Photographic Memory: The Beginning of Exploration

Before the first Socal geologists landed on the beachhead at Jubail on September 23, 1933, there was Karl Twichell. At an invitation from King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al-Sa’ud, Twichell, a mining engineer from Vermont, crossed the Arabian Peninsula to assess and make a report on the Kingdom’s mineral resources. He was ultimately to make four such crossings and was to prove instrumental in helping the early Socal arrivals get established. Here, Twichell’s caravan stops to make camp for the night at Afif on May 11, 1932. (Photo by Karl S. Twichell)