Cover Art Description:
N. C. Wyeth, one of America's best-loved illustrators, painted Riding Scene from Cimarron (1929, oil on canvas, 42" x 36"), featured on the front cover. Also known as It Was a Rough Ride, the painting is reproduced courtesy Thomas Nygard Gallery, Bozeman, Montana; American Illustrator's Gallery, New York, New York; and Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Wyeth created the painting to illustrate Edna Ferber's novel Cimarron, the tale of an easterner who moved west to try his luck in the Oklahoma land rush of 1893. Ferber's passage: "Next to me was a girl who looked about eighteen. On the other side was a fellow with a long grey beard" inspired Wyeth's interpretation of the event. Others who sought their fortunes in the West populate this issue, from Wild Bill Hickok and his Deadwood cohorts to homeopathic doctor Edwin S. Kellogg to Japanese immigrants Tom and Taka Oiye.
The photograph of a train traveling the White Sulphur Springs & Yellowstone Park short line on the back cover was taken by Montana's consummate rail-fan Warren McGee. It is from the extensive railroad collection McGee donated to the Montana Historical Society, featured in the photo essay on page 46.
Copyright Montana The Magazine of Western History, Montana Historical Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.
