Cutoff River, Branch of the Wabash, plate 8 from Volume 1 of 'Travels in the Interior of North America' 1843

Karl Bodmer created this print of the Cutoff River, a branch of the Wabash, as part of his illustrated travelogue of North America in the 1830s. Bodmer was a European artist employed to document the American frontier. This image, with its meticulous detail of the flora and fauna, reflects a European fascination with the natural wonders of the 'New World'. However, it also participates in the colonial project of claiming and cataloging the land, implicitly justifying its appropriation. Consider the absence of Indigenous people in this seemingly objective depiction of the landscape. Where are the original inhabitants and how might their absence contribute to a narrative of an empty, unclaimed wilderness? To fully understand this image, one might research the history of westward expansion in America, the role of scientific illustration in colonialism, and the changing representations of Native Americans in European and American art. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and historical context.