Nauvoo from the Mississippi, Looking Down the River
Unknown Artist
- Medium
July 22, 1854
Engraving
Gleason's Pictorial Magazine
This fanciful engraving is a composite scene, celebrating the western frontier of which Nauvoo was a part. The temple had been destroyed by this time, but it was included because it symbolized the city and had been one of the most significant man–made structures on the Mississippi. The temple’s size and location were exaggerated to give it visual prominence. Flatboats plied the Mississippi but were more common on the Ohio River. The great rocky bluff to the right represents scenes along the upper Missouri River rather than the gently rolling Iowa landscape across the river from Nauvoo.