Farrington Elwell

R. Farrington Elwell, Painter

Colonel William "Buffalo Bill" Cody and his Wild West Show came to Bos-ton to play a week's engagement. After the first few performances, Cody noticed a young man of athletic build always seated in the same spot, and always busily sketching. His curiosity aroused, he struck up a conversation with the lad, and, after studying the sketches, was so impressed that he invited him to come to his ranch in the west. There he could sketch horses, cattle, cowboys and Indians to his heart's content. That boy was R. Farrington Elwell, whose colorful paintings are reproduced here. Cody's invitation was accepted and this visit marked the beginning of a quarter of a century of close friendship between Cody and Elwell. As time went on, Elwell took a more active part in Cody's ranch activities, and he remained there indefinitely.

Some years later romance entered Elwell's life and before long he and his young bride were settled on one of Cody's Wyoming ranches. During his days as manager of that ranch, two daughters were born. His managerial responsibilities were extended to include the entire ranch holdings of the great showman. During these years, Elwell did not lose interest in his art work, nor did he neglect it. Much time was spent in sketching and painting the robust life and scenic displays that surrounded him. When Elwell's daughters reached college age he decided to return to the East where the girls were placed in college, and there too, he could devote his entire time to painting. And it was then that his work began to appear on calan-ders, magazine covers and other publications, and his canvases also began to ap-pear in art galleries. During this period in his life, Elwell collaborated with an oil paint manufacturer to produce a set of colors that gave to his paintings a brilliance and naturalness of color most satisfying to him.

Most of Elwell's paintings portray the West which he knew and loved, and collectors soon began to recognize the quality of his work. As the years rolled by, the lure of the open range beckoned even more strongly to the Elwells and soon after the daughters had established homes of their own, the elders left their twenty-five acre estate near Dover, Massachusettes, to return to the West.

After spending some time exploring the West the Elwell's took up permanent residence at Wickenburg, Arizona, as their choice of locations, and some of his best work, inspired by the great scenic beauty and carefree ranch life, has been done there.

After the Nation's entry into the war, Elwell decided to lend his talents to the war effort. As a result he is now engaged in making picture drawings from blue-prints of airplane assemblies. This enables inexperienced workers not able to read blueprints readily, to learn quickly how to assemble those parts which are assigned to them.

Of the paintings presented in this issue, Mr. Elwell has the following stories to tell: Whether or No. Here is a predicament that is not at all rare of the cow-boy who must ride the "rough string" of horses that has been handed him by the ranch "twister." In large cattle outfits a cowboy's allotment of mounts will often run as high as ten. When so many horses are used a "Bronc twister" is hired to "rough break" the green horses, and more often than not the complete schooling consists of only two or three rides before the horse is turned over to the regular string of some cowboy. When riding such a half schooled horse far from the ranch the wise cowboy equips himself to avoid the possibility of being left afoot far from headand tail combings, known as a "mecate." This rope is tied into the upperjaw loop of the hackamore, carried over the horse's withers and then again to the hackamore loop, thus making reins. The loose end of the rope is then coiled and tucked under the rider's chap belt before he mounts. When caught in the dilemma depicted and something tells the rider he is about to part company with his mount, he will, as he goes, grab the coiled end of the "mecate", and after hitting terra firma at least have his horse at rope's end.

Scattering the Riders. Each morning during roundup time the riders of an outfit are up before dawn, whether the night has been spent at ranch headquarters or at some spot where the chuck and bed wagons have been located for the night. With breakfast stowed away and the sun peeking over the distant horizon the roundup boss distributes his riders in a radial direction from the central spot which has been chosen as a roundup ground, and each man or pair of men is assigned an area shaped like a cut of pie which must be combed for cattle. By the time the boss has dropped off his last men and returned to the roundup ground, each cowboy starts working in, driving before him the cattle he has located. When the drive is completed a bawling herd is ready to be branded and cut out.

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An Individualist. Often in the rougher portions of Arizona's rangeland the cowboys, during roundup, will come across extremely wild and mean critters with ideas of their own. These must be driven either with their kind, or to them. In fact "special" roundups often take place after the regular ones to gather these ornery animals and drive them to the roundup ground, as they usually display great cunning in eluding their would-be captors.

A Race Against Odds. This painting depicts an episode in the life of Colonel William (Buffalo Bill) Cody. Near a crossing of the Platte River a bunch of Cheyennes jumped the stage he was driving. By skill in handling the reins and an occasional well aimed rifle shot, Cody was able to cross the river at Plumb Creek with his six-horse team at full gallop and outdistance his war-painted pursuers in a ten-mile race for the stage station.

Custer's Last Stand. The famous battle of the Little Big Horn between General Custer and his Fifth U. S. Cavalry against overwhelming hordes of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors was a terrific battle in every sense of the word. Often referred to as Custer's Massacre, it so is belittling to a worthy foe. Had Custer won, the name "massacre" would never have been attached to the battle. Custer's troops battled not only against odds in warrior power but fought strangely enough also against the force of superior arms. In this subject the fact is brought out that many of the Indians were equipped with repeating rifles secured from the Indian trading posts, while government officials in Washington procrastinated and kept our brave and tiny force in the far west armed with single shot Springfield carbines. These firearms heated so badly with rapid use that the cartridge extractors refused to work and forced the troopers to dig out each spent shell casing with their hunting knives. After a short time even the knives would fail to dislodge the shell and make the piece useless. Broken carbine stocks found on the field after the battle told this story poignantly, for scarcely a gun was found that had not been used as a club.

A Race for the Chuckwagon. At roundup time the entire morning of each day, and often a portion of the afternoon, is taken up in gathering and driving cattle into the roundup ground. Hungry cowboys who have gone without food since their breakfast at dawn and need only the relieving word of the roundup boss to set them scurrying in "A race for the Chuckwagon," which is usually spotted at a point from one-half to one mile distant to prevent the dust from churning hoofs from mixing with the food.

Now or Never. The title of this portrayal speaks for itself. A grizzly has been hit and wounded and true to his nature he charges his tormentor. A miss now and the man will have clashed with his last bear.

Bringing Him In? Many of the more adventurous cowboys of the early days just couldn't keep from dabbing their ropes on any game their horses could run down, and not a few succeeded in dropping their loops over the necks of grizzly bears. "Bringing Him In?" raises the question of who will bring in whom! It will be the bear who will have the upper hand unless the white horse in the background comes up enough to allow his rider to dab his riata on the shaggy beast's hind foot. If the throw is successful, bruin will be stretched out and conquered. If not, a horse and rider are going to get at least a good scare if not a bad mauling.

What The! "Shucks cowboy, you shouldn't have clapped a cold saddle on a shivering back without walking your horse about a bit before slinging leg over leather!" This cowboy knew better but was a bit careless. The result, his mount, just in from a night of freedom, starts on a consternation career of his own. Pots, pans, wagon equipment and even sleeping men are no obstacle to the weaving, twisting trail the determined bronc takes. Yes, the red head just coming to consciousness does explain, "What the !"

The Broken Rope. Here the cowboys have encircled a powerful puma, one horseman having already dabbed his rope over the big cat only to have it break as the infuriated animal lunges forward. This horse and rider will fare badly unless the oncoming loop settles accurately over the lion's neck, which is very probable as the roper shows himself to be a skilled hand. In early ranch days wild animals bagged by dextrous ropers were often kept in captivity until some buyers from a zoo came along and purchased the prize.

A Dash for Cover. This subject portrays an episode in the life of the earliest type of frontiersman, the trapper. Here the buckskin clad rider and his pack string has been jumped by Indians, and the mad dash for cover is in full progress. Driving his pack animals before him, he will undoubtedly stop at the first natural shelter he can find and put up a determined fight for his existence, a necessity which cropped up much too often in the lives of those who pioneered the great West in the early days.