William Henry Jackson: Pioneer Photographer of Yellowstone

by Julie Coleman Tachick, Former Curatorial Assistant, Whitney Gallery of Western Art

William Henry Jackson, who accompanied the geological surveys of Ferdinand V. Hayden in 1871 and 1872, is known for taking some of the first photographs of the Yellowstone region. His images, along with Thomas Moran's drawings and watercolors, helped convince a skeptical United States Congress that the Yellowstone area should in some way be preserved. The picture record they created during their geological surveys to Yellowstone constituted an outstanding and enduring contribution to their country as well as to their respective fields of photography and American painting.

Hayden's 1871 Yellowstone Expedition

For nearly forty years prior to 1871, explorers and artists had told stories about and created drawings portraying an amazing place in the Teton Mountains of Wyoming Territory where they claimed water boiled in wild-colored springs, hidden canyons revealed bizarre rock formations and geysers exploded from deep underground. However, the tales they told and the sketches they made were often thought to be exaggerations, for at the time very few people had actually seen these features.

After the Civil War, the newly established U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories was established. Several expeditions, such as the Hayden Surveys, were sent to explore and map the West, and it was not uncommon for photographers to accompany them. Hayden decided upon the Yellowstone River Valley for his 1871 expedition. In 1869, Jackson was photographing the construction of the new Union Pacific Railroad, when his work came to the attention of Hayden. Jackson, a young and enterprising photographer, was asked to accompany the group and document the expedition's discoveries for nothing more than travel expenses, food, shelter, and the promise of adventure.

Early Photographers

As a professional photographer of the 1870s, Jackson was also a pioneer-he had to know how to do everything, from composing, focusing and exposing the picture, to sensitizing the plate and developing it. Moreover, Jackson used "wet-plate" or collodion processing, which required performing all the necessary operations on the spot, because development could not wait. However, this process gave him the advantage of seeing his work immediately-he could take the same picture over and over until nightfall if necessary, making any changes that he wanted to until he was satisfied.

This meant hauling cartloads of equipment weighing up to 120 lbs to the scene: two or three cameras as big as some television sets; as many as 100 glass plates for negatives; a variety of lenses and tripods for each of the cameras; a tent to set up as a darkroom; jugs of chemicals and an assortment of incidental gear.

In documenting the geological formations of Yellowstone, Jackson also had to think about the aesthetic and promotional impact of his images. He was required to make artistic choices that could deliver the awesomeness of the country to his audience - Congress and the American public, while also meeting the demands of Hayden.

In the image of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone, Jackson chose to take the photograph at an angle that makes the viewer feel small and vulnerable. He was able to capture a striking composition that creates a dramatic work. Land itself becomes the subject. The use of great contrast of light and dark creates a monumental effect. There is a combination of lines, textures, shapes in his photographic composition. The large glass plates do justice to the scale and sublime grandeur of image. Also, large negatives produce large detailed prints-good for scientific and aesthetic value.

Moran's Influence

Jackson's photographs remind us of paintings by Thomas Moran, which is not coincidental. Moran joined Jackson on Hayden's 1871 expedition as a guest of the survey. The painter and photographer soon became good friends and shared ideas about composition and reciprocally influenced each other's work. Moran's approach was more dramatic and romantic, but Jackson's photographs revealed new, bold directions after they began working together. Moran helped Jackson hunt down the best spots to set up his large cameras and Jackson's shots in turn helped Moran, who used the images when he returned home to complete his enormous, full-color landscapes paintings.

Impact of His Photos

Because no member of Congress had seen Yellowstone, Hayden and his colleagues brought Jackson's photos, along with Moran's watercolors, to Capitol Hill. His images so completely captured the imagination of the nation that they were instrumental in causing Congress to designate Yellowstone as the first national park, which President Grant signed into law on March 1, 1872. In 1873, the Department of the Interior compiled 37 of Jackson's photographs into a portfolio, which was presented to Congress in lobbying funds for future expeditions to the West.

At the time, landscape photography was a reasonably profitable business with the potential to reach an international audience. Aware of this market, Hayden convinced Congress to publish the results of his geological survey so the information and images of the West and its natural wonders would be available to the general public. One way this was accomplished was through stereoscopic views, which had become a hugely popular pastime by the 1870s.

Stereoscopic Views

Stereo views were made using a special double camera with two horizontal lenses 2 ½" apart. Each lens recorded the image as seen by each eye. The resulting prints were pasted on a piece of cardboard with an accompanying caption identifying the scene. When viewed through the stereoscope, the eyes combine the separate two-dimensional scenes into one three-dimensional image. Viewers could place themselves into the stereo space and become part of the scene. Relying on the sensational for its impact, they could see and experience Old Faithful or Mammoth Hot Springs from the safety of their parlor or classroom. The stereo views figured significantly in Yellowstone National Park's growing popularity. For some, this was their first and only view of Yellowstone.

Because the camera was thought to be an extension of one's own vision, Jackson's photographs were at the time accepted as real and faithful images that could not lie, nor be exaggerated or romanticized in the way an artist's paintings could be. For Congress and the American public, they were proof that the wild stories about the Wyoming Territory and its bizarre features were indeed true. As a result, Jackson's photography helped transform perceptions of the West from a mythical realm to a place that could actually be visited and settled.

You may also be interested in William Henry Jackson, Thomas Moran & Yellowstone National Park bibliography

IMAGES

1. William Henry Jackson. Vincent Mercaldo Collection, BBHC.

2. W.H Jackson.(1843-1942). Crater of the Castle Geyser, c.1871. Stereograph photograph. Print no. 558.

3. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and Louis Prang, lithographer. The Castle Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, 1874. Chromolitho-graph: 9.75 x 14 in. Gift of Clara S. Peck

4. W.H Jackson.(1843-1942). Lower Basins. Soda Springs, Gardiner's River, c.1871. Stereograph photograph. Print no. 26.

5. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) and Louis Prang, lithographer. Mammoth Hot Springs, 1875. Chromolitho-graph: 9.75 x 14 in. Gift of Clara S. Peck.

William Henry Jackson
(1843-1942)