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Daredevil Equestrienne and Advocate for the Blind

This original photograph captures the astonishing sight of Sonora Carver (1904-2003), the renowned horse diver, astride her horse Red Lips, mid-flight, as they leap off a high platform. This moment frozen in time symbolizes Carver's fearlessness and skill, while representing the unique and now mostly defunct tradition of horse diving.

In the early 20th century horse diving was a popular spectacle at venues like Atlantic City's Steel Pier. Audiences would gather to watch as daring women, including Carver, would mount their steeds and jump off towering platforms into bodies of water below. The act was as much a display of the horses' training as it was a testament to the riders' courage and ability to control the animals. It is important to note that such practices have since become rightly recognized as harmful to the animals and have been discontinued.

Sonora Carver's career was marked not only by her breathtaking feats as a horse diver but also by her personal trials. After a severe injury during a 1931 dive, in which she hit the water with her eyes open, she suffered retinal detachment and subsequent loss of vision. Despite her vision impairment, she continued to perform blind for another 11 years, until 1942. 

Carver later became an advocate for the blind and the visually impaired, using her notoriety to promote understanding and support for those facing similar challenges. This photograph stands as a testament to her perseverance and determination as an entertainer in the practice of her craft. It is a window into a bygone era of the carnivalesque quality of popular early 20th-century entertainment that also happened to be genuinely dangerous for the performers.

Robert E. Callahan and the Mission Village

The photograph is inscribed to Robert E. Callahan and autographed by Sonora Carver "and Red Lips" in a child-like hand likely the result of her blindness. Robert Callahan is remembered for his touristy Mission Village theme park. The colorful themed tourist attraction and auto court in Culver City comprised 15 Spanish-style buildings and 26 Indian pueblos. As described in the L.A. Times: "Completed is a Fiesta Hall, an old trading post, constructed out of weathered beams and cross ties, and a '49 museum with $25,000 inlaid mahogany bar shipped from one of the historic mining towns of Northern California. The museum has been equipped with several hundred relics of Kit Carson, the Custer battlefield, of the days of Ramona, and other pieces around which thrilling stories of the Indian and pioneer are told."

The auto court offered accommodations for the motoring public. The venue opened with an elaborate entertainment program on July 23, 1932. After decades of success, in 1962 the state of California decided to construct the Santa Monica 10 Freeway right through the Village. Callahan would have to pack up and move elsewhere.