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New exhibit brings the historic Oregon Trail to vibrant life
For the hundreds of Americans who emigrated west along the Oregon Trail in the mid 19th century, there was no certainty. Starvation, disease or worse could very well take them as they made the treacherous 2,000-mile trek.
George and Keteruh Belknap left their Iowa homestead April 10, 1848, with their small children, meager belongings, provisions and strong Methodist faith, and pointed their ox-drawn covered wagon westward.
The Belknaps were farmers, and like many before them (and many who followed) they made the crossing in pursuit of a better life. Soil in the Oregon Territory was, they’d been told, fertile and moist, and the land was theirs for the squatting. Expanding, moving across land, was “Manifest Destiny,” a popular concept of the day. Plus, there was a lot of excited talk about gold discoveries out west.
First, they had to get there. It took between four and six months – leaving in April meant you would be well across the country’s great plains before the crippling winter snows.
Heide Presse with her work “Home is at the End of the Trail.” Photo by Bill DeYoung.
Ohio artist Heidi Presse has created a remarkably vibrant collection of oil paintings, drawings and fabrics to depict the arduous journey. Opening today at the James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Perseverance: A Woman’s Journey West is a visual representation of the brave pioneer odyssey of Keturah Belknap.
How do we know Presse’s depictions are accurate? Because Keteruh Belknap left a detailed, day-by-day journal.
Heidi Presse is also a serious historian. “I like to read journals, because I feel like that’s the best way to put yourself in their shoes,” she said.
“There’s lots of good journals – but there’s something about hers. I like to paint everyday life, and a lot of the journals are monotonous, like ‘Good water.’ ‘Bad water.’ ‘Good grass today.’ ‘Eight miles.’ ‘20 miles.’”
Not feisty Keteruh Belknap, who grew up in Ohio and married George at the age of 19.
“She mostly liked to talk about how she did everyday things. How she churned butter on the trail, and how she baked bread on the trail. She has one of the most detailed descriptions known to exist of how they packed their wagon.”
“Everything in its Place” by Heidi Presse.
The next thing is a box as high as the chest that is packed with a few dishes and things we wont need till we get thru. And now we will put in the long sacks of flour and other things. The sacks are made of home made linen and will hold 125 pounds; 4 sacks of flour and one of corn meal. Now comes the groceries. We will make a wall of smaller sacks stood on end; dried apples and pleaches, beans, rice, sugar and coffee, the latter being in a green state. We will brown it in the skillet as we use it. Everything must be put in strong bags; no paper wrappings for the trip. There is a corner left for the wash tub and the lunch basket will just fit in the tub. The dishes we want to use will all be in the basket. I am going to start with good earthen dishes and if they get broken have tin ones to take their place. I have made 4 nice little table cloths so am going to live just like I was at home.
The Belknap wagon train included multiple families, including Keturah’s in-laws. There was drama on the trip, and even death, but – this is one of Presse’s pet peeves – there was not daily violence, the sort depicted on TV shows like Yellowstone and 1883.
Indian attacks were a very real threat, she said, but not as bad in the 1840s as they would become in subsequent years.
“They say that 10 percent of the people who went, died. Now, that’s still a lot of people. But I made a decision to concentrate on the 90 percent. Because no one else does. I just wanted to show the grind of the everyday life, and what they did.”
As an artist, and a serious student of American history, “this subject just spoke to me. It’s a vast wealth of inspiration for everyday subjects.
“I have been asked to do military, I have been asked to do famous, and that just doesn’t interest me. I like to know and understand how people lived. How they did things. How did they dress? And not just this era, but just in general.
“And not the fancy people, but just your everyday people like us.”
The artist has made many visits to the site of the old trail, and trekked many miles.
She “builds” her paintings from carefully-staged photographs (she shoots them herself), creating composites that are then fully sketched out, then painted.
Accuracy is always priority number one, she says. From the clothing and the tools to the oxen, the wagons and the careworn faces of the pioneers themselves.
The James Museum exhibit also includes reproductions of pioneer clothing, blankets and quilts, a lot of it made by Presse herself. There’s even a full-sized covered wagon.
Presse also took inspiration from The Plains Across: The Overland Emigrants on the Trans-Mississippi West, by John D. Unruh Jr. “He spent 10 years transcribing every known document, everything, from the Antebellum Period, 1840 through ’60,” she gushed. “And I loved that book. It’s just dry facts, and I would rather read that than fiction that describes everything.”
Presse is quick to acknowledge her many friends, across many states, who work as period re-enactors. They are as well-versed in the physical minutiae of pioneer life as she is.
Many move along the historic Oregon Trail in small groups, without the public (or an artist with a camera) observing them. These are “immersive” re-enactions, just to get a true feel for what it was like in the mid 19th century.
“I’ve met some outstanding re-enactors,” Presse said. “They look like history come to life. They work for museums, and they’re very serious about what they do.”
Heidi Presse will present an Artist Talk today at 2 p.m. Perseverance runs through Sept. 28.
Find all details at the James Museum website.
“Pursuing their Dreams” by Heidi Presse.
