Shades of Death by Lee Teter SOLD OUT
In the Appalachian Mountains there is a monument to a black frontiersman. It was established in the eighteenth century by his fellow frontiersmen and is the type of monument that generals, explorers and politicians strive to inspire for themselves. This monument is a mountain… Negro Mountain.
I discovered that it was a black man who was the preferred hunting companion if Daniel Boone. Christopher Gist explored the unknown reaches of Kentucky and Western Virginia in the mid- 18th century with a single black man as his companion. Lewis and Clark were accompanied to the Pacific Ocean with a black man as their respected comrade. These are just a few of the better known instances of black presence on the frontier, and countless others are forgotten along with all the other nameless and faceless pioneers of the past. Life was vastly different in the 18th century than in times before or since. In spite of the social stations that existed for all men of all colors, there was a bond of honor between those men who shared the dangers of ranging the war paths. I often write to point out various aspects of a paining that will help people to understand a certain reality of frontier life. This picture is about as simple and direct as any I've painted; the frontier was not an easy place to be for any man or woman of any race.
Thomas Cresap apparently lived with a slave who was requested to accompany a ranging or scouting party that protected frontier homes from Indian raids. After considering this request, the man decided to go along but insisted that he would not return since had a premonition that he was to die in this next Indian fight. His fears proved to be correct and for over two centuries his bones have been resting on Negro Mountain. I have reason to believe that Thomas Cresap was next to his black hero when he received his fatal wounds, so I have portrayed Cresap cradling the dying Nemesis in his arms, as doubtless he would have knowing he was losing this black hero and trusted companion.
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