Works of Art

During the time he was travelling to the West as an artist-correspondent for Harper’s, Remington’s work was noticed by Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, a capable and very ambitious U.S. Army commander. Miles frequently opened doors for Remington to be an “official artist” on numerous occasions, allowing him easy access to the officers and troops in the field. In return, Remington supported General Miles’ efforts to be noticed in the press and praised for his exploits, whether deserved or not. The culmination of this was the publication in 1896 of the Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles, a weighty self-serving tome that was designed to help propel Miles to the presidency of the United States. The volume featured a great many illustrations by Remington, including full-page black and white reproductions taken from paintings. Fourteen of these illustrations were printed in rotogravure for a portfolio issued by the book’s publisher, the Werner Company, in 1898.

In January 1875 General Miles and his forces encountered an encampment of Indians on the Pecos River, near the New Mexico border. Miles had learned that two white girls, sisters taken captive in Kansas when their parents were killed, were being kept in the village. He sent a group of friendly Indians to the camp to carry the demands for surrender, at the same time instructing one of them to get a message to the girls that they would be rescued. Remington’s illustration records this sequence of events, as the beseiged camp receives the general’s message. After a conference among themselves, the Indians broke camp and journeyed more than two hundred miles before surrendering peacefully at an agency. The captives were recovered unharmed.