This painting depicts the home of Dr. Henry A. Smith, who had come west by wagon in 1851. He was a physician who used his skills on the wagon train trip from the Midwest, in Seattle and in Snohomish, where he cared for Native Americans as he developed tidal land there. He was involved in Seattle politics, served as chair of the school board and envisioned the intercontinental railroad at Interbay many years before it actually became reality. The painting features many references to the transportation of its time: steamership, buggy, sailboat, and a small train are evident. The artist, Emily Inez Denny (1853-1918), was the daughter of one of Seattle's founding families, and she was a painter and writer. Greatly influenced by seeing the drawings of Sarah Willoughby as a student at the Washington Territorial University, she took on painting as a life-long pursuit.