H.C. Tibbitts

Howard Clinton Tibbitts (1863-1937) was a San Francisco-based photographer famous for his photographic documentation of the American West. Starting in 1892, Tibbitts worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad for over 40 years. His job was to photograph landscapes, towns, agriculture, and other local scenes that would help to promote the railroad among the wider public.

During his tenure, Tibbitts created countless images of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, making him one of the most important documentarians of his age. His work was often published in the railroad’s magazine, Sunset, which endeavored to show California and Nevada as something other than the ‘Wild West.’

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