Natt Dodge, a park service biologist, visited the Big Bend a number of times between 1944 and 1949. Knowledgeable in the plants and animals of the southwest, Dodge was also considered to be “a competent man with a camera.”

These color images, taken by Natt Dodge, provide a rare glimpse into the appearance and condition of Big Bend in the first years of its existence as a National Park.

All photographs by Natt N. Dodge. Courtesy the National Park Service Historic Photograph Collection.