The majestic structure pictured here is Shoshone Falls, located in Snake River, Idaho. Timothy O’ Sullivan took this photograph in 1874 as part of the Wheeler expedition, the first geographical survey of the United States that had ever taken place west of the 100th meridian. This expedition was overseen by the Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and was supervised by First Lieutenant George M. Wheeler. The expedition covered land in the areas of New Mexico, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Texas. The ultimate goal of the expedition was to map the topography of the territory south of the Central Pacific Railroad. However, the expedition also served to portray this relatively empty expanse to the American people living in the East. For much of the 19th century, the idea of Manifest Destiny had lodged itself in the hearts and minds of the American people. Images such as this one would have been printed on postcards and sold to the general public, enticing them to the fantasy of the relatively untouched Western Territory.