”Too Thin To Walk On“
24 X 30 Oil
Landmarks along the Pioneer Trail
such as Chimney Rock and Devil’s Gate have provided ample source material for artists
since the first pioneers sketched them in their journals. In Too Thin to Walk On
David turns to the Platte River for inspiration.
The trail across the Great Plains followed the Platte and North Platte rivers for
hundreds of miles, crossing over to the south side of the river at Fort Laramie.
The Platte thus became a frequent companion to the Saints providing an adequate supply
of water, that most critical of all essentials. Unfortunately, the water supplied
by the Platte was muddy and silt filled. A popular description of the river tells
how many felt:
A mile wide, six inches deep, Too thick to drink, too thin to plow, and maybe a pretty
good river if it hadn’t flowed upside down
Describing the river more accurately Wilford Woodruff wrote “It is from three quarters
to a mile wide and its shores and bed one body of quicksand. It is a rapid stream,
yet in many places a person can wade across. Frequently the whole bed of the river
is covered with but a few inches of water and at other places it is deep and rapid.
. .”
Private Collection