Tuesday 30 August 2011

Over the Falls (William Henry Jackson: Mystic Lake, Montana, 1871)


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Mystic Lake, distant view from the trail. The first glimpse as we approach it. Gallatin County, Montana. 1871.

Mystic Lake, distant view from the trail. The first glimpse as we approach it. Gallatin County, Montana, 1871



imagining

the morning's clarity


from the evening's

blurred impingement

from up the creek or down

not easy

over the falls

Mystic Lake

looked

so beautiful


from a distance

that first glimpse

shining

beyond the bright

meanders

beneath black

pine slopes

as we approached

it


but a dim memory

now



View down the creek a short distance below Mystic Lake. The creek falls very rapidly, some 500 feet in less than half a mile. Gallatin County, Montana. 1871.

View down the creek a short distance below Mystic Lake. The creek falls very rapidly, some 500 feet in less than half a mile. Gallatin County, Montana, 1871

View down the creek a short distance below Mystic Lake. The creek falls very rapidly, some 500 feet in less than half a mile. Gallatin County, Montana. 1871.

View down the creek a short distance below Mystic Lake. The creek falls very rapidly, some 500 feet in less than half a mile. [Falls of the creek seen at bottom of the photograph.] Gallatin County, Montana, 1871

Photos by William Henry Jackson from United States Geological Surveys (U. S. Geological Survey Photographic Library)
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3 comments:

  1. STEPHEN RATCLIFFE30 August 2011 at 07:54

    Tom,

    "morning's clarity . . . blurred impingement . . . from a distance . . . a dim memory" . . . .

    8.30

    grey whiteness of fog against invisible
    ridge, towhee standing on redwood fence
    in foreground, sound of wave in channel

    “position” of objects, this
    object however itself

    surface distinction, viewer
    more than picture, of

    grey white of fog reflected in channel,
    cormorant flapping across toward ridge

    ReplyDelete
  2. gamefaced30 August 2011 at 10:34

    i miss driving hours through the andirondacks and finally getting to quebec. sniffles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TC31 August 2011 at 09:00

    I miss riding across the desert for days in the back seat of a blue and white 1948 De Soto.

    (Or am I misremembering -- that blurred impingement closing in again -- was it a covered wagon?)

    ReplyDelete