This is a work in progress to compile as comprehensive as possible a listing numbers and titles of individual Olaf P. Larson stereographs of Arizona. Each listing will include a brief biographical overview, in addition to the checklist of stereoviews complied to date.
Olaf P. Larson was born in Nordfjordeid, Norway in 1879. His family immigrated to America in 1884. In the mid-1890s, his family moved to Moscow, Idaho. As a teenager, while still living on the family farm, he established a photographic gallery in Moscow.
Though he was listed as living with his family in 1900, he was soon a full-time photographer. He photographed the Diamond Jubilee in Moscow, Idaho in 1900, and produced a series of gray, curved mounted stereographs.
In 1903 he traveled south to Nevada, visiting the mining camps at Goldfield and Tonopah, eventually continuing onward to Arizona. His base appears to have been Bisbee, the setting for most of his Arizona views. He traveled throughout the state, visiting Phoenix and Jerome, and well as making scenic views of Southwestern scenes.
Larson produced stereographs using several different mounts. Some were plain mounts with handwritten captions and labeling, others have printed imprints. It appears that some views were produced while Larson was traveling, while others were created after his return to Idaho, where he continued operating his photographic business with studios in Moscow and Squirrel.
Olaf continued farming and moved his family across the state to Squirrel, Idaho on the Wyoming border a few years later. Larson continued to make photographic excursions, visiting nearby Yellowstone and Wyoming in 1905.
Larson’s photographic career was relatively short lived. By 1910, the census lists Olaf as living with his wife, Anna and his primary occupation as a railroad watchman. The family was living on a farm near the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in 1920. Interestingly, in the 1930 census, though Olaf was still a farmer, his wife Anna listed her occupation as a photographer. In 1940, the census lists Olaf as a common laborer working on a WPA road project, and living in Algoma, Idaho.
It appears that, Olaf P. Larson passed away on October 10, 1973, in Valley, Montana
(from Arizona Stereographs 1865-1930 by Jeremy Rowe, 2014)
If you have additional information about the Olaf P. Larson, examples of stereographs that are not on this list, or variant titles for any of the numbers or captions I would appreciate hearing from you. Ideally, I would like to obtain either a Xerox copy or scan for my files as well.
Thanks in advance for your time and assistance.
Please feel free to use this information but please credit this source and reproduce only with full credit information.
Thank you.
©Jeremy Rowe
2017
PHOTOGRAPHER: Olaf
P. Larson
LOCATION: Moscow, Idaho; Kansas; Arizona
SERIES:
DATE: c 1895-1905
MOUNT COLOR: light pinkish orange to buff
Among the Desert Foothills of the Tucson Mtns., Arizona
Bucky O'Neil Hill (showing smelter)
The C & A and the Gardner Mines, Bisbee, Arizona (manuscript)
Cactus Garden Insane Asylum, near Phoenix (manuscript)
Castle Rock, Bisbee, Az. (manuscript)
Converter Room, United Verde Smelter, Jerome, Ariz.
Court House Nogales, Ariz. (manuscript)
Entrance, Indian School, Phoenix, Ariz.
The 4th of July Procession, Cananea, Sonora, Mexico (manuscript)
General Panorama of Bisbee, Arizona, Section III (manuscript)
The Great Empire of Silence, The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Arizona
Great Galleries of granite, Inner Gorge, The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River,
Arizona
“The Heavens Declare the Glory of God” A typical desert scene.
(Hole in the rock near Phoenix)
Looking North over Globe, Ariz.
Looking up Broad Street, Globe, Arizona
The Maricopa County Courthouse, Phoenix, Ariz.
Mexican Wood Vendor, Bisbee, Ariz.
Montezuma Castle, Ariz. , Ancient ruin of a bygone Age.
Morley Ave. Nogales, Ariz. (manuscript)
The Natural Bridge of Petrified Wood, the Petrified Forest, Ariz.
Nature’s Grand Masterpiece. The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Ariz.
Nogales, Ariz
Nogales in Winter’s Clutches (manuscript)
The Old Dominion Smelter, Globe, Ariz. (manuscript)
Overlooking Lower Section of Lowell, Ariz. (manuscript)
Panorama of the Heart of Bisbee, Arizona, Section I (manuscript)
A Part of Bisbee's Water System (manuscript)
Partial view of Jerome, Ariz.
Powerhouse, United Verde Smelter, Jerome, Ariz.
Public School, Nogales
Street Scene, Jerome, Ariz.
United Verde Copper Mine, Jerome, Ariz.
United Verde Mines and Smelter, Jerome, Ariz.
U. V. Smelter, Jerome, Ariz. (manuscript)
A View of the Cave Dwellings, Montezuma Well, Ariz.
A Visit to the Cave Dwellings, Montezuma Well, Ariz.
LOCATION: Squirrel,
Idaho
SERIES: Olaf P. Larson/Stereoscopist/Squirrel Idaho/Sun Sculpture
DATE:
MOUNT COLOR: gray curved
Behold what God hath Wrought, Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, Arizona
Converter Room, United Verde Smelter, Jerome, Ariz.
Inner Gorge of the Colorado River, Ariz.
Inner Gorge of the Colorado River, Ariz. (alt view)
Partial View of Jerome, Ariz.
Rock Ribb`d and ancient as the Sun, Grand Canyon of the Colorado River Ariz.
Street Scene, Jerome, Ariz.
The Saguaro or Giant Cactus
The United Verde Smelter, Jerome, Ariz.
©Jeremy
Rowe 2017
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