Chronology of Pioneer Photographer A. A. Forbes

A Brief History of the Life of Pioneer Photographer Andrew Alexander Forbes

Above: Unpublished early photo of Forbes Family. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Bailly / Tureson.

• Andrew Alexander Forbes was born April 21, 1862, in Ottowa Township, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States of America.
• Son of James McLaren Forbes (from Scotland) and Lucinda Parmelia Sanders (from New York); he was the 5th of 8 children.

Above: Rare unpublished early photo of A. A. Forbes as a baby, probably in 1863. Shown with his father, James, at left, and mother, Lucinda at right. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Bailly / Tureson.

• 1867: Forbes Family travelled from Wisconsin to California via the Isthmus Canal.
• 1868: Forbes Family returned to the midwest in 1868 to settle near Sioux City, Iowa.
• 1878: Forbes Family moved to Bazine, Ness County, Kansas.
• 1878-1890: Forbes Family bought range land in Kansas and became stockmen. Forbes helped his family on the range land as a stockman on their cattle ranch. Concurrently, he took up photography in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Big blizzards in 1888 and 1890 smothered their cattle in gullies of drifting snow, and a grasshopper plague destroyed their livestock feed.
• Late 1880s: Forbes started his professional career as an itinerant photographer, working with other skilled cameramen such as William Pretty-man, George B. Cornish and Thomas Croft; he may have learned his trade from them. His work took him to Dodge City / Kansas, Stillwater / Oklahoma, Texas, Taos / New Mexico, Santa Fe / New Mexico, northern Arizona, Rocky Mountains.
• 4/22/1889 or September 1893 (sources conflict on the date): Forbes and one of his brothers took a series of excellent photographs of the "Opening Run"  at the "Cherokee Strip" in Oklahoma. In that run, about 20,000 (or 100,000 - our sources conflict on the number) homesteaders crossed the border into "Indian Territory" in a mad dash for Free Land. After photographing the event, the 2 brothers loaded their photographic equipment into their wagon and joined the run themselves! The photographs of this opening run are now at the University of Oklahoma.
• 1890: Forbes Family (except for one son, John, who owned a store in Bazine, Kansas) moved to southern Calif., first settling in Riverside County and later in Santa Ana in Orange County.
• 1890-1898: Forbes worked as an itinerant photographer, traveling from town to town by wagon. He worked his way westward, capturing images in Oklahoma, Dodge City, and up and down the eastern slope of the Rockies, as well as New Mexico and Arizona. His Bishop Studio Catalog lists images from these periods. 
• 1889: After the "Opening Run" at the "Cherokee Strip" in 1889, Forbes waved good-bye to his cowboy life, and turned to the life of a itinerant photographer until his end of days.
• 1890-1898: Forbes photographed cowboys in various activities, and cattle and buffalo herds. Forbes gathered a remarkable collection of Native American photos, taken mainly in Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico and northern Arizona. Native tribes that A. A. photographed included the Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, Moqui (now Hopi), Pueblo and Supai. These are listed in his Bishop Studio Catalog. 
• 1898-1902: Forbes arrived in California. He made his photo studio headquarters in Santa Ana with his parents and siblings. He took photos in the following areas and of the following subjects: southern California, north to Hollister and San Joaquin Valley, communities, landscapes, Death Valley, the New Idria Mercury Mine, fur trappers, and more.
• 1902-1916: Forbes established a photography studio in Bishop California on West Line Street, known strangely enough as "Forbes Studio"! The exact establishment date is not clear, but was after 1900 and before 1904. Forbes used a wagon loaded with his photographic outfit (tent, cameras, glass negatives, paper stock, dark room supplies, etc.) and travelled extensively taking and selling his photographs. Many of his Owens Valley travels were documented in the Inyo Independent newspaper.
• 1902-1916: Native American photo subjects - Prior to 1902. Forbes developed a fondness for Native Americans and their plight, and thus during his "Forbes Studio" era, he was frequently called upon to photograph portraits of them. This Forbes collection of photos remains as perhaps his most timeless works.
• 1902-1916: Common subjects during the "Forbes Studio" era included studio portraits, Native Americans in Owens Valley - Yosemite - and elsewhere, Owens Valley Paiute, Petrara, Luiseno, Western Mono, Miwok, Yokuts, southern Calif. orange groves, Calif. Missions, early industrial growth, the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
• 1902-1916: the mainstay of "Forbes Studio" was scenic views of Owens Valley, the eastern Sierras, Mt. Whitney, Yosemite, and San Joaquin Valley. Landscape photography was his first love, and his prior experience as a stockman allowed him to pack bulky camera equipment and hit the wilderness road in a horse and wagon. When the wagon trail ended, he packed his heavy gear on his back and hiked to the ideal site that optimized the image he was trying to capture.

Above: Unpublished early photo by Forbes of "Three Brothers" rock formation in Yosemite Valley. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Bailly / Tureson.

• 10/17/1902 and 10/24/1902: Inyo Independent announces that Forbes was in Independence, "so give him a call soon". A week later, the II reported he was doing a "rushing business".
• November 1902: Inyo Independent reported that Forbes had moved his Photographic Outfit to Line Pine.
• December 1902: Inyo Independent reported that Forbes had moved his Photographic Outfit to Independence.
• February 1903: Inyo Independent reported that Forbes had moved his Photographic Outfit to Big Pine for a few weeks
• May 1903: II reported that Forbes had moved his Photographic Outfit to Independence.
• November 1903: Inyo Independent reported that Forbes had moved his Photographic Outfit to Independence for a week.
• December 1903: Inyo Independent reported that Forbes returned to Bishop, and had taken a number of beautiful photos of the Sierra Nevadas.

Above: One of several iterations of Forbes mobile "photographic kit". Once Forbes settled down in Bishop in upper Owens Valley, he could not abandon his wanderlust habits, and would head out on photography road trips in his wagon with his complete "photographic kit", which included mobile darkroom, supplies, cameras, lens, as well as camp gear. Date unknown. Photo courtesy of Bailly / Tureson.

• 1905: Forbes was hired by the head Los Angeles Water Wars Villain, Fred Eaton, to photograph the Owens Valley's massive water resources. Journalist Hall of Fame member William Chalfant, editor of the Inyo Register, noted in the paper that "Photographer Forbes is out picturing the water supply sources under arrangement with Fred Eaton. What it's for no one knows". Eaton was credited with secretly procuring water rights in Owens Valley for the growing city of Los Angeles. Eaton falsely explained that the photos were to satisfy his curiosity about the mountain streams and water sources of Owens Valley. Nobody knew at that time that he was representing the water interests of Los Angeles. Eaton was credited with being the first one to propose building the aqueduct. Forbes was thus involuntarily thrust into the  water controversy of Los Angeles stealing water from Owens Valley via the 255-mile long Los Angeles Aqueduct, which was constructed between 1908 and 1913. Forbes was opposed to   plan to suck the Owens Valley dry from the first moment he had heard about it, and never faltered in his opposition, joining a Bishop committee to fight the aqueduct.
• February 1906: Inyo Independent report that Forbes would be in Independence until Feb. 20, 1906 and that he had "pitched his big tent...".
• 1909 (date?) Forbes married Mary Rozette Prutzman, a young businesswoman, who took over the business details of the studio. She often accompanied Forbes on monthlong summer wagon and pack trips into the mountains.
• 1910 (date?) Forbes and wife Mary had one son, J. McLaren Forbes.
• 1916: Forbes closed the studio and moved to Lompoc, Calif. The reasons given vary with the source. Some say it was for family health reasons. Others say it was to establish a new studio in more populous southern California (that never happened). Others say that he left because he was saddened to see the "slow death" of Owens Valley as it was being bled dry by the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
• 3/21/1921: Died of a heart attack in Lompoc, Calif.
• 1921-1955: His wife, Mary, apparently continues to run the photo studio after Forbes death, and their son "Laren’s" interest in photography is therefore explained. Mrs. Forbes was still producing items such as calendars and photo postcards as late as 1955 that also used her son’s images as well, and some can occasionally be found on eBay and elsewhere today.
• A. A. Forbes was described as an affable fellow of good nature who was friendly and well-liked. He was an active member of the Odd Fellows Lodge, participated in community and church activities, and local plays.

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