 In 1825, an unnamed contemporary viewer noted Cole might easily have omitted the two deer, as they “detracted from [the] foreground.” 

The introduction of Thomas Cole’s works at the emergence of the Hudson River School style, gave voice to conservation, an idea that was just beginning to develop.It was at nearly the same time that "Lake with Dead Trees" was sold, as were the other four paintings, and Thomas Cole’s name was starting to become familiar as a noteworthy artist, that the Erie Canal officially opened across upstate New York.The opening of this major transportation system, second worldwide only to the Grand Canal in China, swept the nation up in a surge of patriotism and celebration of the innovations of this great country.