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
Usage Conditions Apply
The Smithsonian Institution Archives welcomes personal and educational use of its collections unless otherwise noted. For commercial uses, please contact photos@si.edu.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