Here Miller depicts a buffalo jump, a hunting practice wherein Indians chased bison over a precipice. His accompanying note describes the practice, presenting it as an opportunity that Indians discovered when bison were in the proximity of a cliff. However, there were also sites conducive to buffalo jumps where successive herds may have been driven over the edge.
As in many of the watercolors he made for Walters, here Miller has broadened the expanse of landscape in the composition, creating a deeper space in which hundreds more bison plunge to their deaths than in the preparatory sketch and watercolor made for Stewart (CR# 351 and CR# 351A). Here the colors are more muted, with an overall mauve tonality in the sky. The bison are also less compact, with sturdier legs and a bit less grace than in the earlier versions of the composition.
