Laramie Peak by George M. Ottinger
George M. Ottinger (American, 1833–1917)
The Milo Andrus Company, Laramie Peak, 1861
Oil on canvas
8 × 15 in.
Titled and dated lower left; signed lower right
Painted in 1861 while traveling west with the Milo Andrus Company, Laramie Peak is recognized as the oldest known Mormon pioneer painting executed in the American West. Ottinger depicts the prominent Wyoming landmark rising above a vast plain, where wagon trains and livestock mark the steady movement of emigrants across the frontier. Modest in scale yet monumental in significance, the work stands as a rare firsthand visual record created during the overland migration itself.
Born in Pennsylvania and academically trained in Europe, Ottinger converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before emigrating to Utah in 1861. He became one of the most influential early artists in the territory, co-founding the Deseret Academy of Arts and shaping the development of Utah’s artistic culture. Laramie Peak occupies a foundational place in Western and Mormon art history, uniting lived pioneer experience with formal artistic training.
