Moran, Thomas 1837-1926

At the age of sixteen, Thomas Moran became an apprentice to a Philadelphia wood engraving firm, Scattergood & Telfer. It was in this position that he began to paint and draw seriously, working diligently on his skills as both a watercolorist and an illustrator. Thomas Moran traveled to Lake Superior, where he painted and sketched the landscape of the Great Lakes. Thomas Moran was hired, along with photographer William Henry Jackson, to document the landscape of the region. He could not have chosen a better trip or companion, as the combined talents of Moran and Jackson in documenting the geysers, hot springs, canyons and cliffs of the "Yellow Stone Territory" would be instrumental in persuading Congress to set the land aside as a National Park.