Scene 3

Hanging or Hieroglyphical Rock; Colossal Bust at Low Water Mark, Used as a Metre by the Aborigines

Here, the artist John J. Egan presents a composite view of two monuments from different locations along the Ohio River. The first, a cliff with carvings made by Native Americans, resembles a sketch Dickeson produced during his travels. In the middle of the river, Egan depicts a colossal bust, based on a 19th-century account of a stone relief carving resembling a human face. The artist has edited aspects of both monuments to make them appear more fantastic. These enigmatic sites are juxtaposed with European-American settlements on the right.