Tom Moran had never ridden a horse or slept under the stars before, but the paintings he created on his journey from city boy to seasoned explorer would lead to the founding of America's first national park.

Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and dozens of other artists have braved difficult conditions to capture the splendors of Yellowstone in many media, from delicate watercolors and pen-and-ink sketches to powerful oils and popular lithographs. They have portrayed the animals that lived there, the humans who passed through, and above all the remarkable features that have made Yellowstone a wonderland to so many artists and observers."--BOOK JACKET.

This illustrated catalog of Thomas Moran’s field sketches includes an interpretive essay tracing the artist’s seventy-year career in the field; a chronological, stylistic, and geographical survey of his fieldwork; an illustrated checklist of the 1080 sketches in public collections. Moran is best known for his work in the American West during the post-Civil War expansion, particularly in what would become Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite national parks. Yet this virtuoso painter and draftsman also traveled in search of inspiration in Pennsylvania, New York’s Long Island, Florida, Wisconsin, Mexico, England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy, returning repeatedly to favorite subjects. An almost compulsive desire to sketch refined his innate skill as one of America’s finest landscape artists. Most of Moran’s known field sketches are reproduced here. As described in the introduction, “their range encompasses summary contour drawings of the spectacular topography of the American West, luminous watercolors that simultaneously fix local color and evoke the artist’s rapturous response to the natural world, and fully realized works that nevertheless preserve the intensity of Moran’s firsthand experience of his plein air subjects.” No serious formal study of Thomas Moran can be made without reference to this volume.

Here, for the first time in paperback, is a fascinating daily record of Ferdinand Hayden?s historic 1871 scientific expedition through Utah, Idaho, and Montana Territories to the Yellowstone Basin. The expedition?s findings quickly led Congress to establish Yellowstone as the world?s first national park. In addition to its scientific discoveries, the expedition is famous for producing the earliest on-site images of Yellowstone, by its photographer, William Henry Jackson, and its guest artist, Thomas Moran. ø Marlene Deahl Merrill has woven together a compelling daily narrative from the field writings of three expedition members: unpublished journals kept by mineralogist Albert Peale and geologist George Allen, periodic reports by Peale to his hometown newspaper, and letters from Hayden to his friend and mentor Spencer Baird at the Smithsonian Institution. Enriching this narrative are Jackson?s photographs of camp scenes and landscapes; rare panoramic drawings by the party?s topographical artist, Henry Elliott; maps; an introduction; and extensive annotations.

Ancient ecstasies -- Visualizing Lewis and Clark and the meaning of the West -- The eye and the heart in George Catlin's West -- Karl Bodmer's gift -- Alfred Jacob Miller's new Western American -- Jesus and animus beneath the Bitterroots -- An entire Heaven and an entire Earth : audubon on the Missouri -- Albert Bierstadt and the mountains of Mars -- Thomas Moran's Rocky Mountain romance -- Coming to terms with the Little Bighorn -- Altitude equals beatitude : William Henry Jackson and the Northern Rockies -- L.A. Huffman and the frontier disconnect -- Catching shadows in the northern West -- Through Indian eyes : the Crows and Richard Throssel -- Evelyn Cameron's time machine -- Carl Rungius and the son of wild folk -- Loving the West, hating the West, painting the West : the troubled times of Fra Dana -- Frederic Remington's Kiss of death -- Maynard and Montana -- Winold Reiss's beautiful Blackfeet -- Motion and poetry -- The bear in the mirror -- Emily Carr and the Great Mother -- The ripples beyond Ansel Adams -- In the end, what was Charlie Russell trying to tell us?

Best-selling author David Quammen takes readers on a breathtaking journey through America's most inspiring and imperiled ecosystem--Yellowstone National Park--in this monumental book on America's first national park. Yellowstone's storied past, rich ecosystem, and dynamic landscape are brilliantly portrayed in a captivating mosaic of photographs and eloquently written text that blend history, science, and research from the field. As much a visual ode to nature as an intimate tour of one of the world's most celebrated conservation areas, this gorgeous book illuminates the park's treasures grand and small--from the iconic Old Faithful to the rare gray wolf; from misty mountain tops to iridescent springs; and from sweeping valleys to flourishing wild blooms. In four illuminating sections that combine photos, sidebars, and graphics with elegantly crafted text, this book brings readers deeper into the life of the park than ever before, both commemorating its beauty and highlighting its challenges. This book is an essential addition to the National Parks' 100th anniversary celebration and will remind readers why conservation is worth every effort.

“Atlas of Yellowstone shows that good things happen when top-notch cartography, tasteful design, solid research, and compelling geography come together. The atlas will delight professional and armchair readers alike. Its treasure trove of maps explore wide-ranging topics—from geology to wildlife to people and the land. Better still, these well-orchestrated elements reveal a bigger idea: the place we call the Greater Yellowstone.” —Tom Patterson, former president, North American Cartographic Information Society “An extremely attractive, first-rate volume that is sure to become a fundamental resource for scholars and anyone who loves Yellowstone.”—Richard Marston, Kansas State University "While much has been written on the Yellowstone region, nothing compares to this volume in scope or presentation. This will become the standard reference and starting point for anyone interested in the history of Yellowstone."—Anthony Barnosky, author of Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming