After the first Montréal to Vancouver passenger train crossed the country in 1886, settlers began to arrive in the newly accessible lands in large numbers. Frederic Marlett Bell-Smith was one of the first eastern-based artists to travel to the West on the new railway. He returned frequently, and enjoyed such success with his Rocky Mountain pictures that he was able to give up teaching. One of the leading English-born watercolourists in Canada, he applied many of his watercolour techniques to oils, which were more suited to the harsh climate. Here he depicts one of the most visited spots in the Rockies, capturing the stunning glacial panorama of Mount Lefroy through the use of atmospheric effects and delicate, refined colour.