 According to one version of the story, the painting was the suggestion of a busboy named Joe Libby; knowing that Davis would soon be fired, he suggested that the artist "give them something to remember [him] by".In Davis' own words,

The Central City Opera House Association hired me to do a series of paintings and sketches of the famous mining town, which they were then rejuvenating as an opera center and tourist attraction.I stayed at the Teller House while working up there, and the whim struck me to paint a face on the floor of the old Teller House barroom.