Catskill Creek, a tributary of the Hudson River, was a subject that Cole returned to frequently throughout his career. In an 1837 letter to his patron Jonathan Sturges, the artist lamented the disruption of his “favourite haunt” as trees were felled for the Canajoharie and Catskill Railroad construction. Despite the rapid expansion of U.S. settlement and industrialization, Cole chose to emphasize harmony between humans and nature. A house with a smoking chimney, a wooden fence of a property line, and axe-cut tree stumps are indications of human presence, expressing a sense of contentment and balance with nature.