Page 7 - Black Range Naturalist - Oct 2021

“William L. Finley standing with his camera in the back of the buggy photographing
a plumbeous gnatcatcher nest in a cholla cactus.” 1910. Arizona - From the collection of the Oregon Historical Society
a buggy is typical of the effort involved. The camera is big, the horse doesn’t want to stay still, and travel by buggy was not always that comfortable.
Besides the notes he used in his presentations, and for the article referenced above, there is a more extended account of the trip to Arizona and New Mexico. This account (probably written by Arthur Pack but possibly by Irene Finley) is enjoyable and can be read in its entirety at this link. The following quotations are from that account. Although somewhat redundant, it is not only more colorful and detailed, but varies somewhat from the two other accounts.
The camera equipment Finley took with him for the 1929 Mountain Lion film and photograph trip included: “the big Akeley camera in its box, the tripod, and three auxiliary cases. The first of these contains the film reservoirs, the second
contains the nine-inch lens, the high speed crank, tools, and extra film. The third contains the seventeen-inch lens. We also have the Eyeno camera and its tripod. We have two large pack frames containing about nine thousand feet of extra film.” These cameras are shown on following pages.
On this trip, he had contracted a lion hunter and crew to find Mountain Lions for him. To say that he was less than impressed with the cowboys would be an understatement. The lion hunter, Miller, proved to be competent, in the end. Although not the topic of this article, this narrative is an excellent description of a Mountain Lion hunt at that time.
At one point, it was noted that “lion hunting was entirely made up of lying and applesauce. It is also evident that wherever anybody is hunting lions there all the cowboys in the country who have
nothing else to do, or who are willing to stop doing it anyhow, will flock.” At this point they were down to beans and apples. They were experiencing the lack of a well-developed tourist infra- structure. “We all spent the evening around the fire, hunting lions and telling lies and watching the beans simmer.” This extended description of the trip goes into greater detail about how the camera work was accomplished. The following are excerpts:
“Frank Hodges carried my camera on his saddle horn, and Bill carried his own. I carried the tripod on my saddle horn. We had given up the idea of” (having) “a mule to tote the cameras, as the cameras were never ready when we wanted to take pictures.” (p. 24) References to “Bill” refer to William Finley.
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