The Round-Up c. 1888

Frederic Remington’s painting captures a scene from the American West, likely completed near the turn of the 20th century. It portrays a cowboy on horseback, firing a pistol into the air, surrounded by a herd of cattle during a round-up. Paintings like these were popular in a period of rapid industrialization. The image romanticizes the rugged individualism of the cowboy and the wild, untamed frontier, appealing to those who sought to preserve a vanishing way of life amid profound social and economic changes. The cowboy became a symbol of American identity, celebrated in popular culture through dime novels, Wild West shows, and eventually Hollywood films. Understanding this painting requires looking at the socio-political context of its time. Archival photographs, newspapers, and literature from the period can help us understand how the West was both mythologized and commodified, and what that meant for the indigenous peoples who were displaced in the name of progress.