William Henry Jackson was one of America’s premier photographers and painters in the 19th century. He was born in 1843 in Keeseville NY. In 1869 he was assigned by the Union Pacific RR to photograph scenery in the West to help the railroad with its expansion program. In 1870 he joined the famed Hayden Expedition to bring back photos which, along with Thomas Moran’s paintings, would be used to help Congress establish Yellowstone as the first national park in 1871. He went on to photograph iconic landscapes of the West (see May 2014) as well as cityscapes both domestically and internationally. Examples of his U.S. sites are:
Catalina Island CA. 1905
Colorado Midland RR Tunnel 1888
Eureka CO. ca.1900
Jamestown Island church 1902
Library of Congress, Washington DC, late 1800s
