California artist William Seltzer Rice, who did not drive, often traveled north of the Golden Gate for inspiration, including Sonoma County. He hiked the areas near Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and toward the coast painting plein air, often in the company of fellow painter Lorenzo Latimer, who had a place near Healdsburg.
Felta Creek runs through rural northwest Sonoma County, California, along both forested and viticulture land. One of Rice's oft-portrayed landscapes, the northwest region, including Healdsburg and the Sonoma Coast, is portrayed here in intimate, quiet detail.
Felta Creek supports a unique ecosystem, and is one of the last remining tributaries of the Russian River to support the endangered Coho salmon. The creek, depicted here in 1906, is low in the summer but is often shadowed by the large redwoods and alders which preserve a trickle of water. The trunks of the two alder trees are covered with a lush, green moss.