When Careless Spelled Disaster by western artist Howard Terpning

When Careless Spelled Disaster by Howard Terpning.

 

Two white trappers who have stopped to drink and wash themselves at the edge of the river have let down their guard and allowed themselves to be placed in extreme jeopardy by a large party of Blackfeet warriors. One grasps a rifle he had laid down on the rocks, but the other's rifle is in a sling attached to his saddle horn. He may not live to reach it. The lead warrior has his hand up in a sign of peace, but given the long history of hostility between American trappers and the Blackfeet, this may be only a ploy to allow him to get close enough for an accurate shot.

 

The figures are secondary to the huge and spectacular Rocky Mountain landscape. From an artistic veiwpoint, they only help establish scale.(The Art of Howard Terpning - Elmer Kelton)

 

Print released 1990.