Four Marines seated outdoors, no caption, no date.  Rather an odd seating arrangement & image; formal body language and arrangment of chairs mixed with an extremely informal setting; note the pile of freshly-dug earth behind the men, also seen in the photo below.  A foundation for a new building?  A latrine?  The papers hanging on the board against the building suggest this might be a Marine Corps barracks.

Two Marines and one native seated in the same location as the photo above -- same chairs and same time of day, judging from the shadows.  In this photo too, all three evince serious countenances and exude formality of presentation in a very informal setting, though in this image the bare feet of the native contrast sharply with the well-shod feet of his companions.  These two photos together show seven North Americans and one Nicaraguan.  Wonder who he was?

"Election Day in the Hills, San Lucas, Nic. Nov. 4, 1928"   A very big day, in fact, on which turned much of the political violence of the preceding 18 months, with this place as one of its epicenters.  One can count at least 70 people in the voting queue, and a handful of Marines (or native Guardia or officials) outside the line. The village of San Lucas near Somoto was & is a fascinating place, with its long & convoluted history of political violence, indigenous struggle, and borderlands-related conflicts.

"Somoto, Nicaragua.  Graves of two Marines killed in action, one Dec. 1927; one Feb. 1928. —"

Marines butchering a calf in the field. The question of what soldiers eat opens up the bigger question of how states pay for war, the answers to which varied & on which hinged many of the dynamics of this entire period. Did the four leathernecks pictured here buy this calf? Probably, though it's impossible to know in this case, since the Marines both purchased & stole food from natives depending on a host of variables. This must have been a very common sight.

Segovian mountains draped in fog.  Somoto Valley?

Fog-enshrouded mountains in this series probably from 1928 around Somoto-San Lucas.

Fog-enshrouded valley, probably around Somoto-San Lucas, ca. 1928.

Another fog-enshrouded valley, probably around Somoto-San Lucas, ca. 1928.

A mounted Marine patrol ascends a hill, probably around Somoto-San Lucas, ca. 1928.   Below:  close up of the central part of photo.

Village nestled in the mountains in the Western Segovias.   Below:  close up of the central part of photo.

Magnificent view of Segovian mountains, with Marine patrol in foreground.

Village, or perhaps a mining operation, nestled in the Segovian mountains; close up of central part of photo below.  Note the multi-story building, what appear to be conveyor-belt like structures, and the large barracks-like building at right.

"Volunteer forces between Santa María and Yucatál, Nicaragua"; the same photo published elsewhere with the foregoing caption.

Volunteer forces on the same day and in the same area as the photo above.