Then came 911, and the American flag took on a new relevance. I painted the scene as it was, a 21st century re-enactment, complete with RVs in the background. A hundred and fifty years after the people of a lost wagon-train barely escaped Death Valley with their lives, and, looking back, gave it its name, some modern-day people will go a hundred miles across the desert in covered wagons just for fun. I think that says a lot about America