Photographs from the J. D. Black Papers, Loyola Marymount University, recording the American West in the Owens Valley of California from 1875 to 1930. This on-line exhibit depicts the people of the valley and their rural way of life centered on small towns, farming, ranching, and mining. Represented as well are neighboring mining towns in Nevada, closely connected economically and socially to the Owens Valley. Noteworthy also are the photographs of the water wars of the 1920s between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley, the defining moment in the valley's modern history.

About the J. D. Black Papers