fournier was invited to travel around the american southwest with patron h. jay smith in 1891. after the trip, fournier painted an acclaimed 50x12 foot panoramic mural that depicted stone dwellings in cliffs in the mesa verde region of colorado that had been constructed by ancient puebloans. the panoramic was displayed at the 1893 columbian exposition in chicago, where thousands of people saw the mural and heard fournier interpret it publicly.