A Shoshone encampment by a lake, a waterfall, and behind it a range of snowy peaks under a golden sky. Albert Bierstadt sketched the Rockies on a government survey expedition in 1859, then painted this huge canvas in his New York studio.

The view is not real: Bierstadt combined sketches to make the grandest scene possible. It sold in 1865 for $25,000, then one of the highest prices paid for an American painting.