Eight Candid Photographs of Camp Life in Preparation for the Spanish-American War

United States and the Philippines: West’s Studio and others, 1900. Eight photographs mounted on heavy cardstock, measuring 5 ½ x 6 ¼ inches and smaller. Some with manuscript captions verso. Some with manuscript captions verso. Some staining and damage to mounts, especially at corners; overall excellent.. A collection of eight photographs from the Spanish-American War, with seven of stateside training camp scenes and one portrait of an unknown soldier taken at Fort McKinley near Manila. Three are captioned verso, identifying their locations as Camp Presidio, San Francisco; Camp Powers, Augusta, Maine (now Camp Keyes); and Savannah, Georgia, likely Camp Onward. The latter photo, which depicts a Thanksgiving scene, also mentions in its caption that “Robert Golding was in the Army in Savannah at that time.” Golding, from Eastport, Maine, was in Company I of the 2nd Infantry Regiment; interviews with Golding about his life and experience in the war are available from the American Folklore Society. (Note that the portrait does not appear to be of Golding.) Besides Thanksgiving, shots include several of soldiers posing in front of their tents, one of a haircut at the Presidio, and an excellent shot from Augusta of a soldier being tossed in the air on a makeshift trampoline. Of interest to historians of the Spanish-American War and US training camps from the time.