Autumnal Glory

Gustave Baumann

This impression of "Autumnal Glory" is from Baumann's third printing campaign, from 1926, and is numbered 108/125. The colors vary from the earlier two campaigns.

In this color woodcut, Baumann captures the autumnal glory of the Pecos Valley in New Mexico. Sheep and goats graze on the verdant grasses and the Aspens seems to shimmer or quake. Earliest settlers found the Pecos Valley to be a remarkably fertile land and sheep and cattle were great revenue producers for the valley.

In 1913, two million pounds of wool were marketed from the sheep of Chaves County. Growth and development forced the ranchers to move their herds onto the slopes of the mountains surrounding the valley long before the areas were designated wilderness or national park status. Today the herds have been drastically reduced in an effort to balance the concerns of the preservationists and needs of the ranchers.