Our paper conservator, Ted Stanley, recently completed the cleaning, flattening, and rehousing of 42 charcoal and pastel drawings by J. Monroe Thorington, class of 1915 (1895-1989).

In his book, The Glittering Mountains of Canada: A Record of Exploration and Pioneer Ascents in the Canadian Rockies, 1914-1924, Thorington describes one of his many mountain trips:

“As the Freshfield Group, where we spent the days following, is described later, we shall here continue on the Waputik trails. It was July 21st when we descended Howse River to a point below the Glacier Lake stream. Alpine flora gives the river-flats a gay appearance and game tracks are everywhere—moose, bear, deer, and goat trails winding back and forth. Every evening we had watched, through binoculars, the big billy-goats come out to feed on the high alpland above the cliffs. And once, as we came late into camp, a cow moose with her calf plunged back into the timber.”

Here are a few of his almost life-size drawings of the Canadian wildlife.