This is the eighth webpage of photographs from the collection of Private First Class William Edward Plocharski / Planter of the US Marine Corps, who took these photos during his deployment in Las Segovias, Nicaragua, over a period of two years, from January 1928 to December 1929.

     The larger photos were scanned in high resolution (600 dpi).  The smaller photos (of individual pages of the photo album) were taken at lower resolution but show the captions, and for that reason are included here.  For a full high-resolution image of each photo, click on the thumbnail image on the right-hand side of each Photo ID banner.

     This collection has never been published anywhere else.  I first learned of it in January 2018 thanks to the kind courtesy of Private Plocharski's (Mr. Planter's) daughter, Patricia Barrow of Houston, Texas. I thank Patricia Barrow and her family for their generosity in making these photographs available and permitting their publication here.

Caption:  "Natives turning their rifles and getting 10 Dollars a piece for them." 

A wonderful photo capturing a key historical moment in Nicaraguan history.  Liberal soldiers turned in their rifles for $10 each in the aftermath of the Espino Negro Accord of 4 May 1927 -- so this photo must date to May or June 1927.

No caption. 

Some 43 people in this photograph, all but one of them men & boys from what I can tell, gathered next to a large building in a town, with the forested hills in the near distance suggesting a rural area in Las Segovias.  A spectacle of some kind is unfolding in the open field; exactly what kind of spectacle is not clear.  It doesn't look like a ball game . . . 

Above:  a blurred, barely visible woman stands in her doorway watching the events from a distance, through a crowd of men and boys -- an expression of the cultural restriction of women's and girls' activities to the domestic sphere of the household, in contrast to the active role played by men and boys in the wider, public sphere.

Caption:  "Jalapa Nic. 46th Co. Baseball Team"

Caption:  "Calle leading to the marine camp". 

Another wonderful photo, in a bigger town or city with electricity, judging from the electrical poles marching down the left side of the street.  What looks to be an elderly woman stands in front of the first house at left, her head draped, directly facing the person snapping the photograph.  Unless Pvt. Plocharski was at the head of a column, which seems unlikely, he probably took this photo while out for a walk.

Caption:  "Jalapa Nic. 46th Co. playing against 52nd Co. for the 11 Regt."

Caption:  "Crater Lake Managua". 

Caption:  "52nd Co. leaving Jalapa." 

Another wonderful photo that captures an ordinary moment of movement and action among a large number of men and horses & mules (by my count, 15 men and 13 horses & mules).  The seated Marine at center-left below, and the other men standing still, suggest that this was a slow, deliberate departure from Jalapa.  The shadows of the horses and the sunshine reflecting from the building suggest a sunny morning around 8 o'clock. At least three men in light-colored shirts and tall sombreros, apparently Nicaraguans, can be seen among the darker-uniformed Marines.

No caption:  "Jinotega Nic.  Natives having a Fiesta."

Yet another gem of a photograph:  a Jinotega bullfight.  Three men carry specially crafted muletas (capes), probably made of bull-hide.  Two of the muleta-sporting men stride toward the third man in front of them, who straddles a just-downed bull whose muzzle is about to scrape the dust.  A semi-circle of men facing the just-downed bull stands at the ready, poised to join the fray, while men on horseback watch from the rear.  Behind them stands the crowd on the other side of corral fence.

Caption:  "AFTER BOMBARDMENT  Chinandega, Nic."  "23"

The caption refers to the burning of Chinandega by Conservative forces in February 1927, during the Civil War of 1926-27 that led to the US intervention and the Sandino rebellion.  The US Marines were not involved in the Chinandega events.  Evidence indicates that the town was burned by the Conservative defenders, not the handful of hand-thrown bombs of the two US mercenaries hired by the Conservative forces defending the city from a Liberal attack.  These events took place months before Pvt. Plocharski arrived in Nicaragua, so this is doubtless a reprint (also suggested by the "23" at lower-left).  Obscured fragments and shadows of letters appear under the words, "Chinandega, Nic."  Unknown what the obscured words might have once said.

Caption:  "Church in Dario." 

A lovely photo of a beautiful church.