Alice Stebbins Wells (1873-1957) was among the first women in the United States to work in law enforcement.

Alice Wells spent her early career working as a pastor. During that time she saw that communities would be safer places if women, too, were on the local police forces. She urged passage of a law in Los Angeles that would permit women to be officers. Finally, in 1910, she was hired as a policewoman and given a regular beat, which was almost unheard of for a woman.

As Wells’s police career progressed, she founded the International Policewomen’s Association. This led to her traveling all over the country to promote the concept of hiring more women for law enforcement.

Early Life

Alice Stebbins Wells was born in Manhattan, Kansas. She was the daughter of well-educated parents, both of whom attended Oberlin College. After her birth, the family moved to Hiawatha, Kansas (about 70 miles north of Topeka), where her father started a local newspaper.

Alice attended high school in Atchison, which would have been about about 40 miles away from their home in Hiawatha. The family must have moved, or she stayed with someone in Atchison. After she graduated from high school, she studied at Oberlin College.

By 1900 she was a pastor’s assistant to Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn. She was intrigued by religion and wanted to learn more about the philosophy behind it. She enrolled at the Hartford (Connecticut) Theological Seminary where she studied Old Testament history for two years. During this time, she filled in for vacationing pastors at churches in and around Maine, becoming the first woman to hold church services in that state.

On a trip to Perry, Oklahoma, she was offered and accepted a full-time position as a pastor of one of the local churches. During that time, she met and married Frank Wells, a pioneer who made his way to Oklahoma after leaving Wisconsin. The couple had three children.

At some point, the Wells family moved to Los Angeles.

Wells Believed Women Belonged in Law Enforcement

While working as a pastor, she developed the belief that there were situations where women could be more effective at policing than male officers were. This was what led to her campaign for women to be hired by police forces. If women police officers went into dance halls, skating rinks, and “picture houses,” children and women in trouble might find it easier to ask for help.

Wells began talking to anyone she could about her new cause. Slowly she gained support from community members. By the time her legislative proposal reached the Los Angeles City Council, she had popular opinion on her side. The City Council had little choice but to enact the law, which went into effect in 1910.

On August 13, 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells was hired as the first policewoman in L.A. Some sources identify her as the first in the nation, but as more and more local papers are digitized and used for research, historians see that she was among the first, but others preceded her. (See the end of the article for a few other names.)

Alice S. Wells: On the Beat in L.A.

Once hired, Alice Stebbins Wells was not issued a gun or a baton, however, she was issued a badge to show her authority. She also was provided with a telephone rule book, a first aid chart, and a telephone call box key so that she could report crimes and call for reinforcements.

Because it was so unusual for a woman to be on the police force, the badge did not always gain her the respect it should have. One of the perks of the position was that police could ride on trolley cars at no charge. One conductor ejected her from his trolley, accusing her of using her husband’s badge.

When she brought this problem back to headquarters, it was remedied. She was given a new badge: “Policewoman Badge No. 1.”

Initially, the police department did not intend for her to be in uniform. Early photographs show her in a lace blouse with a jacket. But Alice Stebbins Wells wanted recognition, so she took the matters into her own hands. She sewed a khaki-colored jacket and long skirt that became her uniform and the model for future uniforms for women of the day. (A copy of her uniform is on display at the Los Angeles Police Museum.)

News Coverage of Wells

News reporters were eager to write about the new female member of the Los Angeles police department. However, the reporters got off to a bumpy start. They didn’t know what to call her. Early references in the press describe her as the “first woman policeman,” “Officeress” or “Officerette Wells” Clearly, these were not titles Wells favored. Eventually women on the force became known as policewomen.

Alice Stebbins Wells wanted acceptance. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said: “This is serious work and I do hope the newspapers will not try to make fun of it.”

The Los Angeles Herald reported: “Her salary is not as large as a policeman for she will receive but $75 a month, while a policeman receives $102. But she will have to conform to the regulations of the department just like any other member of the force.”

Starting to Patrol

After learning the patrol process under Juvenile Officer Leo W. Marden, Wells developed her own systematic method for visiting penny arcades, skating rinks, “picture theaters,” and any place where women and children might be in trouble.  She also became part of the “purity squad.” Sometimes she would report back to headquarters with information on theatrical shows or billboards that were not wholesome.

L.A. soon added a law that women in custody needed to be questioned by a woman investigator. After this, Wells was often called in to conduct these investigations.

Wells Saw Need for Special Services for Women

As Wells worked, she saw that women needed special services in order to feel comfortable in approaching the police. Wells helped found a bureau for women who needed help. She also founded a missing person’s bureau for women and children.

A third need was covered by the “Minnie Barton Home.” Minnie Barton was the first female probation officer in Los Angeles. When her family moved to Los Angeles, she was shocked by the lack of services for indigent women. She began working with the Los Angeles Police Courts as a volunteer in 1906 and established the Big Sister League in 1917. (Her initial connection with the police department predated Alice Wells.) The Big Sister League undertook many projects, but one of them was to create a safe place for women just released from jail.

Minnie Barton eventually received a salary (1916). She remained fully committed to her work as a probation officer throughout her lifetime. Over time, the house was used as a halfway house where some young offenders lived instead of being sent to jail.  Today this home is part of the Children’s Institute of Los Angeles.

Serious Work

Alice Wells also represented the police department by speaking at schools and women’s organizations.  In 1913, Los Angeles experienced a rash of robberies. Some were done by a group called the boy automobile bandits.  Women’s groups began inviting Wells to speak to them about crime and safety.

On August 14, 1913, Wells addressed a group of Los Angeles clubwomen to give them tips: “If she has the pluck, when she meets an annoyer or a hold-up man, scream first. Then use the first weapon at hand. Don’t forget the trusty hat pin. That or a few well-chosen jiu-jitsu tricks will help women when sneak thieves appear or burglars invade the home.

“Remember that a burglar is under greater nervous strain that you are.”

She concluded by reminding audiences that “The weapon nature gave a woman was a scream. But she notes, In more rural communities where someone might not hear you, “It would not be bad to know a few bone-breaking tricks.”

Wells also brought groups information about female hygiene which included sex education. This was a new but badly needed topic for that day.

Requests from Elsewhere

Because Alice Stebbins Wells advocated publicly for the need for women on police forces, her office received many inquiries.  By 1914, the LAPD permitted Wells to undertake a speaking tour promoting women in law enforcement.  She traveled widely conveying her message.

Reaction from the citizens and the press in the locations she visited was very positive. Toronto’s City Controller J.A. McCarthy wrote: “Not in many years of social work and interest in social problems have I heard an address so comprehensive, so intelligent and so full of 1913 common sense as that to which we listened last night…

“There is in this day no lack of speakers who criticize, but there is a dearth of speakers who are able to suggest as you did, the preventive and educational measures which are practical.” (Jan 14, 1913)

In Albany in 1914, she addressed the New York Assembly, urging passage of a bill for policewomen. And just as women today find that reporters can’t resist commenting on their clothing or their looks, Wells faced the same thing. A reporter for The Albany Times wrote: “She wore a khaki uniform and a large shield. Her brown hat, with an attractive plume, was distinctly feminine.”

Wells Tireless On Behalf of Her Cause

In May of 1915, she scheduled a conference to organize an international association of policewomen, to work with the National Conference of Charities and Corrections. Policewomen from 14 states came that first year and elected Alice Wells president, a position she held for five years.

At the second conference, 22 states were represented. The organization took an official stand on what the women should be called: “Policewoman” was to be used for regularly appointed police officers with the power of arrest.

Urged Other Changes

As she advocated for more policewomen, she realized that women would be better served by specific training since they were not given all the equipment that their male counterparts had. Here, Wells approached the University of California Southern Division (now UCLA) and urged them to offer a course to train women in law enforcement. That class became a reality in the summer of 1918. It was run by the School’s Criminology Department.

Wells was active in many other causes. She founded the Pan-Pacific Association for Mutual Understanding in 1924 and this group met regularly. She was also chairman and first present of the Women’s Peace Officers Association. (1928)

She stayed with the Los Angeles Police Department until retirement in 1940. In 1934, she requested what became her final position: to establish and curate a police museum. The Los Angeles Police Museum still exists today in Highland Park section of Los Angeles.

Wells died in 1957. Her funeral was well attended by all the senior officers in the police department. Her casket was accompanied by a 10-woman honor guard—something that would have made Alice Wells proud.

Alice Stebbins Wells deserves to long be remembered for introducing the concept of women in police work.

***

Other Women in Law Enforcement

The first women employed in any form of law enforcement jobs were hired as matrons in the jails. As early as the 1840s, they were used to help with women and children who were arrested or brought into the police station for protection. The matrons played a vital role in the system, but they did not patrol, nor could they arrest anyone.

Besides Alice Wells, a few other women worked as police officers long before women were commonly hired:

Marie Owens was hired by the Chicago Police Department in 1891. She had the power to arrest, but her duties were limited to child labor law violations.

Lola Baldwin joined the Portland (Oregon) Police Department in 1908. Prior to that, she headed a team of social workers who helped with moral issues and challenges that arose as a result of the Lewis and Clark Exposition being held in Portland in 1905. Afterward, the police were respectful of the work the group had done and installed Baldwin as the “Superintendent of the Women’s Auxiliary to the Police Department for the Protection of Girls.” She, too, had a badge and the power of arrest but her office was in the local YWCA.

I am indebted to Mike Callahan for the additional informaiton about Minnie Barton, LA’s first probation officer. For more information, see Mike’s helpful comments below.

Read, too, about the Invention of the Polygraph.

Annie Oakley was born Phoebe Ann Mosey. She grew up to be an international celebrity for her marksmanship. As a child, she needed to help hunt for the family and she became a remarkable sharpshooter. Eventually she changed her name to Annie Oakley and toured with traveling shows.

Her level of marksmanship was extraordinary. The work required great vision, dexterity, excellent eye-hand coordination, and the ability to function under pressure. What’s more, Oakley did what we all dream of. She found a way to make a living doing what she loved.

Simply put, she was America’s first female superstar.

Oakley’s Early Life

Phoebe Ann Mosey was born on a farm in the western part of Ohio (Darke County) on August 13, 1860. (Some texts note the family name was “Moses,” but Phoebe went by “Mosey.”)  She was the sixth of seven surviving children born to her parents. Her father died when she was quite young. To help provide the family with food, Phoebe set traps in the woods. One day when she was 6, she reportedly took her father’s gun and killed a squirrel.

Her mother remarried but was widowed again. Phoebe (who seemed to go by Annie as a child) was placed in the care of the superintendent of the county poor farm. His wife needed help, and it was customary for young girls to be placed with a family for childcare and housekeeping. Annie did not like it there but it must have brought the family a little money. It was also helpful to her mother to have one less child to worry about.

Eventually, Annie’s mother married for a third time. While the family was still very poor, Annie had the opportunity to return home again.

Annie never had time to attend school regularly. (While children who lived in a town would have attended a few years of school, many did not have that opportunity.) Instead, she hunted and helped with chores. She killed enough game that she could sell it to local hotels and restaurants. With this added income for the family, her mother worked to pay down the mortgage on the farm.

Locals Knew Of Her Shooting Ability

Over time, Annie’s shooting ability became well known. When marksman and traveling showman Francis E. Butler brought his act to Cincinnati, Annie was visiting her sister who lived nearby.

When Frank Butler arrived in any town where he was to perform, he offered up a bet. He offered one hundred dollars to any of the local people who could shoot better than he could.

Annie was 21 at the time. A local hotelier knew what a good shot Annie was because he often bought game from her. He arranged for the two to compete at a shoot-out in Greenville, Ohio. Annie won.

Butler was smitten. The two were married in June of the following year.

Started Married Life in Oakley, Ohio

Annie Mosey and Butler started married life in a section of Cincinnati known as “Oakley.” It is from there that she took her stage name.

Butler continued to travel and perform as part of a two-man act, and Annie assisted. One day Butler’s partner was ill. Annie stepped in and soon became the favored performer.

In 1885, Butler and Oakley began performing in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.  Buffalo Bill soon began to give Annie higher billing in the Wild West Show ads. People loved hearing the stories of her dead-on marksmanship. It was even better if they could see her do it.

Annie sewed her own costumes so that she could look good but have freedom of movement. She made her skirts shorter than what were worn in that day, but she always wore leggings to be certain she never showed any skin.

How Good Was Annie Oakley?

How good a shot was Annie? Remarkable.

She taught herself to shoot with both her left and her right hands. She could work with a pistol, a rifle, or a shotgun interchangeably.

At performances, glass balls were frequently the target of choice for marksmanship performances. One day, using a .22 rifle, Annie hit 4472 glass balls out of 5000 tossed for her.

And at a distance of 90 feet, Annie could shoot a dime tossed in the air. She also could slice the thin edge of a playing card and puncture the card with five or six more shots as it floated to the ground.

To see a very brief demonstration of Annie’s ability, click here. This was filmed in Thomas Alva Edison’s film studio, known as Black Maria. The video is short but shows Annie aiming at two different targets….it’s impressive!

Wild West shows did not offer full-time employment to Butler and Oakley. There were only certain times of year when shows could tour profitably. For that reason, both husband and wife came up with other ways to make money. Both made some money by setting up local shooting competitions with cash prizes. But Annie also made money teaching.

When women and girls saw her perform, they were fascinated. Annie always told crowds that being a good shot simply required determination and practice. She never lacked for pupils and taught women to use rifles, shotguns and revolvers. 

Oakley Writes to President McKinley

In 1898, when it appeared that the United States might enter into a war with Spain, Oakley wrote to President William McKinley. She offered the government “the services of a company of 50 lady sharpshooters who would provide their own arms and ammunition should the U.S. go to war with Spain.”

McKinley did not accept the offer, but Annie was sincere. Because she worked with so many pupils, she knew she could put together a regiment.

In 1901, Annie Oakley was badly injured in a train accident. She fully recovered, but it took five operations on her spine to do so.

In 1902, she returned to performing, but she opted out of the Buffalo Bill show. Instead, she performed in a stage play written for her: The Western Girl.

Dog Added to Act

During their later years, Annie and Frank were visiting Cambridge, Maryland, when Frank fell in love with an English setter. They took him on the road with him. Frank said the black and tan dog had “soulful eyes.” The couple named him Dave and he became part of the family unit.

Frank and Annie sometimes went hunting, and Dave became comfortably around gunfire.

When Frank and Annie noted what a calm dog Dave was, they added him to the act. One of the highlights of every performance was Annie shooting an apple off Dave’s head as he sat patiently, unflinching.

She never missed.

Patriotism During World War I

During World War I, the Butlers offered their services to raise money for the war effort. Oakley traveled for the National War Council of the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Red Cross. At stops along the way, she gave demonstrations of her shooting ability.

Dave went with them on these trips, and the dog became exceedingly popular with the troops. The press liked him, too, and took to calling him “Red Cross Dave.”

In 1923, when  the Butlers were in Leesburg, Florida, Dave was hit and killed by an automobile. For the couple, this was akin to losing a child. To remember the dog, Frank published a popular story titled “The Life of Dave, As Told by Himself.”

Still Performing

Turning 60 did not stop Annie Oakley. At age 62, she competed at an event in Pinehurst, North Carolina. From 16 yards away, she hit 100 clay targets in a row.

In 1922, Butler and Oakley were again in a serious car accident. It took time for them to recover but a year later (Annie required a steel brace for her leg), she was performing again. When she returned to performing, she continued to set new records.

The next year her health began to decline, and she died in 1926 at the age of 66. Butler was so devastated by her death that he refused to eat and died 18 days later. She is buried at Brock Cemetery, 12 miles north of Greenville, Ohio, with Frank by her side.

Because she had grown up in poverty and had not always had the luxury of living at home, she gave generously to causes related to women and orphans.

For another story about a woman who defied tradition, read about Annie Edson Taylor: An American Daredevil. She successfully went over Niagara Fall in a barrel.

The Brownie camera was the first inexpensive device that regular people could use to take photographs. This was a very exciting prospect for Americans at the turn of the century.

The camera was simple to use and priced at only a dollar.

Introduced in 1901, the Brownie camera was the creation of George Eastman, a budding Rochester-based entrepreneur, and one of his suppliers, Frank A. Brownell. Brownell’s company made shell cases for cameras, including the more expensive Kodak camera that Eastman started selling in 1888.

The Brownie went on to have a long and impressive history.

Progress in Photography

During the mid-1800s, all photography was carried out by professionals.  The equipment was heavy and cumbersome, and the specialized work was painstaking. The very notion of capturing and printing still images was astonishing, yet the reality was far from simple.

Nineteenth-century photographers relied on glass plates (one for each photograph). A wet chemical solution was painted on each piece of glass before it was inserted into the camera.

To capture an exposure, the camera needed to be aimed at the subject for a long time. At the start of photography, two hours was the norm, though eventually the time period was brought down to 10-20 minutes. This is why Civil War photographers focused on bodies of the deceased because they could not capture soldiers in action.

Portrait photography of the era faced the same problem. People having their photos taken did not smile and looked grim because sitting still for two hours became uncomfortable. When a person was photographed standing, photographers often placed a brace behind the person to reduce the understandable reaction of wiggling or swaying.

Once the picture was taken, the photo needed to be developed immediately. War photographers carried their equipment to the battlefields in wagons that could be converted to makeshift dark rooms. Each image needed to be processed before the photographer could return to the battlefield to take another picture.

Inventors Tinkering

Like any new type of technology, inventors and tinkerers were excited. How could a better camera be made? The search was on for one that laymen could use.

One step forward occurred during the 1870s. Some photographers began using dry plate photography. By treating plates of glass with a dried gelatin emulsion, the images did not need to be processed right away. This meant the photographer could store the plates temporarily and develop them later. The glass was still fragile and not easy to work with, but it was progress.

Initially, George Eastman invested $94 in a photography set up. This was a large sum for a bank clerk to spend on a hobby, but he was fascinated by photography.

One of his early discoveries concerned the use of wet plates. He saw that coating the glass plates was tedious. If it was not done properly, the results of the photos were uneven. Eatman worked to solve this, and his first patent (1880) was for a method to more uniformly coat the glass plates.

Dry Plate Photography

He heard about inventors who were working with dry plate photography and learned the benefits of it. Because he was business-minded, he thought this could be the “next big thing.” If he could figure out a way to mass produce and sell dry plates, he could afford to leave his bank job.

To his surprise, other photographers did not agree with him. A customer base failed to materialize. Professional photographers stayed with the tried and true wet plate photography.

Eastman’s next thought was to expand the base of people who could afford cameras. What if he had a device that was simple enough that regular people could use it with dry plates?

Working with a roll of paper, he experimented with different substances to coat the paper. Because he had no real expertise in chemistry, he hired a young chemist he met through one of his friends. Working under Eastman, Henry Reichenbach helped create a thin chemical coating that was flexible enough that the paper could be rolled. The coating was still transparent enough to capture an image. In 1884, Eastman received two patents for different coatings that worked on paper.

By 1889, Eastman created a rollable transparent film. This invention was the foundational development needed for the photography and film industries.

The Kodak

Armed with his new patents, Eastman went to work on creating a camera for regular people. As it evolved, the new camera was everything Eastman hoped for. It was a simple, handheld box camera with a fixed-focus lens and a single shutter speed. No tripod was required. The user held the camera about waist-high, looked down into the viewfinder and took the picture.

According to the George Eastman website, Eastman chose the name “Kodak” because he felt the letter K had a strong sound. He also wanted a name that could be pronounced in any language. He trademarked the term in 1888.

Eastman’s slogan for his new product was “You press the button—we do the rest.” The camera, however, was not cheap. The Kodak was priced at $25 (about $500 today).  

Five thousand were sold during the first six months it was on the market. Well-to-do hobbyists happily joined the exclusive club of professional photographers. 

Off to a Strong Start

As his new camera pushed his company into the black, Eastman wanted to expand his business.  He lacked the chemical background to make big improvements in the product, so he hired the chemists he needed. He also bought up companies—some for the personnel he needed; others for the   patents they held that Eastman wanted.

George Eastman knew reaching the customer was important. He acquired several large photographic stores in major cities. This permitted him to reach consumers directly.

By 1895, Eastman Kodak, rebranded from Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company (1892), had captured a substantial share of the global film market. The company manufactured 90 percent of both still camera and motion picture film sold worldwide.

George Eastman was known as the Kodak King and was the world’s dominant camera manufacturer.

Competition Increases for Pocket Cameras

The Kodak sold well to a wealthy audience, but all budding photography entrepreneurs knew that a more affordable camera was needed.

The Zar Camera Company introduced the “Pocket Zar” in 1896. The camera weighed only 3 oz and measured 3.75 x 2.25 inches. The drawback to the pocket camera was that it used glass plates. This kept it from being a “simple” camera.

Two other companies came out with “pocket” designs, but they, too, used glass plates.

Then Came the Brownie Camera

As Eastman mulled over the idea of a less expensive camera that could be sold to the masses, he decided he already worked with the fellow who would be a good partner. George Eastman had relationships with various suppliers for certain parts of the cameras he manufactured. One of his suppliers was Frank A. Brownell, whose company was also based in Rochester, New York. Brownell made wood and metal camera shells (bodies).

Eastman pitched his idea to Brownell, and by 1900, they were ready to go to market. Brownell created a carboard box camera covered with faux leather. It was lightweight and relatively inexpensive to produce. Eastman Kodak built the inner workings, and the camera was pre-loaded with a roll of film. It sold for $1.

Together Eastman and Brownell decided the camera should be called the “Brownie.” It checked off all the boxes for what Eastman wanted.

How the Brownie Worked

Once people had taken photographs with the pre-loaded camera, they brought the box camera back to the store. The cameras were then sent out for processing (developing the film and putting in a new roll for more photographs). When people returned to the store, they picked up their prints and their reloaded camera. They were ready for another round of picture-taking!

The Brownie sold 10 million units in five years.

Marketing the Brownie with Brownies

Artist Palmer Cox became an instrumental part of the Brownie marketing campaign. Cox (1840-1924) was a Canadian-born artist and writer who had fond memories of the tales told by his family about the brownies (fairies) who were part of his Scottish ancestry.  For his creative work, he drew and wrote about a band of brownies. In the tales Cox told, the brownies crept out after family members were asleep and often helped with unfinished household chores. But they were also very curious and sometimes got into mischief.

Cox’s brownies were first featured in several children’s magazines during the 1880s. Because they were well-liked by readers, Cox was offered several book deals.

As his characters became more popular, Cox let them explore different types of technology. In one book they ride on a steam locomotive. At another point, they test out using a telephone. Over time Cox had the opportunity to license them for use in marketing about 40 products.

When George Eastman saw the brownies connecting with new inventions, he knew this was perfect for his pocket camera. Soon the brownies were a major part of the Brownie advertising plan. They communicated that the cameras were easy and fun to use. Eastman used them in print ads but also produced books about the brownies and their picture-taking escapades. 

The pairing of Palmer Cox’s brownies and the new compact camera was very successful for all involved.   

Brownie Camera Clubs of America

George Eastman saw that the Brownie was simple enough for children to use, so he wanted to help store owners sell to that market. He developed plans for Brownie Camera Clubs. Children under the age of 16 were encouraged to join at no cost. Photo contests were held locally, and the prizes, of course, were Brownie cameras.

Promotions Too Successful

As any manufacturer knows, you need to create a great product and then provide reasons for people to upgrade to buy a more sophisticated model. (A great example of this is Apple iPhones with their endless number of new phones that are the latest, greatest thing.)

After the introduction of the Brownie, Eastman Kodak Company kept creating improved versions of the camera. The new ones captured better photos more precisely, but Eastman saw that customers weren’t interested. The $1 camera so well promoted by Palmer Cox’s brownies was serving the public well. Why buy a new camera?

Over time, Eastman Kodak pulled back on marketing the Brownie camera. To promote the new models, Eastman harked back to the more expensive and highly regarded Kodak. The new cameras were sold as “Little Cousins of the Kodak.”

Anniversary Promotion

In 1930, Eastman Kodak marked its 50^th year in business. George Eastman wanted to celebrate that, so the company created special anniversary cameras.  The camera was based on the #2 Hawkeye premium camera. It had a tan leatherette covering, gilt fittings and a gold foil anniversary sticker on its side.

Kodak dealers in North America distributed them at no charge to children turning age 12 that year. This was planned during robust economic times but the implementation was during the beginning of the Depression. The children who received them must have felt particularly lucky.

Eastman Kodak produced and gave out 557,000 Eastman Anniversary Cameras.

Brownie Cameras Still Sold

Brownie cameras were still being manufactured and sold in the late 1950s, though other cameras were moving into the territory by that time.

And Eastman Kodak did not stand still. Leveraging the company’s expertise, Eastman diversified into numerous fields, establishing the nation’s first industrial research laboratories, developing x-ray machines, and pioneering aerial photography cameras.

The company had a good long run until digital cameras ate away at their business. First, the company saw that people no longer needed film. Then as phone cameras were introduced, consumers no longer wanted cameras either. It was a shattering shift to the world of photography.

The first dogs used for police work in the United States were introduced in New York City and Glen Ridge, New Jersey, during the first decade of the 20^th century.  Before this time, dogs were used occasionally for “crime control” in the South by plantation owners who sent the dogs after runaway slaves.  

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New York Murder

In 1907, the brutal murder of 15-year-old Amelia Staffeldt in Elmhurst, New York, inspired the New York police administration to consider using dogs for police work.  The man who murdered young Amanda was caught a few days later, and they learned that Henry Becker remained in Elmhurst for a day or so after the murder. If they had caught him then, they could have prevented his other crimes.

The police commissioner wanted to investigate whether a dog could have helped. He knew that a man on his force, Lt. George R. Wakefield, was also very interested in using dogs on the police force. Since the murderer remained in Elmhurst, the commissioner and Lt. Wakefield speculated that if they had a bloodhound, they could have caught Henry Becker sooner.

A kennel near Poughkeepsie, New York, specialized in raising and training bloodhounds. The commissioner sent Lt. Wakefield to investigate whether they should add a bloodhound to the force.

Wakefield returned from Poughkeepsie with depressing news. Based on what he learned about bloodhounds, he determined that the dogs would not be well suited to work in the city. The streets are layered with smells, and since criminals sometimes escaped by subway, it would be difficult for dogs to retain the scent. This would leave the bloodhound and policeman at a dead end.

The Ghent Dog Program

But the commissioner and Wakefield remained hopeful about using police dogs. A program in Ghent, Belgium, was receiving attention for the job they were doing training dogs to accompany constables for night patrol.

The commissioner funded Wakefield to go to Belgium to learn more.

The training program in Ghent started in 1902. The school created a four-month training program. The dogs were taught the tasks they would need: seek, attack, and then stop and hold. At that time, the dogs were not expected to bite their victims so they wore loose-fitting muzzles so they could still bark but not bite.

Since the dogs wore muzzles, they needed to learn another way to catch and bring down their victim. Most used a system that involved chasing down the person and wrapping their front paws around the fellow’s leg to bring him down. The dogs were then trained to stand on the person, barking to alert their dog handler.

Preferred Dogs

In Ghent, Belgian sheepdogs were the preferred dogs. They were known for their loyalty, courage, intelligence, and endurance. The breed at that time featured dogs that weighed about 50 pounds. They were barrel-chested and stood about knee-high to most men. They had short fur so upkeep was not an issue.

The Groenendael dog was a close second. These dogs matched the sheepdogs in temperament, but they had long silky black hair. This meant some grooming was necessary. (Poodles were not used as war dogs for the same reason. Their hair became matted when wet.)

Wakefield in Ghent

When Lt. Wakefield had the “okay” to bring dogs back to the U.S., he was disappointed to learn that there were no trained dogs available for purchase. The Paris police department was a big proponent of police dogs and had just purchased 400 of them.

Wakefield’s next step was locating dogs that could be trained. He finally made a deal for five six-month-old dogs. Four of the dogs were Belgian sheepdogs. One of them was a Groenendael.

He paid $10 for each pup, and another $10 for transatlantic travel for each dog. There was also an import tax of $2. This brought the grand total for each untrained dog to $22.00.  (Trained dogs today cost between $12,000-$50,000. The dogs themselves are monitored carefully as both police departments and the military consider them valuable assets.)

To New York by Ship

George Wakefield used transatlantic travel via shipboard to work on training the dogs. They were still young. The dogs still needed to learn basic commands and have them reinforced.

Unfortunately, one of the dogs died before the end of the trip. There were no vaccines for distemper at that time, and many young dogs did not survive it.

Establishing a School in New York

Upon landing in New York, Wakefield and his charges were sent to a dilapidated mansion in Fort Washington Park in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. Since they were short one dog, Wakefield replaced it with a young Airedale named Jim.  The other dogs were Nogi, (the Groenendael), Max, Dona, and Lady.

Lt. Wakefield organized a 3-month training program to operate from Fort Washington Park. A patrolman known to be good with dogs moved into the mansion with his family to assist Wakefield. The dining room was set up with stalls where the dogs lived when they weren’t working or in supervised play.

The program, like the one in Ghent, featured positive reinforcement. Care and feeding of the animals was only done by men in uniform. That way the dogs learned that people in uniform were their friends and authority figures. People in civilian clothes were potentially suspect.

Training Commences

The initial plan for these dogs was for night patrolling. They were taught four commands: “Search!” “Attack!” “Heel,” and “Down.” Down was the command for the dog to back off and let the police officer take over.

When searching a house, the process was for the policeman to take the front of the house, sending the dog to search the yard, fields, and hedges.

An added benefit to the program was that police saw that the dogs were intimidating to the public. This alone helped reduce crime because people were nervous about what the dogs might do.

As training methods advanced, sound was one of the elements added. When the dogs were housed in kennels, audio could be piped in. By playing recorded sounds of thunderstorms, roaring car engines, and exploding bombs, it helped the dogs acclimate to what might happen on the street.

Muzzles

While today’s police dogs are often expected to attack with teeth, the first police dogs were muzzled. The muzzles were spacious enough that dogs could easily bark to sound an alarm. The muzzles also were equipped with snap catches. The dog handler could unmuzzle the dog quickly if more force (biting) was necessary.

Program Grew

By 1911, New York was using sixteen dogs for patrol in residential districts on Long Island. The dogs were assigned territories and could run on their own with their police handler nearby.  From 11 pm to 7 am, the dogs brought down civilians (potential thieves) in the area. The dog was to stand on the person, barking until their handler arrived. (There may have been outcry from residents who were simply coming home late, but to my knowledge no reporter of the day wrote that story.)

By 1929, New York was using 23 dogs. There were many specific anecdotes where they proved their worth. One of the first was with the “Pants Burglar.”
 

The Staten Island “Pants Burglar”

In the 1920s, Staten Island was plagued by a robber who acquired the nickname, “the Pants Burglar.”  The fellow climbed up porch trestles in his socks and snuck into upper floor windows. While the family slept, he moved quietly and quickly, leaving most possessions in place. He knew that if the family had cash, it was likely to be in the husband’s pant pockets.  In the dark, he located the trousers, often draped over a chair or a bench. He then stole the items in the pockets. If he felt rushed, he sometimes climbed back out the window carrying the trousers with him.

Because the Pants Burglar struck so often, the police department finally selected four of their finest dogs to put on the case.

Within a few days, the dogs found their man.

Other Success Stories

One of the arguments against using dogs concerned the fact that more people were traveling by car. How could a dog help catch then?

That question was answered when policemen stopped two men in a car. The men got out as instructed, but within a few moments, one of the men turned to run.  Fortunately, the policemen had a dog with them. Their dog immediately set off to chase the man and bring him down.

In another instance, a dog saved a child’s life. Bum was trained to work around the scene of fires. When a little girl bumped into a street vendor’s charcoal cooker, she fell against it, and her clothing caught fire. Bum was nearby and immediately approached and ripped off the burning fabric. She survived.

Guarding Warehouses and Department Stores

During the late 1940s and ‘50s, department stores began posting dogs for guard duty. Dobermans were popular for this work and were used in both stores and warehouses.

A security officer still needed to be on premises, but the dogs were trained to walk a beat alone. At Marshall Field, the store’s warehouse had special buttons along the route. The dogs were taught to press each button as they passed it.  The security guard knew if the dog did not signal every 15 minutes or so, then the scene needed to be investigated.

Detection Dogs

Not all police dogs are used for apprehending the “bad guys.”  Many are used for detection. Dog handlers now know that all breeds of dogs have extraordinary ability to smell their environment and make sense of it. As police departments worked with dogs, they found they could choose the breeds that are easiest to work with as they can all be trained to sniff out drugs and bomb-making materials.

In the 1970s, the U.S. experienced a rash of bombings around the country, so bomb-sniffing dogs were in high demand.  The Washington (D.C.) Bomb Squad provided a demonstration for reporters, showing that the dogs could clear a corridor lined with closed lockers (like in a school or a train station) in 2 minutes.

For a time, bomb makers tried adding pepper to disguise the odor of the bomb materials. Officers quickly realized that a sneezing dog is a sure sign of something that needed to be investigated.

Horror of Dogs in the South

In the late 1950s and ‘60s, the image of police dogs suffered greatly in the South. Birmingham public safety commissioner Theophilus “Bull” Connor was in his position for more than two decades. He was a segregationist who was fervently against any demonstration that protested his belief in white supremacy.

When the Freedom Riders and civil rights marchers came through Birmingham, Bull Connor stopped at nothing to halt the protesters, setting a poor example for the South. Photographs from the era show unarmed people (many children as well as adults) being brought down by attack dogs. The photos and videos from these days are horrifying.

One Last Story

A more heartening story of a police dog took place in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1980. Rags was out on patrol with a policeman in a dark parking lot. Rags sensed danger from someone who was prowling in the area. He pushed the patrolman who accompanied him out of the way. When the gunman fired, Rags took the bullet himself.

Rags suffered a spinal injury, so a full recovery was not possible. But as he improved the veterinarian recommended him for a desk job where he could be in charge of milk bone procurement.

He became the department’s official mascot and was given a medal of honor. 

Dogs Today

Today there are approximately 50,000 active police K-9s in the United States. In police work, dogs are being used for everything from drug and bomb detection to helping locate missing people and uncover forensic evidence at a crime scene. (Dogs are also trained for many other purposes, ranging from medical needs such as sensing diabetes to aiding the blind. Scientists have also found numerous ways to use dogs to preserve the environment.)

When a police dog is ready for retirement, most dogs become pets, often with their handler’s family. Those who have been wounded present additional challenges for their owners. How can the family pay for ongoing medical care? The National Police Dog Foundation does what it can to raise funds so that these dogs can be with a family  they love and have the care they need.

Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter was a pioneer who created a place for herself in the world of architecture and design. She was hired by the Fred Harvey Company–the hospitality firm that built hotels, shops, rest areas, and restaurants along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail lines in the Southwest.

The West was still a frontier. Colter saw that new buildings needed to be organic and reflect the culture and the landscape of the area. She prided herself on having each building tell its own story. Depending on the location, she created a unique and fitting style.

This was forward thinking for the time, but it fit well with the Harvey House culture. Staff member Herman Schweizer was busy acquiring art and relics from the Native American and Spanish cultures for display in the restaurants and hotels.

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Visiting Her Work

While many of her buildings no longer exist, visitors to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon today can see multiple examples of her work: Hopi House, Hermit’s Rest, Lookout Studio, and Desert View Watchtower. As a group, these buildings were designated a National Historic Landmark District on May 28, 1987.

The primary hotels in the area are El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge. El Tovar, the grandest of the hotels, was not designed by Colter but she had a hand in decorating it.

At Bright Angel Lodge, she planned and decorated the original section of the hotel. She designed the original section of Bright Angel Lodge.  Visitors who venture to the bottom of the canyon (accessible by mule train) will find Phantom Ranch, for which she was the architect and designer. 

Her particular design became known as National Park Service Rustic and was copied throughout the National Park system.

Early Life

Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter (1869-1958) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1869. Her parents were Irish immigrants—her father a merchant and her mother a milliner. As the family adapted to life in a new country, they moved from Pennsylvania to Texas and Colorado before putting down roots in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1880.

St. Paul was a young and dynamic city but still had vestiges of its frontier past. According to an article by Meredith Gaglio on Pioneering Women of Architecture, Colter was likely influenced by the western feel of the place and also by the nearby location of the Dakota people who lived on the Lower Sioux Indian Reservation west of the city.

A separate story written by Gaglio about Colter reports that Colter’s uncle brought to the family a series of brightly colored sketches from Sioux Indians. The family kept them for a time, but when Mary and her mother and sister were about to move households, her mother suggested throwing them out. Colter volunteered to take them. She kept them for many years. Clearly the Native American art work spoke to her.

School

She attended St. Paul High School, where she particularly loved art class. When she graduated from high school in 1883, there were few places where women could work. Colter did the predictable thing and took a teaching job.

When her father died three years later, her mother helped Mary Colter pursue a bigger dream. Mrs. Colter, Mary, and her sister, who suffered ill health, all moved to Oakland, California, so that Mary could attend the California School of Design.

When Mary Colter enrolled, the design school was newly established by the San Francisco Art Association. Students were primarily instructed in drawing and painting, but Colter took on a part-time job with a local architecture firm where she learned about the process of building design.

At that time, architects in California were not expected to be licensed, so when Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter graduated in 1891, she was qualified for both design and architecture work.

Turned to Teaching

Unfortunately for her, architectural jobs were hard to find, particularly for a woman. She and the family moved back to St. Paul. She was offered a teaching position at Stout Manual Training School in Menomonie, Wisconsin, about 100 miles from St. Louis.

A few years later, she was hired by a progressive high school in St. Paul. Once resettled in St. Paul, she became active in many organizations. She was invited to lecture at the University of Minnesota, and she wrote occasionally for the St. Paul Daily Globe. She read widely and focused on archaeology and history.

The school respected her interests and talent. She had support for teaching art to her students in a manner that worked for her. Her students won design awards at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Later more students took home honors from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

Working for the Harvey Company

Authorities on Colter’s life think that Minnie Harvey Huckel was the connection that brought Mary Colter to the attention of the Fred Harvey Company.  Minnie was Fred Harvey’s daughter who was married to John Frederick Huckel who became vice president of the Fred Harvey Company.

Beginning in 1902, Colter received freelance assignments that grew over time. In 1910, the Harvey Company hired her for a staff position. At that point, the company headquarters was in Kansas City, so Colter kept an office there, though she traveled a great deal for her work.

Indian Building

One of her first assignments was to design the Indian Building and Museum that was adjacent to the Hotel Alvarado in Albuquerque (1902).  Much of her design there had to do with how the Native American art would be displayed. At Herman Schweizer’s request, she also created areas where the artists could work.

From there, the Harvey House Company directed her to work on the buildings that were being created along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Particularly in this environment, Colter saw that she needed to use indigenous builders using local materials to achieve the look and feeling that she wanted.

Colter’s Work at the Grand Canyon

The development around the rim of the Grand Canyon came about after the Harvey House Company went into the tourism business. Basing the new part of the company at the La Fonda in Santa Fe, the Indian Detours, the Harvey tourism department, offered tourists 1-3 day trips. The Grand Canyon became a popular destination.

Today several of her buildings, still stand along the rim of the Grand Canyon, and the area is a National Historic Landmark District: Hopi House, Hermit’s Rest, Lookout Studio, and Desert View Watchtower.

The older hotels in the area are El Tovar and Bright Angel Lodge. Colter had a hand in designing the original section of Bright Angel Lodge, where she designed a geologic fireplace. It features rocks hauled from the canyon floor and arranged in the same order as the strata of the canyon’s walls.

At the bottom of the canyon and accessible only on foot or by mule train, Phantom Ranch, was totally her work. She wanted to work with wood and rock already available in the area, so she used fieldstone and rough-hewn wood and hired local artisans to carry out her plan. The design worked perfectly for the site, and this was the beginning of National Park Service Rustic.

Southwest Style

From the beginning, Colter’s work picked up on the land and the area where the building would be. Working with Schweizer who was acquiring an increasing number of artifacts, Colter created buildings that looked like they belonged in the Southwest. Schweizer provided her with the items he collected as he traveled to Indian villages and Mexican-American towns.

Many of her buildings featured sandstone walls, low ceilings with log beams that sometimes still had twigs attached. If a building was to be set into a rock formation, she made certain it fit in with the natural surroundings. She often used small windows placed high so that they gave off carefully planned shafts of light. These added to the beauty of the buildings.

Moved Colter to Other Buildings

The need for more buildings along the Santa Fe railroad continued to grow. Management soon pulled Colter off the Grand Canyon project to work on some of the grander hotels they along the Santa Fe line. The El Navajo Hotel in Gallup, New Mexico (1923) was one of her big projects, but she also designed La Posada in Winslow, Arizona.

The Harvey House Company acquired the La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe in 1925. They used Colter for the design and decorating of the hotel and its expansion.

La Posada

Colter considered La Posada to be her masterpiece, but it hit on hard times shortly after she died. The hotel closed in 1957, and the Santa Fe transformed the building into offices. Much of the furniture designed by Colter was sold at auction.

In 1994, a National Preservation for Historic Trust member, Allan Affeldt and his wife, artist Tina Mion, read that the building was in danger of being torn down. Affeldt began negotiations that took three years, but by 1997, he owned the hotel. No bank would loan them money for the renovation, so the California couple moved to Winslow, Arizona.

In 1997 and began the renovation themselves, one room at a time. By later that year, they could rent to a limited number of guests. Today the La Posada is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. People travel from all over to visit the Mission Revival building and its southwestern-themed grounds.

Colter’s Other Work

In Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, the Harvey Company had a full-service designer. While she generally worked on planning a building or choosing decorations for one, she was also called upon for other projects. One of them was to design the Mimbreňo China and flatware that was used on the Santa Fe Super Chief that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. The food service was run by Harvey House, so their reliance on their long-time designer was perfect.

Later Life

When her mother died in 1909, Mary Colter assumed full responsibility for her sister who had been unwell for many years. She and her sister moved to a house in Altadena, California (near Pasadena), and they lived there for a time. 

In 1948, Colter retired from the Fred Harvey Company after 46 years of service. After retirement, she moved back to the Santa Fe area and began to contemplate what to do with her collections. She wanted a place that would keep the artifacts together. Mesa Verde National Paark was among the places that would do so. Colter left her pottery and artifacts in their care.

She continued to live in Santa Fe until her death in 1956.

Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame

According to the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame, Colter was responsible for 21 projects, including La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, La Posada in Winslow, and the Union Railroad Stations in Kansas City, St. Louis and Los Angeles. 

Tourism in the Southwest was almost nonexistent when the railroads began traveling to the West Coast. But Fred Harvey’s hospitality company saw an opportunity to pioneer the leisure travel in the area. Harvey House already had a southwest presence with hotels and restaurants along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe rail lines. Why not give the passengers a peek at the area that they saw only through the rail car windows?

As people traveled West on their way to New Mexico, Arizona, or California, Harvey House staff members heard their questions: “What is this countryside like?”  “Who are the ‘Indians’ everyone talks about?” “Local people are selling items outside restaurants. What are they?” “If I want to see the area, how can I do so?”

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The Collector for Fred Harvey Company

People from other parts of the United States were fascinated by the beauty of the country surrounding them. They also took note of the Native American and Hispanic art that was created by those living in the area.

In Stephen Fried’s book, Appetite for America, he tells of Herman Schweizer, one of the two Jewish employees working in top executive jobs for the Harvey company. Schweizer, a German immigrant, initially sold oranges on Santa Fe trains and was soon spotted for a job with the company. He became a manager of a Harvey House restaurant in Gallup, New Mexico.

Schweizer loved living in the Southwest. During his free time, he traveled by horseback to nearby Navajo trading posts and villages to learn about and buy Indian-made pottery, blankets, and jewelry. Over time, he acquired great knowledge of the Native American art.

The Harvey House Company eventually made him head of the Indian department. The company architect, Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter, designed restaurants and buildings with a Southwest feel, so the items Schweizer found could be put to good use.

Schweizer became nationally respected for his expertise. People like newspaper magnate and budding collector William Randolph Hearst sometimes stopped by to ask Schweizer’s opinion on various items.

Indian Art Museum

As Schweizer brought back the items he purchased from the Native Americans, Harvey management remarked on the fact they might try establishing an Indian Art Museum at the El Alvarado Hotel. The hotel was under construction in Albuquerque in 1901-02.

Fred Harvey died in 1901, so the company management was taken over by his son Ford Harvey. David Benjamin, one of Fred Harvey’s first employees, also co-managed the company. The men assigned Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter, the company’s in-house decorator and architect, to create a museum space near the Albuquerque railroad station. Tourists could get off the train for a bit and wander through the art on display.

Schweizer added space for some of the Navajos to practice their crafts. The Navajos were appreciative, and the tourists loved seeing how items were created. Whether the Native Americans were weaving, beading, or making pottery, the tourists loved seeing the artists at work.

Souvenir Shops

Of course, a souvenir shop followed. The museum soon started selling smaller pieces of art and jewelry. (The Harvey House company and the Santa Fe railroad were partners in business, so what made sense for one entity tended to make sense for the other.)

The curio shop in Albuquerque was not the first retail shop under Fred Harvey purview. A curio shop in San Diego (Burnell’s Curio Shop) was among those that pre-dated the El Alvarado. It was established in 1887. An ad for the business provides a list of the types of things most of the shops would have sold: “Navajo jewelry and rugs, Mexican, Indian and California curiosities, and souvenir goods.” Also “Native gemstones and jewelry, beads and popular novelties and Indian moccasins.”

The Fred Harvey Company also commissioned artists, photographers, and writers to document the Southwest. The photos were made into postcards that tourists snapped up. The art and the writings were often used for brochures or added to the bottoms of menus to increase interest in the area.

Schweizer realized that souvenir sales could be increased if the items were relatively portable and less expensive. For the jewelry, Schweizer invested in thinner silver and a slightly lesser-quality turquoise that could be used by the Native Americans. This brought prices down, which increased sales.

Expanding Tourism

As the tribes saw that money could be made by selling items to tourists, they were likely more receptive to Harvey House management’s next proposal. The Fred Harvey Company was in search of a way to increase train travel.

Economic difficulties plagued the country in the early 1900s, and travel had fallen off. People were beginning to travel by automobile. They couldn’t go as far as they could on a train, but if a family saved up for a car, they likely didn’t have money for train tickets.

 Management was looking for a way to jump-start enthusiasm for adventure by rail. 

But World War I loomed. There wasn’t much opportunity to improve train travel before that. Changes did not happen until the 1920s when Harvey Company and the AT & SF came up with new workable ideas.

Southwest Tours

The Harvey Company came up with a new concept: tours through the Southwest. Calling their idea “Indian Detours,” the management planned specialized tours. Some were designed as day trips. Other excursions were three-day trips with food and lodging all taken care of at Harvey House locations.

The plan was to base the tourist office in Santa Fe. People would stay at the La Fonda (a Harvey House property), and Harvey cars would take them to see the awe-inspiring beauty of locations around the area, including the panoramic majesty of the Grand Canyon.

In addition to trips to the Grand Canyon, the tourist office mapped out the possibilities, including Indian ruins like the cliff dwellings as well as stopping by some of the tribal villages where people still lived.

Investing in Their Plan: Proper Touring Cars

If the company was to maintain the high standards of Harvey House, the touring cars and the guides needed to be top-flight.

The first decisions involved the vehicles. The touring cars they purchased included Packards, Franklins, Cadillacs, and White Motor Company buses. Customers would travel in style.

From their own travel around the Southwest, management knew that the cars would take a beating. The roads were unpaved, so the dust kicked up was considerable. The cars would be thoroughly cleaned after each tour. (Generally, each vehicle had to be replaced after two years of service.)

The Best Drivers

Harvey management hired young men to be drivers. They were given special training. The roads they would travel with tourists were often curved and steep, almost always unpaved, and often through mountainous territory. It took skill and practice to manage the big cars. These automobiles were a far cry from today’s “all-terrain vehicles.”

Drivers were also required to have four years of experience as a mechanic. If something happened on the road, the driver could take care of it.

To add to the spirit of the tour, the drivers would dress in western attire.

Harvey House Guides

In deference to the excellent experience the Harvey House Company had with the Harvey Girls (their waitresses), it was decided that all tour guides would be women. The women hired were cheerful and welcoming, and the company provided them with the knowledge they needed for tours.

The women who were accepted were put through a four-month training course. Well-prepared speakers came to the classroom to talk about the Southwest. The women were taken on trips to see the sights, and the Harvey Company provided books for self-study.

They also needed uniforms that differed from the black-and-white Harvey Girls clothing. Some of the Harvey Girls in the Southwest were already wearing more colorful uniforms—velveteen skirts with white tops, silver concha belts and squash blossom necklaces with hats would be perfect for the guides.

In May 1926, one year after the program was conceived, the Indian Detours officially began.

Advice for Tourists

The travel brochures created by the company were very detailed. The people could read about the places they would visit, and they were told about what to expect from travel.  No matter the weather, tourists were told to wear good shoes for walking. “Ladies will find light coats acceptable in summer; for winter months suits with heavy coats are suggested.”

The Tours

The three-day tour is a good example of the itinerary. The group departed from La Fonda in Santa Fe and traveled to Frijoles Canyon, Puye Cliffs (cliff dwellings), and Taos and back. Part of the trip was along what is now known as the Scenic High Road. 

There were many opportunities for guides to suggest stops along the way. The travelers were given opportunities to get out of the car and stroll through the ruins. In the Indian communities, they sometimes bought items from the Native Americans.

One writer (article posted in 2014) noted that for tourists, the experience of wandering through an inhabited Native American community was more like visiting what we now know as a “living museum.” Actual interaction between the travelers and the Native Americans was very limited. (Indian Detours Then and Now—Santa Fe Selection)

Business Slowdown

As the economy worsened during the 1930s, the number of travelers dropped. New Mexico was also working on road improvement. This meant that some tourists still wanted to see the sites, but they chose to drive their cars instead. 

The Harvey House Company was never able to revive the “Harvey Cars” tourism business, but the company forever changed the nature of visiting the Southwest by introducing cultural tourism.