William de la Montagne Cary

William Cary was a renowned western illustrator based in New York City for over thirty years. His first trip West in 1861, traveling in an ox-wagon train along the Missouri River to Fort Benton, involved a narrow escape from the Crow Indians. From Fort Benton, Cary traveled to Fort Union, where he spent six weeks observing the Assiniboine Indians. He later joined a survey crew, which took him to the West Coast before returning to New York. In 1874, he made his second and final trip West as part of the John Mullan railroad survey to Walla Walla, Washington.

Cary’s illustrations, largely based on his memories and sketches, earned him commissions from magazines like Leslie’s and Harper’s. He also painted oil works depicting Indian women, often accompanied by texts reflecting Euro-American perspectives on Native life. Cary is also known for his paintings and etchings of Buffalo Bill Cody, whom he met in the 1860s and studied during Cody’s Wild West Show in 1884.