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Early Independence
Residents
1868 - 1934 |
Text
excerpts are from "The Land of Little Rain"
by Mary Austin
Ansel Adams photographs are from 1950 edition of "The
Land of Little Rain" by Mary Austin |
"Nurslings
of the Sky"[pdf]
from "The Land of Little Rain" by Mary Austin
Thoughts
on Mary Austin
by
Father
John Crowley
The late Mary Austin is unquestionably the greatest teller of
tales that Inyo has known, and her descriptions of "this
long, brown, and lonely land" are alike marvels of accuracy
and limpid English prose. She laid no claim to be an historian;
in fact, she deliberately used false names for participants in
incidents we all know well, but she left us pictures of Lone
Pine and Independence in their heyday that live and speak. Notable
particularly are The Land of Little Rain, The Basket
Woman, and The Ford, with her autobiography, Earth
Horizon, supplying the background for the former fictional
and descriptive sketches. (Houghton Mifflin).
Article from the February 7, 1937 edition of Sage and Tumbleweed. |
Portrait
of an Owens Valley Literary Pioneer |
Mary Hunter
(circa 1900)
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
 |
The Hunter family
in Carlinville, Illinois 1880
L to R: James, Mary, Susanna and George
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
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Basin Peak and
the Buttermilk Country Road by Ansel Adams |
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Blackburn
College class of 1888.
Mary Austin at the far left.
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
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Mary Hunter
& Wallace Austin's wedding portrait - 1891
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
"The
Land of Little Rain"[pdf]
from "The Land of Little Rain" by Mary Austin
"Mary
Austin - A Page From History"[pdf]
an excellent but brief biography from "Mineral Information
Service"
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Ruth Austin
(Mary's daughter) |
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Mary Austin
in 1914
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
Mt. Tom and
Farm near Round Valley
by Ansel Adams |
Mary Austin
in 1906
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
Mary Austin |
Stafford Wallace
Austin |
Mary Austin
Home in Independence |
"The
Streets of the Mountains"[pdf]
from "The Land of Little Rain" by Mary Austin
Mary Austin
(1929 by Ansel Adams) |
Mary Austin
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
Mary Austin
in 1900
(Charles Lummis photo) |
High Sierra
Pass by Ansel Adams |
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Railroad Tracks
near Lone Pine
by Ansel Adams |
Mary Austin |
Owens Valley
Road by Ansel Adams |
L to R:
George Sterling, Mary Austin, Jack London, and James Hopper in
Carmel
Courtesy
of the Huntington Library,
San Marino, CA
(© The Huntington Library) |
"Water
Boarders"[pdf]
from "The Land of Little Rain" by Mary Austin
"Austin's Beardtongue"[pdf]
by Larry Blakely
Fred and Rena
Moore, 1921
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"The
Mary Austin House"
by Rena Moore, 1921
In the latter part of '20... and all of '21,
and even into 1922, I was a busy one...
I lived in Independence, California, in the "Mary Austin
House."
And tho just newly married I seldom saw my spouse!
He was a mountain man in the summer, and
winters with a crew
of traveling surveyors, so he was busy too.
I had two friends called Dude and Doc, who owned the Sweet Shop,
where I hurried every morning, by the clock...
I fixed breakfast for one customer, and he was JUDGE DEHEY.
I cooked his ham and scrambled eggs, every working day....
Then off I'd go to get the news, for my column in the paper...
often at some distant ranch, and this was quite a caper!
I rode the school bus there and back, and enjoyed a visit too,
with refreshments...while jotting reports of what was new!
On Saturday night a weekly dance was in the old town hall,
with usually a bake sale too, which was enjoyed by all.
The Logan's and the Payson's, Diggy Bell and Jo;
the Sterling Brothers and Herbie Caps, were friends I used to
know.
Often in the evenings we'd gather at my home
around the old rock fireplace, and talk of times aroam....
Lesley, Wesley, Babe and Ann, were the Logan teenage clan...
Their father was the Sheriff, a very likable man.
(Photos
and text courtesy of Rena-Beth Smith) |
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