The large scale painting is an oil on canvas depicting the town of Kansas (Kansas City before it became a city). The painting shows many of the key elements that define fifty years or more of Kansas City history and development. The artist, Anthony Benton Gude writes that "depicted in the foreground are representations of saloon life, traders, frontiersman, a Mexican (signifying the Sante Fe trade), Native Americans, and a woman preparing a meal."( -from the artist website) In the middle ground, a lone cowboy, a mule carrying a load, construction of a railroad track, and a long-horn cattle drive are present. The background highlights the man-made bluffs, lush riverbed trees, a river, and rolling hills. A steamboat chugs up the current and the billowing clouds echo the shape of the hand excavated bluffs. A wonderful scene of the early elements that made the town successful, lively, and perhaps legendary.