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Removal of trees so as to create farmland, and especially the stumps left behind, was an arduous process for European settlers. Although there were complex (and expensive) "patent machines" available, small farmers trying to remove fairly…

This idealized diptych appeared in The Genesee Farmer, an agricultural newspaper, showing its readers the clearing of forests so as to create farmland. By the date of publication, settlement and the "Pioneer" figure already was imbued with mythic…

At the popular "Brontosaurus Hall" at the American Museum of Natural History, a young girl sits in preserved footprints of a dinosaur. Note: this image has been croppedS

Built on the site of a former Shaker community, the Craig Colony for Epileptics was envisioned as a self-supporting institution when it opened in 1896. Inmates worked in the Shakers' existing farms and blacksmith shops; these new buildings were…

This poster is one of many "soil conservation charts" created by the US Department of Agriculture during the 1930s, specifically in response to conditions of drought and farming practices that had exacerbated the problem. In this instance, the Soil…