Cole painted View on the Catskill, Early Autumn in response to the destruction of his beloved Catskill scenery when construction began on the Canajoharie & Catskill Railroad in 1836. By then he was a full-time resident at Cedar Grove. In a letter to his patron Luman Reed, explaining the deforestation around Catskill Creek, Cole wrote:
The copper-hearted barbarians are cutting all the trees down in the beautiful valley on which I have looked often with a loving eye—this throws quite a gloom over my spring anticipations—tell this to Durand, not that I wish to give him pain, but that I want him to join with me in maledictions on all dollar-godded utilitarians. 1
View on the Catskill, Early Autumn is apparently unaffected by this destruction; instead, Cole depicts Catskill Creek as it appeared before the railroad came through. This peaceful pastoralview is therefore nostalgic, while at the same time warning that nature's beauty can be destroyed in the name of progress. 2 The happy citizens in the foreground of the painting, finding simple enjoyment in the landscape, are symbolic of a healthy relationship between human beings and the natural environment, one which Cole hoped would be preserved despite the onslaught of technology. One sign of warning, however, is the tree stump at the left, clearly cut by human hands. 3