Mission in the High Sierras

The Sierra Nevada Mountain Range runs from northern to southern California and is named from the Spanish words meaning "snowy mountains." The setting for this painting is just north of Lake Tahoe and represents the historical time circa 1851. It is a scene of which is now known as Donner Pass which is where modern day Highway 80 runs. In 1804 Lewis and Clark traveled from St. Louis, Missouri to explore the wilderness to the west and find a northwest passage to the Pacific Ocean. The path they blazed would become known as the Oregon Trail. This trail passes north of the scene depicted in the painting. By 1811 explorers and adventurers began looking for a way from the Oregon Trail to cross the Sierra Nevada Range to California. The famed Kit Carson founded some of this trail. It became known as the California Trail. In 1846 the Donner Party set out from Missouri and followed the Oregon Trail, but instead of taking the more traveled California Trail to reach the Sierra Nevada Range, they opted to traverse a rugged, treacherous, and mainly unexplored trail called the Hasting's Cut-off as a short-cut. Since winter was approaching, this mistake actually took more time and they became trapped in the early heavy snowfall. Many of them lost their lives. The event took place near the area depicted in my painting. In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill just west of this scene. People from the east took the Oregon Trail looking to become rich from the gold bonanza. It is estimated that over 300,000 people flooded into California. They were called the 49ers. With the influx of immigrants to California, Franciscan priests came to spread Christianity to the Native Americans. These priests first arrived north of Lake Tahoe in 1849. They came in contact with the Washoe Indians who lived in the region. My painting shows two Indian scouts who have traveled by horseback to one small Franciscan mission near the Truckee River in the Donner Pass. As they are communicating with a priest, one scout points towards the direction of his village. In the painting there are golden trout swimming in the stream. These fish are native to these mountains and are now the state fish of California. Pine trees are indigenous to this region, but so are Mandrone trees which are shown next to the mission. They are known for their beautiful cinnamon colored bark. Bluebonnets are also native to the Sierras and are shown growing along the stream in this late springtime scene. In 1859 the great American landscape artist, Albert Bierstadt, traveled from New York City to California along the Oregon and California Trails. He arrived at the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Donner Pass and sketched out scenes. When he returned to New York, he painted large sweeping panoramic landscapes of the mountains including the area around Yosemite. Art critics and common folk praised the breathtaking scenes as masterpieces. Many wanted to travel to the rugged West to see these magnificent mountains for themselves and some even stayed and settled there. This painting is a tribute to those at the risk of their lives ventured to the Sierra Nevada Range from the settlers that would tame the wild land, to the priests who suffered hardships to spread the gospel, and to Albert Bierstadt who gave us glorious images of the beauty of America.