View of Fossil Mountain after August 21, 1925 Snowstorm

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Summary

View of northeast end of Fossil Mountain after August 21, 1925 snowstorm. A number of large pieces of rock were loosened and rolled down the steep slope nearly to Skoki Camp which was located at the south foot of Skoki Mountain 11 miles (17.6 km.) in a direct line northeast of Lake Louise Station on the Canadian Pacitic Railway, Alberta, Canada.

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. His wife Mary Vaux Walcott, who studied and painted North American wildflowers, accompanied Walcott on his trips to the Canadian Rockies.

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

1925

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

  • Scientific expeditions
  • Landscapes
  • Snow
  • National parks and reserves
  • Alberta, Canada
  • Canada

Place

  • Canadian Rockies (B.C. and Alta.)
  • Canada
  • Fossil Mountain
  • Alberta
  • Banff National Park (Alta.)
  • Canadian Rockies
  • Skokie Mountain Camp
  • Skokie Mountain
  • Alberta, Canada

Form/Genre

  • Photographic print
  • Landscape

ID Number

Walcott 1506

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and white; Size: Neg. 4" x 5" film; Type of Image: Landscape; Medium: Photographic print

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