Upper Geyser Basin

Yellowstone National Park, [ca. 1885]. Albumen print, 6.5" x 8.25 plus mount. Haynes Inventory #2000. An evocative photo taken in Yellowstone Park's Upper Geyser Basin. Steam rises in a landscape where two people have fallen in the snow, both of whom appear to be skiers. F. Jay Haynes (1853-1921), nicknamed the Professor, was the official Yellowstone photographer from 1884-1921 and took the first known winter photographs of Yellowstone Park in 1887 on a 29-day, 200 mile epic journey to the Lower and Upper Geyser basins and Yellowstone Falls. Prior to this, Haynes had been the official photographer for the Northern Pacific Railroad after purchasing a train car for a photo studio and trading publicity photos for the pulling of his car. Haynes sold his photos at Yellowstone and published in books and journals. In 1897, when the Post Office started mailing "penny postals," Haynes and his son Jack produced postcards for the tourists which further spread the word of Yellowstone's natural wonders throughout the U. S. and Europe. Haynes played a major role in documenting the early history of the Great Northwest and promoting the value of the U. S. National Parks.

CONDITION: Good, some fading at edges.