Trinidad harbor, c.1910

I obtained a very rare image via eBay this past week. It's a century-old photograph of Trinidad harbor – the otters' home.

The picture was taken from the side of Little Head on the bluff where the whaling station would be built c.1920. The present pier extends about 350 feet out from the notch in the foreground, passing just to the left of those offshore rocks (which still look exactly the same today).

In the background you can see the remains of the old Ryder Wharf on Trinidad Head. That burned in 1914, so this photograph has to be at least 93 years old.



Here's a closeup:

( Cut for width (image is 1152x1152, 220KB) )

I don't believe there were any otters living here then, though. The nearby Yurok village of Tsurai was still settled in the first decade of the 20th century. This tribe made its arrow quivers out of land otter pelts, so I very much doubt that the kind of stable and visible population I witnessed here in the '80s-'90s could have existed in this area during the period of aboriginal settlement.

 

Trinidad harbor, c.1910

I obtained a very rare image via eBay this past week. It's a century-old photograph of Trinidad harbor – the otters' home.

The picture was taken from the side of Little Head on the bluff where the whaling station would be built c.1920. The present pier extends about 350 feet out from the notch in the foreground, passing just to the left of those offshore rocks (which still look exactly the same today).

In the background you can see the remains of the old Ryder Wharf on Trinidad Head. That burned in 1914, so this photograph has to be at least 93 years old.



Here's a closeup:

( Cut for width (image is 1152x1152, 220KB) )

I don't believe there were any otters living here then, though. The nearby Yurok village of Tsurai was still settled in the first decade of the 20th century. This tribe made its arrow quivers out of land otter pelts, so I very much doubt that the kind of stable and visible population I witnessed here in the '80s-'90s could have existed in this area during the period of aboriginal settlement.