One of the group of Pagosa Hot Springs, showing incrustations on the surface 1874

Curator: This stereograph, captured by Timothy O'Sullivan, documents "One of the group of Pagosa Hot Springs, showing incrustations on the surface." Editor: It's desolate, stark. The way the figure seems dwarfed by the landscape... it speaks to a certain loneliness, a Western narrative of isolation. Curator: O’Sullivan, working with the Wheeler Expedition, used his lens to both document and subtly shape perceptions of the American West. Editor: Right, this image, with its scientific precision, becomes a tool for shaping public imagination about the landscape and its resources during a period of aggressive expansion. Curator: The mineral incrustations themselves become symbols of nature's power, a kind of sacred geography that preceded colonial invasion. Editor: Absolutely, and this image helps us remember the people whose displacement made such "discoveries" possible. Curator: It invites a deeper reflection on how we engage with these landscapes and their narratives. Editor: Indeed. It complicates our understanding of the American expansion.