The woman in the middle of the painting seen putting down telegraph lines is representative of "American Progress." Imagery is everywhere: the farmers tilling the ground, trains and people moving towards the West, Columbia (as the woman is named) laying down telegraph lines, and Native Americans and Buffalo being driven out. Most of the painting is accurate of what was happening at the time: rapid Western expansion and the push-out of the Native Americans who lived in the lands.
The most important form of imagery in this painting is Columbia. In the painting, she guides the settlers and clears the clouds above her, evoking emotion and instilling the idea of Manifest Destiny within people who view the painting.