Traditional U.S. Cowboy Song

My home's in Montana, I wear a bandana
My spurs are of silver, my pony is gray;
When riding the ranges, my luck never changes,
With foot in the stirrup I gallop away.

When far from the ranches, I cut the pine branches
To lay out a bed when the starlight is pale;
When I have partaken of beans and of bacon
I whistle a merry old song of the trail.

An unidentified group (family?) taking a rest along the trail.  Note how all three women sit with their arms crossed.  Is this just a position of restful compose, or do they disagree with something? The males are all grouped at center, a man, a young boy and a toddler.  The females sit behind them in three separate areas. The photo does not seem arranged, so this is interesting from a gender studies perspective.  The girl at back left does not have shoes and the boy at right front seems not to either.  The very stern looking man is wearing leather boots with heels.  He rests with his left arm over the tongue of the traditional "prairie schooner".  The animals used to pull the wagons have been unharnessed, so we know this group is probably settling in for the night.  You can see how the light filters through the canvas of the conestoga in this picture.

A prairie schooner, or conestoga wagon.  Note how the extra storage boxes secured to the outside of the wagon.  What do you think is in the slatted box? Can you identify the brake on this wagon?

Trail ruts made by wagons.  These ruts were cut so deep into the land that they can still be seen today.  Here the trail divides into two paths.  hmmm... which one should we take?

A famous painting by Albert Bierstadt of emigrants on the Oregon Trail. 

 

Bierstadt was part of the Frederick W. Lander Expedition of 1859 in which a new trail was found that was 100 miles shorter than any other.  It was called the Lander Road.  This expedition also included John Ross Key, an artist who was also the grandson of Francis Scott Key.  Another member of the party was Fitz Hugh Ludlow who wrote The Heart of the Continent, and The Hasheesh Eater.  When Ludlow returned from the expedition his wife, Rosalie, promptly divorced him and just as promptly married Albert Bierstadt. 

Albert Bierstadt married Fitz Hugh Ludlow's young wife, Rosalie, after she divorced Ludlow in 1866.

Bierstadts paintings were done on gigantic canvases which dwarfed his contemporaries' paintings.  Critics of the day saw this as egotism and often panned his work.  Bierstadt used colors as he thought they should be, not as they really appeared.  His paintings are lush and show the American West as a playground in paradise.  Bierstadt's paintings now sell for millions and new original Bierstadt paintings have recently been discovered, along with other artists, such as Francis Seth Frost and Henry Hitchings, who also traveled with Frederick Lander on his 1859 expedition to the American West.

A 1903 edition of The Hasheesh Eater illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley.

Fitz Hugh Ludlow, member of the 1859 Lander Expedition and author of the autobiographical The Hasheesh Eater.

 

Ludlow began experimenting with cannabis in college when he would purchase bottles of Tilden's Extract for six cents a bottle.  The extract was extremely potent and hallucinogenic.

Tilden's Extract -- Originally, an old Shaker remedy, it was later promoted and sold by Elam Tilden of New Lebanon, New York.  Tilden's Pharmaceutical's went out of business in 1968.  At one time it was the largest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the United States.

Oregon Trail Pictures

 

A Hard Life - A Strange Tale

The Strange Tale of Albert Bierstadt and Fitz Hugh Ludlow

Puget Sound by
Albert Bierstadt