Buena Vista Plowing

This photograph was taken by Edward Muybridge, who was most famous for his photographic studies of animals and people in motion.These two photos are not quite identical–they were probably taken at the same instant by two different cameras. When viewed through a stereoscope they produce the illusion of three dimensions. Buena Vista Vineyards is one of the oldest vineyards in Sonoma Valley, founded by Agostin Haraszthy in 1857. Note how bare the hills the background are, probably the result of intentional burning by native peoples followed by woodcutting during the Mexican and early American eras.