Every so often, our team comes across a Serial Set volume that contains photographs, maps, or plates. These visuals preserve moments in time, and in cases of geographical surveys, the early impressions of a landscape.
In 1871, geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden led the first of his federally-funded explorations into the Wyoming territory that would later become Yellowstone National Park. According to the instructions quoted by Hayden in his second annual progress report, the success of the expedition was reliant upon “secur[ing] as full material as possible for the illustration of [the] report,” including the sketches and photographs.

United States Department Of The Interior, Hayden, F. V., Hergesheimer, E., Bien, J. & Geological Survey Of The Territories, U. S. (1871) Yellowstone National Park. [S.l] [Map] Library of Congress Geography & Map Division //hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4262y.ye000023.
According to an 1870 letter from the Secretary of the Interior, which estimates the distribution of the Union Pacific Railroad grant funds to three survey areas, $40,000 was granted to Hayden and his team for their first expedition to explore the Wyoming territory. (H. Exec. Doc. 230, 41st Cong., 2d Sess. (1870) reprinted in Serial Set vol. 1425.)
Shortly afterwards, Yellowstone was established as a national park. In 1872, President Grant signed “An Act to set apart a certain Tract of Land lying near the Head-waters of the Yellowstone River as a public Park” into law. The land was placed under the control of the Department of the Interior, and “all persons who shall locate or settle upon or occupy the [land]…shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom.” (ch. 24, 17 Stat. 32, 33.)

Yellowstone National Park boundaries. [S.l] [Map] Library of Congress Geography & Map Division, //hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g4262y.ye000018.

“Castle Geyser and Beautiful Spring. Upper Geyser Basin.” (1882) From “Report on the Geology of Yellowstone National Park” reprinted in Serial Set vol. 2056. Photo by Bailey DeSimone.
The report includes a geographic narrative of the landscape. “The surface features of the Park present a great diversity of character.” (p. 4) “A great part of [the Yellowstone] range is…igneous, and consists chiefly of volcanic conglomerates, the Paleozoic and metamorphic rocks appearing in many places beneath them.” In contrast, the West Gallatin Range “is almost exclusively sedimentary…its chief summit, Electric Peak, is the highest in the Park.” (H. Misc. Doc. 62 pt. 2, 47th Cong., 1st Sess. (1882) reprinted in Serial Set vol. 2057)

“Grand Canon [sic] of the Yellowstone River.” (1882) From “Report on the Geology of Yellowstone National Park” reprinted in Serial Set vol. 2056. Photo by Bailey DeSimone.

“Great Blue Spring. Lower Geyser Basin.” (1882) From “Report on the Geology of Yellowstone National Park” reprinted in Serial Set vol. 2056. Photo by Bailey DeSimone.
Stay tuned for more visual updates from the Serial Set, and the eventual full digitization of the text and media as it appears in the collection!

“Pink Terraces. Mammoth Hot Springs Gardiner’s River.” (1882) From “Report on the Geology of Yellowstone National Park” reprinted in Serial Set vol. 2056. Photo by Bailey DeSimone.