FUR TRAPPERS ON THE MISSOURI-ATTACKED BY INDIANS 
was originally engraved by W. M. Cary and was first published in 1868
in Harpers Weekly.  This early print depicts Rocky Mountain trappers
taking their Buffalo hide-baled beaver furs packs back to St. Louis by
Keelboat during the heyday of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Dressed in
buckskins, and armed with flintlock rifles as their means of defense,
these hardy nineteenth century adventurers were out to make their
fortunes if they could survive attacks by hostile Indians such as
this.  Prior to the summer season, when the furs were transported back
to the settlements, fur traders and trappers traversed and explored
every stream and river in the west on horseback, dugout canoe,
bullboat, or snowshoe in search of beaver and other fur pelts to
supply the fashion needs of the eastern United States and Europe.

EARLY CALIFORNIA SETTLERS 
was originally engraved by John Andrew and
was first published in 1856 in Ballou’s Illustrated Drawing Room
Companion.  This early print depicts a party of California emigrants
in the early days of the American westward migration of the
1840’s. Guided by the principles and promises of manifest destiny,
thousands of families left all they knew behind, jumping into the
unknown frontier from cities like St. Louis and following the Oregon
and California Trails to a new life in the Promised Land.  Many a
buckskin-clad, flintlock-toting old fur trapper turned to guiding
these Conestoga wagon trains across the plains and over the Rocky
Mountains once the bottom fell out of the beaver trade. Others became
buffalo hunters, Indian agents, interpreters, or guides for the
military.  The detail in these old engravings is nothing short of
awesome! There is so much animated action contained here, that every
time you look at them, you will see something new.  Even when these
prints were originally published, they were depicting the romanticism
of a quarter of a century in the past. A fascination of the wild
unsettled American West still exists today as it did almost one
hundred and fifty years ago.  These high-quality reproduction
engravings have been produced in editions of 200 prints each on
antique-style heavyweight acid-free paper. Each hand numbered print
has an image size of approximately 14 x 21 and the paper size is 16
1/4 x 22 3/4.