J. Richard Challacombe moved from St. Louis, Missouri to California as a teenager in the late 1930s. During World War II he served in a Civilian Public Service Camp in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. After the war he worked as a photojournalist. His images and stories have been published in such periodicals as National Geographic, Holiday, Arizona Highways, Westways. His film Conquest of Giants, which documents the early logging of the giant sequoia in the Sierra Nevada and the origins of the wildlife conservation movement in California, was released in 1968.
From the description of J. Richard Challacombe photograph collection pertaining to the early logging of giant sequoia in the Sierra Nevada [graphic]. ca. 1870-ca. 1985, bulk 1885-1905. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 729255136
