The Mount of the Holy Cross was first discovered in the late 1860s and since has attracted considerable interest because of its religious symbolism. During the summer, snow tends to remain in shaded features of the mountain, and viewed from the right perspective, it appears as a thin white cross.

During the 1920s and 30s, hundreds of religious pilgrims came to see the mountain.   Moran's paintings very likely added to the mountain's popularity. He first traveled to the mountain, long before the pilgrimages began, in 1874. He started with a watercolor, did an oil version (shown) above in 1875, eventually completing four paintings of the mountain.

While the general shape of the mountain is correct, the topography is a bit disjointed. Moran shows a rushing stream in the foreground, but, in reality, only part of the mountain can be seen from the stream, certainly not the cross. But, alas, photo perfection was not his purpose. Moran fully admitted that he didn't paint literally. He was an artist, an interpreter of landscapes, each brush stroke a measured balance between the real and the imagined.

Also see: William Henry Jackson's 1873 Photograph