William Henry Jackson on the 1872 Hayden Survey of the Teton Area
William Henry Jackson was born in 1843 in New York State. He served in the Civil War, and developed his ability as a painter before he became better known for his pioneering photographic work in the West. Jackson's exodus from the Eastern United States was hastened by a broken engagement, and he ended up settling in Omaha, Nebraska with his brother. He apparently served as a 'missionary" to indigenous people of the Great Plains, and he took some of the most incredible photos of his career of members of several Nations living on the Plains. Over the course of his 99 years, Mr. Jackson took over 80,000 photographs of the American West. At age 96, Jackson served as a consultant for the filming of Gone With the Wind.
Hopi Man circa 1885
Assiniboine Man-1879
In 1866, Jackson was hired to photograph scenic scenes along the Union Pacific Railroad lines going west. This led to his photos being seen by Frederick Hayden, who took him on Geologic and other surveys from 1870 through 1878. The iconic scenes you see immediately below are some of Jackson's famous photographs from the 1871 Yellowstone Region Survey.
All photos below by William Henry Jackson
Old Faithful-1871
Norris Geyser Basin-1871
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone-1871
These photographs were taken by William Henry Jackson under the most primitive of conditions. He hiked up and down mountains carrying some 80 pounds of photographic equipment to gather the incredible exposures that were later used by the United States Congress to designate Yellowstone as America's first National Park. In addition to William Henry Jackson, the brilliant landscape artist Thomas Moran accompanied the expedition. Jackson's use of the hot pools of Yellowstone to develop his photographs is a quaint piece of the Expedition's history.
Thomas Moran at the site of Sheridan, Wyoming on a bridge over Goose Creek-1871-All photos above by William Henry Jackson
Not only did the expedition have to cope with wilderness, but they also were deep in the territory of Indigenous Nations such as the Blackfeet, Crow, Lakota, and Shoshoni. Thomas Moran along with William Henry Jackson was hired to accompany the 1871 Hayden Survey. Many of the historians of the Hayden Survey and the Yellowstone Region credit both men with the persuasion of Congress to set aside Yellowstone as the nation and world's first National Park. Later, Thomas Moran accompanied the John Wesley Powell Grand Canyon Expedition.
In the early part of the 20th Century, Moran helped found the Taos Art Colony. Both Thomas Moran and Albert Bierstadt, another Western landscape artist, were Europeans who were inspired to travel the American West and document the wild land, indigenous people, and wildlife. Moran came to Philadelphia with his family when he was 16, and became an apprentice to a wood engraving firm. He began to paint and draw seriously, and was introduced to the work of James Hamilton, a British marine artist. Moran spent time back in London in his twenties studying the work of British landscape and marine painter JMW Turner. Upon his return, he went with Hayden and Jackson to the Yellowstone Region.
Thomas Moran by Napolean Sarony
There, he completed sketches and studies that led to the two influential paintings that were purchased by Congress for display in the U.S. Capitol. The purchase price, $10,000 for each painting, was unprecedented for purchase by the government of works of art. The two paintings, "The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone," and "The Chasm of The Colorado," were some of the first general depictions of the Yellowstone, Grand Canyon of the Colorado, and Yosemite regions.
The Grand Canyon of The Yellowstone-Thomas Moran
The Chasm of the Colorado-Thomas Moran
Moran painted over 400 paintings over the course of his 80 plus years of life. His later work on other parts of the Western United States was not as well known, but his growth as an artist can be seen as the years passed. Like Jackson, he lived a long and productive life, dying at age 89 in Santa Barbara, California. Here are a few more of his iconic paintings of the Western U.S.
Yellowstone Lake by Thomas Moran-1875
Old Faithful by Thomas Moran-1872
Wyoming Fall by Thomas Moran-1872
The Yellowstone River at It's Exit From Yellowstone Lake by Thomas Moran-1872
The Hot Springs of the Gardiner River-Upper Pools by Thomas Moran-1872
Mount Moran in Grand Teton National Park was named for Thomas Moran in recognition of his influence in preservation of the Greater Yellowstone/Teton Region.
As the railroads began to connect distant parts of America, the demand for scenic landscapes of The West grew. Numerous artists came West to document the indigenous peoples, scenery, and wildlife of the West. Besides Moran and Jackson, probably the most famous Western Landscape Artist of the latter 19th Century was Albert Bierstadt.
Albert Bierstadt 1885
Albert Bierstadt was born and raised in Germany. Like Moran, his family migrated to the U.S. when he was a young man. Like Moran, Bierstadt began painting the West by accompanying Frederick Lander, a land surveyor for the U.S. Government. Also like Moran, Bierstadt served in the Civil War, and began his career in large scale painting by painting scenes from the Civil War that had been photographed. Bierstadt was not as praised by art critics of his time as Moran, but his paintings sold for large sums. He was well known for his larger canvases, and also for his more idealized manner of showing scenes he painted. He would later paint scenes using dramatic features of nature to inspire awe in his viewers. Bierstadt shared a love of the West, and painted several Colorado and California landmarks like his fellow landscape artist, Thomas Moran. Bierstadt painted a number of scenes from Switzerland, especially such dramatic peaks as the Matterhorn and Wetterhorn. Bierstadt's dramatic interpretations of Western scenes captured my imagination at the Buffalo Bill Center, and I purchased a print of his Among the Sierra Nevada, California which I had framed and which still hangs in my living room to this day. Mount Bierstadt in Colorado was named for Albert Bierstadt.
Among the Sierra Nevada, California-Albert Bierstadt 1868
In many ways, Bierstadt was a product of the Romantic Age, and his canvases brought him great prosperity. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1860, and was a member until his death in 1902. His output over his lifetime rivals Moran, and may number as many as 500 paintings. Both men worked around Yellowstone and Yosemite, as did William Henry Jackson, and their interpretations of similar scenes is quite interesting.
Upper Falls Yellowstone River-Albert Bierstadt
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River by Albert Bierstadt
Surveyor's Wagon in The Rockies by Albert Bierstadt
In this painting, Bierstadt is more literal in his depiction of the difficult life of working on a survey in the remote Mountain West. Like Moran, some of his paintings were developed from studies done in the field, or occasionally by photographers accompanying the surveys.
Old Faithful by Albert Bierstadt
Yellowstone Falls by Albert Bierstadt
As can be seen in comparing the work of Moran and Bierstadt, Bierstadt tended to use light and dark to more effect than Moran, yet Moran's eye for the dramatic colors of the Yellowstone region are more striking than Bierstadt. Bierstadt did more varied work with wildlife of the region than Moran. Shown below are a few examples.
Rocky Mountain Sheep I by Albert Bierstadt
Elk by Albert Bierstadt
In the next segment, I'll be taking a look at some of the other scenes these men painted that influenced our nation to set aside lands as National Parks and Monuments.
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