Hopiland Santa Fe Vintage Poster

In this 1950s image, we see a Native American from the Hopi tribe. The poster was created by Don Perceval (1908-1979) using the imagery from his original design, "Buffalo Dancer." Perceval was born in England but moved to the United States and first travelled to Arizona in 1927, and became enamored of Hopi and Navajo Indians and their way of life and traditions. He spent the bulk of his time in the United States in the West and settled in California.

The Santa Fe Railway was founded in 1859. The company helped settle the mid-west in the later part of the 19th Century by selling real estate and farm land sanctioned by Congress. They became the second transcontinental railway to exist and expanded further with north-south routes in California. Santa Fe had a robust freight business and expanded its transportation reach with a bussing system. The company was featured in a 1945 song, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" sung by Judy Garland for the film "The Harvey Girls." In 1996, the railway merged with the Burlington Northern Railway to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.