William Henry Jackson

William Henry Jackson 1843-1942, American artist and pioneer photographer of the West, b. Keeseville, N.Y. After serving with the Union army in the Civil War he traveled overland to California (1866-67), part of the way on a Mormon wagon train, and then settled in Omaha, Neb. (1868). Engaged in photography after 1858, Jackson devoted himself to recording the scenic grandeur and historic sites of the West. He photographed the building of the Union Pacific RR, the mining booms at Cripple Creek and Leadville, and the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. His 1871 photographic series on the Yellowstone region was instrumental in having the area set aside as the first national park the following year. In 1924, Jackson moved to Washington, D.C., began painting, and at the age of 93 executed a series of murals on the Old West for the new Dept. of the Interior Building.

Bibliography: See his autobiography (1940) and his diaries, ed. by L. R. and A. W. Hafen (1959); C. S. Jackson, Picture Maker of the Old West (1947); B. Newhall and D. E. Edkins, William H. Jackson (1975).

Jackson, William (1759–1828) Revolutionary War officer with a South Carolina regiment, born in Cumberland County, England. He participated in the 1778 expedition into Florida and led a sortie during the British siege of Charleston (1780). He later served as secretary of the Constitutional Convention (1787) and delivered the Constitution to Congress. From 1799 until his death Jackson served as secretary general of the Society of the Cincinnati.