Career
He was also the brother of Edward H. Rulloff, a notorious murderer who was hanged for his crime in 1871. Born the youngest of six children in Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada, Rulofson left his family and came to California during the Gold Rush. The reunited family then returned to Sonora.
At one time, the city of Sonora was destroyed by fire, but the mobile studio was saved thanks to a team of oxen.
In 1861, Rulofson moved to San Francisco and joined Bradley"s studio. The pair were responsible for numerous portraits of leading Californians and also were noted for publishing the works of Eadweard Muybridge.
He even testified on Muybridge"s behalf when the latter was on trial for the murder of his wife"s lover (he was acquitted, the act having been ruled as justifiable homicide). Rulofson"s photographic talent was renowned.
He was also a founding member as well as the official photographer of the Bohemian Club.
On one occasion, when taking official photographs of the fortress Alcatraz Island for the Department of War, he was arrested as a Confederate spy but was released. Rulofson also gained some notoriety for his role in the publication of the satirical The Dance of Death. A man engaged in the dance is described: "his eyes, gleaming with a fierce intolerable lust, gloat satyr-like over." Bierce later said, "Rulofson.. suggested the scheme and supplied the sinews of sin." Rulofson himself said of the book, "I have shown society what a loathsome ulcer festers in its midst.".