Born in Honey Grove, Texas in 1886, Erwin Evans Smith (1886-1947) grew up loving the unique life of the American West and sought to capture it through his art. Initially interested in sculpture, he quickly took to photography while working as a teenager on cattle ranches in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. He frequently teamed up with newspaper writer, George Patullo, to feature his photographs alongside stories of the West, which were published in various print works, such as the Saturday Evening Post, National Magazine, and Cattleman magazine. He took over 2,000 photographs in his lifetime, most between 1905 and 1912 from his time on the ranches. His work is considered some of the best examples of early 1900s cowboy life, alongside famous artists Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington. Smith passed away in Texas in 1947.

Note written by Nicole Yatsonsky