{"id":100631,"date":"2021-07-25T06:37:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T12:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=100631"},"modified":"2021-07-25T16:47:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-25T22:47:22","slug":"a-red-tailed-hawk-connecting-the-dots-to-my-family-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/25\/a-red-tailed-hawk-connecting-the-dots-to-my-family-history\/","title":{"rendered":"A Red-tailed Hawk Connecting The Dots To My Family History"},"content":{"rendered":"

Completing the circle.<\/p>\n

I’ve told part of this story before so I hope long-time followers of Feathered Photography will bear with me.<\/em><\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Red-tailed Hawks use these these very old railroad signal poles (carrying low voltage wires) adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad line in Monida Pass near the Montana\/Idaho border as hunting perches. I caught this juvenile trying to balance on the pole in the wind immediately after landing. If I centered the bird in the frame my shooting angle allowed me to include all of the antique insulators that remain on the pole. I’ve posted different photos of this hawk (and others) on these poles in the past but this one is new to Feathered Photography.<\/p>\n

In effect these ancient poles and insulators put my great grandfather, Joseph Smith Dudley, out of business in the late 1870’s.<\/p>\n

From 1875 until 1879 Joe was a freighter hauling mining supplies, food and almost everything else imaginable from Corinne, Utah to the Montana mining fields along the Old Montana Trail<\/a><\/span><\/span>. He and his brothers drove huge wagons loaded with freight to the Montana mines in places like Bannack, Virginia City and Helena (Last Chance Gulch). Some freighters used mule teams to pull their wagons but Joe and his brothers preferred horses. Depending on weather and time of year each round trip took weeks to months and the Montana Trail was fraught with danger from accidents, frightful weather, Indians and what the freighters called “highwaymen”. But if your timing was good and you survived you could make good money from the supply-starved miners and Joe and his brothers did just that.<\/p>\n

But it all came to an end in 1879 when the Utah And Northern Railway<\/a><\/span><\/span> running from Utah Territory to Montana Territory was nearing completion. It was much faster and more efficient to ship goods (and people) by railroad than it was by wagon so freighters, including Joe and his brothers, were put out of business and Corinne, Utah essentially dried up. That original route of the Utah And Northern Railway (operated today by the Union Pacific) running through Monida Pass is where these old signal poles stand today. I don’t know if they’re the original poles but they’re obviously very old and they’re unused today.<\/p>\n

So it always puts me in a nostalgic mood when I see these old poles and their antique insulators. Eventually, for a variety of reasons that probably include the loss of his freighting business, Joe and his family moved from Utah to southern Alberta where years later his grandson, my father Wayne Dudley, met my Canadian mother Lorna Prince.<\/p>\n

If the railroad hadn’t arrived when it did and Joe hadn’t moved to Alberta, where would I be be today? Food for thought.<\/p>\n

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Joe was born in 1851 so he would have been in his late 20’s while he was freighting. This photo of him was taken in about 1915 when he would have been about 64 years old. I’ve heard countless stories about him but many of them can be condensed into the phrase “he was tough as nails”.<\/p>\n

So, considering my love for raptors and bird photography, photos like the first one above sort of complete the circle of some of my family history. At least for me.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Addendum: There seems to be a lot of interest from readers about Joe’s photo and the quality and techniques used by Compton’s Photographic Studio back in the day. So I thought some readers might like to see a very similar photo of Joe that has been “airbrushed”.<\/em><\/p>\n

I suspect you’ll agree with me – the “virgin” photo is much preferable. The airbrushed photo is simply awful.<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Completing the circle.<\/p>\n

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