c. 1883

Natural Bridge, Shoshone Falls, Idaho

American, 1843 - 1942

Jackson documented the landscape of the American West during the 1870s, serving as official photographer of the United States Geological and Geographic Survey of the Territories. Although his images of the terrain were intended for scientific research purposes, many of them were also translated into wood engravings and presented in books and magazines as extraordinary scenes of natural wonders. Throughout the 1880s, Jackson sold commercial images of the Western landscape to passenger railroad companies that used his enticing pictures as advertisements to increase ridership. Photographs such as Natural Bridge, Shoshone Falls, Idaho, encouraged tourists to travel to the West to experience the breathtaking landscape firsthand.