Watkins Glen Scenery, Rainbow Falls and Triple Cascades c. 1860

George F. Gates made this stereoscopic photograph of Watkins Glen, New York. The picture was likely made to promote tourism in the area, but it's important to recognize that these picturesque landscapes exist on land that was stewarded by indigenous people for thousands of years. The image offers a romanticized view of nature, common in 19th-century American art, but it doesn't acknowledge the complex relationship between environmentalism, colonization, and the erasure of Native American presence. What stories are silenced when we focus solely on the beauty of the landscape? Consider the perspectives of those who were displaced and dispossessed as these natural wonders became tourist destinations. Look at this image and think about whose voices are missing, and what histories remain untold.