First Chain of the Rocky Mountains above Fort McKenzie

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

First Chain of the Rocky Mountains above Fort McKenzie

Date

September 9, 1833

Dimensions

11 3/4 × 16 15/16 in. (29.8 × 43 cm)

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.210

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

While en route to Fort McKenzie on August 7, Maximilian noted in his journal for that day that he had glimpsed what he supposed to be the distant summits of the Rocky Mountains. On September 9, shortly before his departure from the fort, he again reported that he and Bodmer went into the hills above the river "to paint . . . the Bear's Paw and to make a drawing of the first chain of the Rocky Mountains," actually an isolated uplift known today as the Highwoods. Bodmer's watercolor version of this view, with the figures of Indians and horses in the right fore ground, appeared as Tableau 44 in the aquatint atlas published in Europe.

References in Journal

September 9, 1833

Labels:

landscape , Fort McKenzie, Montana

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort McKenzie, Montana