Art of the American West: In Their Own Words

Quotes on art and life

"A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!"

George Catlin, on his 1832 journey up the Missouri (as quoted by the National Park Service) 1832

"He has brought back alive the proud and free characters of these chiefs, both their nobility and manliness."

Charles Baudelaire on Catlin's portraits at the Paris Salon of 1846 (English translation) 1846

"The best material for the artist in the world."

Albert Bierstadt, describing the Rocky Mountains after Lander's 1859 expedition 1859

"Vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonder-land, will in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities, which have required all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare."

Ferdinand V. Hayden to the House Committee on Public Lands, urging the creation of Yellowstone National Park

"The greatest compliment I ever had... After this everything will be mere fuss."