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Time Exposure: The Autobiography of William Henry Jackson by William Henry Jackson

1987; University of Nebraska Press; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/wal.1987.0030

1948-7142

Coralie Beyers,

American Literature and Culture

Reviews 75 an impressive number of investigators have tried and failed to provide the truth about the Kid’slife and death. What we do know about the Kid now is basically the result of a few devoted researchers (Koop, Rasch, Mullin, Fulton) who worked in the 1950s and 1960s on tracking the Kid’s trail from New York to Fort Sumner. Alias Billy the Kid is but another effort to discover the Kid who is said to have existed behind or beneath or beside or beyond the legend, and it displays the typical problems besetting this genre, one which is dominated by the belief that breeding details together will result in history just as putting a Hereford bull and heifer together at the right time will eventually produce a calf. Much of the book simply rehashes the previous work of Kid researchers. Much of the book is written in the pedestrian manner of research notes and, when the author feels he has landed upon a new fact or two, the tone becomes strident and wearying. More importantly, as is the case with other books like this that sport the words “true,” “authentic,” or “real” in the title, notwithstanding the author’s protestations of objectivity, it eventually becomes clear that the “facts” are being marshalled to support a thesis formed in advance. This book views the Kid as a totally degenerate specimen of American youth, and decries the noble bandit image which has been associated with his exploits. This view may be right—even if it is tiresome; still, the problem is two-fold. The thesis leads the author into accepting as historical truth episodes that several authors have convincingly disproved. Thus, for instance, Cline repeats verbatim the clearly legendary account of the Kid’s killing of Joe Grant, since it neatly fits his idea of the Kid as a total slimeball. Secondly, in describing such incidents as the Lincoln County War, the author often oversimplifies what is an incredibly complicated web of events in order to choose the source that best fits his view of the Kid. While the book has helpful illustrations and does a creditable job of filling in the New York city scene of the Kid’s origins, I suspect Alias Billy the Kid will interest only committed Billy the Kid buffs and those who watch Dragnet re-runs. STEPHEN TATUM University.of Utah Time Exposure: The Autobiography of William Henry Jackson. By William Henry Jackson. (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1986. 341 pages, $9.95.) This narrative of the pioneer artist and photographer indelibly associated with our vision of Yellowstone Park and Jackson Hole was originally published in 1940, three years before Jackson’s death. It is most welcome, for it makes clear that behind every camera image of a place or person stands or stoops or squats the photographerwho has set up his equipment and waited for the light. 76 Western American Literature As he concluded this autobiography’swriting, already in his mid-nineties, Jackson observed that his long life embraced the Mexican War, the War of the Secession, the War with Spain, World War I, and the beginning of another war: altogether an extraordinary century in which to be alive. His life (1843— 1942] also paralleled the first hundred years of photography, from the daguer­ reotype to 35mm cameras and color film. Just as his life was marked by acceptance of and participation in changes in national events, he also adapted readily to changing technology in his profession. As a young photographer for the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey party to the Yellowstone region, Jackson spent from 1870-1879 accom­ panying these survey parties in the Rocky Mountains, making over 2000 images of the Yellowstone region, the Colorado mountains, and the newly discovered Mesa Verde. He was the first person to photograph most of these landscapes. During Ferdinand V. Hayden’s survey through Yellowstone, Jackson was in the company of the English painter Thomas Moran, official artist for the party. They learned from each other. In this expedition Jackson compiled his most impressive record of an area, transporting photographic equipment weighing nearly 300 pounds by mule or horse, loading and unloading for...