EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 27 © 2019 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

30 more exercise. Weight had become a major problem, and would prove a pain for the rest of his life. His fame, however, had made him a popular artist among the Western army officers who were still at war with the Indians. Remingtonwas invitedby theArmy to followwhat would be their last war campaigns against the native tribes. Although arriving on the scene just after the massacre at Wounded Knee (where over 300 Sioux were slaughtered), Remington wrote that the soldiers had been heroic and fought with courage. His drawings and paintings featuring cavalrymen fighting Indians would also prove extremely popular. This also got him work doing portraits of the generals and other officers he met. Although Remington’s first impression of the Native Americans had been common with the times, wherein they were considered lazy, ignorant and superstitious, nevertheless he would also sketch much of their folklore, doing hundreds of drawings of their weapons and every- day apparel, customs, clothes and the ornaments they wore. Later paintings would also show the suffering the Indians had to endure. By the 1890s Western folklore was waning, and Remington thought he was the one to keep it alive as the last “historian-artist”. He travelled extensively around the U.S. and the Mexican border to garner ideas. It’s interesting to note that most of the action in his paintings Text continued from page 22 Text continues on page 35 FACING PAGE: The Old Stagecoach of the Plains, oil on canvas, 1901. ABOVE: Advance Guard , also known as The Military Sacrifice (Ambush) , oil on canvas, 1890. This image portrays the moment of death for a cavalry scout, shot by the unseen but ever- present enemy, the Indian. Slumped over his bloodstained horse, the scout has dropped his gun. As the alternate title implies, however, the sacrifice of one man could save the remaining troops, as his companions race off to save themselves and others from ambush.