William Henry Jackson
1843 – 1942
The survey photographer whose images of Yellowstone helped create the first national park
About William Henry Jackson
William Henry Jackson was born on April 4, 1843, in Keeseville, New York, a village in the Adirondacks near Lake Champlain. He showed an early talent for drawing and watercolor, skills he developed as a teenage retouching artist and colorist in photography studios in Troy, New York, and later in Rutland, Vermont. In October 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company K of the 12th Vermont Infantry, serving a nine-month term during the…
Read full biography →From the Collection
Close-Up Photograph of Boulder Dam
1942
Photograph Looking Toward Mountain With Boulder Dam…
1942
Indian Descending Wooden Stairs with Drum, Another in…
1942
Two Indians Descending Wooden Stairs, Carrying Drums;…
1942
Three Indians in Headdress in Foreground Watching Tourists,…
1942
"Two Young Girls sitting on Steps, At San Ildefonso Pueblo,…
1942
Most Famous Photographs
Timeline
Born in Keeseville, New York on April 4
Enlists as a private in the 12th Vermont Infantry during the Civil War; serves around the Battle of Gettysburg
Heads west, working as a bullwhacker on overland wagon trains
Opens a photographic studio in Omaha, Nebraska with his brother Edward
Secures a commission to photograph scenic views along the Union Pacific Railroad