Colorado 1870–2000 facts for kids
"Colorado 1870–2000" is a special book about the history of Colorado. It uses a cool technique called "repeat photography." This means it shows old pictures next to new ones taken from the exact same spot. The book features amazing photos by two photographers: William Henry Jackson and John Fielder. It was created with help from the Colorado Historical Society.
Contents
William Henry Jackson: Pictures from the Past
William Henry Jackson was a famous photographer. He started taking pictures in Colorado in 1870. He worked for the Hayden Survey. This survey was mapping the American West. Jackson had his own photo studio in Denver. This helped him connect with railroad companies.
Jackson traveled all over Colorado for over 30 years. He even climbed tall Rocky Mountain peaks. Some of these mountains are over 14,000 feet high! He took photos for the survey. Jackson's pictures also show different parts of Colorado's land. You can see big boulders and small creeks.
Back then, there weren't many railroads. So, Jackson didn't photograph the eastern plains. He also didn't take many pictures of northwestern Colorado. Later, in the late 1890s, Colorado's economy slowed down. Jackson sold his business. He also sold all the original photo negatives to a company in Detroit.
John Fielder: Capturing Colorado Today
John Fielder is a well-known nature photographer. He mainly focuses on Colorado's beautiful landscapes. Fielder had his own collection of old photographs. This gave him an idea. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of another historical Colorado photographer.
Fielder worked with the Colorado Historical Society. They had many of Jackson's old photos. These pictures were taken a century earlier. The historical society liked Fielder's idea. He wanted to rephotograph the same places Jackson had visited. So, they worked together on this project.
Jackson took thousands of photos. It was a huge challenge for Fielder. He had to pick about 300 photos to rephotograph. He did this work between 1997 and 1998. Fielder used Jackson's old pictures to find the exact locations. This was often hard because some landmarks had changed over 100 years.
Fielder photographed the same landmarks and scenery. He tried to use the same light and view as Jackson. He did this a century later. Fielder said he couldn't find any marks left by Jackson. But other local photographers found small imprints. These were from Jackson's old camera equipment.
"Colorado 1870-2000" is a brown hardcover book. It has 156 pairs of Jackson-Fielder photos. It was published in 1999. Fielder's own company, Westcliffe Publishers, released it.
Awards and Recognition
"Colorado 1870-2000" became very popular. Many people in Colorado know it as "Colorado Then and Now." It won an award in 1999. It received the Colorado Humanitaries Colorado Book Award for non-fiction. This was for books about Colorado or the West. Colorado's Tourism Website also named it. They called it one of the "10 Top Colorado History Reads."
More Books in the Series
Colorado 1870-2000 Revisited came out in 2001. This book was a companion to the first one. It gave more details and history about the images. John Fielder worked with historian Thomas Noel on this book.
The final book in the Fielder-Jackson series was Colorado 1870-2000 II. It was released in 2005. This book has the rest of the photos Fielder took. These were the ones from his journey to rephotograph Jackson's work.
