Evelyn Cameron moved to the remote Badlands of Montana with her husband in 1899, there they owned a ranch, they grew vegetables and they did what they could to make a living and stay in Montana. Like so many that came after her, Evelyn's love of photography turned into a business. She took pictures of friends, the landscape and the wildlife that lived in the high plains.
Evelyn bought her first camera by mail, it was a dry plate, glass negative 5 x7 Graflex camera. Cowboys, and passing ranchers would stop by Evelyn's ranch to have their pictures taken by her. She would also take off for days on end , on horse back, with her heavy camera in her lap, to take pictures in remote locations, and to take pictures of pioneer women in their homes and on their ranches. Much of what we know about true pioneer women we know thru the photographs of Evelyn Cameron.
After her death all of Evelyn Cameron's glass negatives sat in a basement for over half a century until they were discovered in the '70s and subsequently a book by Donna Lucey and a PBS documentary have followed. Here is a nice blog about Evelyn's life
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