About this Painting – Fort Union Ruins on the Santa Fe Trail
12″ X 24″ Oil on Canvas by Timothy K Lewis
I have hiked Fort Union union many times alone and with family members – my wife, my son. As with other historical areas and old west forts, I get a feeling of peace and connection (removed from the turmoil of society) to a place which I have read about – studied the events and the people involved over a lifetime – places which eventually found their peace.
Like Fort Union, these locations and ruins are all that is left, undisturbed other than by time and the elements of nature, that reminds us of the events, and heroic and courageous people from both sides; the New Americans traveling, struggling, and dying while seeking a new way of life and a new place to live, and the Indigenous Indian People/Nations who struggled and died trying to keep their ways, life, and freedom intact. These locations, now quiet and sleeping, after intense times, are what helped to shape a growing and inventive Nation – the United States of America.
The Santa Fe Trail is an important part of that history that connected travelers and commercial traders from the east to the west – connecting both sides of life, introducing new ways and new things to make life a little easier.
When I am at these historic sites, nothing else seems to matter in the world, but what was so important at a time of struggle and dreams of a new nation.
I wish to preserve their memory by painting not just what I see but what best represents these places of honor with respect and a feeling of how life once was but now exists in the present – beautiful and peaceful without man or conflict.
This painting depicts the once-bustling grounds of Fort Union’s post corral, in the Territory of New Mexico, now a quiet and peaceful place of rest along the Santa Fe Trail. In this painting, the Santa Fe trail is located to the left of the ruins. The three birds, grouped together, flying above the fort from east to west, represent the travelers migrating to the west. The solo bird flying above and behind them represents those soldiers, who were assigned, as it was their duty, to protect the life and property of the travelers heading to the New Frontier.
Size and Price:
12″ X 24″ Signed Limited Edition of Fifty (50) Archival Reproduction Prints with Certificate – $400.00
Contact us for the price to have a Barnwood frame added.