Michigan-born Lee Pickett moved in 1910 to the Cascade Mountains town of Index in Snohomish County, Washington. He photographed the construction of some of the first passable roads in the county, and during the 1920s he worked for the Great Northern Railway Company, documenting improvements in the line. A major improvement was the construction of the eight-mile Cascade Tunnel from Berne to Scenic as protection against avalanches and adverse weather. After the project was finished, Pickett returned to freelance work, often taking logging and mining camp photographs for insurance purposes. Pickett quit photography in the late 1940s and died in 1959.
From the description of Lee Pickett photographs, ca. 1911-1940s [graphic]. ca. 1911-1940s. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 52942268
