N.A. Forsyth, Western Photographer
Norman A. Forsyth (1869 to 1949), a native of New York, was one of the better-known stereoview photographers of the early 20th century. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree, he began work in Yellowstone National Park in the 1880s, driving a stagecoach and providing tours to visitors. During the next six summers in the park, he also supplemented his income by selling his stereoviews to tourists. In the off-season, he lived in Butte, honing his photographic talents and acting as a travel agent, planning tours of Yellowstone. (Forsyth’s lesser-known photographs of Butte are a historic treasure, documenting the town’s growth and mining history.)
As one of the better-known photographers in Montana at the turn of the century, and as an enterprising salesman of his own stereoviews, he soon came to the attention of the Underwood & Underwood stereoview company. They purchased many of his images of Yellowstone, and the demand allowed him to begin traveling to Glacier National Park to document it as well. Choosing from around 50 stereoviews he produced of the park, he packaged them in 30-view sets, selling them from his studio in Butte, and continuing his travels to Glacier, mostly between 1902 and 1912.
In addition to his park stereoviews, Forsyth found himself on hand for several dramatic historic events. When the town of Missoula flooded in 1908, Forsyth was on hand to document the devastation. Forsyth and his close friend, artist Charles Russell, were also present at the last great roundup of buffalo. By 1907, buffalo herds had dwindled to the point of near-extinction, and when Michael Pablo sold his herd of 700 animals to the Canadian government, Forsyth and Russell jumped at the chance to capture the herd with their art. (In fact, Forsyth was nearly killed by charging buffalo and lost his camera to the herd, an event Charles Russell later documented in his painting, A Close Call.)
Although most active between the late 1880s and the early 1910s, Forsyth’s relationship with Underwood & Underwood lasted until 1923 when the company sold most of their stereoview business to Keystone. Forsyth continued as an agent for Keystone until they ceased operation in 1947, covering Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska, capturing iconic images of the American West from Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks to Butte and Missoula to buffalo and Native Americans.