Artist: Lorado Taft

After completing the sketch model for the group, Taft described his intentions: “The young Pioneer has been at work, possibly in the field, where his young wife has run in alarm, her baby in her arms, to tell him of some possible danger. They stand together looking in the direction of their peril, the young husband alert, with gun in hand and his faithful dog by his side, while the young mother, a hardy, brave type of American womanhood, holds the infant with a protective gesture."