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Colorado cowboys...
Colorado cowboys...
Item # 721600
October 06, 1883
HARPER'S WEEKLY, New York, October 6, 1883 Front page print: "Harmony--Wait Til The Clouds Roll By Johnny". Halfpg. print: "The New York Democratic State Convention at Buffalo'". Two half page prints: "The Third Had Got Him Down Upon His Back, And Was Diligently Pounding His Head Against The Hard Stones" and "The Launch Of The Iron Clipper-Ship 'T. F. Oakes'". Nice fullpg. print: "The Valley of the Upper Mississippi" shows 6 displayable scenes. Nice fullpg. print: "Watering Deer--Indian Putting the Dogs on a Trail" is by A.B. Frost. Great & displayable. Fullpg. print by W. A. Rogers: "The Cowboy's of Colorado--Lassoing & Branding Calves".
Other news and advertisements of the day are included. Complete in 16 pages, nice condition.
AI notes: W.A. Rogers’ 1883 wood engraving, "The Cowboys of Colorado—Lassoing and Branding Calves," serves as a vital piece of visual journalism that stripped away the theatrical "Buffalo Bill" veneer of the West to reveal the grueling labor of the cattle industry. Published as a full-page feature in Harper’s Weekly, the composition is masterfully chaotic, capturing the dusty, kinetic energy of a roundup where the tension between man and beast is palpable. Rogers utilizes sharp, rhythmic linework to depict cowboys mid-stride and horses leaning into the weight of the lariat, while the background reveals a horizon crowded with cattle, emphasizing the sheer scale of the task. Beyond its artistic merit, the print is a historical record of the open-range era just before it was transformed by barbed wire, documenting the specific tools, clothing, and branding techniques that defined the identity of the American frontiersman.
Category: 1880-1889
