Location
Wilfred Dudley Smithers
Years: 1895–1981 | Role: Photographer | County: Brewster
Topics
Description
W.D. Smithers was a photojournalist and historian who worked as a news correspondent and freelance photographer for the San Antonio Light, San Antonio Express, and for Underwood and Underwood News Services. His images capture stories of early aviation, border skirmishes, mining, farming, ranching, smuggling, and the wildlife and landscape of the Texas/Mexico border zone, much of it shown in his book, Chronicles of the Big Bend: A Photographic Memoir of Life on the Border (2013).
Location Notes
Many of Smithers' images capture the Big Bend area in the years before Big Bend National Park. Perhaps a good place to put a marker would be near the Gage Hotel, 102 NW 1st Street; Highway 90W, #90W; Marathon, Texas 79842, which acts as a kind of gateway to the Big Bend area.