The photo below was taken in Burns Oregon in the early 1930s (Note the street light above the surveyors!):
The chainman is Jarvis Gould, who was the son of Robert B. “Bob” Gould, a local surveying legend who left a huge body of excellent work between his arrival in Bend in 1910 until his death in 1940.
Jarvis worked for his dad throughout high school and college but didn’t follow in Bob Gould’s footsteps. He became a doctor and the administrator of Multnomah Hospital in Portland and associate director of the University of Oregon Medical School Hospital (Now OHSU). Jarvis died in 1972 of a heart attack at the age of 57. His brother Philip Gould also died, at the age of 57, of a heart attack. Bob Gould died in 1940 at the age of 57 of a heart attack. And Bob Gould’s dad also died at the age of 57. I tracked down Jarvis Gould’s son, Dr. Robert J. Gould of Portland, who is now about 62 years old and says he “lives on Crestor cholesterol medicine”. He’s the first Gould male to break the 57 barrier in 4 generations.
My question for you is who is the instrument man in the photo above. Compare with the following circa 1924 photo of engineers and surveyors in front of the Pilot Butte Inn. Left to right are:
Bob Gould, Tony Fossen, Mr. Hardesty, John Runge & Bill Widdows
(I think it is Bill Widdows, judging by the pants, leather gaiters and jug ears, but I might be mistaken)
Hey, that's kinda what it looked like when I got my start...showing my age...:-)
Nice photos, thanks for sharing.
The tripod is set up pretty tall for it to be Widdows. The boots and pants add up, but not his height. I'm going with Tony Fossen because of his height, the cheek line, small nose. Or, if it's an option I'll say none of the above.
> (I think it is Bill Widdows, judging by the pants, leather gaiters and jug ears, but I might be mistaken)
No, I don't think it is Widdows, who was a shortie. The tripod and sledge hammer handle are some clues for scale.
But on the other hand, if the pick handle is 36 in. long, that would make the instrument man about 5'6" tall
The unidentified instrumentman is 11.0 units tall and his boots are 2.5 from sole to top, a ratio of 4.4, which is the same as that of Widdows in the other photo. A short neck and the lobes of the instrumentman's ears are pretty much at the level of the tip of his nose and the tops of his ears are well above his brow.
I think I'd agree that of the five candidates, Widdows is the most likely.
I'm betting on Fossen, not Widdows. This is based on the shape of the head and nose.
Fossen and Widdows stories
The following two articles have photos of Fossen in 1972 and 1960. I like the 1972 article because it talks about the type of accuracy Gould strved for:
Tony Fossen reminisces 07/21/1972 Bend Bulletin
Tony Fossen retires: 06/30/1960 Bend Bulletin
Also a funny story about W.O. Widdows:
W. O. Widdows – lost in Lost Forest- The Bulletin - Dec 19, 1960
Hey, Cow
If it's Fossen, don't even think I'm sharing the prize with you.;-)
Hey, Cow
You can bet you are! I'm still riled that I didn't get a specific invitation to that BBQ mentioned yesterday.
Hey Jude
> If it's Fossen, don't even think I'm sharing the prize with you.
Cousin Steven, don't worry. It isn't Fossen. Look at the neck. The instrumentman has virtually no neck at all, just like Widdows.
Fossen and Widdows stories
> I like the 1972 article because it talks about the type of accuracy Gould strved for
Yes, isn't it ironic that with much better technology rendering making survey measurements a fairly trivial exercise that some surveyors can't be bothered to even work to 1920's standards? Those fellows in the 1920's actually knew how to run a line with a transit. Imagine that.
Hey, Cow
> I'm still riled that I didn't get a specific invitation to that BBQ mentioned yesterday.
In Texas, we always invite cows to barbecues, just so you know.
Same equipment I started with..close to it anyway.
Mike - Thanks for posting the pics and the links to the articles.
Also, I appreciate the .pdf you sent of Camp Abbot.
Some on this board may be interested in seeing it.
Scott
Fossen and Widdows stories
Kent, he left some pretty clear footsteps to follow, that's for sure.
In one of Gould's calc books is an angry, hand-scrawled note that says:
"Damn a man that won't pull a tape tight".
He'd calc'd up a section break-down traverse that didn't close and had to send the crew out to re-chain all the courses. I wouldn't have wanted to be in that head chainman's boots.
I think it is Widdows. I think the tripods were made a lil shorter back then plus he I-man is playing 'pocket pool" similar to Widdows in the bottom photo. 🙂
The heads are also very similar.
Nope, it's Fossen. Using Kent's theory that the pick handle is 3' long, the I-man is 5'9" tall. In the second picture, using the blocks as being 1' joint to joint indicates Fossen is 5' 9" tall with Widdows substantially shorter than that.
Well, I am guesstimating the height of the transit for scale.
I will still go with Widdows.
I am going with Fossen. That was my immediate reaction. I think his head looks more like Fossen's and his facial expression. However, I agree with the neck seeming a little shorter in the photo. I don't think that widdows has gaters on in the group photo, but I may be wrong there. They just look like tall boots to me.
Tough call.
