Milestones, great and small

History is in the eye of the beholder - or, in this case, the eye of the photographer. Many of the photographs we received from Monitor readers for this series recorded "grand moments" of one kind or another.

Some of these moments are written in history books: earthquakes, the taming of America's western frontier, world war. Other moments are personal ones written in many ways on many hearts: a son's first haircut, a child's first fish, a granddaughter's memorable day at the beach.

History is a record of moments. Here are some of the moments we've selected.

*The first installment of this series appeared July 12 (Page 18). A third will appear next month. You can view a computer 'slide show' of these images on our Web site: www.csmonitor.com/snapshots.html

1) SAN FRANCISCO - APRIL 1906 Photographer: Bryant Barber Bryant Barber took a ferry from the San Francisco suburb of Mill Valley a few days after the earthquake and fire that destroyed five square miles of the city. Experts estimate that the quake was exceptionally strong, having a 7.7 magnitude. But by 1915, the city had been completely rebuilt, and all traces of the disaster were gone. (Photo courtesy of Roger Barber, son of the photographer.)

2) SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO 1915 Photographer unknown Workers string electrical wires across the southern New Mexico desert from the gold-mining town of White Oaks to the nearby gold-mining camp of Parsons. (Photo provided by Ann Buffington, with the permission of local historian Johnson Stearns.)

3) KOOTENAY LAKE, KASLO, BRITISH COLUMBIA - SUMMER, 1924 Photographer: Mary G. Passage Two-year-old Douglas Passage displays the first fish he ever caught, after an outing with his grandfather. (Photo provided by the Rev. Douglas Passage, the subject of the image and son of the photographer.)

4) HUBBERATH, GERMANY - MARCH 10, 1945 Photographer: Unidentified US Army Signal Corpsman 'C' Company, 304th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division leaves Hubberath for Wittlich, Germany. Of 120 men who left Camp McCoy, Wis., in October 1944, only three returned. (John T. Haldane, who provided the photo, is the fifth man in the column of soldiers nearest the camera.)

5) OREGON COAST - JULY 4, 1945 Photographer: George or Hazel Dunmire A young Gale Dunmire enjoys a fine holiday with her grandparents. The blimp was stationed on the coast to watch for invading Japanese submarines. The end of World War II was five weeks away. (Photo courtesy of Gale Dunmire Clausnitzer.)

6) MAGNOLIA VILLAGE, SEATTLE - 1952 Photographer: Aldie Amundson Dean Amundson, age 2, is a little apprehensive about having his hair cut for the first time. (Courtesy of the photographer.)

7) BALLWIN, MO. JULY 16, 1969 Photographer: Millie Cawlfield Daniel Cawlfield, age

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