Note Card – A Small Blue Cloud

Description

The Art

Created on 3/19/17, this very accurate depiction of Pike’s sighting of the “Small Blue Cloud”, now aptly named, Pike’s Peak. If you have visited John Martin Reservoir State Park, near Las Animas, you have seen the Front Range from this distance. You will want to add this painting to your collection as a memento of your visit.

Depicted, is Pike, and two privates, standing beside the Arkansas River in Las Animas, Colorado, with the two Spanish Peaks to the left, and the “Small Blue Cloud” (today’s Pikes Peak) to the right.

• Medium: Ink
• Surface: Card Stock
• Size: 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”
• 1 card with envelope

The Artist

Ed French is a retired Disney artist, who has brought his enormous talent to depict extraordinary moments in American history, through the eyes of Zebulon Pike.

The Setting

Pike writes in his journal on November 15th 1806, “Marched early, passed to deep creeks and many high points of rocks; also large herds of buffalo. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon I thought I could distinguish a mountain to our right, which appeared like a small blue cloud; viewed it with the spy glass, and was still more confirmed and my conjecture…when our party arrived on the hill they with one accord gave three cheers for the Mexican mountains.”