- On The Trail is the third movement of Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite, a five-movement orchestral work composed between 1929 and 1931 and originally titled Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon.
- The suite was first performed in 1931 by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra at the Studebaker Theatre in Chicago.
- On The Trail depicts a mule-drawn trek along a canyon trail, featuring a violin solo that imitates the mule, rapid oboe lines, coconut shell hoof sounds, and a horn solo in the middle.
- The Grand Canyon Suite blends jazz influences with orchestral color, and its movements are Sunrise, Painted Desert, On The Trail, Sunset, and Cloudburst.
- Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra recorded the movements in 1932 for RCA Victor, released on eight 78 RPM discs as the Grand Canyon Suite.
- The movement has surfaced in popular media, including as the soundtrack for Disneyland’s Grand Canyon Diorama since 1958, as well as in Philip Morris commercials and the film A Christmas Story.
