All this was but a footnote compared to the real passion of Edward Curtis’ life.Īs Curtis mingled with elites, he became aware of a heartbreaking tragedy. These connections and the quality of Curtis’ work would one day open the door for him to become the personal photographer of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States (1901-1909). He was recruited for a high-profile expedition north with a team that was a veritable “who’s who” of wealthy Americans and academic elites. This chance encounter and subsequent rescue put Edward into the stratosphere of influential and powerful people, especially when they discovered his talents as a photographer. from Yale, founder of the Audobon Society and editor of Forest and Stream - also the worlds leading expert on plains Indians at the time and C Hart Merriam, the co-founder of the National Geographic Society. He discovered a wholly lost party of mountaineers, among whom was Geroge Bird Grinnell, Ph.D. He heard the calls for help, packed up his photography equipment, and investigated. A serendipitous encounter somewhere on the side of Mount Reinier forever altered the course of Edward Curtis’ life. The first was mountain climbing, the second was photography, and the third the North American Indian. He discovered two great loves, followed later by a third. As Edward grew into his manhood, he migrated west to Seattle. Edward Curtis was the uneducated son of a wild-eyed revivalist preacher from the late 19th century.
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