Artist Charles E. Beckett (American, 1814 - 1856)

Furbish's Dash to Montreal

Date1845-1850

DimensionsSight: 17 1/4 × 22 3/4 in. (43.8 × 57.8 cm)

Object numberN0278.1961

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextIn terms of sheer speed, horses could not compete with the railroad. They could, however, help to secure a coveted railroad link, as this painting documents. In the 1840s, Boston and Portland vied for a rail link to Montreal, which would give them access to markets in Southern Canada and the Midwest. Montreal, for its part, wanted an ice-free Atlantic port for trade with Europe. This painting depicts Portland's successful attempt in February 1845 to prove its route was faster by sending Dependance Hart Furbish in a light sleigh with fast horses to Montreal with the latest news from Europe. Furbish beat the news arriving from Boston by two and a half days, arriving in Montreal in only thirty hours, and won the rail contract for his city. The painting shows Furbish madly driving his team at the lower left, while ahead in the distance a fresh team and sleigh are prepared for the next leg of his journey.
BibliographyLouis C. Jones and Agnes Halsey, New-Found Folk Art of the Young Republic (exh. cat., Cooperstown, NY: NYSHA, 1960), p.25.

On View

Not on view