This intriguing photograph shows a group of young women in uniform posed with rifles proudly in hand. Though uncaptioned, the photograph likely shows a female drill team, possibly from a local school. Drill was a popular form of exercise in the late 19th-century and while many women’s drill groups were organized as “broom brigades” (with brooms in hand instead of actual firearms), there are many instances where wooden or real rifles were used.

On the verso of the photo there is a note that the photograph was taken on Montgomery Street in Oroville, CA. There are a number of accounts in local newspapers of drill competitions taking place in the 1880s and 1890s.

From the estate of Ron Lerch.