According to Miller, this scene exemplified “an Indian’s paradise” comprising the bounty of the American West: “Indian women, horses, a stream of water, shade trees and the broad prairie to the right, on which rove in countless herds buffalo, elk and deer.” (Rough Draught 13) An idyllic scene, this is likely the earliest of at least three other versions of the composition, all of which Miller adapted to a more vertical composition from this roughly square format. Joan Troccoli observed that Miller made notes on this painting, writing “water” and “dark” at the lower left. The artist apparently modified both the Walters and Bancroft Library versions based on these notes, as both paintings include a darker spit of land in the foreground. (Troccoli, 36)
