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California Views from the R.W. Waterman Family Papers, ca. 1865-1900
BANC PIC 1905.04221-.04377 -- PIC and BANC PIC 1905.04562-.04576 -- PIC
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Collection Title: California Views from the R.W. Waterman Family Papers,
Date: ca. 1865-1900
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1905.04221-.04377 -- PIC and BANC PIC 1905.04562-.04576 -- PIC
Creator:
Waterman family
Extent:
164 photographic prints, many mounted, 19 x 35 cm. or smaller; 8 stereographs, 10 x 18 cm. or smaller; 3 cartes de visite,
7 x 11 cm. or smaller.
142 digital objects
Repository:
The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Languages Represented:
English
The bulk of the collection is available for use. Portions of the collection are restricted. Use viewing prints only of restricted
originals. Use of restricted originals only by permission of the Curator of Pictorial Collections, The Bancroft Library.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item]
California Views from the R.W. Waterman Family Papers, BANC PIC 1905.04221-.04377--PIC and BANC PIC 1905.04562-.04576--PIC, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were
copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and
the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.
Title: Waterman Family Papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS C-B 491
The California Views from the R.W. Waterman Family Papers were transferred from the Waterman Family Papers, BANC MSS C-B 491.
Robert Whitney Waterman was born December 15, 1826 in Fairfield, New York. At the age of 13 he moved to Newbury, Illinois
to join his older merchant brothers as a clerk, and a few years later established his own business. In 1847 he married Jane
Gardner in Belvedere, Illinois. In 1850 Waterman sold his assets to finance a journey to California. He traveled with F.A.
Park, and, while staying in Salt Lake City, befriended Brigham Young. Upon his arrival in California, Waterman joined one
of his brothers as a miner at Oregon Creek, near the South Fork of the Feather River. Waterman returned to his family in Wilmington,
Illinois in 1851 and became a successful grain dealer. As a result of his involvement in state politics, Waterman was chosen
to be a delegate to the 1854 Republican Party convention in Bloomington, Illinois, and was later instrumental in helping Abraham
Lincoln carry the state in the 1860 presidential election. After further ventures in business and politics in Illinois, Waterman
returned to California in 1873, becoming a machinery salesman in Redwood City. The following year he moved to San Bernardino
County, where he would soon return to mining. In 1880, with J.L. Porter, Waterman founded the Calico Mine, a silver mine near
what is presently Barstow, which became extremely prosperous for him. Waterman was also the owner of the Stonewall Gold Mine,
the Cuyamaca Ranch, and the Cuyamaca Railroad, all in San Diego County. In 1886 Waterman was nominated by the state Republican
convention as its candidate for lieutenant governor. Waterman won the election, while Democrat Washington Bartlett was elected
governor, marking the first occurrence of such a split in state history. Waterman became California's seventeenth governor
when Bartlett died after only a few months in office. Waterman's administration suffered from his lack of experience in public
office and poor advisory support. R.W. Waterman died in San Diego in 1891, shortly after his term as governor had ended.
The California Views from the R.W. Waterman Family Papers collection contains 164 photographic prints, 8 stereographs, and
3 cartes de visite taken circa 1865-1900. Perhaps as a reflection of Governor Waterman's interests and activities during his
career throughout the state, the collection features a broad variety of subject matter and location. Much of the collection
relates to the California mining industry, and includes photographs from Waterman's Stonewall Mine in San Diego County and
his Calico Mine in San Bernardino County. Also included are several other locations and subjects in San Diego and San Bernardino
counties, such as Del Mar, the Hotel Del Coronado, Sweetwater Dam, the San Diego Flume, and various views of the city of San
Bernardino and Arrowhead Hot Springs, where the governor resided. Other California locations featured include Yosemite Valley,
Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Monica, San Gabriel, Los Angeles, the Lick Observatory near San Jose, Monterey,
Oakland, the prison quarry at San Quentin, and the University of California at Berkeley. Also included are scenes of U.S.
Navy war ships.
The collection also includes views taken in Illinois, New York, and New Mexico.
Professional photographers featured in the collection include, among others, Carleton E. Watkins, Isaiah W. Taber, Joseph
C. Parker, E.W. Turner, H.B. Wesner, J.E. Slocum, E.J. Hayward, W.A. Vale, George Fiske, G.M. Greene, and Bradley & Rulofson.