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O.T. Davis - Colorado Pioneer Photographer

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O.T. Davis - Colorado Pioneer Photographer

O.T. Davis (1859-1945) Pioneer Photographer in Southern Colorado beginning in 1888. Prior to that he worked on railroads, copper mines and was a rancher.

This page is dedicated to my Great Grand Uncle Ory Thomas Davis. I inherited many of his photographs from my father. After my grandfather's passing, when my dad was only 2 years old, Uncle Ory helped my grandmother raise my dad and uncle. I hope to share these photographs and the history behind them, as well as insight into this amazing man that I've heard about for most my life. - Debbie Davis Tr

autmann

THE ALAMOSA DAILY COURIER SEP 24, 1945 V.18 #103 FRONT PAGE
O.T. DAVIS, 86, CITY PIONEER, DIES SATURDAY (Sept 22, 1945)
O.T Davis, 86 well known photographer in Alamosa since the year 1906, died at the Worth home at 403 Eighth street at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Recently retired from active life as a photographer, Davis has been in ill health for some time. He was a former U.S. district commissioner for about 14 years. Davis was born in Decatur County, Iowa in 1859 and later lived in Nebraska where his father homesteaded starting a farm with three yoke of oxen and a cow. His mother became one of the first school teachers in the state of Nebraska. As a young man Davis became interested in mining and as a member of a mining company force was sent to Colorado. In this state he and several others of the company operated the Pass Creek copper mine. When the mine failed, Davis took up a ranch at the head of Pass Creek and ran a small herd of cattle. Because of dry weather he gave up the ranch and entered photography in 1888 in Walsenburg. For a number of years Davis worked as a photographer in the coal mines at Hastings. Hearing of an opening in this line of work in Alamosa he came here and started in business above the old American National bank. He later removed his site to the Empertus building and from there moved to his present location on Fourth Street. THE LA VETA ADVERTISER FRIDAY OCT 12, 1945
EARLY DAY RESIDENT HERE DIES AT ALAMOSA
O.T. Davis, early day photographer and miner of La Veta, died last month at the age of 86 at the Worth home in Alamosa. Most of the pictures were taken by Mr. Davis, who operated a business here, some of the time in a tent pitched where the Hall filing station now stands.

05/28/2018

Giving tribute to veterans and all the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy today...we are forever grateful. God Bless America!🇺🇸

These photos were taken at La Veta, Colorado pioneer cemetery.
Ory Thomas Davis’ family who served:
His brother, Corin F. Davis, nephew, Floyd S. Davis and grand nephew, Charles J. Davis.
O.T. Davis rests in the same plot along with his parents, Sylvester J. and Lavina Davis.

01/01/2018

At age 36, O.T. Davis married his second wife, Viola Wheeler in Walsenburg, Colorado on June 11, 1895. Viola was born on October 11, 1859 in Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois to Alfred Wheeler and Lucinda McLallin. She grew up in Illinois and in 1876, at the age of 16, married her first husband Jake Reimal. They moved to Gardner, Kansas where they were living in 1880. They were married until 1893 when Jake married his third wife. During their 17 year marriage, Viola had no children with Jake, but was a stepmother to Jake’s son from his previous marriage. Their marriage must have been troublesome enough that she re-assumed her maiden name of Wheeler. She then traveled to Colorado the following couple of years, making it her home.

At the age of 35, Viola married Ory Davis and they also had no children. After WWI, at the beginning of the Roaring Twenties, Viola and Ory were in their early 60’s and living in Alamosa, Colorado. The Davis Home Gallery portrait photography studio in Alamosa was in full swing. However, ten years later during the great depression, hard times must have fallen on the photography business. At 72 years old, Viola was listed in the 1930 Alamosa, CO census as a Rest Room Matron.

Ory and Viola were married for over 40 years, so it is strange to find that in 1940, Ory was living alone in Alamosa, while Viola was living in the Woodcraft Home for the Aged in Riverside, California. At the age of 80, she was possibly living there due to dementia or other health issues. It does explain, however, why she wasn’t buried next to Ory, a widower at the time of his passing.

Viola Wheeler Davis
O.T. Davis Photo - 1895

02/28/2016

In 1906, O.T. heard of an opening in his line of work in Alamosa, Colorado. Alamosa Journal – December 22, 1905:
"O.T. Davis, the Walsenburg photographer was in Alamosa Monday making arrangements to open up an up-to-date picture gallery. The room over Ambler’s real estate office will be repaired and fitted up and Mr. Davis will locate permanently with us. He will open up the 15th of January or possibly sooner. His work ranks with the best in southern Colorado."

In 1917, Ory moved his business again to another location in Alamosa in the Emperius building. Alamosa Journal – May 10, 1917:
"O.T. Davis, the photographer, has purchased the gallery, equipment and business formerly conducted by C.B. Shepard, thus consolidating the photo business. O.T. is a live wire and is one of the best photographers in the state."
The Emperious Building (built in1908; additions 1920-21) was built by the noted entrepreneurial Emperius family. The building is currently part of the “Downtown Alamosa Walking Tour” and is listed in the Alamosa Historic building Registry as of 2005.
From the Emperius building he moved to his studio to its final place of business on Fourth Street.

Ory was quoted in a newspaper article in 1939:
“When I first came to Alamosa it was a small town with only a few stores and streets. The first automobile to come to Alamosa was brought in by Cliff West and Dick Blakey. At just about the same time, Dr. C.L. Orr also sported a Ford.....Ory recalled many such interesting events in the town and is among Alamosa’s oldest businessmen." Ory had a great love of Alamosa, Colorado. Although he had taken brief trips to Mexico and Wyoming, he was always glad to get back “home” to Alamosa, Colorado. While living in Alamosa Ory also served as the County Commissioner for about 14 years.

09/01/2015

You may have seen the sculpture of the big blue bear peeking into the front window of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado...but if you look on the exterior south side of the building you will see this a 20' x 40' tile mural. This is a re-creation of an original photo taken by O.T. Davis in 1894 of three women branding a calf on a San Luis Valley Ranch in Southern Colorado.

07/12/2015

Photo taken in Alamosa, Colorado of O.T. Davis with one of his cats. He was probably in his 80's when this was taken...so sometime in the early 1940's.

05/25/2015

O.T. Davis photo of his grand nephew - Charles J. Davis, Sr. (1919-1981) in his flight gear. He was a Sergeant in the 20th Air Force during WWII - 45th Bomb Squadron - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign.
Today we give thanks to all the service men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. We are forever grateful to them and to all who have made sacrifices and continue to serve our country for our freedom. God Bless America!

05/10/2015

Happy Mother's Day!
O.T. Davis photo taken in 1923 at his Alamosa, Colorado studio of his brother Corin Davis' grandson, Charles J. Davis (1919-1981) of Alamosa, Colorado and Charles' mother Lucienne Blondeau Davis (1895-1978) of Nevers, France.

05/03/2015

Photos of Davis Studio on Fourth Street in Alamosa, Colorado.

Here is part of the history of how O.T. Davis got his start in photography and the studios that he owned and operated during his career:

In 1885, O.T. worked at a copper mine near Pass Creek just west of La Veta Pass. When the mines failed, he briefly took up a ranch at the head of Pass Creek and ran a small herd of cattle. Because of dry weather, he gave up the ranch and entered photography in 1888. His first studio was in a tent in Walsenburg, Colorado and his first assignment was with the Hesperus Mining Company to take photographs of their mines. For a number of years he worked as a photographer in the coal mines at Hastings, Colorado. He was not only hired as a photographer for mining companies, but also by land developers to help promote their properties.

In the early 1890's O.T. Davis would pitch his photography tent in La Veta, Colorado where the Hall filing station once stood and take the earliest photos of the town and its residents.

In 1906, O.T. heard of an opening in his line of work in Alamosa, Colorado. Alamosa Journal – December 22, 1905:
"O.T. Davis, the Walsenburg photographer was in Alamosa Monday making arrangements to open up an up-to-date picture gallery. The room over Ambler’s real estate office will be repaired and fitted up and Mr. Davis will locate permanently with us. He will open up the 15th of January or possibly sooner. His work ranks with the best in southern Colorado." In 1917, Ory moved his business again to another location in Alamosa in the Emperius building. Alamosa Journal – May 10, 1917:
"O.T. Davis, the photographer, has purchased the gallery, equipment and business formerly conducted by C.B. Shepard, thus consolidating the photo business. O.T. is a live wire and is one of the best photographers in the state."

The Emperious Building (built in1908; additions 1920-21) was built by the noted entrepreneurial Emperius family. The building is currently part of the “Downtown Alamosa Walking Tour” and is listed in the Alamosa Historic building Registry as of 2005.
From the Emperius building he moved to his studio to its final place of business on Fourth Street.

Ory was quoted in a newspaper article in 1939:
“When I first came to Alamosa it was a small town with only a few stores and streets. The first automobile to come to Alamosa was brought in by Cliff West and Dick Blakey. At just about the same time, Dr. C.L. Orr also sported a Ford.....Ory recalled many such interesting events in the town and is among Alamosa’s oldest businessmen." Ory had a great love of Alamosa, Colorado. Although he had taken brief trips to Mexico and Wyoming, he was always glad to get back “home” to Alamosa, Colorado. While living in Alamosa Ory also served as the County Commissioner for about 14 years.

04/28/2015

O.T. Davis took this photograph of his grand nephews, Charles J. Davis (1919-1981) and George J. Davis (1918-2007), at his photography studio on 4th Street in Alamosa, Colorado.

03/08/2015

O.T. Davis Photo - Group out to try new coffee -
J.S.B Coffee from J.S. Brown Merchantile Company, Denver, Colorado. The company building, located at 1634 Eighteenth Street, was constructed in 1899 and added to the National Historic Register in 1988.
O.T Davis’ mother, Lavina Thomas Davis (standing on the right of the car helping her grandson Floyd Davis hold one of O.T.’s cameras) had said that the coffee was “Simply the best”.

02/07/2015

Smith or Mountain Home Reservoir, Costilla County, Colorado - O.T. Davis photo - February 5, 1909

12/17/2014

On December 17, 1880, O.T. (Ory Thomas) Davis was part of the entertainment program at his high school in Hebron, Nebraska.

O.T. Davis was extremely proud of his heritage. He researched and compiled the beginnings of the Davis genealogy. Ory's family traces their origin to Cardiff, Wales in about 1730. They traveled to America and settled in what was known as the Pencader Hundred, a portion of the large Quaker settlement around Philadelphia.

Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa on October 17, 1859, his parents were Sylvester J. Davis (1835-1912) and Lavina Thomas Davis (1837-1916). Lavina Davis was the youngest of 13 children by John and Rebecca Packer of Quaker descent in Pennsylvania. O.T.’s siblings were Myron (died at age 2), Julian (died at age 3) and Corin Frantz Davis (1865-1921). O.T.’s parents were farmers and due to the Homestead Act of 1862, were able to take three yoke of oxen and a cow and journeyed to eastern Nebraska, where Sylvester J. (S.J.) Davis took up a homestead. Lavina became one of the first teachers in the State of Nebraska.

While living in Nebraska Sylvester trapped in the winter and gained profit from wolf and mink pelts. When O.T. was 15 years of age, his family moved to a neighboring county of Nebraska, where they took up a timber claim. But grasshoppers and dry weather struck and they had to secure supplies from the government in order to keep their business going. They were able to build their own mill and house with the help of oxen.

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300 E Grand St
La Veta, CO
81055

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