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MARY ROWLAND MIRES, PHOTOGRAPHER (1862
- 1940)
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LINK:
THE
PHOTOGRAPHS OF MARY ROWLAND MIRES
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 Mary at 25, photo taken in
Seattle, Washington USA
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Although Mary never became
what one refers to as a " professional photographer", she was a serious
and very talented artist. As a pioneer in the Pacific Northwest,
wife of a prominent politician and mother of three, her photographs
reflect not only her personal interests of the surrounding landscape and
simple family pleasures, family portraits and local events, her
photographs also document and purposely illuminate the pioneer and
Native American way of life at a critical time in American history. Her
images are skillful, intriguing and timeless documents of the American
West. |
EARLY-LIFE: PIONEER IN THE
OREGON TERRITORY
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Mary Rowland was born in McMinnville, Oregon Territory, in 1862. Her mother had
traveled west along the Oregon Trail with an older brother and settled into
central Oregon. However, in 1876, her mother's asthma drove the family to search
out a drier climate and they moved north into the valley of the Yakima River
area of Ellensburg in the central plains of Washington Territory. It was December when they
reached Ellensburg "with a light team and a heavy load", and "there was
nothing in sight save sage brush and dead rose bushes". Neighbors
were miles apart and there was no mail unless someone rode across the mountains
to Yakima to fetch it. Provisions were laid in once a year brought in from The
Dalles, Oregon along the Columbia River where they had come up from Portland by
steamboat. Mary later remembered to an historian capturing her oral
history that she thought it was fun to
be a pioneer child. Her family home was nothing more than a small log cabin in a
grove of pines west of town but it had sheltered a happy, busy family.
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MID-LIFE: MARRIAGE & MOTHERHOOD
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At 18
Mary married a local fellow and soon bore a son. Two years later for
unknown reasons, she left them both behind and went west to the Pacific Coast.
According to her diary of 1882, she lived in Seattle with family friends and
"earned her keep" as a live-in seamstress. Back home her husband filed for
divorce on grounds of desertion. She missed her son greatly which led to depression and ensuing illness.
After a year away she traveled back to her parent's home and Ellensburg.
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AUSTIN MIRES, POLITICIAN AND PARTNER
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For her 21st birthday Mary had her portrait made while
in
Seattle (photo above) and there she met a bright and ambitious young attorney. Austin Mires moved to
Ellensburg and Mary soon followed. In 1884 they married. Mires had legal and political
aspirations and sent up practice in the central plains of Washington
Territory, becoming the first mayor of
Ellensburg, a Judge, a Territorial Legislator, an outspoken
promoter of Washington's statehood and a signer on the Washington State Constitution. His interest and activities in politics brought many important visitors to their
home and Mary captured these historic occasions on glass plate negatives. Austin and Mary knew they
were witnessing important changes in their environment and were aware that it
was important to capture it on film for posterity.
It was a good marriage and a happy family life. Three children, Anna, John and
Eve, came from their union. Mary's son, Frank, from her short first
marriage, came to live with them in 1892 when he was 12.
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PASSING
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Mary
passed over in the family home at 406 Ruby Street in Ellensburg, WA in December of 1940.
It was where
she and Austin first started their life together and where she had raised her family.
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REMINISCENCES
ON MARY'S PHOTOGRAPHY
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I purchased Mary's Glass Plates when I purchased
darkroom equipment and photo collections from a mentor and fellow collector,
C. Ray Jensen,
who was "ready to pass the torch". He and his wife, Louise, wanted to
encourage my work and pass on their own collections to a "good home" with
someone "who truly understood the value of preserving these historic images and
also had the passion for the work".
When
I first started to print from Mary's negatives I thought they were very
interesting as intimate glimpses of family life at the turn of the century;
i.e. portraits, family
camping trips, fishing on the nearby rivers,
friends and visitors. Then I found the local Native Americans - mostly
women - that she knew well and often bought baskets from and who she hired
on occasion. The early Ellensburg Rodeos, the new Washington State
University, bridges and road building, etc.
The more I looked the more I saw. These were not just family and community visual
history to stimulate another yawning discussion of 'Life as a Pioneer on the
Prairie'. These were not just beautiful and enchanting
images. What I originally thought was the work of a housewife looking for
adventure, I found the work of an artist whose eye was deliberate and grew more educated
over the years. Were these the work of a very
serious and a very talented
photographer....or, a natural talent.
Unfortunately I can not ask her and she left no journal
- at least that I have uncovered.
Her husband, Austin the politician left copious records
and writings. Not many about Mary's photography. He tells us Mary started making photographs
about 1901 as I discovered in Austin's diary dated September 22, of that
year which is located at Washington State University. He wrote, "Mary took and printed her own photographs".
End.
I have not learned how her interest started or how she
learned all she did. Out in the open plains of central Washington there couldn't
have been night classes at the community college. Nor was the information
available like we take for granted today. I can only deduce that she subscribed to camera magazines and took it from
there on her own. And, I do
know that she was serious enough about her camera work - in that she experimented
with double exposures, unusual lighting effects, and upon viewing some original
cyanotypes and miscellaneous toned photos - I learned Mary had also used various darkroom
techniques and chemistries.
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PHOTOGRAPHING "THE VANISHING RACE"
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Mary also seemed to be deliberately documenting the
lifestyle of
her era; the importance of the growing community and the
changes that were taking place were known to Mary and Austin as well read and
influential people in their region. There were many articles published in
their day about the "vanishing race" - as American Indians were called
in every magazine of the time, and also of the significance of the changes they
were witnessing on the national scene. Austin, after all, was a
territorial and state legislator and took
part in making - and breaking - the laws that were governing theses same tribes.
Although there were others, most Indians Mary photographed belonged to the Yakama tribe
of the Central Plains of Washington. Today, one of the largest and most
organized tribes. Mary made many portraits of
these women, many
of whom were basket makers, and managed to put together a remarkable collection.
Mary was no artistic wall flower either - she
discovered the rare "Ellensburg Blue" agate.
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CONTINUED DISCOVERY
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I don't think I will ever learn everything I can about
Mary's photography. That is the way of it.
Putting together the story of her life as well as putting
names and dates to her negatives is a very time and energy consuming process and
I have to stop and go on to another project sometimes. Although
writing a biography through looking at someone's
photographs - is a very interesting and intuitive thing - the more you look the
more you see. And, it takes it's own course sometimes.
As I tell my daughter's and granddaughter's - the older
your eyes are - the more they understand.
The more I discover - the more I realize their beauty and
her rare talent. So, I go back again and
again to look anew at her prints. Though I have them all over my own home
- I never get tired of them like some other images.
And, since I have not yet made
prints from all of her glass plates... the
story continues.
----copyright 2004
Susan Parish
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