Shawnee Hunting Camp, Ohio River Valley – 18th Century

Before Europeans came Native Americans found Kentucky to be a fertile hunting ground. They camped in an area for as long as the game was plentiful. They stripped bark from the massive trees to construct wigwams for shelter. Today this expansive view from Northern Kentucky’s Devou Park is the City of Cincinnati. But I tried to imagine what the lush Ohio River Valley must have looked like to the Native Americans long ago.

On a bright, sunny afternoon the Indians gaze up at the sky in astonishment as they witness the multitudes of passenger pigeons flying towards them.  Soon billions will be flying overhead in such numbers that the light of the late afternoon sun will be obscured as if by an eclipse. John J. Audubon wrote in his journals that sometimes they would continue to do so for three days in succession.

24 x 18 Oil