Gherman Alexeyvich Komlev (Russian, 1933 - 2000) "Hardships of Emigration" Signed lower right. Original Oil on Canvas laid on Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 10c Trans-Mississippi stamp issued June 18, 1998. Traveling 15 miles a day with pack animals, 2-wheel carts or wagons, emigrant families sometimes took over four months to reach the Far West. Top-heavy covered wagons faced many risks: blowing over in strong prairie winds, being knocked over by mountain rocks, getting mired in river mud or sinking to the hubs in desert sand. On the positive side, these "prairie schooners" provided shelter from drenching rainstorms and the scorching sun as they navigated the seemingly endless seas of prairie grass. Broken wagons, putrefying mule, oxen and horse carcasses, and shallow, hastily-dug human graves littered the way west -- testament to the hardships endured by the families that preceded them. Some estimates hold that 1 of every 17 emigrants who started the journey west ended up buried alongside the trail. A mother's diary of her trip paints a vivid portrait of the daily challenges faced by emigrants. "We are creeping along slowly, one wagon after another, out of one mud hole and into another all day ... Them that eat the most breakfast eat the most sand ... It has been raining all day long. The men and boys are all soaking wet and look sad and comfortless. The little ones and myself are shut up in the wagons from the rain ... Lost one of our oxen; he dropped dead in the yoke. I could hardly help shedding tears ... I was sick all night and not able to get out of the wagon in the morning ... Yesterday my eighth child was born ... Take us all together we are a poor looking set, and all this for Oregon." Image Size: 10 x 20.5 in. Overall Size: 12.75 x 22.75 in. Unframed. (B16013)