William Henry Jackson

:See Honoré Jackson for the Canadian revolutionary.

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William Henry Jackson (1843 - 1942) was an American photographer, painter and adventurer famous for his images of the American West.

Related Topics:
1843 - 1942 - American West

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After his boyhood in New England, Jackson fought in the American Civil War, including the battle of Gettysburg, then joined a wagon train heading west on the Oregon Trail in 1866-67. In 1869 he won the commission from the Union Pacific Railroad to document the scenery along their route for promotional reasons. The following year, Jackson got a last-minute invitation to join the U.S. government survey of the Yellowstone River and Rocky Mountains led by Ferdinand Hayden. Painter Thomas Moran was also part of the expedition, and the two artists worked closely together to document the Yellowstone region. Hayden's surveys were annual multidisciplinary expeditions meant to chart the largely-unexplored west, observe flora, fauna, and geological conditions, and identify likely navigational routes, so Jackson was in a position to capture the first photographs of legendary landmarks of the west.

Related Topics:
American Civil War - Gettysburg - Oregon Trail - Union Pacific Railroad - Ferdinand Hayden - Thomas Moran

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Jackson worked in large format under conditions that were laughably difficult. He traveled with three cameras, and fragile, heavy 11" x 14" glass plates which he had to develop on site. These wet-collodion negatives required preparing the surface and keeping it wet before the exposure; focus and exposure times were guesswork, between five seconds and twenty minutes depending on light conditions. Preparing, exposing, fixing, washing then drying a single image would take the better part of an hour. He carried his equipment on the backs of mules. The weight of the glass plates and his portable darkroom limited the number of possible exposures on any one trip, and these images were taken in primitive, roadless, and physically challenging conditions. Once when his mule lost its footing, Jackson lost a month's work.

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Despite these difficulties Jackson came back with photographic evidence of western landmarks that had previously seemed fantastic rumor: the Grand Tetons, Old Faithful and the rest of Yellowstone, Colorado's Rockies and the Mount of the Holy Cross, and the uncooperative Ute Indians. Jackson's photographs of Yellowstone helped convince Congress to make it the first National Park in March 1872.

Related Topics:
Grand Tetons - Old Faithful - Yellowstone - Mount of the Holy Cross - Ute - National Park - 1872

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Jackson exhibited photographs and clay models of Anasazi dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado in the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. He continued traveling on the Hayden Surveys until the last one in 1878. He later established a studio in Denver, Colorado and produced photographic reports and paintings for Harper's Weekly magazine.

Related Topics:
Anasazi - Mesa Verde - Colorado - Philadelphia - Denver, Colorado - Harper's Weekly

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Jackson moved to Washington, D.C. in 1924, and produced murals of the Old West for the new U.S. Department of the Interior building. He also acted as a technical advisor for the filming of Gone with the Wind. In 1942, he was honored by the Explorer's Club for his 80,000 photographs of the American West. Jackson died at the age of 99. Recognized as one of the last surviving Civil War veterans, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Related Topics:
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Department of the Interior - Gone with the Wind - Arlington National Cemetery

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