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PHOTOGRAPHS
Watkins, Carleton E.
U.S. (1829 - 1916)
2655 Yosemite, Cal. - the Big Tree Room in Barnard's Hotel
c. 1870s, printed after 1875
Albumen print
7 5/16 x 9 5/16 in. (18.6 x 23.7 cm) image size; 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. (19.7 x 24.8 cm) sheet size
Monsen Study Collection of Photography, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen
FA 91.36
Keywords: Architecture (interior); Yosemite National Park; Trees; California artist

Carleton Watkins photographed this curious locale during one of his many trips to the Yosemite Valley. The Big Tree Room, constructed in 1866 in the Barnard’s Hotel (also known as the Hutchings House), can still be seen today. According to the hotel’s founder, he did not have the heart to cut down the large cedar, so instead the hotel was built around it. As a sitting room for hotel guests, the room also had a kiosk that sold photographs and cards of the surrounding scenery.

“Carleton E. Watkins was one of California’s early commercial photographers. In 1865, Watkins became the official photographer for the California State Geological Survey. The strategic circulation of Watkins’s photographs may have played a role in the passing of legislation to protect Yosemite Valley. In both stereoscopic and mammoth-plate formats, Carleton E. Watkins makes the first important photographic record of Yosemite, a site he photographed repeatedly in the coming decades; Watkins’s images circulate widely, especially in stereoscopic form, and do much to publicize Yosemite throughout the nation." from Dan Anderson, "Yosemite History: Carleton E. Watkins, Photographer," http://www.yosemite.ca.us/history/watkins. -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.

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