Above New Orleans on January 22, the Arkansas passed numerous riverside settlements. Bodmer later recalled that "in most instances, the dwellings of the settlers are scarcely a rifle shot's distance from the riverbank." This group of sketches, made in the vicinity of a sugar plantation according to its inscription, is dated the day of Bodmer's departure from New Orleans. The property in question seems to be delineated at the middle left. Dim figures possibly representing Indians appear at the center.

Late in November 1832, Bodmer journeyed by horseback beyond the Wabash into neighboring Illinois, ostensibly to hunt prairie chickens. Arriving at the settlement of Albion, he stayed there several days and also visited the settlement of Bon Pas and James Green's farm at Green's Prairie. In January 1833 Maximilian visited this same area with Thomas Say.

The travelers arrived at Mount Vernon, Indiana, at twilight on October 18. The next morning Maximilian hired a wagon for the transportation of luggage and set out for the village of New Harmony, located some fifteen miles north. Dreidoppel accompanied the Prince while Bodmer and a recent acquaintance from the boat started out for New Harmony on foot. During the weeks that followed, Bodmer made numerous studies in and around New Harmony, including this unfinished view of the settlement as seen from a distance.