As Stewart and his hunting companions arrived, probably at New Fork Lake, they settled down for the evening to “christen” the two ankers of brandy and port wine that the captain had brought in on mule back. As the merriment began, Miller turned his attention to the sublime scenery around him: “The sketch will do more than any words we can use in giving an idea of the sublimity and beauty of this scene,–to the left a solid immense rock rises sheer out of the water to a great height,–its dark grey shadow forming a striking contrast to the sharp-pinnacled snow-covered mountains in the distance.”
Miller wrote that “it was a time (as the Trappers style it) of ‘High Jinks.’ ‘Gentlemen’ will mix their liquors—wit came from some that were never suspected of having before such an article about them,” and he felt “compelled to draw a slight veil over the proceedings” of the evening. “It was found advisable to let [his companions]… lie under the first bush they happened to fall.” (Ross, 1968, text accompanying plate 146; DeVoto, 1947, p. 334)
The artist; by descent to Louisa Whyte Norton; [Old Print Shop, New York, NY, 1947]; [Edward Eberstadt and Sons, New York, NY]; William R. Coe, Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY; present owner by gift
