Frank McCarthy is renowned in the minds of western art enthusiasts for capturing the essence of Shakespeare’s “Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.” Yet, just as often as he depicted a band of warriors charging Out of the Windswept Ramparts, it was a single dramatic figure or dynamically designed landscape (through which a silent war party passed) that provided the “action” we associate with McCarthy’s work. Buffalo Robe Signal is such a piece. Other than the flourish of the robe, the flaring of nostrils and the mane on the horse, these men are not a drawn bowstring waiting to be unleashed. Nonetheless, the tension builds and we complete the entire story ourselves. This is why Frank McCarthy is the Dean of Western Action.

The exploits and achievements of the Buffalo Soldiers are a constant inspiration. They are as every American hero-dedicated, determined and professional - as they expertly enter a battle which may cost them their lives.
General Colin Powell stated it well at the dedication of the Buffalo Soldiers Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1992: "The men of the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry suffered the deprecations of service on the American frontier, escorting settlers, cattle herds and railroad crews, as well as protecting mail runs. I will never forget their service and sacrifice."

The Crows called themselves Absaroke, loosely translated as “the Raven People.” They dominated rich hunting areas but at the cost of routinely defending their territory from neighboring tribes. North of the Crow were the Blackfoot; the Sioux and Cheyenne were to the east. Bright colors demonstrate a sense of pageantry in this Crow war party. The red square on his horse’s right shoulder identifies the leader whose buffalo headdress is adorned with beadwork. This determined group of warriors has left blue sky behind and but are suddenly called to a halt. What, or more likely who, has captured their attention?
This never-before-published McCarthy painting, presented in a Giclée canvas edition, has the look and feel of the artist’s original work of art.

Frank McCarthy’s From the Rim is set against a giant shelf of rimrock and under threatening skies. A Sioux warrior rides out beyond his waiting and impatient war party. Shading his eyes and scanning the horizon, he is looking perhaps for a mirror flash or a scout’s signal with blanket or robe to indicate in which direction the warriors should ride. It was the habit of the Sioux, when no enemy came to them within a respectable interval, to ride forth and seek out a worthy adversary. The Sioux often chose the Pawnee on whom to bestow these periodic blessings, giving their young men a chance to satisfy their need to display their valor in battle. McCarthy’s work was always imbued with a high sense of drama. Each painting nearly leaps off the canvas. He builds this sense of tension in every painting, even when the horses and figures are still. From the Rim is a perfect example of this McCarthy trademark style. Here, the action is provided in the dramatic and foreboding design of the landscape surrounding this seemingly motionless Sioux scout.

At 33"w x 20"h, this Anniversary Fine Art Edition Giclée canvas carries all the impact of McCarthy’s original work of art. McCarthy considered this piece one of his favorite paintings because of the intensity and variation of the landscape with which he built the central figure.

Sioux hunters pursue a rare white buffalo, its robe considered “big medicine” to be passed reverently from generation to generation and could command the price of 10 to 15 horses. Estimates based on hide trader’s records indicate that a white bison occurred only once in every five million animals. Plains Indians trained their best horses to hunt buffalo. But the white buffalo was elusive, often seeming to be sheltered by the rest of the herd as if the others had an instinctive sense that its color made it somehow special. These Sioux hunters may be close but the outcome is far from certain.

In the long shadows of breaking daylight, a Blackfoot Indian raiding party rides with purpose and bears the markings of war in what is our largest-ever Frank McCarthy Fine Art Edition. At over 6 feet in length, this remarkable work of art from the Dean of Western Action will electrify any room in which it hangs.
The Blackfeet were enemies of the Crow and Sioux on the Great Plains and of the Shoshone in the mountains to their west and of the Cree to their north. Not only were they fierce in defense of their Canadian border homeland but their raiding parties ranged out along the Old North Trail from Alberta, Canada south to Mexico. Raiders of various tribes followed it, stealing horses and food from white settlers and other tribes.
Blackfoot war parties would ride hundreds of miles on these raids. They were hailed as heroes by their own tribe and vilified by their victims. The single greatest blow to Blackfoot power in the West came not from combat but from disease. In the mid-1800s, more than 6,000 Blackfoot natives died of smallpox from a single instance of exposure to an infected white person. This ended the Blackfoot raider dominance of the Great Plains.
On the Old North Trail is not only the largest Frank C. McCarthy we’ve ever produced, it is one of the most exclusive editions we’ve created of his work as well. This (73” x 22”) MuseumEdition™ masterpiece is available in an edition of only 25 copies. Be one of the lucky few to own this powerful and impressive work of art that portrays the dramatic days when the Blackfeet reigned supreme On the Old North Trail.

Frank McCarthy could paint a bouquet of flowers and it would feel like you were watching the Daytona 500. Even this simple image of a solitary Cheyenne warrior scout captures all the drama of the epic west with only a single figure!
A buffalo hide served many purposes for the Plains Indian. It was a wrap by night. It went wherever its owner went, serving variously for warmth, protection . . . and for communication. A lone Cheyenne sends a message, a simple robe signal, to be understood as clearly and effectively by its receiver as our instant communications of today.
This 9"x 12" SmallWorks™ Anniversary Fine Art Edition Canvas is an all time McCarthy classic and a must have for any fan of the reigning Dean of Western Action!

Native Americans would often try to break up a herd into smaller groups because riding into a large herd is difficult. Then they would run that buffalo around in circles making the animals fall over each other. The bow men usually moved to the left-hand side of the buffalo to get the arrow into its heart. The men with the spears are normally on the other side of the group because they can get more power into their right hands.

Of all the innovations of the nineteenth century, none changed the landscape of the American West more than the steam locomotive. A monument to speed, industry and westward expansion, the locomotive charged across the landscape, changing the face of frontier life forever, but it did not happen overnight.
Past and present collided in the prairies and plains, as workers laying tracks for the trains met with resistance from local wildlife. Even the mighty locomotive engine itself, with all its power and might, occasionally ran into the unstoppable force of nature.
“Huge migrating herds of buffalo could stall a train for hours,” said Frank McCarthy. “For sport, travelers sometimes took potshots at them from the cars while they waited for the procession to pass.” It would not be long before progress and professional hide hunters rendered the threat of buffalo on train tracks nearly extinct.

The mid-1800s brought a great surge westward which aroused and antagonized the Native American tribes whose land was being violated and whose staff of life, the buffalo, was being exterminated. The Indians relentlessly attacked the endless wagon trains, the crews laying the railroad tracks, the pony express riders, the men stringing telegraph wires and the lone prospector seeking hidden mineral wealth on the Indian's sacred grounds. Warring bands waiting silently on high ridges and outcroppings would receive smoke signals from their scouts, whereupon they would descend in full fury upon the unsuspecting trespassers.
"The Hostiles" is a McCarthy classic, in subject and composition. The rugged land is as much a central character as the Indians who aggressively defend it. The prominent, rocky ledge emphasizes the powerful position of this band, and the point man in particular. "The Hostiles" embodies the spirit of defiance in the face of all challengers both visible and anticipated.

This is more of a monochromatic piece which helps intensify the atmosphere. It also emphasizes the lonliness of the mountain man who is traveling across windswept tundra along the timberline. While the environment looks threatening, it is preferable to the warmer valley floor where hostile Indians are sure to be waiting.

Frank McCarthy remains the unrivaled “Dean of Western Action Painters.” No other artist has come close to capturing the dynamic power and drama of the Old West. Thunder Across the Plains contains all the hallmarks of a McCarthy classic: a frozen instant of charging warriors, rampaging horses and threatening skies. The mystical bond between the Plains Indian and his steed is conveyed as if it is the ultimate display of skill and courage. On the endless prairie, horses were the most valued possessions. In battle, or on the hunt, a strong and fast horse was often the difference between life and death. These braves stampede a plundered herd across the grasslands toward their distant village where an evening of celebration will be filled with dance and stories of cunning and daring.

"Gathering storm clouds symbolize the approaching conflict as Indians worriedly observe settle wagons just beyond effective rifle range," wrote Frank McCarthy. "In the beginning people were mostly just passing through, but as settlers increasingly dropped off to stay, it was clear that the Indians' claim to the land was threatened."
A massive thunderstorm gathering in the background adds drama to this painting and symbolizes the growing storm between settler and Native American. A group of Sioux watch as an early wagon train pushes west. The Native Americans were not yet ready to fight for they had not yet lost their buffalo or vast lands. But as the influx continued, these events would come to pass and the gathering storm would break and unleash its fury on the prairie.