Built in 1954 and installed in October 1974 at the Ernest Denault Roberton American Legion Post No. 14 in Jamestown, North Dakota, this sculptural mural was created for the celebration of the United States of America's two hundredth birthday in 1976 and dedicated to the spirit of those who serve their country. Designed to convey the joy of celebration at the culmination of the two hundred fourth of July events, it uses a reflective background to evoke North Dakota's Big Sky and flaglike fields of stars, stripes, and folds to suggest the contribution of the land and its people to the nation. Its main symbol is a cloud-form containing striving figures that represent Jacob's struggle with the Angel until he received a blessing, paralleling how the people of North Dakota, through strong will, received a blessing and were a blessing to the nation. It connects that idea to the pioneers' struggle in hostile territory, breaking new soil and enduring drought, hail, cold, and isolation, then surviving to become important to the nation's success, especially by furnishing food and strength in times of crisis. The figures in the cloud-forms suggest recurrence and continuity, like rain benefiting again and again, and also imply the people's struggle with their larger self, the nation, to find direction and pursue ideals to build, reconstruct, and purify. Made from sixteen gauge sheet bronze by cutting and welding, with chrome-plated portions of the eagle and all of the cloud-form and a stainless steel background, the sculpture weighs approximately 2,500 pounds, measures seventeen by twenty-five feet, and was planned and executed over two and one-half years, with actual time equal to one person working for twelve months. It was designed and fabricated by Elmer Pl Petersen of Texas Lutheran College in Seguin, Texas, with chief assistant John Schwartz, and the artist dedicated it personally to Nels and Lillie Petersen, immigrants.