American Art Collaborative

George Catlin traveled widely throughout the frontier, but never crossed into Texas, as the title of this painting implies. “Cross Timbers” probably refers to a location in Comanche Territory, where the artist journeyed in 1834. The conformation of the bald hills resembles Catlin's earlier views of the Upper Missouri, and the painting is of the same small size as the other landscapes in that series. (Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979