On the Bighorn c. 1892

Frederic Remington made this monochromatic painting called ‘On the Bighorn’ to capture a moment in the American West. Here, we see uniformed figures standing next to horses, mules and a stagecoach; the Bighorn river can be found in Montana and Wyoming. Looking at the image, the cultural references and historical associations suggest that this depicts an expedition in the American West, a frontier celebrated in American folklore. This was a time when the westward expansion of the United States was well underway and was a powerful expression of 19th century 'Manifest Destiny'. The painting romanticizes the West and the role of the white man in taming the frontier by obscuring some of the realities of violence and displacement that were happening to the region's indigenous populations. To understand this artwork better, we could research American expansionism, the US army, and the experience of Native Americans at this time. We must remember that artworks are produced in specific social and institutional contexts, and their meanings are closely tied to those factors.