The young condor did well for a number 
of years until it tragically succumbed to 
the effects of swallowing a rubber band. 
The year 1906 also saw Finley’s mar- 
riage to Irene Barhart. Finley and Bohl- 
man worked closely together for the last 
time during the summer of 1912, when 
they revisited many of their old haunts; 
in subsequent years, Finley’s fieldwork 
was primarily shared by his wife. The 
Finleys also wrote several books and 
numerous magazine articles together. 
For many years, Finley was a chief 
contributor to Nature magazine, which 
was incorporated into Natural History 
in the 1950s. 
In his lifetime, Finley produced more 
than 50,000 still photographs (many 
with Bohlman) and 200,000 feet of mo- 
tion picture film on various natural his- 
tory subjects. His productivity was not 
Below: Finley and Bohlman 
photograph a pintail duck in 
southeastern Oregon 's Klamath Marsh 
in 1905. Right: Three years later they 
found this black-crowned night heron 
in Malheur Marsh, to the east. 
limited, however, to photography and 
writing; Finley was also involved 
throughout his life in conservation ac- 
tivities. Among other appointments, 
Finley served as president of the Oregon 
Audubon Society, and vice-president of 
the Isaak Walton League of America 
and the National Wildlife Federation; 
he also established and headed, as state 
game warden, Oregon’s Fish and Game 
Department. He spoke out perhaps most 
strongly for the protection of the waters 
and wildlife of his home state against 
the extremes of commercialism, but he 
also traveled across the country giving 
lectures on wildlife and conservation. 
The respect with which he was looked 
upon is exemplified by the thoughts of 
the cartoonist and champion of conser- 
vation Jay Norwood (“Ding”) Darling 
in a personal letter sent to Finley on his 
seventieth birthday: “Among all the 
friends with whom we have worked you 
have been the only one who was militant 
enough to suit me. Your vigor of state- 
ments and your vision matched the 
great objectives for which we fought.” 
The photographs on these pages, which 
were taken in the days of close associ- 
ation with Bohlman, clearly show that 
Finley’s commitment to conservation 
was equaled by his dedication to bird 
photography. 
Worth Mathewson, a free-lance writer, 
has been a student of William Finley’s 
life for twenty-five years. He and Mar- 
garet Thompson Mathewson, a physi- 
cian, have spent many hours tracking 
down glass negatives, movies, and other 
materials pertaining to Finley and Her- 
man T. Bohlman. 
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