Through an artist's eyes

If this beautiful view of Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park seems as pretty as a painting, there may be a reason for it. That majestic peak towering over the landscape is Mount Moran, named for Thomas Moran, an American artist of New York's Hudson River School who earned fame by painting scenes of the western frontier. In 1871, Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson were invited on an expedition to the Yellowstone region to accompany a team from the US Geological Society while they conducted the first comprehensive survey of the area. Moran's paintings and Jackson's photographs from the trip immediately captured the public's attention and inspired the government to establish Yellowstone as the first national park in the U.S. in 1872.
© Jim Stamates/Minden Pictures