People resting in the Presidio

The back of this sketch is inscribed, “In the Presidio barracks, along the shore, there is a greenwood with leafy shade. There people gather to relieve their thirst and exhaustion.” Obata’s picture of the scene shows three men facing away, their shoulders hunched with fatigue as they quench their thirst from the jugs to their right. Will the lush scenery around them help refresh their spirits?

After the earthquake four refugee camps were established in the Presidio. The location shown here may be a spot near Marshall Beach, which was close to Camp 3. Set in an isolated, windy area above the Pacific shore on the West side of the Presidio, Camp 3 was reserved for refugees from Chinatown.

Watercolors from the series San Francisco after the Earthquake
The watercolors in this series begin on April 25, exactly a week after the earthquake and three days after the fires subsided. Binding holes across the top show that the pages were once part of a sketchbook. This group includes several locations of special significance to Asian Americans living in San Francisco at that time.