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
![[Louise Jackson, full-length portrait in white dress], 1900](/static/images/2016818275_thumb.webp)
Notable Works
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
One of the photographs Jackson made on the 1871 Hayden Survey, looking down the deep, sheer-walled gorge that the Yellowstone River has cut through colored volcanic rock. Working with the…
Browse the collection →Old Faithful
Jackson's view of the celebrated geyser in the Yellowstone region, made during the 1871 Hayden Survey. Photographing an active geyser with slow wet-plate equipment was a considerable technical feat,…
Browse the collection →Hot Springs of the Yellowstone (Mammoth Hot Springs)
A photograph of the terraced travertine formations of the Mammoth Hot Springs area in the Yellowstone region, made on the 1871 Hayden Survey. The layered, basin-like terraces gave Jackson a striking…
Browse the collection →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