Identify the figures in Gast’s painting. Analyze the placement and the scale of the figures as indicative of their roles in the meaning of the picture. How do light and shadow and color contribute to the emphasis and meaning of the figures? What can you say about the meaning of the figures?
Second, identify the means of transportation and communication in Gast’s painting. In general, how does the placement, scale, and direction of these features contribute to the meaning of their meaning?
Third, characterize the landscape background by writing about what features are evident and how they are rendered. Where is the light coming from and what might the light symbolize?
Finally, this painting was commissioned by George Crofutt, the publisher of a popular series of western travel guides, who included this image as an engraving in his publications. What do you think readers of those guides would think of the West after seeing this image? What ideological message about Native Americans is communicated by the representation painted by Gast and published by Crofutt?
