120 years ago Charles Duryea claims to have driven the first auto through Springfield Massachusetts. And, just nine years later, in 1901, New York became the first state to require automobile license plates. For some reason it took a little longer for cars to catch on in the West.
This painting captures the crossover period when the West was transitioning from frontier to settled status. The “T” is a 1909 Ford Touring car and was quite the beauty, but it really wasn’t intended for the Western frontier. I can’t help but think that more than one rancher must have come to the aid of stranded drivers in their newfangled machines.
Gale F. Trapp, 2012
Acrylic on board
TrappersWildWest 