Reader Photo: Goodbye, Death Valley
When California Gold Rush seekers rolled their wagons through a dry valley in 1849, not everyone in the group lived to tell the tale. In their escape, one of the survivors said “Goodbye, Death Valley.” The name stuck.
Every time Donald Danlag looks at this photo he shot of a lifeless tree in Death Valley fading into the sunset, he is reminded of the area’s history.
“I wanted to take a photo that has an emotional connection to the place,” he said. “One that reminds me of the story of a certain group of people who came to California to chase a dream, no different than the dreams of Californians today.”
He captured this image from a low angle with his Fujifilm X-T1 near the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, where he had just enough time to snap an image before the sun completely went away.
Before Death Valley was given its English name, it was home to the Timbisha Shoshone tribe, who inhabited the region for at least 1,000 years and continue to live there today.
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Each week, we’re featuring photos of Southern California and California submitted by readers. Share your photos on our Flickr page or tag your photos with #socalmoments or #californiamoments on Instagram and Twitter. Follow us on Twitter or visit latimes.com/socalmoments for more on this photo series.
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