The Mexican Major

1887

Eighty-three illustrations for Theodore Roosevelt's book

He receives a commission to do eighty-three illustrations for Theodore Roosevelt's book Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, to be serialized in The Century Magazine. The 29-year-old Roosevelt had a Western adventure similar to Remington's, losing money on a ranch in North Dakota the previous year. The assignment gives Remington's career a big boost and forges a lifelong connection with Roosevelt.

1887–1889

“Return of the Blackfoot War Party” at the National Academy

His full-colour oil painting Return of the Blackfoot War Party is exhibited at the National Academy of Design, and the New York Herald comments that Remington will one day be listed among America's great painters. Not all critics admire him, but his work is deemed distinctive and modern.

1889

A second-class medal at the Paris Exposition

He wins a second-class medal at the Paris Exposition: the American committee chose him to represent American painting over Albert Bierstadt, whose majestic large-scale landscapes with tiny figures of pioneers and Indians were by then considered passé. His status as the new trendsetter in Western art is solidified.

1890

At the scene of the Wounded Knee massacre

He arrives on the scene just after the massacre at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, in which about 150 Sioux, mostly women and children, were killed. In his report, “The Sioux Outbreak in South Dakota”, he hails the Army's “heroic” actions toward the Indians.

1890

First solo show at the American Art Galleries

Remington's first one-man show, twenty-one paintings at the American Art Galleries, is very well received. With success all but assured, he becomes established in society: his personality, his “pseudo-cowboy” manner of speaking and his “Wild West” reputation are strong social attractions. His biography falsely promoted some of the myths he encouraged about his Western experiences.

1890

Moves to New Rochelle: the house “Endion”

He and his wife move to New Rochelle, New York, for more living space and studio facilities and in the hope of getting more exercise; the town is close to New York's publishers and galleries yet rural enough for horseback riding. Remington calls their substantial Gothic revival house at 301 Webster Avenue, on Lathers Hill, Endion, an Ojibwa word meaning “the place where I live”; their neighbours in the artists' colony include writers, actors and artists.