R.J. Davidson; Fred Kiser; and others

This album documents the high-altitude adventures of the Manzamas, one of the oldest mountaineering clubs in the United States. Present are scores of crisp, uniform photos showing outings to Mount Shasta and Mount Hood, as well as views of the San Francisco Pan-Pacific Exposition. Many of the photographs were taken by the album’s compiler, Roy J. Davidson, a Mazamas Club member, as well as the noted Oregon-based commercial photographer Fred Kiser, and others.

The album is neatly divided into three sections. The first and largest section is titled "Mt. Shasta, Photographs taken at the 1915 annual outing of the Mazamas at Camp Bronaugh Mt. Shasta, California July 10-25, 1915." This section contains 88 photographs taken by Davidson or Fred Kiser, showing various mountain excursions including “Dr. Luther’s Summit Party, “The Ridge Trip” and “the Shastina Trip.” This last trek was recounted by Davidson in the December, 1915, issue of “Mazama,” the club’s magazine, writing that it was “one of the most enjoyable excursions from Camp Bronaugh and by far the most strenuous.” Davidson notes that Dr. Carl Barck (pictured in the album) was persuaded to lead a party to the summit and did so, “with unerring foresight,” leading the group “over the steep sides of the bowl-like, hard-frozen snow slopes on a gentle rise all the while, never losing a foot of altitude.” A particular difficulty arose when, “the sun appeared over the mountains and proceeded to shine with an intensity that is only known in California,” which made that leg of the journey almost unbearable for the group. After reaching the top, they took a different route back, “in order to take advantage of several long snow slides,” which is pictured in the album (and looks quite fun!). The group returned to camp feeling enthusiastic and “well repaid for their efforts.”

Another photograph shows a group setting out for a “moonlight glissade.” This adventure is recounted by Manzamas member Minna Backus in the same issue of “The Manzama.” Backus writes that, as opposed to the Shastina trek, on this journey there was “No bothersome grease paint or goggles and no danger of sunburn! Just a clear, mild evening with a gorgeous California sunset setting off the sharp outlines of Castle Crag.”

There are also many charming views of life at Camp Bronaugh, including a view of Davidson’s tent comically captioned “Hotel de Davidson,” a shot of two people chopping vegetables captioned “coming events,” as well as photos of a “ball game,” “sunday services,” “the commissary,” “a pack train” “The wax model exhibition” “the graduating exercises,” and more. This section ends with a group portrait taken at Shasta Springs by Fred Kiser, which shows Davidson proudly holding his camera, along with an unidentified Mazama member displaying hers as well.

The second section is titled “Lens Notes on the Panama-Pacific International Exposition San Francisco, California 1915, Taken July 21-24" and it contains 19 photographs and 18 photo postcards of the fair and other views around San Francisco. The last section (though chronologically earlier) is titled "Photographs taken on Mazama Outing to Mount Hood, July 3-4-5, 1915" and contains 28 photographs, most by photographers identified on the prints or in the negative as Bush, Markham, and Benz.

The Mazamas is one of the oldest mountaineering clubs in the United States. Founded in 1894, the educational nonprofit organization located in Portland, Oregon provides alpine activities such as climbing and skiing as well as advocacy efforts towards conservation. The original members banded together with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and preservation of natural beauty, naming the group after the Aztec word for mountain goat. Some of the notable founding members include naturalists such as Theodore Roosevelt, William Gladstone Steel, John Muir, and Edward Sheriff Curtis. Admittance into the club requires that all the members climb a peak to prove their skills, the initiation still in practice today, and on a particularly blustery day the organization was born on the summit of Mount Hood. Since their creation, the Mazamas were a remarkably progressive society, promoting women’s suffrage as well as having lobbied for several conservation related issues, such as the prevention of developments in Cascade Range Forest Reserve, Mount Rainier, and Olympic National Park. They were one of the earliest groups to study the progression of glaciers. The Mazamas were highly influential in the early geographical studies of the Pacific Northwest for feats such as the first ascent of Monkey Face at Smith Rock State Park in 1960. The Mazama Mountaineering Center continues to follow the original mission goals and provides hundreds of classes and events at the Mazam Lodge every year.