A Trip through the Lassen Volcanic National Park (1918)

The mountain’s explosive [is] front and center in A Trip through the Lassen Volcanic National Park. The centerpiece of this short film is footage of Lassen in action, as novel now as it was at the time of its release in 1918. With these images, cinematographer J. J. Hammer of Red Bluff, California, created what one expert determined “might be the second oldest existing film of an erupting volcano” as well as “one of the first in a long line of volcanic films that capture the majesty and awe-inspiring views of an eruption.” [...] By the early 1920s Lassen was completely at rest. Today, Hammer’s film, along with the still photographs captured by Loomis and others, constitute a remarkable and thrilling visual record of an earth-shattering event, both for park lovers and film aficionados.