Thomas Hill (American, 1829-1908)

Indian Encampment, Yosemite Valley
1863
Oil on canvas
Purchase, Friends of Art
1965.11262

Thank you to Mr. Ried Schott for adopting this work.

What is this painting's main subject: The Native American encampment or the majestic Yosemite Valley landscape? Hill, considered a Hudson River School artist, painted this magnificent and idealistic landscape to celebrate this emerging nation's westward expansion. In the nineteenth century, as the United States increased its territorial holdings by removing Native Americans from their ancestral lands, nostalgic depictions like this one of the noble Indian became increasingly popular.