Nov. 6, 2026 – March 27, 2027
The museum is so pleased to exhibit an abridged version of a national traveling exhibition by artist Heide Presse. The collection of 24 paintings and 47 drawings were shown at three major art museums from 2023-25. Despite a much-reduced number of paintings at Bone Creek, I am still delighted to be able to tell the story of the ambitious and highly successful project more than twenty years in the making.
This exhibition tells the story of an Oregon Trail journey through the journals of settler Keturah Penton Belknap, offering a uniquely female perspective on the westward migration of the nineteenth century.
Acclaimed artist Heide Presse spent years studying Keturah’s journals, written between 1839 and 1848. Inspired by Keturah’s vivid accounts, Presse created a compelling collection of paintings and drawings that capture the challenges, triumphs, and everyday experiences of Keturah and her family as they made their way west.
The original exhibition was divided into two sections. The first explores Keturah’s marriage and her family’s life on an Iowa farm; the second follows their arduous journey to Oregon with the Watts wagon train.
Heide said, “When I read the journals, the whole thing came alive to me and I was able to see it in my imagination. I loved reading the female perspective and how they managed their personal lives during such a long hard journey, often with children.”