Looking Back’s theme for 2025 featured Thurston County area photographers, artists, and their subjects. Robert Esterly was an early owner of a shingle mill at Tumwater Falls. He was also a talented photographer. In this photo from the late 1800s, said to be in part a self-portrait, he and his companions proudly show the result of a successful bear hunt.
Esterly photograph, courtesy Washington State Historical Society, catalog 2010.149.57
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2025