The Procession on the Overland Trail

Artist: Nate Laybourn

This beautiful mural was inspired by an original 1936 drawing by Haold E. Keeler, the chief WPA artist with the Colorado Sate Museum.

Keeler’s drawings were originally intended for a mural in front of the museum, designed using colored cement and native stone and according to the Sterling Journal-Advocate in 1936, “illustrated will be the buffalo herd, the trapper, prairie schooner, stagecoach, pony express, and finally the farmer and ox team breaking the sod.”

Laybourn also recreated the original Overland Trail Park sign and the front and back views of the historic 1936 rock structure, another WPA project.

The mural is part of a larger project that includes the new Dave Hamil Exhibit, which will open in 2026.

This project is generously funded by the Sanders Fund gifted to the museum.