INTRODUCTION
By Marian Albright Schenk
FOREWORD
By Dean Knudsen
SECTION 1
Primary Themes of Jackson's Art
SECTION 2
Paintings of the Oregon Trail
SECTION 3
Historic Scenes From the West
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| William Henry Jackson identified this portrait as having been taken in 1876. The stamp on the back reads, "M.P. Rice, A.I. Rice—Photographers 1217/1219 Penna. Avenue, Washington, D.C." (SCBL 3076) |
Section 2: Paintings of the Oregon Trail
RED BUTTES, WYOMING TERRITORY
Located on the North Platte River about ten miles southwest of present-day Casper, Wyoming, Red Buttes was a station for the Pony Express. By the time Jackson passed through Wyoming, the Pony Express had already been out of business for five years. However, Jackson used his paintbrush to tell the story of the demise of the Pony Express by showing a rider galloping out onto the high plains, even while the technological advancement that eventually put him out of work is being installed—the telegraph.
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| On September 4, 1927, The Natrona County Historical Society of Casper, Wyoming, granted William Henry Jackson an honorary life membership for his services to the state of Wyoming. Jackson was 84 years old at the time. (SCBL 1043) |
Named after a distinctive hill composed of soil rich in iron ore, the Red Buttes area is an especially rugged section of the overland trails. Early fur traders returning from the Oregon country are known to have camped nearby in 1812. In fact, it was their initial success in making the overland journey through South Pass that provided a route for people to emigrate westward on what came to be called the Oregon Trail.
History of a grimmer nature was also made in the area only one year before Jackson western journey. On July 26, 1865, Sioux warriors attacked and destroyed an army wagon train—killing 23 men under the command of Sergeant Amos Custard of the 11th Kansas Cavalry. A relief party, led by Lt. Caspar Collins, of the 11th Ohio Cavalry, rode out from a military outpost at Platte River Bridge, but was unable to reach the wagons.1
Young Collins, the only son of the regiment's colonel, and four men under his command were killed during the unsuccessful rescue attempt, and the nearby post's name was changed to Fort Caspar in his memory. Unfortunately, the town that eventually grew up around the Platte River Bridge site, misspelled the name and is known today as "Casper," Wyoming.
Fear of an attack was still prevalent when Jackson's wagon train pulled into Fort Caspar on August 11, 1866. As Jackson described it:
At nightfall we came to Platte Bridge, site of the present city of Casper, and not many miles south of Teapot Dome, destined to be famous in a later day. We crossed at once over the very finest—if only because it was the first—bridge we had yet encountered, a sturdy and workmanlike structure of logs. . .
On Sunday, August 18, we made the long, dusty descent to the foot of Red Buttes. The clouds kicked up by the bulls was so heavy as to render the first yoke or two invisible from the point where I ran alongside. Here the only course was to lock the wheels and pray that your wagon wouldn't crash into others that had already reached the bottom.2
1. J.W. Vaughn, The Battle of Platte Bridge (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963), 44f.
2. Jackson, Time Exposure, 128.
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| Red Buttes. Signed and undated. 25.4 x 38.1 cm. (SCBL 148) |
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scbl/knudsen/sec2m.htm Last Updated: 14-Apr-2006 |
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