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COVER

INTRODUCTION
By Marian Albright Schenk

FOREWORD
By Dean Knudsen

SECTION 1
Primary Themes of Jackson's Art

SECTION 2
Paintings of the Oregon Trail

SECTION 3
Historic Scenes From the West

BIBLIOGRAPHY

An enigmatic notation on the back of this photograph reads, "Mexican Central R.R. 1883 Private car." The people are identified as W.H. Holmes, Mrs. Emilie Jackson, Mrs. and Mr. J.A. O'Hara, and William Henry Jackson. (SCBL 1036)

Section 2: Paintings of the Oregon Trail

INDEPENDENCE ROCK

After following the Platte River since passing Fort Kearny, Nebraska Territory, and after crossing the Platte River Bridge, William Henry Jackson's wagons turned due west to follow the Sweetwater River through central Wyoming. The river is aptly named, as this portion of the trail was increasingly dry and barren, and any water was much appreciated by everyone on the trail.

However, the lack of grass was especially hard on the oxen, and the animals belonging to Jackson's train began to die at an alarming rate. The loss of oxen put the entire wagon train in danger, for if too many of the animals died, the freight wagons would be stranded and unable to move. To make matters all the more urgent, the chances of obtaining fresh animals were very slim as there were no trading posts between Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger.

The going grew tougher as both men and animals became exhausted by the long hours and hard work. Tensions reached a flashpoint on August 21st when the wagon master caught two men taking sugar from one of the wagons, and threatened to dock their pay. Harsh words were exchanged and the situation deteriorated to the point that two men quit and left the train, despite the fact that they were practically in the middle of nowhere.¹

On July 4, 1930, William Henry Jackson returned to Independence Rock to attend the festivities known as the Covered Wagon Centennial. Jackson's companion is identified as "Bill" Hoover. (SCBL 2688)

One of the men who left the train was Ruel "Rock" Rounds, Jackson's Civil War comrade and traveling companion since they had agreed to head West after a chance meeting in New York City earlier that year. Jackson never saw Rock again, but later learned that he had died in Boise, Idaho, in 1890.²

Needless to say, Jackson and the remainder of the teamsters were in a somber mood on August 23, 1866, as they passed the next major trail landmark, Independence Rock. The tension among the bullwhackers and the absence of his friend must have been extraordinarily distracting and may explain an uncharacteristic omission, as Jackson does not even mention Independence Rock in his journal.

It is generally believed that Independence Rock received its name from the fact that an early fur trading caravan had camped there on July 4, 1824.³ As the number of emigrants on the trail grew over the years, Independence Rock became something of a pioneer repository, as many people carved or painted their names on it. Messages were also left marked on the rock for those coming along in later trains, and many of these names and notations are still visible on protected surfaces.

William Henry Jackson is known to have revisited Independence Rock on at least two occasions. In 1870, four years after his bullwhacking experience Jackson returned to Independence Rock as a member of the Hayden Survey.⁴ Sixty years later, as a member of the Oregon Trail Memorial Association, Jackson again visited Independence Rock.

1. Jackson, Time Exposure. 130.

2. Ibid., 131.

3. Haines, Historic Sites, 197.

4. Jackson, Time Exposure, 190.

Independence Rock. Signed and dated 1936. 25.4 x 38.0 cm. (SCBL 31)

	scbl/knudsen/sec2n.htm Last Updated: 14-Apr-2006