[Utah-astronomy] Nebulosity

The only time I can claim to have seen the North American nebula was through an Edmund Astroscan - 4-1/4 inch bowling ball.  I have seen the bright part of the Horse Head through my 12.5 inch at a star party in southern Ut.  Through the 22 inch I actually have seen the indent of the dark nebula against the bright portion, but it was just an indent - a sort of semicircular indentation along one side of the nebula.  Again that observation was made in southern T.  I don't recall any filtration, although it may have been through a deep sky filter.  I am pretty sure the 12.5 inch observation was without any filter in place.