On the Head-Waters–Burgess Finding a Ford c. 1893

Frederic Remington made this drawing, On the Head-Waters--Burgess Finding a Ford, using ink and wash on paper. It’s a study in monochrome, full of layered washes of grey, umber, and charcoal. Remington uses the fluidity of his materials to evoke the textures of the scene. In the foreground, you can almost feel the parched dryness of the prairie grass. Further back, he captures the sheen of water and the hazy distance of the treeline, rendered through simple gradations of tone. But what of the laborers? Look at the procession of men and animals. Their postures suggest a weary resignation to the tasks at hand. Remington’s sketch doesn’t sentimentalize the West. Instead, it shows figures caught in the long, slow, patient labor of surveying the land, making it ready for settlement and exploitation. The drawing reminds us that every landscape, however beautiful, bears the trace of labor, politics, and the march of industry.