Walter Scott Bowman (February 8, 1865 – November 27, 1938) was a prominent professional photographer in

Pendleton, Oregon Pendleton is a city in and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are ...

. His work is included in the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

'sUniversity of Oregon
Bowman, Moorhouse, Furlong, and Drake collections. Bowman captured well known action shots from the

Pendleton Round-Up The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...

that are included at the

National Cowgirl Hall of Fame The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame is located in Fort Worth, Texas, US. Established in 1975, it is dedicated to honoring women of the American West who have displayed extraordinary courage and pioneering fortitude. The museum is an edu ...

. The National Cowboy Museum includes numerous Bowman photographs and

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. In some places, one can send a postcard f ...

images.National Cowboy Museum
Photographic Study Collection Bowman photographed events around

Umatilla, Oregon Umatilla (, ) is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population in 2010 was 6,906, but the city's population includes approximately 2,000 inmates incarcerated at Two Rivers Correctional Institution. Umatilla is part of the ...

, including

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...

s, railroad scenes, Pendleton High School team pictures, dances, studio

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s and images of

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

(the

Umatilla Indian Reservation The Umatilla Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It was created by The Treaty of 9 June 1855 between the United States and members of the Walla, Cayuse, and Umatilla tribes. It lies in north ...

is adjacent to the city of Pendleton).Oregon Digital
The University of Oregon's Walter S. Bowman photographs collection includes 379 glass-plate negatives, 51

cellulose acetate In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...

negatives, and 200 silver gelatin photoprints.

Background

Bowman was part of a prominent pioneer family that came west from

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

in 1862. His parents were married in

Osceola, Iowa Osceola is a city and the county seat of Clarke County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,415 at the time of the 2020 census. Etymology Osceola was named after a Seminole Indian leader of the same name. Osceola is an anglicised form of ...

. His cousin, Oliver Purl Bowman (1862-1939), built the Bowman Hotel (Pendleton, Oregon). Walter S. Bowman was born February 8, 1865, to Henry and Elizabeth (Owens) Bowman.http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=steedman51&id=I00183 The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912 by Gaston His birthplace may have been where the family lived by Birch Creek, Oregon.

Career

Bowman began his photography studies under

T.C. Ward TC, T.C., Tc, Tc, tc, tC, or .tc may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * Theodore "T.C." Calvin, a character on the TV series '' Magnum, P.I.'' and its reboot * Tom Caron, American television host for New England Sports Netw ...

in 1887 and purchased Ward's studio in 1890. Bowman worked in Pendleton from the late 1880s to the mid-1930s documenting life in

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost countie ...

including at events such as the

and workers at the

Pendleton Woolen Mills Pendleton Woolen Mills is an American textile manufacturing company based in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States. It is known for its blankets and woolen clothing. Company origins The company began in 1863 when Thomas Lister Kay m ...

. Bowman was a member of the Pendleton Camera Club and knew O.C. Allen and

Lee Moorhouse Lee Moorhouse (1850–1926) of Pendleton, Oregon, United States, was a photographer and an Indian agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation. From 1888 to 1916, he produced over 9,000 images documenting urban, rural, and Native Americans in th ...

(who he seems to have taken under his wing). Moorhouse lived with the Bowman family upon his arrival in Pendleton and captured an image of Bowman's studio along the

Umatilla River The Umatilla River is an tributary of the Columbia River in northern Umatilla County, Oregon, Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. drainage basin, Draining a basin of , it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla, Oregon, Umatilla in the ...

at 916 Main Street. Bowman was considered Pendleton's "premier photographer" until his retirement in the mid-1930s. His studio was on the banks of the

. Florence Bowman Windsor remembered Bowman owning the first car in Pendleton (it may have been a

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

) and his arrest for driving twelve miles an hour down Main Street. Bowman died in 1938 after crashed his car off an icy road embankment about 10 miles east of Pendleton; his wife was also injured. Bowman's wife Eugenia (Ellenberger) bowman died December 5, 1954, at St. Anthony's Hospital. after an illness of 17 days. She lived in Pendleton from 1901 and was born in

Berne, Switzerland Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. She moved to

Umatilla County Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population of 81,826 ranks it as the 14th largest in Oregon, and largest in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remain ...

at 13 and lived in

Pilot Rock, Oregon Pilot Rock is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,502 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Pendleton– Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. The main industries are timber and agriculture. Pilot Rock ...

, with her mother Fritz Ellenberger. She married Walter in 1934. He was an avid hunter.

University of Oregon collection

The University of Oregon collection includes 385 glass-plate negatives, 17 nitrate negatives, 35 cellulose acetate negatives, 7 safety negatives (replacing nitrate originals), and 338 vintage and modern silver gelatin photoprints. Twelve of the prints are on Bowman's studio mounts and another twelve are

s. The university's collection of Bowman photographs includes images donated to the library from 1947 to 1953 through the efforts of Umatilla County Court Judge James H. Sturgis and Lee D. Drake, a Pendleton newspaperman, county clerk, and collector of historic materials. Drake was a partner in the East Oregonian Publishing Co. and head of the Old Oregon Trail Committee of Umatilla County. Drake collected negatives he deemed worthwhile and destroyed some 900 others. The collection includes images of early automobiles and their owners in Pendleton, including a delivery of Ford roadsters by railcar to the city. Images of the

are also featured.

Selected works

*Jack Joyce on Angel (1912) *Roy Adams Riding Sea Lion?, Let 'er Buck, Round Up, Pendleton, Oregon *C. E. Morton Six Feet Up on Bucking Bull, Round Up, 1914 *Interior of Pendleton Woolen Mills *"Fancy Riding,

Tillie Baldwin Tillie Baldwin (January 11, 1888 – October 23, 1958), born Anna Mathilda Winger, was an American rodeo contestant and performer in Wild West shows. She is credited as being one of the first women to attempt steer wrestling. Biography Tillie B ...

, the Champion Lady Buckaroo" *"The Bull Gets His Man at the Round Up" *Photograph of a Native American boy with a prosthetic hand. The boy posed standing on a wicker chair (1890s). *Photographic postcard. Lewis Mosely on "Sunfish Molly," Riding for the Championship of the World Pendleton, Oregon, ca. 1915 *Indian women c. 1895 *The Pendleton Hose Team at the 1897 Eastern Oregon and Washington Firemen's Tournament at Baker City *Woman with pistol (circa 1900) *Images of masquerade at

Lehman Hot Springs Lehman Hot Springs is a hot springs resort in Oregon. The hot springs were first used by Native Americans before being acquired by pioneer settlers. Lehman Hot Springs was founded as a resort in 1871. The springs are located along Oregon 244 east ...

. *Wheat harvests

Background

Career

University of Oregon collection

Selected works

See also

References

Further reading