Dolores, Mesa Verde, U. S. Geological Survey, Wyoming, Colorado and the World
By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
The iconic "Stage to the San Juan" W.H. Jackson photos must have been taken in Dolores in front of the old J..J. Harris building between 1891, and the fall of 1893, when the Silver Panic that year, slowed activity of the second San Juan rush and boosterism of that period. That building would later become Taylor Hardware, where I worked for seven of my formative years in the late 1970s, and early 1980s.
William Henry Jackson roamed the American West (and other places) taking photographs, painting, guiding other artists, documenting progress and promoting the western experience for more than 80 years. In just photographic negatives, an excess of 80,000 images attributed to Jackson, capture the essence of the period and space and time.
"When William Henry Jackson was mustered out of the Army of the Potomac after the battle of Gettysburg, he drifted west, finally settled in Omaha. There he started a flourishing business in tintypes and stereopticon views. When the U. S. Geological Survey decided to chart the badlands of Wyoming, Photographer Jackson was asked to go along to take pictures. The pictures he took, of Wyoming’s geysers and waterfalls, were directly responsible for Congress’ decision to put the small rectangle of Yellowstone National Park on the map of the U. S.," notes TIME magazine on April 14, 1940.
"By the 1870s Jackson had become the best-known and most successful landscape photographer in the U. S. He crisscrossed the Rockies on pack mules and in covered wagons, took the first photographs ever made of the Mountain of the Holy Cross in western Colorado, of the Pueblo ruins of New Mexico and Arizona. In the 18903 he got the job of official photographer for Harper’s Weekly, which sent him abroad, from Australia to Russia, photographing Chinese sampans and Siberian droshkies," says the TIME story.
"Last week the museum on the first floor of Secretary Harold Ickes’ new, white, boxlike Department of the Interior Building in Washington was given over to an exhibition of Pioneer Jackson’s aged photographs. Admired by public and connoisseurs alike were the vivid detail and panoramic scope of the mountain and forest views that Old Master Jackson had snapped with his battered, wooden 6½-by-8½ camera in days when photography was scarcely more than a stunt. Best exhibit of all was spry Oldster Jackson himself, stooped and white-bearded but talkative and effervescent at 97."
"William
Henry Jackson still takes pictures, but with an up-to-date Leica, does a
little sketching on the side, spends his spare time polishing his
autobiography, which is due next month. Says he: “A fellow has to keep
busy or he gets bored. I’m never bored.” Three years ago, when his
cronies of the G. A. R. hobbled bravely down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue in
their Memorial-Day parade, Veteran Jackson failed to march. “Poor old
Bill!” sighed his aged brothers-in-arms. Later they discovered that Bill
Jackson had been dodging in & out of the crowds all along the
route, taking pictures of the parade.
In
a 1941 interview with Department of the Interior employee Shannon
Allen, William Henry Jackson was a day away from his 98th birthday
according to research and text by Samantha Ford, Jackson Hole Historical
Society and Museum.
"Jackson was asked to reflect on his long life; from an early childhood education in art, service in the Civil War, life on the trail as a bullwhacker, survey work in the West, documentation of the railroads, and international travel spanning three continents. When prompted to compare the scenery of the United States to that of the rest of the world, it was Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone that jumped to the front of Jackson’s memory. He described that this corner of the country cannot be paralleled elsewhere. He credited the nine years he spent with Ferdinand V. Hayden in the 1870s as the most interesting period of his life, despite his two-year contract with the World’s Transportation Commission in Australia, China, Russia, and eastern Europe, " writes Samantha Ford.Photo Courtesy of the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center
"When Jackson first started out on the Hayden Expedition in 1870, he traveled with two assistants, several pack mules and 400 pounds of equipment. The animals often could not reach the peaks he was determined to document, so he and his assistants would haul everything up themselves. It was a delicate process, over the steepest and most hazardous terrain of the survey, and they had to be especially careful with their fragile pieces of equipment necessary for the photography technology of the time – the wet collodion process. Jackson described early photographers as chemists, needing several vials of chemicals including nitric acid and silver nitrate. From start to finish, Jackson and his assistants could get the entire process down to about 20 minutes, from preparing the glass plate negative, to the exposure, and development process. The entire team clung to mountainsides in their “dark tent” and stored their glass negatives in cloth and rawhide bags. Sometimes they would be stranded an entire day waiting for a storm to pass. Jackson’s skill, perseverance, and fortitude would create the first photographic images of the future Yellowstone National Park and the Teton mountain range.
"In 1889, the Kodak Company introduced rolled film and the box camera. Jackson adopted this revolutionary piece of technology, glad to leave his heavy entourage behind. Following the end of the Hayden Survey in 1878, Jackson settled in Denver, CO until the economic panic of 1893 forced him to close his studio. In a lucky break, the Detroit Publishing Company purchased his collection of 20,000 images and hired him on as a colorist. Eventually becoming the manager, Jackson was one of the early pioneers of the postcard industry. After his retirement in 1924, Jackson remained busy as an artist, creating narrative depictions of Old West history. He wrote two autobiographies and toured the West for public appearances at historical societies, history conventions, festivals and other events. When Jackson embarked on his trips west in his 80s and 90s, he brought with him his 35mm Leica handheld camera. He died at the age of 99, commemorated as one of the last survivors of the Civil War, as a Western pioneer, and as one of the country’s most influential early photographers," says Ford.
Scotts Bluff National Monument calls attention to thef act that photographers of his time didn't have it easy.
Of his large-format camera in 1875, Jackson noted "Packing... so large a camera (not the compact, folding ones of today) with the necessary plates and chemicals over hazardous mountain trails, but also the difficulties in manipulation of wet plates magnified many times—it is a wonder to me even now that I had the temerity to undertake it.” While the results were spectacular, the camera proved too unwieldy to use after the 1875 season. To more efficiently cover the long distances from the San Juan Mountains to the Hopi pueblos, Jackson used a smaller camera and more portable "dark box" rather than his usual dark tent.
William Henry Jackson used heavy large-format view cameras, most notably custom 18x22-inch "mammoth plate" and 8x10-inch glass-plate cameras, requiring pack mules and a mobile darkroom tent to capture the American West.
Camera and Equipment Details
Mammoth Plate Camera: Used large glass negatives measuring up to 20x24 inches (commonly 18x22 inches), yielding extraordinary landscape detail.
8x10-inch Camera: Used for standard field work during the Hayden Geological Surveys.
Wet-Plate Collodion Process: Required coating, exposing, and developing glass plates inside a darkroom tent while the chemicals were still wet.
Pack Mule Transport: Heavy tripods, darkroom chemical kits, glass plates, and camera bodies were transported across rugged mountain terrain via mules.
William Henry Jackson's original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, circa 1915. From the William Henry Jackson Collection, WH1677, Western History and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.
William Henry Jackson’s cameras were essential tools in documenting early chapters in Colorado’s history. Jackson created a visual record of Colorado’s people, natural landscape, and built environment with his photographs. While Jackson took many images of Colorado for the Hayden Survey, his work continued when he opened a commercial photography studio in Denver in 1879. This artifact, an Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, is representative of Jackson’s involvement in commercial photography and publishing—work that brought images of Colorado’s people and landscapes to audiences around the world.
"William Henry Jackson’s photographs introduced a vision of the American West to an international audience. In 1868, Jackson opened a studio in Omaha and began photographing Pawnee and Omaha Indians and the landscapes along the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. During the 1870s, Jackson achieved notoriety while working for the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories and photographing Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Jackson’s photographs were essential in prompting the United States government to establish Yellowstone National Park in 1872. Jackson returned to commercial photography for several years before joining the Detroit Photographic Company, a publishing firm, in 1897. Thousands of Jackson’s photographs were reproduced and distributed widely by the firm, according to info from Denver Public Library, 10 W. Fourteenth, Ave. Pkwy. Denver, CO 80204.
"Jackson was asked to reflect on his long life; from an early childhood education in art, service in the Civil War, life on the trail as a bullwhacker, survey work in the West, documentation of the railroads, and international travel spanning three continents. When prompted to compare the scenery of the United States to that of the rest of the world, it was Jackson Hole, the Tetons and Yellowstone that jumped to the front of Jackson’s memory. He described that this corner of the country cannot be paralleled elsewhere. He credited the nine years he spent with Ferdinand V. Hayden in the 1870s as the most interesting period of his life, despite his two-year contract with the World’s Transportation Commission in Australia, China, Russia, and eastern Europe, " writes Samantha Ford.Photo Courtesy of the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center
"When Jackson first started out on the Hayden Expedition in 1870, he traveled with two assistants, several pack mules and 400 pounds of equipment. The animals often could not reach the peaks he was determined to document, so he and his assistants would haul everything up themselves. It was a delicate process, over the steepest and most hazardous terrain of the survey, and they had to be especially careful with their fragile pieces of equipment necessary for the photography technology of the time – the wet collodion process. Jackson described early photographers as chemists, needing several vials of chemicals including nitric acid and silver nitrate. From start to finish, Jackson and his assistants could get the entire process down to about 20 minutes, from preparing the glass plate negative, to the exposure, and development process. The entire team clung to mountainsides in their “dark tent” and stored their glass negatives in cloth and rawhide bags. Sometimes they would be stranded an entire day waiting for a storm to pass. Jackson’s skill, perseverance, and fortitude would create the first photographic images of the future Yellowstone National Park and the Teton mountain range.
"In 1889, the Kodak Company introduced rolled film and the box camera. Jackson adopted this revolutionary piece of technology, glad to leave his heavy entourage behind. Following the end of the Hayden Survey in 1878, Jackson settled in Denver, CO until the economic panic of 1893 forced him to close his studio. In a lucky break, the Detroit Publishing Company purchased his collection of 20,000 images and hired him on as a colorist. Eventually becoming the manager, Jackson was one of the early pioneers of the postcard industry. After his retirement in 1924, Jackson remained busy as an artist, creating narrative depictions of Old West history. He wrote two autobiographies and toured the West for public appearances at historical societies, history conventions, festivals and other events. When Jackson embarked on his trips west in his 80s and 90s, he brought with him his 35mm Leica handheld camera. He died at the age of 99, commemorated as one of the last survivors of the Civil War, as a Western pioneer, and as one of the country’s most influential early photographers," says Ford.
Scotts Bluff National Monument calls attention to thef act that photographers of his time didn't have it easy.
Of his large-format camera in 1875, Jackson noted "Packing... so large a camera (not the compact, folding ones of today) with the necessary plates and chemicals over hazardous mountain trails, but also the difficulties in manipulation of wet plates magnified many times—it is a wonder to me even now that I had the temerity to undertake it.” While the results were spectacular, the camera proved too unwieldy to use after the 1875 season. To more efficiently cover the long distances from the San Juan Mountains to the Hopi pueblos, Jackson used a smaller camera and more portable "dark box" rather than his usual dark tent.
William Henry Jackson used heavy large-format view cameras, most notably custom 18x22-inch "mammoth plate" and 8x10-inch glass-plate cameras, requiring pack mules and a mobile darkroom tent to capture the American West.
Camera and Equipment Details
Mammoth Plate Camera: Used large glass negatives measuring up to 20x24 inches (commonly 18x22 inches), yielding extraordinary landscape detail.
8x10-inch Camera: Used for standard field work during the Hayden Geological Surveys.
Wet-Plate Collodion Process: Required coating, exposing, and developing glass plates inside a darkroom tent while the chemicals were still wet.
Pack Mule Transport: Heavy tripods, darkroom chemical kits, glass plates, and camera bodies were transported across rugged mountain terrain via mules.
William Henry Jackson's original Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, circa 1915. From the William Henry Jackson Collection, WH1677, Western History and Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library.
William Henry Jackson’s cameras were essential tools in documenting early chapters in Colorado’s history. Jackson created a visual record of Colorado’s people, natural landscape, and built environment with his photographs. While Jackson took many images of Colorado for the Hayden Survey, his work continued when he opened a commercial photography studio in Denver in 1879. This artifact, an Eastman View no. 2 Improved Model Century View and Empire State no. 2 (Eastman Kodak Co.) camera, is representative of Jackson’s involvement in commercial photography and publishing—work that brought images of Colorado’s people and landscapes to audiences around the world.
"William Henry Jackson’s photographs introduced a vision of the American West to an international audience. In 1868, Jackson opened a studio in Omaha and began photographing Pawnee and Omaha Indians and the landscapes along the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads. During the 1870s, Jackson achieved notoriety while working for the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories and photographing Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado. Jackson’s photographs were essential in prompting the United States government to establish Yellowstone National Park in 1872. Jackson returned to commercial photography for several years before joining the Detroit Photographic Company, a publishing firm, in 1897. Thousands of Jackson’s photographs were reproduced and distributed widely by the firm, according to info from Denver Public Library, 10 W. Fourteenth, Ave. Pkwy. Denver, CO 80204.
