveling to Merced on their way to Yosemite and helped establish Merced as the “Gateway to Yosemite.” The tall four-story building in the middle of the flat valley could be seen from miles away when it was completed in 1872.
This photo taken in 1877 is a good example of Watkins’ landscape work, which is often composed of rock, water, and trees, but in this version, it is the hotel, water puddles, and homes. While the hotel is the focal point, the foreground is a muddy street with puddles of water that show the reflection of the building. That may have explained why Watkins took this picture far away and left so much foreground space.
The muddy street and the grayish sky hinted that rain just visited this area. Then, the structures in the background, including the barely visible Courthouse, set up a comparison of how grand, big, and tall the hotel is. With the flagpole reaching to the sky, the Victorian symbolism of reaching heaven may have come across the visitor’s mind. Or at least, he would be curious to get to the top of the hotel to see how far he could see and enjoy a panoramic view of the town.
In front of this magnificent hotel are over 60 people, mostly men in suits, looking straight at Watkins’ camera and trying not to blink for the few minutes it would have taken for Watkins to photograph the scene. Two steam locomotives are parking on tracks from each direction. Also joining the party are a couple of dogs and a horse.
Merced was just five years old when this photo was taken. It is unclear how many other Merced photos Watkins took during this trip, but he did at least two photographs at this setting.
There is a chance to see a reproduction of the El Capitan Hotel photo in acrylic and bid on it at the Merced County Historical Society’s 33rd Annual Bill Kirby Western BBQ at Lake Yosemite on Sept. 10.
But first, you need to stop by the Museum County Courthouse Museum Office, at 21st and N streets, in downtown Merced, and buy a ticket to attend the event — and tickets are limited and going fast. As always, the auction is much anticipated by history lovers as many one-of-a-kind items will go home with the highest bidders.
Sarah Lim is the director of the Merced County Courthouse Museum.