"Before the Norther" depicts several trappers and an Indian with their pack animals, caught in the last, low rays of the sun before a descending storm. The sky is leaden and the wind still.
Trappers often lived with friendly Indians for the winter and took Indian wives who beaded moccasins, shirts and other articles of clothing for them just as they would if married to Indian braves. It was sometimes hard to distinguish between an Indian and a mountain man except for the latter's beard.
