Smithers, W.D. (Wilfred Dudley), 1895-1981

Wilfred Dudley Smithers was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, August 31, 1895, where his father was employed as a bookkeeper for the American Mine and Smelting Company. When he was 10, his family moved to San Antonio, Texas. He started his career in commercial photography in 1910, taking pictures at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio of pioneer aviation. He became an aerial photographer for the U.S. Army Aviation Service during World War I and he worked with the Army Civil Service as a wagon master, until his retirement shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

Between 1935-1939, under a contract with the International Boundary and Water Commission, Smithers photographed the entire U.S.-Mexican Border from Brownsville, Texas to San Diego, California. During the 1930s, while living in El Paso, he also took photographs for the U.S. Border Patrol. He had opened a commercial photography shop in San Antonio in the 1920s and after his retirement from the Army, moved the shop to Alpine, Texas, where he operated it for another 30 years. While living in Alpine, Smithers wrote articles for the El Paso Times, Sul Ross Quarterly, and Western Horseman . In 1974, he moved back to El Paso from Alpine and remained there until his death.

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