This painting, seemingly located on the upper Mohawk River, assumes a timeless, mythical quality. Bierstadt was one of several second-generation Hudson School artists associated with "luminism," a technique using aerial perspective and…
Southwestern county, part of the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua that extinguished most Seneca nation land rights, is shown here not long after its incorporation in 1817. Remnants of Senecas land are visible as the Cattaraugus Reservation (at upper left)…