Old Fence Older River

One of the most intriguing things about man-made structures – like buildings, roads, fences – is how temporary they are. Especially with fences,... more

by Steve Henderson

Buy the Original Painting

Price

$1,250

Dimensions

16.000 x 12.000 inches

Title

Old Fence Older River

Artist

Steve Henderson

Medium

Painting - Oil On Panel

Description

One of the most intriguing things about man-made structures – like buildings, roads, fences – is how temporary they are. Especially with fences, it seems that they are hardly built before they begin to sag.

Even great marble temples and pyramids of ancient days show their wear, and what we see now is not what people saw then.

But nature’s structures – mountains, valleys, lakes, monolithic blocks of stone – break down at a far slower pace, and when we enter into a place that hasn’t been “developed” by humans, we more easily imagine what it looked like long before we were born.

Such is the landscape of Old Fence Older River. The road (which, without being kept up, will not look like it does, 100 years from now) follows the winding and the wending of the Imnaha River in Northeast Oregon, USA.

In the late 19th century, before the U.S. business settlement culture completely disrupted the lifestyle of people who had lived in the area for a long, long time, the Chief Joseph band of Nez Perce Indians used to travel along this path, on their way to winter living spaces.

In the summertime, they camped at Wallowa Lake, in the shadows of the Wallowa Mountains, an area that they considered sacred for its beauty. When winter threatened, they left this high area and worked their way down toward the Snake River Canyon, where the rocky walls protected them from the harsher elements.

One way they took was through the Imnaha River Valley. It wasn’t a rush. Often, they stopped to stay along the way, fishing in the river and gathering the roots and berries of late autumn. Eventually, they made their way to their winter spot.

Today, the path they made is gone, no doubt some of it under the asphalt of the highway. An old fence shows signs of 20th century settlement, and like most such fences, it does not stand as straight and strong as the mountains in the distance.

But those mountains, that river – they’re still there. And when we stop and stand at the banks we can imagine what the land looked like not that long ago, and, with more imagination, what it looked like long before that.

There is great comfort in knowing that some things, beautiful things, do not go in and out of artificial fashion.

Featured on 33 Fine Art America groups.

Uploaded

August 7th, 2020