18.6: The Western Landscape

A. Nature's Majesty Writers described in great detail the wonder of nature’s majesty in the West. The federal government created national parks in 1871, and sent a team of scientists and photographers to record the region’s beauty. Landscape painters from the Rocky Mountain School piqued the public’s interest in the West. Refer to “Bierstedt,” p. 539

Albert Bierstadt became one of the first artists to capture on enormous canvases the vastness and rugged terrain of Western mountains and wilderness. Many other artists joined Bierstadt to form the Rocky Mountain School. In time, the camera largely replaced the paintbrush, and most Americans formed an image of these majestic peaks from postcards and magazine illustrations. SOURCE:Albert Bierstadt.Merced River,Yosemite Valley , 1866 . Oil on canvas,4.36’ x 50”. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Gift of the Sons of William Paton,1909 (09.214.1). Photograph © 1982 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

MAP 18.5 The Establishment of National Parks and Forests The setting aside of land for national parks saved large districts of the West from early commercial development and industrial degradation, setting a precedent for the later establishment of additional parks in economically marginal, but scenic, territory. The West, home to the vast majority of park space, became a principal site of tourism by the end of the nineteenth century.

B. The Legendary Wild West More popular presentations emphasized the West as a source of “vigorous manhood.” Thousands of “dime novels” appeared that portrayed the region in romantic, heroic terms. Wild West show promoters like “Buffalo Bill” Cody brought the legendary West to millions of people around the world. Refer to “Wild, Wild West Show,” p. 540

Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show” poster from 1899 Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show” poster from 1899. William Cody’s theatrical company toured the United States and Europe for decades, reenacting various battles, and occasionally switching to football (cowboys versus Indians). Cody’s style set the pace for both rodeos and Western silent films. SOURCE:Library of Congress.

C. The “American Primitive” The West continued to captivate American imagination. The public sought depictions of bold cowboys and exotic savages. Charles Schreyvogel, Charles Russell, and Frederic Remington helped to shape Americans’ perception of the region. Scholars like Lewis Henry Morgan and Alice Cunningham Fletcher studied Indians and began to develop a scientific understanding of their lives. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts incorporated a large dose of tribal lore into their character-building programs.