• Login
  • Register
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Documents
  • Activities
  • Activity Tools
    • All Tools
    • Analyzing Documents
    • Discussion Topic
    • Compare and Contrast
    • Zoom/Crop
    • White Out / Black Out
    • Spotlight
    • Finding a Sequence
    • Making Connections
    • Mapping History
    • Seeing the Big Picture
    • Weighing the Evidence
    • Interpreting Data
  • Popular Topics
    • See All
    • National History Day
    • The Constitution
    • Labor History
    • Sports: All-American
    • Rights in America
    • American Indians
    • Women's Rights
    • American Revolution
    • The Civil War
    • World War I
    • World War II
    • The Vietnam War
    • 1970s America
    • Congress
    • Amending America
    • Elections
    • What Americans Eat
    • Signatures
    • Nixon and Ford Years
  • Resources
    • Getting Started
    • Document Analysis
    • Activity-Creation Guide
    • Manage Assignments
    • iPad App
    • Presentation Materials
    • Webinars
      • Recorded Webinars
      • Live Webinars
MENU
DocsTeachThe online tool for teaching with documents, from the National Archives National Archives Foundation National Archives

Letter from Thomas Moran to Frederick V. Hayden

3/11/1872

Print
Add to Favorites:
Add
Saving document...
Your document has been saved.
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
1
2
3
4
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
Add only page 3 to activity:
Add only page 4 to activity:
The artist Thomas Moran accompanied Ferdinand Hayden on his 1871 survey of the West. Upon his return to New Jersey, Moran completed several paintings including one depicting the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Moran mentions this canyon in this letter to Hayden. Medical doctor and geologist Dr. Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden selected more than 30 scientists, technical personnel, and artists, including photographer William Henry Jackson and painter Thomas Moran, to join the survey of the Yellowstone region in northwest Wyoming territory. Since most members of Congress had never seen the area with their own eyes, Moran's drawings and Jackson's photographs, along with Hayden's descriptions, had likely influenced the Committee's appreciation of Yellowstone's artistic works of nature. On March 1, two days after the House Committee on Public Lands issued its report, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Act Establishing Yellowstone National Park into law. It became the first national park, not only in the United States, but anywhere in the world. See the painting, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, by Thomas Moran on the website of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Text adapted from “Teaching with Documents : Letter from Thomas Moran to Ferdinand Hayden and Paintings by Thomas Moran” in the May/June 2012 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) publication Social Education.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Geological Survey.
National Archives Identifier: 6423593
Full Citation: Letter from Thomas Moran to Frederick V. Hayden; 3/11/1872; Chronological Letters Received, 1867 - 3/21/1874; Records of the U.S. Geological Survey, Record Group 57; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-from-thomas-moran-to-frederick-v-hayden, June 19, 2025]
Return to ResultsReturn

Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.

  • Explore Primary Source Documents
  •  
  • Discover Activities You Can Teach With
  •  
  • Create Fun & Engaging Activities
Follow us on X:X
Follow us on Facebook:facebook
Please enter a valid email address

View our webinars:youtube

Get our iPad app:apple
New Documentsshare
New Activitiesshare

The National Archives

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation's record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.
  • All Education Programs
  • Student Visits
  • Distance Learning
  • Professional Development
  • National Archives Museum
  • Presidential Libraries
  • Archives.gov
  • National Archives Foundation




Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, DocsTeach is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Primary source documents included on this site generally come from the holdings of the National Archives and are in the public domain, except as noted. Teaching activities on this site have received the CC0 Public Domain Dedication; authors have waived all copyright and related rights to the extent possible under the law. See our legal and privacy page for full terms and conditions.
Safest and most reliable Czech online casinos! isitfair.eu – a trusted platform with expertly ratings & reviews, and top choise exclusive bonuses for Czech players.