FREDERIC REMINGTON

Frederic Remington CHRONICLER OF THE OLD WEST

BY HAROLD MCCRACKEN Our Old West has now passed sufficiently into the hazy limbo of things long gone beyond recall, to have that serious nostalgia which time imparts and which always increases in direct ratio to the rush of progress into a new and different future. We have good reason to be proud of those rough and rugged individualists who carved an empire out of our western wilderness. Their parade into the sunset certainly constitutes the most colorful and glamorous epoch in American history; and they afford us something pleasantly healthy and virile to lean back upon. It is therefore natural that our interest should now bring into increasing prominence the things which most clearly commemorate the characters and events that make up that proud story.

Standing well in the foreground among all those whose thesis it was to perpetuate the Old West, is Frederic Remington. His name has become synonymous with that era and his importance has steadily increased. He earned for himself this distinction for several reasons of accomplishment. As an artist, his work is the most extensive that we have. It covers all facets of the subject both white men and Indians, from the hot deserts of the Southwest to the frozen forests of the Northwest and it is meticulously accurate. He was also an accomplished sculptor. His "Bronco Buster" is probably the most famous and popular bronze in the field of Western creative art; and the twentyfour other of his bronze works of sculpture, all western subjects, have in themselves given him claim to lasting fame. In addition, Remington was a writer; and his journalistic reportings, short stories All pictures herein, with exception of "The Holdup," are copyrighted by the Frederic Remington Estate and Remington Art Memorial, Ogdensburg, N. Y. "The Holdup" is used through the courtesy of the Valley National Bank.

"Evening overtook me one night in Montana . . . with an old wagon freighter who shared his bacon and coffee with me. I was but nineteen years of age. Over the evening pipes it developed that he had gone West at an early age . . . and during his long life he had followed the receding frontier, always further and further. He sadly lamented the coming of civilization and the passing of the West. I saw men swarming into the land. I knew the derby hat, the smoking chimney, the cord-binder and the thirtyday note were upon us in a surge. I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were to vanish forever and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever seemed. Without knowing exactly how to do it, I began to try to record some facts around me, and the more I looked, the more the panorama unfolded..."

and book length fiction stand alongside his art work in their virile and realistic portrayals. One of his novels, "John Ermine of the Yellowstone," was presented as a play on Broadway.

Frederic Remington was born in Canton, New York, October 1, 1861. He was the only child of a prosperous newspaper publisher, who distinguished himself as a Colonel of Cavalry in the Civil War. Both sides of his family had settled in New England in early colonial times. He attended Highland Military Academy, Worcester, Mass.; and even then his destiny seems to have been preordained. In a schoolboy letter he wrote: "I am going to try and get into Cornell College... and if I succeed will be a journalist. I mean to study for an artist anyhow, whether I ever make a success of it." In another of these letters he wrote: "Send me pictures of Indians, cowboys, villains, or toughs. These are what I want."

Fred went to Yale, to study art; and he quickly gained a strong and lasting distaste for academic art courses, with their static emphasis on European masters and techniques. Instead, this husky eighteen-year-old from up-state New York found football and heavyweight prizefighting much more to his liking. He was a star "rusher" on the team of 1879 which was captained by the great Walter Camp. The night before the big Yale-Harvard game, in which he was to play, Remington went down to the local slaughter house and dipped his playing shirt in blood. Just what effect this was expected to have on the Harvard men is not entirely clear!

He spent less than two years at Yale, when in 1880, his father died, leaving him a modest inheritance. He quit Yale. About this same time he also experienced what seemed to be the unhappy ending of his first and only romance. Spurred by a restless and rather reckless disposition, he decided to "go west" to find adventure, and with the avowed intention of "becoming a millionaire."

To the nineteen-year-old Yale football player, the rugged life of the West, where might was right and a man was judged by his physical pugnacity, was the answer to his desires. He quickly learned to throw a lariat with the skill of a veteran cowboy and to handle a six-gun far better than most. He had all the essentials of a westerner of the old school and won for himself the immediate respect and friendship of the roughest and toughest, who accepted him as one of their own.

But Remington found something more than the adventure and the life to which he had such a natural inclination and craving. With equal promptness he caught the inspiration which was to lead him to his career. Here, in his own words, is how it came about: "Evening overtook me one night in Montana . . . with an old wagon freighter who shared his bacon and coffee with me. I was but nineteen years of age. Over the evening pipes it developed that he had gone West at an early age . . . and during his long life he had followed the receding frontier. always further and further. He sadly lamented the coming of civilization and the passing of the West. I saw men swarming into the land. I knew the derby hat, the smoking chimney, the cordbinder and the thirty-day note were upon us in a surge. I knew the wild riders and the vacant land were to vanish forever—and the more I considered the subject, the bigger the forever seemed. Without knowing exactly how to do it, I began to try to record some facts around me, and the more I

looked, the more the panorama unfolded..."

Remington sought out the most exciting spots from Old Mexico to Canada. He traveled the routes of the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail and a number of the less known trails pioneered by such men as Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith and others who had led the way to the taming of the vast West. He wandered from Texas to Montana as a vagabond on horseback; worked some as a hired cowboy; rode with posses after renegade Indians where shoot-to-kill was the orderof-the-day; and did some serious prospecting in Arizona Territory in the area where Geronimo and his Apache followers were most active in their favorite occupation of ambush, murder and massacre. This was six years before Geronimo, the wily Apache leader, gave in to the U. S. Army: and ten years before Sitting Bull, Medicine Chief of the Sioux, was killed on the verge of his biggest uprising.

While Remington and two companions were prospecting deep in the Pinal Range, the infamous Apache band known as the "Bloody Eleven" killed forty-eight white men in the district; and Captain Emmett Crawford of the Third Cavalry under General Crook trailed a large band of hostiles for days through the rough country, finally overtaking them in a running battle with casualties on both sides. During this time the three lone prospectors were visited one night by a small group of Apaches and it seemed their end had come but after being given some food the renegades disappeared into the darkness and were not heard from again. Remington always afterward had a reserved opinion that one of those Apache visitors was none less than old Geronimo himself.

Pick and shovel work was never to Remington's liking, even if it was in search of a fortune; and he soon gave up prospecting for pursuits more suited to his temperament. The duties of Uncle Sam's cavalry, trying to suppress and tame the renegade Indians, particularly appealed to him; and on several occasions he attached himself to contingents of the military, accompanying them on long trips and living with them in their encampments. Some of the most exciting of these experiences were with the famous Tenth Cavalry. Remington had a way of gaining entree and friendship, backed up by an undeniable nerve. And everywhere he went he made a profusion of sketches; for he had developed an insatiable interest in everything pertaining to the Old West.

He spent a lot of time on the big San Carlos Reservation, where the Government was trying to herd the unwilling Apaches. The friendships he made here, among both the military and the Indians themselves, continued long after he had climbed to world renown as a Western artist; and the Southwest always remained his favorite part of the West.

From the San Carlos and the burning sands of Arizona Territory, Remington wandered on horseback across the grassy ranges of Texas. He had money to buy grub and drinks and was the sort that most any free-lance adventurer could enjoy as a companion; and on the way he picked up a kindred spirit who joined him in his wanderings. "He was a good fellow and full of interest," Fred reported later; "had made the Montana Trail three times with the Hash Knife outfit . . . and gave me volumes of information about Indians in general." Together these two rode up into Indian Territory, where they finally separated at Fort Sill. Here again Remington settled down for a while, among the Comanche Indians. He liked the Comanches, particularly because of their intelligent handling and breeding of fine horses. As he in later years said: "They apply an amount of good sense to their handling and breeding of horses which I have never seen among Indians elsewhere. They breed intelligently and produce some of the most beautiful 'painted' ponies imaginable; and I thought of them, that the good white men who would undertake to make Christian gentlemen andhonest tillers of the soil out of this raw human material, would be contracting for a job to subvert the process of nature."

Although Frederic Remington had become an integral part of the rougher element of the West, riding, drinking or fighting with all comers, he had the fortunate background of a good education and an ambition that was growing like a prairie fire whipped by a strong wind after a long dry spell. Of equal importance was his unusually keen sense of observation and ability to retain the details of what he saw, with the clarity and permanence of a photograph; and his high idealism for realism and factual truth.

His brief art training at Yale had added but little to his natural ability to draw. An unknown number of the pictures that he made were mailed back East to magazines. Only one of these found publication, however, and that one had to be re-drawn by a more accomplished artist. It appeared in Harper's Weekly on February 25, 1882, over the title: "Cowboys of Arizona," drawn by W. A. Rogers from a sketch by Frederic Remington.

Finally with his money running short, he bought a small ranch in Kansas and pretended to settle down. But he spent so much time trying to paint that ranching went to pot. He kept open-house for all local and transient cowboys, and it quickly became widely known that there was always a welcome, a drink, meal or a place to sleep at the Remington ranch.

In the early 80's he became something of a character among the cowboys and around the gambling and drinking places of Kansas City. The proprietor of one of the emporiums of thirst and chance had this to say in later years: "If Fred Remington hadn't gone in for art, he could have made a great prizefighter a very nervy kid, with bull strength. I stayed sorry for two weeks, because I made the mistake of engaging in a little bout with him."

He soon got rid of the ranch, however, and stacking all his remaining chips on a final gamble, he bought a third interest in one of the notorious saloons in Kansas City. This was in 1884; and by this time he had begun to sell an occasional picture among the local folks, to whom their vivid realism and dashing action were so captivating. In spite of their technical shortcomings, they had that something which was not to be found in so many of the pictures that appeared in magazines of the day.

All this was a long way from "becoming a millionaire." But Remington had never forgotten the young lady who had sparked his first and only real romance in life. Her father had blasted their matrimonial plans, because Fred had shown no indication of the stability which was deemed necessary for such an important paternal blessing. Eva Caten came from an extremely conservative family. She was prim and feminine the antithesis of all that Fred Remington represented. But he returned to New York, and when he shortly came back to Kansas City he brought her with him as his bride.

Things didn't go well for the newlyweds, however. He lost his interest in the saloon; and he was unable to make enough money from his pictures to keep them in food. Within less than a year Eva returned to her father's home; and Fred hit out for the Southwest, in one final desperate gamble to find a fortune.

In the fall of 1885 Frederic Remington landed in New York City, with three dollars in cash, and his baggage consisted of little more than a bulging bunch of pictures and sketches of life in the West. Eva met him. They went to live in a furnished room in a Brooklyn boarding house and Fred started pounding the city pavements, from magazine to magazine, where the art editors showed little or no interest in his work. He borrowed a small amount of money to attend a few classes at the ArtStudents League. But he worked with desperate determination and eventually the art editor of Harper's Weekly became interested. The issue of January 9, 1886, carried, on its cover, the first Remington picture to be published in a national magazine under his own name. It was "The Apache War-Indian Scouts on Geronimo's Trail." That broke the ice. Soon other pictures appeared; and within a year Frederic Remington's career was established. Few artists have ever climbed so high in such a remarkably short period of time. Besides getting all the work he could possibly do as an illustrator for the country's leading magazines, in 1887 he had two of his paintings hung in the Annual Exhibition of the National Academy (something that many artists work a lifetime to accomplish) and the following year another of his paintings won both the Hallgarten and the Clarke prizes in the National Academy.

Students League. But he worked with desperate determination and eventually the art editor of Harper's Weekly became interested. The issue of January 9, 1886, carried, on its cover, the first Remington picture to be published in a national magazine under his own name. It was "The Apache War-Indian Scouts on Geronimo's Trail." That broke the ice. Soon other pictures appeared; and within a year Frederic Remington's career was established. Few artists have ever climbed so high in such a remarkably short period of time. Besides getting all the work he could possibly do as an illustrator for the country's leading magazines, in 1887 he had two of his paintings hung in the Annual Exhibition of the National Academy (something that many artists work a lifetime to accomplish) and the following year another of his paintings won both the Hallgarten and the Clarke prizes in the National Academy.

He got Harper's to send him back to the Southwest; and this time he went strictly as an artist, with all sorts of official letters which gave him permission to travel with our Indian fighting Army and to go where he pleased on the reservations.

He became a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, and illustrated Teddy's first book, "Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail." which did much to establish both of them. He made the illustrations for the illustrated edition of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha" which went a long way in immortalizing that great poem. Many other classics on the West also owe much to the fact that Remington added his touch of genius to their pages.

Practically every year, from the beginning of his career to the end, he spent an average of about three months in some part of his beloved West. Through his friendship with General Miles, and a personal hunch that something big was going to happen, he was the only correspondent on the scene for the spectacular Sioux uprising under Sitting Bull in the Dakotas in 1890. This proved to be the last real fireworks between the Indians and the Army; and he was in the midst of the shooting, narrowly escaping death. He covered this, both as an artist and writer, for Harper's; and his accounts of the famous Wounded Knee incident and the other episodes, which brought to an end the Indian Wars in the United States, are considered classics of their kind.

The few exceptions when Remington did not make his annual trip West were when he went to North Africa and Europe for Harper's, and when he covered the Spanish-American War for Collier's and the Hearst newspapers.

By 1895 Frederic Remington was recognized as the world's leading exponent in art of the wild Western scene. He had also been accepted as an important writer of short stories and factual articles on the West. From the little furnished room in the Brooklyn boarding house he and his faithful little wife had moved, in three jumps, to an estate in Westchester County, where he had a studio spacious enough to bring in live horses with mounted riders for models. He also acquired his own riding horses, including a fine thoroughbred Irish hunter, with a groom to see that it was always properly cared for.

It was in 1895 that he turned to sculpture; and although he entered this difficult field of the fine arts with practically no technical training or guidance, his very first attempt resulted in that complete success which can only come from inspired initiative. His "Bronco Buster" was immediately acclaimed with high critical praise; and the 250 bronze copies which were cast before the model was destroyed, sold for a total of $62,500. In the fourteen years until his death, in addition to all the painting and writing he did. Remington added twenty-four works of Western sculpture which were cast into bronze. Today these are all earnestly sought by museums and collectors. There are also a lot of fakes floating around. A genuine Remington, however, has an integrity that defies copying.

Frederick Remington went on to become probably the highest paid illustrator of his time. His contract with Collier's was for $1,000 per picture. Most of these appeared in full page or double-page, full color; he painted them as he pleased; and the original canvases were afterward returned to the artist to be sold, usually for an equal amount. Today some of these paintings would bring twenty-five times the original amount. Although his professional career was comparatively brief, Remington did a total of more than 2,800 paintings and drawings. All but a very few of these were reproduced, in one form or another, for public benefit. His pictures appeared in practically all of the best magazines of the day; and in more than 150 books. Many of his paintings were reproduced as art prints-which have already become collectors' items.

At no time in his spectacular career, however, did success ever dim his avidity for hard work, or change the personality which he had displayed as a football player at Yale and a vagabond on horseback in his early days finding adventure in the West, which he loved with such deep sincerity. He was steadfastly a strict disciple of realism, meticulous accuracy and all things purely American. He had no time or respect for any foreign or radical influences.

Frederic Remington's attitude toward “modern” art was well expressed when one of the editors of Collier's Weekly persuaded him to visit an important exhibition in New York City. While viewing the pictures, he had nothing to say. Upon leaving, however, his companion pressed him for an opinion: "Well, Remington," he asked, "what do you think of this modern art?"

To which Remington replied, with a grunt of disgust: "Hell! I've got a couple maiden aunts up-state who can knit better pictures!"

The last few years of his life were largely devoted to paintings and sculpture of the Old West that were created in the spirit of pure art.

On December 24, 1909, shortly after passing his forty-eighth birthday, Frederic Remington underwent an emergency operation for appendicitis, in a new and elegant home which he had but recently built near Ridgefield, Connecticut. He died the day after Christmas-and at the time when he was just reaching the peak of his career as an artist. He was buried in Canton, New York, the little town of his birth.

The importance and stature of Remington as an artist and chronicler of our Old West has continued to grow through the years, and will continue to grow as the nostalgia of that colorful era continues to shape its identity into the pattern of our national history.

Few men in the world of arts and letters have created for themselves such a synonymity with a phase of the national scene or a period of history. Frederic Remington's virile picturization of the rough and rugged Old West shares this distinguished uniqueness with Mark Twain's home-spun life along the Mississippi; Stephen Foster's songs of the Old South; and John James Audubon's portraits of birds. This happy union of genius and singularity of thesis assures him a lasting place in the history of creative celebrities. The only epitaph which Remington ever expressed a personal desire to have associated with his name and his memory, was: "He knew the horse." To this we can appropriately add, "He knew the cowboy, and the Indian, and all else that went to make up the Old West," as few other artists have known their subject.

Harold McCracken, to whom we are indebted for this Remington feature, is the author of the brilliant biography: “Frederic Remington . . . Artist of the Old West.” (Lippincott, $10.00) An adventurer and explorer, he has written a number of adventure and animal books for boys.