>> THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AS WE KNOW IT TODAY, CHANNELED BY CONCRETE AND CONTROLLED BY LOCKS AND DAMS IS AS MUCH A MANMADE OBJECT AS A FORCE OF NATURE.

IT'S EASY TO TAKE THESE FEATS OF ENGINEERING FOR GRANTED AND TO FORGET THE ROLE THAT HUMAN HANDS HAVE HAD IN SHAPING THE RIVER AND OUR ENVIRONMENT.

OUR FIRST ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF NATURE STARTED AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY.

A COLLECTION OF HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS THAT SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON THIS PERIOD HAS RECENTLY RE-SURFACED.

JOHN ANDERSON IS THE HISTORIAN FOR THE St.

PAUL DISTRICT OF THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEER.

THANKS TO HIS ALERT DETECTIVE WORK, THE ARMY CORPS WAS ABLE TO REDISCOVER THIS VALUABLE ALBUM OF PHOTOGRAPHS.

IT HAS BEEN IN CORPS POSSESSION FOR NEARLY 100 YEARS BUT THE FALLEN INTO OBSCURITY IN RECENT TIMES.

ANDERSON DID SOME DIGGING AND FOUND THE PHOTOS IN A DESK DOOR ABOARD AN ARMY CORPS DREDGE BOAT WHERE THEY HAD BEEN COLLECTING DUST FOR OVER 50 YEARS.

>> INDEED WHEN WE DID CHECK, WE FOUND OUT THEY WERE BLUE CYANIDE TYPE PHOTOGRAPHS, NEARLY IDENTICAL TO THE ONES IN WASHINGTON, WHICH THE OWNER IN WASHINGTON THE BROUGHT TO SOTHEBYES IN NEW YORK, AND THEY HAD A PHOTOGRAPHER THERE WHO SAID THAT THESE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE SOME OF THE BEST SHE'D EVER SEEN IN HER WORK.

>> THE PHOTOS ARE VIEWS OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER, TAKEN AROUND THE TURN OF THE CENTURY BY AN ARMY CORPS ENGINEER NAMED HENRI BOSSE.

>> HE WAS A GERMAN IMMIGRANT, CAME FROM GERMANY AT THE TIME 1870s, POSSIBLY, HE WAS A DRAFTMAN, A CARTOGRAPHER, A PHOTOGRAPHER, AN ARTIST, HE HAD A LOT OF SKILLS.

HIS PRIMARY SKILL WAS BEING A DRAFTSMAN AND CART GRAPHER AND THAT WAS THE CAPACITY IN WHICH HE WORKED FOR ABOUT 25 YEARS.

>> NOT MUCH IS KNOWN ABOUT HENRY BOSSE'S LIFE, HE LEFT BUT ONE LIKENESS OF HIMSELF AND NO DIARIES OR LETTERS THAT MIGHT SKETCH OUT HIS BIOGRAPHY.

BUT THROUGH HIS WORK, THE PORTRAIT OF A COME APPLICATION MAN EMERGES -- A COMPLEX MAN HE EMERGES, ONE WHOSE VISION EMBRACES SCOTT BIENS AND THE INSPIRATION OF ART.

♪ HE WAS A MAP-MAKER, A CARTOGRAPHER, THAT WAS HIS PRINCIPAL PROFESSION, SO HE HAD WORKED -- PRIOR TO TAKING THESE PHOTOGRAPHS SO HE KNEW THE MISS SI RIVER INTIMATELY ABOVE St.

LOUIS.

BY KNOWING THE RIVER INTIMATELY, HE KNEW HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH IT, AS WELL.

HE'S ALSO AN ENGINEER, SO HIS ABILITY TO LOOK AT COMPLEX SUBJECTS LIKE BRIDGES ALL THE STEELWORK, HE COULD PHOTOGRAPH A BRIDGE VERY WELL, BETTER THAN AN ARTIST WHO MAY FOCUS ON LANDSCAPES.

HENRY BOSSEARNINGS WAS ALSO AN ARTIST AND FOCUSED ON LANDSCAPES AS SOME OF THE ARTISTS SHOW.

SO HE COMBINED ENGINEERING SKILLS, DRAFTING SKILLS, CARTOGRAPHY SKILLS, ARTISTIC SKILLS INTO A SINGLE CONCEPT THAT ALLOWED HIM TO PHOTOGRAPH THE RIVER IN A UNIQUE WAY.

>> THE VALUE OF THE BOSSE PHOTOS ON THE ART MARKET CONTINUES TO CLIMB.

SOME EXPERTS NOW PLACE THEIR WORTH AT CLOSE TO A MILLION DOLLARS, BUT IT'S THEIR VALUE AS HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS THAT MAKES THEM TRULY PRICELESS.

THEY TELL THE STORY OF A RIVER AND A SOCIETY IN TRANSITION.

>> I DON'T KNOW HOW HE DETERMINED WHAT HE WOULD TAKE PICTURES OF.

I'VE NEVER SEEN ANY DIARY OR ANYTHING THAT HE WROTE THAT WOULD TELL ME THIS BUT FOR SOME REASON, IN THE ONES THAT HE'S SHOWN ME, HE'S GOT A VERY NICE SAMPLE OF THE OLD RIVER AND THE POTENTIAL URBAN INDUSTRIAL RIVER THAT WE KNOW TODAY.

HE'S GOT A WONDERFUL SHOT, NINNINGER, THE WONDERFUL GOES TOWN OR BOOM TOWN.

AND IT HAD ALREADY BUST FIND.

HE HAD THIS WONDERFUL SHOT OF THE RIVER, AND SOME PERSON SEATED ON A BANK AND YOU CAN LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN AND THINK IT'S A GHOST, BUT YOU CAN SEE THE TRACTION OF THE RIVER THERE, THAT NO HEAVY RAILROAD SIGNS, NO STEAMBOAT SIGNS, JUST THIS WONDERFUL PASTORAL RIVER.

ON THE OTHER HAND, HE HAS A WONDERFUL SHOT OF St.

PAUL FROM 1885 AND YOU CAN SEE THE ORIGINAL BRIDGE ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI, YOU CAN SEE THE 1885 FLATS COMMUNITY, YOU CAN SEE THE QUARRY ON THE RIVER BLUFFS AND YOU GET A SENSE OF St.

PAUL REMAKING THE RIVER FRONT, NOT AS A STEAMBOAT PORT BUT AS AN INDUSTRIAL PORT, AS A