Man on horse in middle of prairie. He’s carrying is rifle and they are riding to the right in image, with group of riders following from left background.
This action-packed scene is straight from the imagination of Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, an English-born artist who never ventured west of Chicago. Intrigued by adventure, he celebrated the courage and resourcefulness (believed to be traits of all Americans) of the independent men of the great prairie. By 1862, he had created more than twenty paintings and thirty-eight designs for prints, all based on the West. The story of this image can be immediately deciphered. A trapper, chased by four Native Americans, looks back at his pursuers while he rides madly through the boundless land. Though his life is threatened, the trapper appears exuberant. The wind-blown grass further enhances the action of the scene. The subtitle of the print, One Rubbed Out! hints at the outcome of the scene. One of the Native Americans has been shot and the hunter will be able to escape.
