The Bear at Bay

1890s

From chronicler of the West to its historian

Gradually he transitions from the premier chronicler-artist of the Old West to its most important historian-artist. He forms an effective partnership with Owen Wister, who becomes the leading writer of Western stories of the time, and, more confident of his craft, writes that his drawing is done entirely from memory and that he no longer uses a camera: the interesting never occurs in nature as a whole but in pieces, and it is more what he leaves out than what he adds. He rarely depicts the gambling-hall and dance-hall scenes typical of Western movies and avoids frontier women; A Misdeal (1897) is a rare instance of indoor cowboy violence.

September 1893

“The Evolution of the Cowpuncher” with Owen Wister

In September 1893 Harper’s Monthly publishes “The Evolution of the Cowpuncher”, Remington’s collaboration with Owen Wister — the first statement of the mythical cowboy in American literature, which spawned the whole genre of Western fiction, films and theatre that followed. Remington supplied the concept, the factual content and the illustrations; Wister supplied the stories, sometimes altering Remington’s ideas.

1895

A busy year: a patent, boredom and a letter to Pyle

In this busy year Remington becomes further immersed in military matters, inventing a new type of ammunition carrier, but the War Department does not accept his patented invention. His favourite subject for magazine illustration is now military scenes, though he admits that cowboys are cash to him; he is growing bored with routine illustration and writes to Howard Pyle that he has done nothing but potboil of late (earlier, in a gesture of mutual respect, the two had exchanged paintings: Pyle's dead pirate for Remington's rough and ready cowpuncher). He works seven days a week, and is further irritated by the lack of his acceptance to regular membership by the Academy, likely because of his image as a popular, cocky artist.

1895

Grizzly hunting with Montague Stevens

He hunts grizzly bears with Montague Stevens in New Mexico.

1895

To Florida to see the “Florida crackers”

He heads south, and his illustrations and article on the “Florida crackers” (cowboys) are published in Harper's magazine.

spring 1896

A studio added to the house Endion

In the spring of 1896 Remington retains the New Rochelle architect O. William Degen to plan a studio addition to the house: he had worked first in the attic under the front gable and then in the ground-floor library, but the space was limited and the light inadequate. The New Rochelle Pioneer of 26 April touts the studio's fine architectural design; in a letter to his friend the novelist Owen Wister, Remington jokes about a studio of tsarist proportions, with a fireplace like an old Norman house.