1920's/30's
Dawson oxwagon
Photographer: Unknown
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 412
|
Oxwagons were the main means of
transport for early settlers. Wagon routes crisscrossed the country, many land
owners were (and are) obligated to provide outspan areas in their title deeds.
Trips could be months long, meat was provided by shooting game, vegetables were
often mushrooms grown in trays under the wagons.
|
1920's/30's
Florence Mission
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 425
|
Florence Mission, near Hluti,
photographed by its founder.
|
1920's/30's
Florence Mission Buggy
Photographer: Unknown
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 420
|
Rev. Dawson out for a buggy ride.
Florence Mission.
|
1920's/30's
Florence Mission Ehletsheni Kraal
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 422
|
A traditional homestead at
Ehletsheni.
|
1920's/30's
Florence Mission Ladder
Photographer: Unknown
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 423
|
Rev. Dawson was a keen photographer,
here he gets a little height for his composition, assisted by Alan
Middleton.
|
1920's/30's
Florence Mission Oxen Express
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 426
|
Oxen were used to pull wagons and to
plough. As late as the 1950's a team of good ploughing oxen was worth as much
as a tractor. The small church in the background was built by Bill Dawson II at
the age of fifteen.
|
1920's/30's
Generic Town
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 428
|
Towns of the late 1880's to the
1920's were very similar. Many of the buildings were of corrugated iron. They
were prefabricated and designed to fit into oxwagons. This suited the boom and
bust spirit of the times, where town populations follwed news of the latest
mineral strike. These houses are the equivalent of the American Sears
houses.
|
1920's/30's
Hereford Bull
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 429
|
Settlers were constantly trying to
improve the bloodlines of the local Nguni or Afrikander cattle. A popular blend
was to introduce Herefords, like this bull. The result had increased bulk and
higher milk production.
|
1920's/30's
Howdy Pardner
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 431
|
A scene that looks right out of a
Western cowboy movie. This is not surprising as Swaziland had the same
conditions as the Wild West. Rich minerals, good grasslands for cattle and a
colonial power keen to take control. The man on the right is probably Henry
Anton Holtman.
|
1920's/30's
Komati Pont
Photographer: Rev. Dawson
Source: Dawson family |
Photo No. 434
|
Before bridges were built across
rivers, ponts were common. These were rafts that were pulled across the rivers
on cables. The pont across the Komati was built in the mid-1920's and replaced
by a bridge in the early sixties.
|
