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The Yellowstone Range from near Fort Ellis, Montana Territory, U. S. A.

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The Grotto Geyser; Firehole Basin

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The Hot Springs of Gardiner's River, Extinct Geyser Crater

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The Main Spring at Gardiners River, Yellowstone Valley. Wyoming Territory U.S.A.

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The Yellowstone Lake with Hot Springs

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The Castle Geyser, Firehole River, Yellowstone, Wyoming Ter U.S.A.

It could be the moon or some distant planet that Thomas Moran depicted in The Castle Geyser, so fantastical are the geological features of Yellowstone.1 Geysers that shoot water hundreds of feet in the air, and the steam that rises from boiling cauldrons of sulfurous water suggest a place not of this world. Yet Moran’s use of soft pastels and rich jewel tones temper any of the more ominous aspects of the scene, transforming it into a wonderland. Moreover, the rainbow in the distance suggests a sense of hope and the promise of treasures to be found in this strange landscape.

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The Yellowstone Range, near the Crow Mission

Thomas Moran’s watercolor The Yellowstone Range, near the Crow Mission presents a breathtaking view of a broad valley, the expansiveness of which is only limited by the mountains that rise majestically in the distance.1 A group of what appear to be Anglo-Americans on horseback enters the scene in the lower right, although they may be the Crow from the nearby reservation. Moran, however, portrays the area as he and his Anglo-American contemporaries wanted to see it—an essentially unoccupied land, free from the crowds in the cities of the eastern United States and the Old World of Europe. Nonetheless, the title of the work suggests that there were others who lived here, hinting at the region’s troubling history.

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Upper Pools at the Hot Springs of Gardiner's River, Yellowstone Valley

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The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone

In The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, Thomas Moran portrayed the sparkling, eye-catching quality of the cataract through the skillful application of pure white pigment over the soft gray and light tan hues of the torrent. The patch of rich russet on the cliff face, the silvery gray rocks opposite, and the dusky blue water below provide a striking contrast to the effervescent white of the falls. As our eye is drawn downward with the cascading water, we note a tiny figure perched on the rock in the foreground. This diminutive figure provides a sense of scale and invites the viewer into the scene. The towering falls dwarf us and we stand awestruck before the power of nature. The explosion of the cataract as it plunges downward activates our senses, and we can almost hear the deafening roar of the waterfall and feel the spray on our faces as the mist wafts through the air. Moran portrayed all of this in a surprisingly small painting: the watercolor measures around 10 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches, probably not much larger than the artist’s hand.

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Wyoming Falls, Yellowstone River

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The Devils Den. Near Grand Canon of the Yellowstone river, Wyoming Ter. U.S.A.

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The Hot Springs of Gardiners River; Diana's Baths

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The Towers of Tower Falls. Yellowstone Valley, Wyoming Terr. U.S.A.

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Yellowstone River at Its Exit from the Yellowstone Lake

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Tower Fall

“Just below our camp the creek makes a semicircular turn and flowing in a succession of cascades for a short distance suddenly dashes over the edge of the precipice and falls one hundred and fifty-six feet to the bottom of the canyon. . . . The rocks, from the action of the weather and the water, have been eroded, so as to leave high towers standing along the banks. . . . as though stationed there to guard it.”1 —Albert Charles Peale, 1871

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In the Grand Canon at Yellowstone, Wyoming Territory. U.S.A.

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