Letter from Thomas Moran to Frederick V. Hayden
3/11/1872
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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.
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]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
