A group of eight albumen silver print photographs, all mounted on card stock and dating to April 20, 1888, documenting Yellowstone National Park across its most dramatic subjects: bison foraging at the edge of timber near Alum Creek, geyser eruptions sending tall columns of steam skyward over open thermal flats, snow-blanketed boulder fields among stands of evergreen, and dense woodland panoramas along the park's interior corridors. The prints are amateur in character, made during a single documented excursion, and carry the informal authority of firsthand witness photography made sixteen years after the park's founding, at a moment when Yellowstone's bison had been hunted to the brink of extinction.
Two prints center on bison photographed at close range among scattered trees, their heavy shaggy coats rendered in fine tonal detail, heads lowered to the ground in a grazing posture. Additional views show active geothermal features: one captures a narrow, forceful steam column rising vertically against a pale sky, while a second broader view shows dispersed geothermal activity across a wide, dark, mineralized flat with a treeline and what appears to be tent encampments along the far shore. Alum Creek runs through Hayden Valley in the center of Yellowstone Park, and the forested creek-margin setting visible in several prints is consistent with that terrain. A snow scene shows large boulders and tree stumps heavily loaded with white accumulation, with a lone conifer rising sharply at center.
The inscriptions are a primary asset of this group, recording specific locations, dates, and the photographer's own captions for individual images. One print is captioned "An easy shot," underscoring the unusually close proximity to the bison. Another is numbered and inscribed as "Two Bison in Edge of Timber, Yellowstone National Park, April 20th 1888," and a further print reads "Ten Bison in Sight in Edge of Timber, Head of Alum Creek, Yellowstone National Park, April 20, 1888."
Pencil and ink inscriptions appear on the rectos of multiple mounts; individual prints are numbered in sequence, with notations identifying the photographer's position and remarks on the difficulty of approach. No photographer's imprint is visible on any mount.
Available payment options