MY CABIN IN MONTANA, 1866

Tofft, Peter (1825-1901)

Watercolor/Gouache/Paper

1866

1996.89.01

Peter Petersen Tofft (1825-1901) was born in Denmark. Although accounts of his life vary in detail, all agree that he traveled extensively as a young man, working as a whaler, miner, and illustrator. By December 1865 the itinerant artist found himself in southwest Montana painting such settings as Fort Owen, St. Ignatius Mission, and Fort Connah. His subsequent travels around the Territory included Virginia City and Helena where, on May 28, 1867, the Herald reported that "No finer ornament can be had . . . than paintings from the hand of Prof. [sic] Tofft, portraying truthfully, the rarest scenes in the Rocky Mountains." Of the "rare scenes" he portrayed perhaps none is more unique than this detailed watercolor showing the interior of his cabin, showing the typical trappings of an early gold miner, and adorned with Tofft's own paintings.