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Pictures from an Expedition
A group of people who still carry wounds from the Civil War heads West in 1876, after the Battle of Little Bighorn, on an expedition to a dinosaur fossil dig, in a story narrated through the reminiscences of scientific illustrator Eleanor Peterson. By the author of Letters from Yellowstone. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2002
About the author
Diane Smith
3 books14 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Diane Smith has lived most of her adult life and a few years of her childhood in Montana, with only brief interruptions to live in San Francisco and London. She studied western and environmental history at the University of Montana, and now specializes in science writing, with an emphasis on public understanding of science and the reform of science education. She also does some travel writing, which often integrates her interests in history and the environment. In her free time, she visits the national parks, volunteers on archaeological and paleontological digs, explores the back roads of Montana, and tries to learn all she can about the natural history of the West.
Diane Smith has lived most of her adult life and a few years of her childhood in Montana, with only brief interruptions to live in San Francisco and London. She studied western and environmental history at the University of Montana, and now specializes in science writing, with an emphasis on public understanding of science and the reform of science education. She also does some travel writing, which often integrates her interests in history and the environment. In her free time, she visits the national parks, volunteers on archaeological and paleontological digs, explores the back roads of Montana, and tries to learn all she can about the natural history of the West.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 9, 2020
I was on page 190 (out of 276) when I considered giving up. There isn't much plot. The characters are for the most part eccentric with quirky personalities, and the overall tone pretentious. I like the setting and the concept, but nothing here came alive for me. The book could easily have been written in the present tense without using the pretense of the artist writing her memories. As for the artist, Eleanor Peterson, she never becomes a fully-developed character.
Yes, I did finish reading, skimming fairly quickly, and I got the impression that the last fifty pages flowed more easily, but maybe that's because I was skimming.
Yes, I did finish reading, skimming fairly quickly, and I got the impression that the last fifty pages flowed more easily, but maybe that's because I was skimming.
February 26, 2008
Smith writes very special and intimate tales of women in the past century living uncommon lives. Written in the first person, her language and style capture the era and pull you into the heart and soul of her characters.
July 31, 2008
Really good summer reading book about a lady artist on a Dinosaur fossil dig in the late 1800's.
September 17, 2025
I had read Diane Smith's first book of historical fiction, "Yellowstone" published in 1999 and gave it 5stars. As I reread my review of it to begin writing my review for "Pictures froman Expedition " I realized that I could use much of it, "Yellowstone", to describe my thoughts on this most recent work from 2002... "I really needed this wonderful story about.....lots of things......nature, science, relationships and woman's place in the world of the late nineteenth century, as well as short! (226 pages, Expedition 275 pages) This could have been a nauseating romance but that wasn't what Diane Smith had in mind. It is a gift of straight forward Life, set in the beauty of Yellowstone National Park. (Expedition, the Badlands)" .
Both novels are based almost entirely on letters....so cleverly done that you forget until you get to the signature. I think Expeditions has more of archievist, illustrator, & archeologist, Eleanor Peterson's, personal thoughts of events and memories from her journal. Eleanor had been asked to help identify paintings, drawings and circumstances that her friend and teacher, Augustus Starwood, produced during their summer spent together along with a paleontology expedition supported by Yale College which employed Miss Peterson. This took place in the Badlands of Montana (then the Montana Territories)in 1876...right after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Indians were moving north after their defeat of Custer. Rival scientists were debating theories of evolution and were attempting to steal what could be the largest diosaur remains ever uncovered.
I want to read Diane Smiths, 2017 "Yellowstone and the Smithsonian: Centers of Wildlife Conservation". I hope she writes more. I really like the subject matter and her style of writing which includes laugh outloud humor and tender moments of sadness.
Both novels are based almost entirely on letters....so cleverly done that you forget until you get to the signature. I think Expeditions has more of archievist, illustrator, & archeologist, Eleanor Peterson's, personal thoughts of events and memories from her journal. Eleanor had been asked to help identify paintings, drawings and circumstances that her friend and teacher, Augustus Starwood, produced during their summer spent together along with a paleontology expedition supported by Yale College which employed Miss Peterson. This took place in the Badlands of Montana (then the Montana Territories)in 1876...right after the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Indians were moving north after their defeat of Custer. Rival scientists were debating theories of evolution and were attempting to steal what could be the largest diosaur remains ever uncovered.
I want to read Diane Smiths, 2017 "Yellowstone and the Smithsonian: Centers of Wildlife Conservation". I hope she writes more. I really like the subject matter and her style of writing which includes laugh outloud humor and tender moments of sadness.
January 11, 2019
Diane Smith's "Letters from Yellowstone" was such an enjoyable read for me. The lively letters to and from multiple characters offered such distinctive voices--
so of course I had happy expectations that I would have another such experience with this book.
But no. Although there are letters, they lack the chatty distinction of "Yellowstone." There's quite a lot of "tell, don't show" that seems awkward as correspondence. Are there a few careless anachronisms? I think there may be. I skimmed my way to the final pages.
So bottom line: oh, I definitely recommend "Letters from Yellowstone!" This one, not so much.
so of course I had happy expectations that I would have another such experience with this book.
But no. Although there are letters, they lack the chatty distinction of "Yellowstone." There's quite a lot of "tell, don't show" that seems awkward as correspondence. Are there a few careless anachronisms? I think there may be. I skimmed my way to the final pages.
So bottom line: oh, I definitely recommend "Letters from Yellowstone!" This one, not so much.
July 7, 2019
I really loved this author’s previous book, Letters from Yellowstone, very much. Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me.
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March 2, 2020Read well in Montana and Wyoming - a great read for that setting. Interesting and engaging.
December 29, 2020
Archaeology. Women illustrators. Indian relations. Little Big Horn. Setting as a character.
17 of #60before60
17 of #60before60
February 6, 2023
You can read the first two chapters and the last three chapters and everything in between is just gibberish
July 22, 2023
This was a DNF for me after reading about three quarters of the book. Never got into it. The scenery was beautiful, but the plot was lacking ...
June 22, 2011
A few years back, I read Diane Smith's book Letters from Yellowstone, and loved it. A few months after, I saw this book at the bookstore, and picked it up, but never read it until now. I was not disappointed.
The story takes place in 1876, shortly after the Battle of Little Big Horn, when Eleanor Peterson, a scientific illustrator in her late thirties, leaves her post in Philadelphia at "The Academy" (which turns out to be the Academy of Natural Sciences - I work there now!), to take part in an palaeontological expedition sponsored by Yale College, to Montana. The expedition is sponsored by "The Captain," but lead by Dr. Patrick Lear, a war veteran who is determined to find dinosaur fossils, and contribute to the study of American lands and creatures. Eleanor is accompanied by her mentor, Augustus Starwood, an older man who is a well-known portrait painter and quoter of Shakespeare. When they reach Montana, there are already several people in Lear's camp, assisting with the dig, as well as rival scientists hoping to find something first, and Indians who are unsettled due to their treatment by the American government and white people in general.
Eleanor tells the story later (in 1919), through a series of letters to John Wilson of the Smithsonian Institution. He has asked for her assistance in identifying a collection of of drawings, paintings, and artifacts of Augustus Starwood, that have been donated by his niece. Each letter represents one of the items or groups of items, and through them, we are able to get to know each character as well as "see" the land as it was in that time.
The thing about this book is not just the story it tells, but the way it presents a different place and time in a completely understandable fashion. Eleanor Peterson is of course, an important character, but she lets the others develop and shine, and you begin to feel a sense of community with all of them. I think people today seldom think about how difficult this type of thing was in 1876, or how alien the Montana Territories would seem to explorers from Connecticut or Pennsylvania. It gives me a further appreciation of the leaps of faith taken by many who wanted to find something/learn something, even thoughyt they often had little or no idea what the undertaking would be.
The story takes place in 1876, shortly after the Battle of Little Big Horn, when Eleanor Peterson, a scientific illustrator in her late thirties, leaves her post in Philadelphia at "The Academy" (which turns out to be the Academy of Natural Sciences - I work there now!), to take part in an palaeontological expedition sponsored by Yale College, to Montana. The expedition is sponsored by "The Captain," but lead by Dr. Patrick Lear, a war veteran who is determined to find dinosaur fossils, and contribute to the study of American lands and creatures. Eleanor is accompanied by her mentor, Augustus Starwood, an older man who is a well-known portrait painter and quoter of Shakespeare. When they reach Montana, there are already several people in Lear's camp, assisting with the dig, as well as rival scientists hoping to find something first, and Indians who are unsettled due to their treatment by the American government and white people in general.
Eleanor tells the story later (in 1919), through a series of letters to John Wilson of the Smithsonian Institution. He has asked for her assistance in identifying a collection of of drawings, paintings, and artifacts of Augustus Starwood, that have been donated by his niece. Each letter represents one of the items or groups of items, and through them, we are able to get to know each character as well as "see" the land as it was in that time.
The thing about this book is not just the story it tells, but the way it presents a different place and time in a completely understandable fashion. Eleanor Peterson is of course, an important character, but she lets the others develop and shine, and you begin to feel a sense of community with all of them. I think people today seldom think about how difficult this type of thing was in 1876, or how alien the Montana Territories would seem to explorers from Connecticut or Pennsylvania. It gives me a further appreciation of the leaps of faith taken by many who wanted to find something/learn something, even thoughyt they often had little or no idea what the undertaking would be.
November 10, 2015
"Diane Smith's acclaimed novels feature strong heroines, memorable characters, surprising revelations from the natural sciences, and an original 0perspective on the American West. Set in 1876, right after the Battle of Little Big Horn, her new novel tells of Eleanor Peterson, a scientific illustrator in her late thirties, and her friend and mentor Augustus Starwood, an aging portrait painter with a passion for Shakespeare, who join a diverse band of adventurers heading west to Montana to work on a dinosaur fossil dig. Told through Eleanor's remembrances years later, the story recounts the experiences of this ambitious and at times contentious field crew, as they argue over prevailing theories of evolution, contend with rival scientists, and worry about Indians moving north after their defeat of Custer. A vivid portrait of both the natural environment and the issues and ideas of the time, Smith's novel is ultimately a story of personal discovery, revealing the redemptive power of the land and its rivers."
~~back cover
This is an odd little book, and doesn't much match the description given on the back cover. There wasn't any discussion of theories of evolution, only passing glances in conversation, and those were few and far between. The overall impression was that none of the field crew had much idea of what they were looking for, and indeed when they didn't recognize it when they found it. It was an assemblage of odd characters, mostly with unformulated notions of what they were doing. The crew seemed to be on its own, with little instruction from the Yale professor who organized the expedition.
The book is written in the form of letters from Eleanor to a curator at the Smithsonian, some 45 years after the expedition, giving her remembrances of the incidents portrayed in paintings done by Starwood while on the expedition. That literary form gives the book a disjointed feel, at least it did to me.
Perhaps I was disappointed in the book because I was expecting to read about a more organized, formal exploration into the period of time when dinosaur fossils were being discovered in America and changing the way people thought about the history of the earth.
~~back cover
This is an odd little book, and doesn't much match the description given on the back cover. There wasn't any discussion of theories of evolution, only passing glances in conversation, and those were few and far between. The overall impression was that none of the field crew had much idea of what they were looking for, and indeed when they didn't recognize it when they found it. It was an assemblage of odd characters, mostly with unformulated notions of what they were doing. The crew seemed to be on its own, with little instruction from the Yale professor who organized the expedition.
The book is written in the form of letters from Eleanor to a curator at the Smithsonian, some 45 years after the expedition, giving her remembrances of the incidents portrayed in paintings done by Starwood while on the expedition. That literary form gives the book a disjointed feel, at least it did to me.
Perhaps I was disappointed in the book because I was expecting to read about a more organized, formal exploration into the period of time when dinosaur fossils were being discovered in America and changing the way people thought about the history of the earth.
May 2, 2010
Not a very successful book in my opinion. The topic should have been fascinating but while there was much description of characters and the wilds of Montana there was very little sense of the period nor the lot of women at the time as in Smith's first book. This was about a fossil dig but the author did not adequately convey the espionage-like competition for finds that was going on at the time..perhaps the narrator just didn't grasp what was going on nor her real part in the expedition. Anyway- muddled and confusing is my take on this book. Too many vague characters and a disjointed story line.
January 9, 2010
The book is about fossil hunters at the end of the wild west. One of them happens to be a woman, brought along to illustrate the findings. It was a book of many beautiful images - in fact, Smith describes all sorts of paintings from the expedition. I ended up being a little frustrated because I really wanted to see the images for myself, even though they were made up. The book has a slowish plot, often a problem for me, but it was still pleasurable to read and I have a fond feeling for it now.
March 15, 2015
Set in 1876, after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, a group of scientists and explorers travel west. Eleanor Peterson, a scientific illustrator, and her mentor, Augustus Starwood, an aging portrait painter, joins this troop on their journey to the Montana badlands, where she writes of their adventures. Humor, entertaining characters and speculation on what they might find make this book appealing.
July 15, 2009
I just read this and her other Title, Letters from Yellowstone. They both consider women in the West before Montana was a state. This is framed as explanations of a series of drawings and paintings of a now-deceased(fictional) artist, as given by a former friend and protege of said artist. It takes place during the time of Little Bighorn and the expedition is one on paleontology.
August 7, 2009
A woman in 1919 recalls an archeological expedition to Montana in 1876, just after Custer's defeat. The conceit is that she's writing comments on paintings that have survived by an older friend who accompanied her on the trip. But it's actually a very conventional narrative that never really captured my interest in spite of a subject matter that should have.
July 20, 2010
Intriguing format...I thought it would be awkward, but it turned out to be quite nice. Liked the unusual perspectives of the main characters on places and events in our history that have been portrayed so many other ways before. Colorful folks and careful detail that reflected (pretty effectively I think) the daily life of their outdoor adventures on the 'edge' of wilderness!
December 31, 2008
Meh.
It always seemed to be moving toward something big, and never delivered. The writing wasn't exceptional. The end was unsatisfying and almost hokey.
But it gets props for taking place in Montana.
It always seemed to be moving toward something big, and never delivered. The writing wasn't exceptional. The end was unsatisfying and almost hokey.
But it gets props for taking place in Montana.
February 18, 2013
It was a re-read and worth it. Now i think I'll re-read her first "serious historical fiction" Letters from Yellowstone. Turn of the century intrepid women dealing with the male scientific orthodoxy of the time.
April 19, 2014
I will read this book again because I loved it so much. I was raised by a Mom who studied archeology and had Smithsonian Magazine in the house. The author wrote beauifully. I will buy a copy for sure.
August 15, 2012
read in jail. Actual rating: 2.2.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews