One side of the buffalo displays a map of the Pony Express mail service route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, April 1860 to October 1861. Included are pictures of the more prominent or famous men who rode for the Pony Express: Buffalo Bill Cody, Johnny Fry, and one famous station keeper, Wild Bill Hickok. Interlaced in the map between portraits are small paintings of wagon trains, buffalo herds, steam boat ferries and various scenes related to the terrain along the route.
The other side of the buffalo depicts a pony express rider who is caught up in a buffalo stampede during a thunderstorm. The only way that this rider can tell what direction he is riding is by the way the rain is hitting him in the face. With this, he is able to ride his way to the edge of the stampede to safety. The buffalo is standing on a butte.
After completing her art education at Cerritos College and Cal State Fullerton, Karen returned to Colorado with her husband Paul to surround herself in the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and be closer to nature. Her work has been accepted in many local and national art shows. This is Karen’s fourth Custer Stampede Buffalo Art Auction.
