Pioneer Photographer Preserves History.......by Gail L. Jenner

Louis Herman Heller, Pioneer Photographer, Preserves Local and Regional History

Although he was not as well known as many early, historic photographers, Louis Herman Heller was significant to early photography taken during the latter days of the gold rush in the "northern mines" of Northern California and Southern Oregon. He later became more important for his photographs taken during the Modoc War, the "last" Indian War in the West.

In our "neck of the woods," Heller was also important because his studio was located in Siskiyou County, and many of my husband's family were photographed by Heller. This is a photo of my husband's great grandmother, Mary "Muzzy" Wagner Jenner, c. 1886.

Louis Herman Heller emigrated from Germany in 1839 then moved from New York to California in 1862, after a brother died in the Civil War. A lithographer, he had assisted Julius Bien, a fellow German immigrant, in producing the chromolithographic edition of Audubon’s famous BOOK OF BIRDS. 

Heller settled in Yreka, California, where he set up a photographic studio in May 1863. The studio was located on Miner Street, one door west of the Yreka Brewery.

For several years, Heller traveled around the region, including Happy Camp, Rough and Ready (present-day Etna), Sawyer’s Bar, Callahan, and Fort Jones.  Heller traveled extensively, carrying his “gallery” all over the back country. Many of his studio prints remain as part of local family histories and a number of them have found their way into the local museums.  One massive chair, ornately carved, was often used in his studio portraits. In addition, Heller photographed the region’s emerging towns and communities, including  Black Bear Mine on the Salmon River, one of the region's most important and productive gold mines.

Heller is most noted for his photographs of the Modoc War, although he received only modest recognition because he sold his images to Carleton Watkins, who was credited for them when they appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper.   

The terrain of the lava beds was so rough and hard to map that the military called in the Corps of Engineers to photograph the topography and make maps and sketches. Heller was called in to photograph and do the sketches. Heller was also the first one on the scene to photograph the captured Modoc warriors, although Eadweard Muybridge, a San Francisco photographer, came later and received greater recognition than Heller.

Louis Heller was once called "the indefatigable photographer of the Modoc War." Of the nearly 100 images that exist of the infamous Modoc War, a set of Keller’s original 24 stereographs are kept at the University of Oregon, and a number of his over-sized photographs of the Modoc warriors are held at the National Anthropological Archives. 
According to the Yreka Journal:

            “Louis Heller returned from lava bed last week, and is now busy finishing up some beautiful and accurate views of the country in that section, including pictures of Jack's cave, Scarfaced Charley's hole, groups of Warm Spring Indians (scouts), soldiers camps, Tule Lake, and the lava bed in sections and in full..." This photo shows Schonchin and Jack. "Captain Jack" (Kientpoos) was the leader of the Modocs; originally for peace, he was hung. Truly, the Modoc War was a tragic event for all.

Again, according to the news article, regarding Heller: "Mr. Heller intends getting a copyright for his [Modoc] views, which cannot be excelled for beauty, shade and artistic finish, he being one of the most accurate and ingenious photographers on this coast. When they are ready for sale, they will undoubtedly sell with a rush, as everyone wants to see what the lava bed looks like, and to form an idea of the hard place soldiers have been obliged to fight the Indians[Yreka Journal, May 14, 1873]. Heller’s photographs were then mass-produced at Watkins' Gallery in San Francisco where". . . 20 women and a number of  'Chinamen' (are) being kept constantly at work" (Yreka Journal, June 25, 1873).  The photographic postcards sold for $4 per dozen. Today these are important historic relics.

After the Modoc War of 1872-73, Heller returned to Scott Valley and his private studio. This photo of a young boy comes from Fort Jones, but there is no identification. Notice the elaborate "setting" or vignette Heller created for his subjects.

Heller continued to travel all over Siskiyou County and beyond, but he also served as a justice of the peace for the valley from 1878-79 and as postmaster for Fort Jones from 1894-98. A long-time bachelor, he eventually married Alice Daggett, the sister of John Daggett (owner of the Black Bear Mine who also served as CA lieutenant governor and Superintendent of the Mint in San Francisco).  Heller opened a pharmacy in Fort Jones, alongside his studio, nothing that he had been “a thorough druggist of many years experiences previous to locating in Fort Jones.”

To keep up with the times, he added several photographic services usually available only in metropolitan studios. One of these was the hand-painting of imperial-sized portraits.

Heller gave up photography in 1899, and in 1900, his home, studio, and private property, including his photographic equipment, were sold at public auction. His wife died before him and he spent his remaining years in the King’s Daughters’ Home in San Francisco, where he died in 1928.

The fact remains that Heller was the first to photograph the Modoc War, being the first to arrive at the lava beds with his camera, the first to publish Modoc imagery in a national publication, and the first to photograph the Modoc captives. In addition, he captured hundreds of family portraits that are an integral part of Siskiyou County and local history.

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Gail L. Jenner is a multi-published author of historical fiction, 
published by Prairie Rose Publications, as well as regional and local history, including ACROSS THE SWEET GRASS HILLS, Winner of the WILLA Literary Award, from Women Writing the West.


For more, visit: www.gailjenner.com or https://www.amazon.com/Gail-Fiorini-Jenner/e/B005GHR47O.