The Great Salt Lake of Utah c. 1875

Thomas Moran made this watercolor painting, entitled *The Great Salt Lake of Utah*, in 1874. It captures a group of figures on horseback, dwarfed by the vastness of the Western landscape. Moran was part of the 19th-century movement of artists who visualized the American West, but we have to consider that the construction of the West as sublime wilderness often came at the expense of the displacement and erasure of Indigenous peoples. What does it mean to create these vistas and invite settlers to participate in the fantasy of the West? The figures on horseback seem to echo a sentiment of exploration and ownership. Though stunning, we might ask ourselves how this image might mask some of the darker chapters of American history. How does this epic landscape become a backdrop, muting stories of conflict, survival, and cultural disruption?