Bow Valley and Mountain Mass Northwest of Lake Louise

ID: Walcott 891

Creator: Walcott, Charles D (Charles Doolittle) 1850-1927

Form/Genre: Photographic print

Date: 1909

Citation: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7004, Charles D. Walcott Papers

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Summary

Charles Doolittle Walcott's panoramic image is from the east slope of Mount Bosworth on the Continental Divide, 1 1/2 miles north-northeast in an air line from Hector on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, British Columbia, Canada. This view shows the Bow Valley and mountain mass northwest of Lake Louise; from left to right the points of Mount St. Piran, Mount Niblock, Mount Whyte, Pope's Peak, and the northwestern ridge of Mount Victoria; to the right the canyon of Cataract Brook with Mount Odaray and on the extreme right Cathedral Crags. Walcott used a Cirkut Outfit Camera to capture the image.

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Charles Doolittle Walcott (1850-1927), fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian (1907-1927), was a paleontologist whose research focused on North American Cambrian fossils. He conducted field work in the United States and Canada, and, in 1909, while in the Canadian Rockies near Field, British Columbia, discovered what has come to be known as the Burgess Shale. The shale contained fossils that provided the foundation for study of the Cambrian Period in Western North America. Neither Walcott nor the scientific community realized the importance of this discovery, but the Burgess Shale came to be recognized as one of the most important geologic findings of the 20th century. Walcott is equally well-known for his method of photographing topographies for scientific documentary purposes, producing stunning images of these majestic landscapes.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7004, Charles D. Walcott Papers

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1909

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Mountains
  • Scientific expeditions
  • Landscapes
  • Photography, Panoramic
  • Burgess Shale (B.C.)
  • National parks and reserves
  • Paleontology
  • Canada

Place

  • Canadian Rockies (B.C. and Alta.)
  • Mount Niles (Alta.)
  • Canada
  • Rocky Mountains
  • Alberta
  • Mount Whyte (Alta.)
  • Mount Daly (Alta.)
  • Mount St. Piran (Alta.)
  • Mount Balfour (Alta.)
  • British Columbia
  • Mount Niblock (Alta.)
  • Mount Victoria (Alta.)

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Landscape
  • Panoramic photographs

ID Number

Walcott 891

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and white; Size: Neg. 10" film; Type of Image: Landscape; panoramic; Medium: Photographic print

Full Record

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