Westward Lesson Plan

Extending the full width of the east wall over the staircase in the Iowa State Capitol is the great mural painting, Westward.  This painting represents early pioneers traveling through Iowa. Pioneers are led across the West by “Spirits of Enlightenment,” symbolized by the air-borne female holding an open book, and “Civilization,” symbolized by similar figures sowing grain.  The “Spirits of Stream and Electricity,” holding a steam engine and electric generator, respectively, follow the prairie schooner.