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• Dean Cornwell (American, 1892-1960)
• 1926
• Oil paint on canvas
• William Sr. and Dorothy Harmsen Collection, 2001.1150

Dean Cornwell was an American illustrator and muralist. His paintings frequently appeared in popular magazines and books as literary illustrations, advertisements, and posters promoting the war effort. When gold was discovered in California in 1848, many settlers moved westward in search of fortune. At a result, an estimated 300,000 Indigenous people were forced to migrate and suffered from diseases brought by the settlers. This painting portrays the California Gold Rush as a mass migration of prospectors, pioneers, and businessmen. The swiftly moving crowd appears to be only moments away from overrunning a small group of Indigenous people living in the West.