Creator Details
Growing up in Bonham, Texas, Erwin Smith knew he wanted to be a cowboy and an artist. The era of great trail drives was ending, and he was determined to document the open-range lifestyle before it disappeared completely. Smith gained experience by working on ranches and studying painting and sculpting at art schools in Chicago and Boston before he realized that the photographs he used as preliminary studies were works of art themselves. Between 1905 and the mid-1920s, he photographed ranch work and life in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, producing some of the best-known images of early 20th-century cowboy activities. The Carter holds about 150 prints by Smith, many gifted by Smith’s half-sister, Mary Alice Pettis, as well as 2,000 negatives on permanent deposit from the Library of Congress.
Artworks
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"A horse down and a saddle off" in a remuda (band of horses) where the cowpunchers are releasing their mounts for the day. These are cow horses of proven type. Shoe Bar Range, Texas., 1912
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.073 -
"A West Marathon." n.d., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"Boney" Caldwell, top cowhand of the John Adair outfit in Texas. JA Ranch, Texas., 1908
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.118 -
"Boney" Caldwell, top cowhand of the old John Adair outfit in Texas, mounted for the day's work. JA Range, Texas., 1908
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.070 -
"Catching up" mounts from the rope corral while out on roundup, LS Ranch, Texas, 1907
Erwin E. Smith
Nitrate negative
LC.S611.727 -
"Comanche Indian Camp." n.d., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"Come and Git It!," Three Block Ranch, New Mexico, 1908-1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.139 -
"Cow Puncher." 1903., 1903
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"Cutting out" a yearling. Spur Ranch (SMS Ranch), Texas., ca. 1908-1910
Erwin E. Smith
Nitrate negative
LC.S59.320 -
"Heeling" a calf to drag it to the branding fire after cutting it out of the herd. Matador Ranch, Texas., 1905-1910
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.215 -
"How Indians Poison Their Arrows." n.d., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"Impressions of an Artist - Babcock." n.d., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"In a Tight Place." n.d., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers
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"Little Joe," the wrangler, and his mount. Little Joe wears concho-decorated chaps. Three Block Ranch, New Mexico., 1908-1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.052 -
"Pink" Murray, famous gunfighter and wagon boss of the OR outfit in southern Arizona. He was later killed in a saloon gunfight in Hermosillo, Mexico. OR Range, Arizona., 1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.252 -
"Pink" Murray, famous wagon boss of the OR outfit, against the background of the Huachuca Mountains near southern Arizona border. OR Ranch, Arizona., 1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.204 -
"Pink" Murray, famous wagon boss of the OR ranch in southern Arizona, mounted on his favorite horse. Navajo Indian blankets were used as saddle blankets, and "Pink" had a good one. OR Range, Arizona., 1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.102 -
"Pink" Murray, famous wagon boss of the OR ranch near Hereford, Arizona, rolls his own cigarette while mounted on his favorite white horse. OR Range, Arizona., 1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.105 -
"Pink" Murray, wagon boss of the OR outfit telling his men off for the day's work, OR Range, Arizona, 1909
Erwin E. Smith
Gelatin dry plate negative
LC.S6.246 -
"Sitting Bull, Sioux." 1904., n.d.
Erwin E. Smith
Erwin E. Smith Papers