Carol M. Highsmith

Esterbrook community church, built in 1946 in tiny esterbrook, wyoming.  founded in 1896 as a mining city, the isolated community is named after esterbrook creek, which was named after esther cooper, a local settler. the church, one of 29 mission churches in the episcopal missionary district of wyoming, was built with a window behind the altar with a view to laramie peak.

Carol Highsmith has donated her life's photography work of tens of thousands of images to the Library of Congress during her decades-long career.  The photography collection at the Library is the most historic photographic collection on earth and includes the work of Dorothea Lange and Frances Benjamin Johnston.  Highsmith has been doing a visual study of America for 40 years and travels the United States for about 10 months a year.

Wyoming

A calf snagged for branding at Big Creek Ranch, a Carbon County, Wyoming

Ranchers round up calfs for branding at  Big Creek cattle ranch near Riverside, Wyoming

Horses head for the corral near Riverside, Wyoming

Chest-high boots called waders hanging on wall, near Riverside, Wyoming

One calf lassoed on branding day at Big Creek Ranch, a Carbon County, Wyoming

Lake Marie, Snowy Range, Wyoming

Cowhands on horseback cross the North Platte River at Wyoming/Colorado state line with dog

Spring Creek Ranch, above Jackson Hole, Wyoming

1950s vintage car driving downtown Casper, Wyoming

Lander Mill in Lander, Wyoming

BNSF train emerging from tunnel in north-central Wyoming

A portion of Fort Bridger, a Wyoming state historical site, Uinta County, Wyoming

Statue of "mountain man" Jim Bridger outside Fort Bridger, Uinta County, Wyoming

Peruvian sheepherder Pepe Cruz tends to the flock at a ranch in Carbon County, Wyoming

Ranch gate stop a rural road against blue cloudy sky outside Riverside, Wyoming

A farmer pours cattle feed at Big Creek Ranch

Llewellin setter at Big Creek cattle ranch near the towns Riverside, Wyoming

Red roofed ranch buildings at Big Creek, Carbon County, Wyoming

Woman riding horse back during a parade during Cheyenne Frontier Days, Wyoming

Man in cowboy hat riding horse in the snow in the mountains with a dog running alongside, Wyoming

Horses standing outside their corral on a snowy day in the Rockies at Midland Ranch, Wyoming

Remote road in wintertime in rugged Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Rural road through rugged and remote Sweetwater County, Wyoming in wintertime

American bisons in the snow at Yellowstone National Park

Elk drinking from a river in a snowy Yellowstone National Park

American bald eagle in the northernmost Wyoming reaches of Yellowstone National Park

Coyote in the snow at Yellowstone National Park

A coyote blends into its surroundings in mid-winter in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Old Faithful eruption at Yellowstone

Thermal features by Artist Point overlooking the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River

Adult and calf bison facing each other in the snow in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

American bisons walking on snowy road at Yellowstone National Park

An American bison in the snow at Yellowstone National Park

Young bull elk test each other's mettle at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's elk refuge

Arch of elk-antler in the town square of Jackson Hole, Wyoming

View of Lake Marie in Wyoming's Snowy Range

Big Creek Ranch, a Carbon County, Wyoming

Moulton Barn in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming

Mountains at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Neon sign of the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Storm clouds above the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, Wyoming

An American bison in Yellowstone National Park

Scene from Yellowstone National Park's Lower Terrace

Liberty Cap, a dormant hot spring dome in Yellowstone National Park in northwestern Wyoming

Buffalo on the move in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Man fly fishing in the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park

Coats and a cowboy hat at the "Hole-in-the-Wall" Cabin at Old Trail Town, Cody, Wyoming

Old Trail Town living-history museum in Cody, Wyoming

Esterbrook Community Church, Esterbrook, Wyoming