Skip to main content

A Road Trip Along the Aqueduct in 1915

Support Provided By
la_aqueduct_1.jpg

In partnership with Boom Magazine a new, cross-disciplinary publication that explores the history, culture, arts, politics, and society of California.

In 1915, just two years after the Los Angeles Aqueduct was completed, Julius Goodwin Oliver and William Henry Frick packed up their Ford Model T and drove north from Hollywood to see where their water came from. Frick lovingly photographed the 250-mile trip and collected the images in a photo album that we found in the Huntington Library's archives. It is a delightful time capsule -- a series of stills laid out like a prospectus for a silent movie -- chronicling the landscape; the new infrastructure of the aqueduct, reservoirs, and roads; the men themselves; their home in L.A.; and, of course, their car. The album even has a soundtrack. "The Little Ford" -- a 1915 song that humorously recounts a series of hazards endured by a Model T -- is listed among the credits on the last page.

Like the aqueduct, the car, which would transform Los Angeles, was relatively new on the scene. In 1915, the Ford Motor Company would produce its millionth car. Only seven years after the first Model T rolled off an assembly line in Detroit, Michigan, Ford was building a new car in just 93 minutes and, in the process, making automobiles affordable for many middle-class Americans. Across the country, a new car culture was being created in songs, books, movies, newspapers, and amateur photographs like those in this album. The Model T also ushered in the age of the road trip. In 1915, car camping was still a real adventure. In the beginning of this album, Frick and Oliver's relatives cluster around the car "amid tears" at the "starting of the EXPEDITION," and near the end their "return safe and sound" is met with "rejoicing among our relatives."

la_aqueduct_4.jpg

The photo album also seems to be an early example of another emerging genre: the buddy movie. In addition to the soundtrack credit, the back cover names Oliver "director" and Frick the "head camera man," and it announces, "Mr. Oliver begs leave to present his latest production entitled 'Itinerary of the Water of the Los Angeles Aqueduct'" in language redolent of early film advertisements. It's no surprise that movies would be on the minds of these men -- 1915 also saw the release of the first real Hollywood blockbuster, D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation," which was filmed in Southern California and announced the arrival of a new local industry with national and eventually global aspirations. The destination of Frick and Oliver's film expedition -- the iconic rural western landscape of the Owens Valley and towering eastern Sierra Nevada -- would become the setting for hundreds of films and commercials. The town of Lone Pine now has a film festival dedicated to this local canon.

Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick

But what about the silent star of this photo album, the aqueduct itself? This record of Frick and Oliver's adventure suggests that they were fascinated with this great feat of engineering. The album has the air of a visit to the Great Pyramids or some other wonder of the world. Their snapshots try to do justice to the monumental architecture of this earth-changing and city-building technology. But there is also a playful, sometimes ironic tone to the whole thing, especially in the final shot, captioned "the Slacker using the water." The photo shows Oliver's niece Lillian watering their lawn in Hollywood, seemingly unaware of the epic effort that enabled water to flow from the hose in her hand.


On November 5, 1913, the Los Angeles Aqueduct began bringing water to the city. 100 years later, KCET is looking at what has happened, what it means, and more across its website. See more stories here.


Mr. Oliver begs leave to present his latest production entitled "Itinerary of the Water of the Los Angeles Aqueduct."

Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick
Album of William Henry Frick

Note:

"The Los Angeles Aqueduct" photo album courtesy of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Boom would like to thank Steven Keylon, Patrick L. Jones, Christina Rice, Rory Coleman Mitchell, and Ann Campbell for helping us fill in some of the details of Oliver and Frick's story after we posted a photograph on Facebook asking for information about the home at 1837 Canyon Drive.

On November 5, 1913, the Los Angeles Aqueduct began bringing water to the city. 100 years later, KCET is looking at what has happened, what it means, and more across its website. See more stories here.

Dig this story? Sign up for our newsletter to get unique arts & culture stories and videos from across Southern California in your inbox. Also, follow Artbound on Facebook and Twitter.

Support Provided By
Read More
An 8mm film still "The Kitchen" (1975) by Alile Sharon Larkin. The still features an image of a young Black woman being escorted by two individuals in white coats. The image is a purple monochrome.

8 Essential Project One Films From the L.A. Rebellion Film Movement

For years, Project One films have been a rite of passage for aspiring filmmakers at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. Here are eight Project One pieces born out of the L.A. Rebellion film movement from notable filmmakers like Ben Caldwell, Jacqueline Frazier and Haile Gerima.
A 2-by-3 grid of Razorcake zine front covers.

Last Punks in Print: Razorcake Has Been the Platform for Punks of Color For Over Two Decades

While many quintessential L.A. punk zines like "Flipside," "HeartattaCk," and "Profane Existence" have folded or only exist in the digital space, "Razorcake" stands as one of the lone print survivors and a decades-long beacon for people — and punks — of color.
Estevan Escobedo is wearing a navy blue long sleeve button up shirt, a silk blue tie around his neck, a large wide-brim hat on his head, and brown cowboy pants as he twirls a lasso around his body. Various musicians playing string instruments and trumpets stand behind him, performing.

The Art of the Rope: How This Charro Completo is Preserving Trick Roping in the United States

Esteban Escobedo is one of only a handful of professional floreadores — Mexican trick ropers — in the United States, and one of a few instructors of the technical expression performing floreo de reata (also known as floreo de soga "making flowers with a rope"), an art form in itself and one of Mexico's longest standing traditions.