Walking into "Edward S. Curtis and the Vanishing Race," a photography exhibition now on view at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend, I ask Director of Collections & Exhibitions Graeme Reid for the nugget on the Whitewater-born photographer and what he hands me is golden. "The North American Indian, which was essentially (Curtis') life's work, is in my opinion and the opinion of others, probably the most significant achievement in American publishing history," Reid says, with no hint of doubt.