American Art Collaborative

The Green River Valley in Wyoming was a site dear to Thomas Moran's heart. He painted this subject nearly forty times after he first encountered it in 1871 on an illustration commission for "Scribner's" magazine. In this late example, nostalgia has informed Moran's memories, creating a landscape that is a blend of fantasy and reality. The shimmering mountain range of Toll Rock rising out of the mist recalls Moran's numerous scenes of Venice and stands in opposition to the often harsh environmental contrasts of the actual American West. And by 1911, when Moran gave the painting its poignant title, the Native American riders advancing into the landscape had long vanished with the dominance of Anglo-American culture after statehood in 1890.