HEAR a Photographer Born in 1843 Talk About Wyoming & The West

In the video below you'll hear a voice from the past. 

From a Youtube page called Life in the 1800s comes the old recording of a man born back in 1843, who grew up to make his way across the west.

William Henry Jackson (April 4, 1843 – June 30, 1942) was an American photographer, Civil War veteran, painter, and an explorer famous for his images of the American West.

In this interview, recorded on April 3, 1941, Mr. Jackson tells of his experiences about roaming the wild west frontier as he performed his job as a photographer and surveyor.

Audio is restored, speed-adjusted and equalized for clarity. This video is made for educational purposes for fair use under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. (Life In The 1800's).

He was at Fort Laramie. He followed the Oregon Trail. He was one of the first to photograph Yellowstone. You'll see his photographs in the video that goes with his interview.

The old man's shaky voice takes us back to what the West looked like, smelled like, even sounded like, way back when.

Mr. Jackson saw a lot of changes in his time.

In our time we can only imagine what life was like as people showed up to a land that had nothing, then had to make something out of it.

You'll hear him talk about the struggles of the homesteaders as they first arrived in the area and began to build.

He then goes on to tell us about how the world quickly changed once the railroads came in.

We live in an era where old recordings like these are at our fingertips, in the palm of our hands.

I wonder what Mr. Jackson would have thought of that.