5.15 The U. S. Geological and Geophysical Survey of the Territories, under the direction of Ferdinand V. Hayden, photographed by W. H. Jackson in 1871, to show "the manner in which all parties traverse these wilds." The survey team is on the trail between the Yellowstone and East Fork rivers in Wyoming. The Hayden expedition was one of four federally funded surveys conducted in the West in the early 1870's, and photographs like this, intended to document scientific field work, were an important stimulus to public interest in the natural beauties of the region. Jackson's photographs of the Yellowstone region, taken on the Hayden expedition, led directly to the creation of Yellowstone National Park.

(National Archives [57-HS-414])