biography of William Henry JACKSON (1843-1942)

Birth place: Keesville, NY

Death place: NYC

Profession: Photographer, painter, writer, illustrator

Work: Gilcrease Inst.; LOC (20,000 prints and 30,000 negatives); Colorado Hist. Soc. (7,000 negatives); Bureau of Ethnology (2,000 negatives of Indians); IMP; Yale; major museums.

Comments: Perhaps the best known of the landscape photographers of the Old West. After serving in the Civil War he traveled to California in 1866 and back to Omaha, NE in 1867, where he set up a photographic studio. He was official photographer for Hayden's U.S. Geological Surveys, and his photos helped influence Congress to establish Yellowstone Nat'l Park. He was a prolific artist and traveled widely. He also painted in watercolor. At the age of 93 he painted a series of Western scenes for the U.S. Dept. Interior.

Sources: P&H Samuels, 249; Witkin & London, 168