Historic Timeline
View paintings in the Museum’s collection alongside major historical, political, and cultural events, beginning with the American Revolution and leading up to the founding of the AMWA.
1776
Congress formally endorsed the Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776 Congress formally endorsed the Declaration of Independence. The majority of the members of Congress signed the Declaration on August 2, 1776. By January 4, 1784, Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the Revolutionary War.
Original copy of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Image source: http://www.monticello.org/
1789
George Washington was sworn in as first President of the United States
April 30, 1789, George Washington was sworn in as the first President of the United States. He issued his first inaugural address in the Senate Chambers in New York Federal Hall, as Washington, DC was not established as the national capital until 1790.
Rembrandt Peale, Porthole Portrait of George Washington, c. 1823.
1790–1830
Start of the Industrial Revolution
In 1790, Samuel Slater, using knowledge of textile producing technology he witnessed in England, opened the first mill in Massachusetts. This act ushered in rapid development of other new technologies, manufacturing practices, communication and transportation innovation, and social changes often referred to collectively as the Industrial Revolution. As the county expanded west, people made use of the wealth of natural resources they found there to fuel new technologies that in turn helped make western expansion easier.
Herman Herzog, The Old Water Mill, 1871
1803
President Jefferson purchased Louisiana Territory
In 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as third President of the United States, the first president inaugurated in the new and permanent national capital, Washington, DC. On January 18, 1803, he purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, adding 828,000 miles to the United States.
Department of the Interior. General Land Office. Surveying Division, “Map of Louisiana Purchase Territory,” 1903, from the National Archives
1805
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean
November 18, 1805, The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the Pacific Ocean. They set out from Illinois on May 14, 1804 in search of an overland route to the Pacific Ocean, and they found it! The expedition returned to Illinois on September 26, 1806 and its members were welcomed as heroes.
William Keith, Mt. Hood from Hood River, 1881
1810–1840
Fur trade reaches its peak
Fur traders, practicing an entrepreneurial form established in the 1500s, penetrated the Southwest as early as 1810. The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, arguably the largest and most successful company that hired fur traders to trap for pelts, held yearly rendezvous in the Wind River Mountains, in present-day Wyoming. By 1834, buffalo replaced beaver as the most profitable pelt in the trade.
Alfred Jacob Miller, The Crows Attempting to Provoke an Attack from the Whites on the Big Horn River, East of the Rocky Mountains, 1841
1812
Congress declared war on Great Britain
Congress declared war on Great Britain. It was during the War of 1812, after the Battle of Baltimore on the night of September 13, 1814, that Francis Scott Key penned the “Star Spangled Banner.” In 1815, troops under Andrew Jackson defeated British forces in the Battle of New Orleans. Peace brought about further western expansion into the Mississippi Valley.
Currier & Ives, Bombardment and capture of Fort Henry, Tenn.: By the federal gunboats under command of commodore Andrew H. Foote-Feby. 6th 1862, from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov
1820
Expeditionary artists travel to the Rocky Mountains
Expeditionary artists Titian Ramsay Peale and Samuel Seymour traveled as part of an expedition to the Rocky Mountains, led by Major Stephen H. Long, for whom Longs Peak is named. The expedition’s objective was to discover the source of the Platte River then travel back east along the Arkansas and Red Rivers to the Mississippi. All along, the scientists and artists were to document the flora, fauna, geology, and illustrate grand landscapes and Native Americans unique to the region.
Samuel Seymour, Indians in Canoe, ca. 1823
1821
The Mexican Revolution opens trade between the US and Mexico
The Mexican Revolution ended Spanish rule, opening up trade between the US and Mexico. Missouri trader William Becknell blazed the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and Santa Fe, in present-day New Mexico, which swiftly became the principal avenue for manufactured goods and emigrants bound for the Southwest.
Map of the Santa Fe Trail, ca. 1860, from “Fort Union- National Monument- New Mexico,” by Robert M. Utly of National Park Service
1823–1841
James Fenimore Cooper published The Leatherstocking Tales
James Fenimore Cooper published The Pioneers, the first of his Leatherstocking Tales series in 1823. Cooper’s books made the novel the most popular genre in American publishing. The Leatherstocking Tales follow the life of Natty Bumppo, a White hunter and warrior raised among Delaware and Mohican people. The other titles in the series include The Last of the Mohicans (1826), The Prairie (1827), The Pathfinder (1840) and The Deerslayer (1841).
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, The Last of the Mohicans, 1850
1830
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act
Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which resulted in the Trail of Tears, the forced removal of the Choctaw, Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, and Cherokee tribes from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Florida to designated Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Click here for more information.
National Park Service, “Trail of Tears Historic Trail Map,” 2009
1832
George Catlin traveled west by steamship
In 1832, George Catlin traveled up the Missouri River on the American Fur Company’s steamer, Yellowstone, with the goal of documenting Native American tribes along the Missouri River. It was just earlier that same year that the first steamship reached the upper Missouri River, facilitating trade between North Dakota and St. Louis.
George Catlin, Bull Dance, Mandan O-kee-pa Ceremony, 1832
1835–1848
Texas declared Independence from Mexico
Texas declared independence from Mexico. In 1847 American soldiers provoked the Mexican Army to attack in the disputed Texas Territory, and the US declared war on Mexico. On February 2, 1848 Mexico and the US signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war with Mexico, which ceded most of what is now the American Southwest to the US.
Map of Texas, California and Mexico ca. 1831.
1836
First wagon train along the Oregon Trail
A missionary party led by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman took the first wagons overland from Missouri to Oregon via what would become the Oregon Trail. In 1843, a wagon train of 1,000 people set out from Missouri and made it safely to Oregon, demonstrating the viability of the Oregon Trail and establishing it as the best route to the Northwest for hundreds of thousands of emigrants over the next decade.
Albert Bierstadt, Oregon Trail—Night Camp on Green River at Lander Cut-Off, Wyoming, ca. 1871
1844
Samuel Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message
Samuel Morse sent the first long-distance telegraph message, “What hath God wrought?” from the US Supreme Court House in Washington, DC to Baltimore, Maryland. Morse’s combination of an electromagnet, stylus, and his invented code of dots and dashes allowed messages to travel as far as wires could be installed, out to the American West and eventually across oceans.
Morse key telegraph
1845
The term Manifest Destiny is coined
John O. Sullivan’s statement that it is “…the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions,” was published in the influential United States Magazine and Democratic Review, effectively giving the expansionist movement its name of Manifest Destiny. Artists like Albert Bierstadt capitalized on the concept, by creating large-scale, idealized landscapes of stunning mountain scenes, in support of westward expansion.
Albert Bierstadt, Wind River, Wyoming, 1870
1848
The California Gold Rush begins
Gold was discovered near Sutter’s Mill in California Territory. This signaled the start of the California Gold Rush and triggered a migration of people from the rest of the US and abroad.
Albertus Del Orient Browere, Goldminers, 1858
1849–1869
The Pacific Railroad Company builds west
The Pacific Railroad Company was chartered and constructed the first railroad west of the Mississippi River, from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri. By 1852 railways had expanded farther west, and California encouraged people to emigrate from China to work on building railroads. On May 10, 1869, the Golden Spike was pounded home at Promontory Point, in present-day Utah, signifying the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads to form the complete transcontinental railroad.
After Thomas Hill, Driving the Last Spike, 1989
1850s
The US government built wagon roads
The US government built wagon roads, inaugurating stagecoach travel. Stagecoaches could travel approximately 5 miles an hour, covering 60–70 miles a day. The speed of this transportation revolutionized mail services and passenger travel.
Herman Wendelborg Hansen, Attack on the Stagecoach, ca. 1890–1900
1851
The Laramie Treaty was signed
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 (Horse Creek Treaty) was signed between US commissioners and representatives from the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. More than 10,000 Native Americans gathered for the council, indicating their desire for peace. The treaty sought to create peace between US citizens and Native Americans and among the tribes represented. It gave the US government the right to build roads through Native American lands, promised to pay $50,000 a year to the tribes in compensation, and to protect tribal resources from White “depredation.” The terms of the treaty were almost immediately violated as more settlers arrived in search of gold and land and the promised annuities did not cover the increased pressures.
Albert Bierstadt, Indians Traveling Near Fort Laramie, 1861
1852
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin, condemning the slavery system in the US.
Courier Company. Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Buffalo, N.Y.: Courier Litho. Co., ca, 1899, from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov
1854–1890
The Sioux Wars
Lakota Sioux and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies defended their homelands and natural resources against incursions by the federal government and European American settlers. Collectively known as the Sioux Wars, major engagements included the Grattan Massacre (1854), Fetterman Fight (1866), Battle of the Rosebud (1876), Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876), and the Wounded Knee Massacre (1890). When these wars ended, military conquest of western Indigenous tribes was almost completed.
Seth Eastman, Medicine Dance of the Dakota or Sioux Indians, ca. 1849
1858
Colorado Gold Rush begins
Gold was discovered at the mouth of the Cherry Creek River near present-day Denver, Colorado. In 1860, gold was discovered in another part of present-day Colorado near Leadville, where prospectors mined more than $4 million by 1865.
William Henry Jackson, The Iron Silver Mine Leadville, 1882-1890, from the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Call number WHJ-10163
1860
Pony Express Mail Service
The first Pony Express Mail Service run left St. Joseph, Missouri and arrived in Sacramento, California. However, the construction of the first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861 exceeded the communication speed of the Pony Express, and the service swiftly ended.
William Henry Jackson, Howard R Driggs, and Union Pacific Railroad Company. Pony express route April 3, 1860 – October 24, 1861, from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/
1861–1865
American Civil War
In spring of 1861, the Civil War began with 11 Southern states announcing their secession from the United States. The self-named Confederate States of America wished to protect the system of slavery on which their agricultural economy depended, whereas the Northern states, who did not rely on slavery for their industry, felt morally opposed to the system. In 1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, stating “All slaves in areas still in rebellion are freed,” which led to the recruitment of federal regiments of African American volunteer soldiers. On January 31, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in the US. After four years of conflict, Confederate armies surrendered to the United States in April of 1865.
Matthew B. Brady, “Officers of 114th Pennsylvania Infantry in front of Petersburg, Va., August 1864,” from the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov
1862
The Homestead Act
May 20, 1862, The Homestead Act gave land to settlers willing to develop it. In exchange for their 160 acres of land, homesteaders paid a small filing fee and were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving official ownership of the land. 270 million acres of public land, mostly west of the Mississippi River, were given away to 1.6 million homesteaders, which included women, immigrants who had filed for citizenship, and African Americans.
George Caleb Bingham, Pioneers in Camp, before 1845
1864
The Sand Creek Massacre
November 29, 1864, Militiamen attacked a camp of Cheyenne and Arapahoe women, children, and elderly in Colorado Territory, resulting in The Sand Creek Massacre. Click here for more information about this tragedy.
Howling Wolf (Southern Cheyenne), At Sand Creek Massacre (1864), ca. 1874–75, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College
1865
Abraham Lincoln shot at Ford’s Theater
April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater—the first president to ever be assassinated. Lincoln was also the first president to sit for an official studio photograph, and to use photographic images in his campaign. This made his portrait recognizable to a widespread American public.
Alexander Gardner, Abraham Lincoln, November 15, 1863
1866–1890
The Open Range Cattle Industry and the Era of the Cowboy
Following the Civil War, large-scale cattle drives from Texas to the markets in Chicago and the East were on the rise. Common practice allowed cattle to roam freely on the Great Plains and graze under supervision of cowboys, who were charged with keeping herds safe and rounding them up to move on to railheads like Abilene, Kansas and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cowboys and their adventures on the open range began to dominate the myths and legends of the West, and continued to do so even after the decline of long-range cattle drives just a few decades later. After the introduction of barbed wire fences in 1868 and severe weather that decimated herds in the winter of 1886-87, the industry was unable to bounce back, and the era of the cowboy became legend.
Carl Rungius, In the Sagebrush, ca. 1921
1866
William Jacob Hays painted The Gathering of the Herds
William Jacob Hays began his career as a naturalist, and in his artistic training was taught to pay extremely close attention to detail. During his only trip west in 1866, Hays took time to carefully observe the flora and fauna that he saw and even took measurements and on-site sketches of everything he encountered. One of the most memorable and astonishing sights for him, as well as for previous explorers in the region, were the immense herds of bison that roamed the plains. The bison skull in the lower left corner of the composition symbolizes the ongoing decimation of the bison population through over-hunting. By the end of the 19th century, only 300 bison survived in the wild.
William Jacob Hays, The Gathering of the Herds, 1866
1867
US purchases Alaska
On March 30, 1867, the United States, continuing to expand westward, purchased Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000. This marked the end of Russia’s efforts to expand trade and settlements to the Pacific coast of North America.
Rockwell Kent, Wilderness, ca. 1918–19
1870
15th Amendment grants African American men the right to vote
On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified, granting African American men the right to vote. This impacted Black, male citizens across the United States. After the Civil War, a large number African Americans traveled west looking for new opportunities and many became cowboys.
Unknown artist, Black Cowboy and Horse, c. 1890–1920, Image source: from the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Call number X-21563. https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1038303
1871
First National Park established
March 1, 1871, Congress designated Yellowstone as a National Park. Earlier that year the government sponsored the Frederick V. Hayden Expedition to the upper Yellowstone River, and on this expedition were painter Thomas Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson. Moran’s sketches and paintings, and Jackson’s photographs of the area were a major factor in Congress’ designation of Yellowstone as the first National Park.
1872
Innovations in photography impact painting
Photographer (and neighbor of Charles Christian Nahl) Eadweard Muybridge used a sequence of photographs to settle a bet about whether or not there is a point in a horse’s gallop where all four legs are off the ground. Muybridge’s photos proved that indeed, all four legs of a horse lift off the ground when galloping, though they gather below the horse’s belly, and not stretched out in front and back of the horse’s body, as painters had traditionally portrayed a horse’s gallop.
Eadweard Muybridge, photographer. Horses. Running, 1881, from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/
1876
Bell’s First Telephone
Alexander Graham Bell received a US patent for the telephone on March 7, 1876, just beating Elisha Gray, who challenged Bell for decades on the true invention of the telephone. Intelligible human speech is heard over the telephone for the first time on March 10 when Bell calls to his assistant, Thomas Watson, “Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you.”
Alexander Graham Bell at the opening of the long-distance line from New York to Chicago, 1892 [printed later], from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/
1879
The relocation of the Southern Utes
Colorado/Southern Utes were forced to relocate to a reservation in the Utah Territory west of the Rocky Mountains. For more information on this Colorado tribe, please visit: http://exhibits.historycolorado.org/.
Standing portrait of two Native American Utes, between 1860–70, from the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection. Call number X-30586. https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1041358
1880
The Navarre Building Constructed in Denver
Built in 1880 as the Brinker Collegiate Institute, this historic Denver building has changed hands several times throughout the years. It was turned into a gambling house and bordello named The Navarre in the 1890s. The name stuck, but the building later served as a fine-dining restaurant in the 1940s, a jazz club in the 1960s, and became the permanent home of the Anschutz Collection in 2010.
Unknown artist, View of the Brinker Collegiate Institute, 1880–1890, from the Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, Call number X-28243. https://digital.denverlibrary.org/nodes/view/1129950
1881
Remington begins illustrating the West
In 1881, Frederic Remington made his first trip west to Montana Territory and sold his first sketch of cowboys to Harper’s Weekly. By the mid-1890s, Remington became one of the most popular and successful Illustrators of the West, and was frequently hired to illustrate periodicals like Harper’s Weekly and Collier’s. Always seeking to develop his artistic abilities, Remington made annual trips to the West, tried his hand at painting and sculpture, and continued to depict this beloved subject matter long after the frontier was closed.
Frederic Remington, A Cold Morning on the Range, ca. 1904
1889
Oklahoma Land Rush
The US Government approved the Indian Appropriation Act of 1889 to meet demand for land. This provided settlers the opportunity to set down roots in what were initially lands set aside for tribes like the Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole, among others. Tribes like the Pawnee, as seen in Grace Carpenter Hudson’s portrait of Chief Roan, had relocated to Oklahoma territory as recently as 1874 and were relocated again under the Indian Appropriation Act. Although there were only 12,000 tracts of land available, 50,000 settlers rushed in, some of whom jumped the line to stake their claims early (known as “Sooners”).
Grace Carpenter Hudson, Chief Roan, ca. 1905
1890
Massacre at Wounded Knee
December 29, 1890, the final conflict between US troops and Native Americans marked the end of the Indian Wars in the United States. For more information on this tragedy, please visit http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/.
Charles Schreyvogel, The Silenced War Whoop, 1908
1893
Western markets crashed
Known as the Panic of 1893, the decline of agriculture and mining industries in the West resulted in a nation-wide depression. The United States moved from a bimetal standard currency to solely gold, devaluing silver and glutting the market with cheap silver. Mines across the West were closed or abandoned, leaving once-prosperous communities as “ghost towns.”
Ernest Lawson, Abandoned Mine, Cripple Creek, 1927
1898
The Spanish American War
April 25, 1898, the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the Battleship Maine in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898. As a result, Spain lost control over its remaining colonies which included Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, Guam, and other islands.
Edward H Hart, photographer. U.S.S. Maine. [Between 1890 and 1901]. Detroit Publishing Co., Publisher, from the Library of Congress https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a28246
1898
Blumenschein and Phillips travel to Taos, New Mexico
Artists Ernest Leonard Blumenschein and Bert Geer Phillips, on their way to Mexico, suffered a broken wagon wheel just outside of Taos, New Mexico. While halted for repair, both artists decided that Taos was as far as they needed to travel, as the local landscape, people, and culture provided plenty of inspiration for a lifetime of work. They founded the Taos Society of Artists with four additional artists in 1915.
Ernest Leonard Blumenschein, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 1926
1903
First narrative film
In 1903, The Great Train Robbery debuted at Huber’s Museum in New York City. Created by a former Edison Studios cameraman, Edwin S. Porter, the storyline was based on a play, making it the first narrative film.
Film still from The Great Train Robbery, 1903
1913
The Armory Show
February 17, 1913, the International Exhibition of Modern Art, known as the Armory Show, opened in New York. This was America’s first taste of European modernism, and introduced American artists to new painting styles such as cubism. Can you see the influence of cubism in Willard Nash’s painting of a scene near Santa Fe?
Willard Nash, Santa Fe Landscape, ca. 1925–35
1913
Henry Ford established the assembly line
December 1, 1913, Henry Ford established the assembly line in manufacturing. Because he could create more product in less time, with fewer workers, he was able to increase workers’ pay and produce cars that his workers were able to afford. His impact was felt throughout America which saw an increase in urbanization, the rise of the middle class, and more leisure time for workers than ever before.
Photo of a Ford factory assembly line
1915
The Taos Society of Artists was founded
The Taos Society of Artists was founded. The charter members were Ernest Leonard Blumenschein, Bert Geer Phillips, Eanger Irving Couse, Oscar E. Berninghaus, Joseph Henry Sharp, and William Herbert Dunton. The group shared studio space, marketing, and sent traveling exhibits of their work across the United States.
Oscar E. Berninghaus, Dance at the Pueblo, before 1916
1915
N.C. Wyeth painted The Lady Wins
During the golden age of illustration, artists like N.C. Wyeth perpetuated the myth of the West through vibrant illustrations, capturing the adventure of life on the frontier, long after the frontier ceased to exist. Illustrations like Wyeth’s accompanied short stories, serials, and articles about the West for a public eager to immerse themselves in Western lore.
N.C. Wyeth, The Lady Wins, 1915
1917–1918
The United States participated in World War I
Although the US initially attempted to maintain its policy of non-intervention in the conflict, by spring 1918 the US was poised to enter World War I. Increased need for materials and military supplies spurred economic growth in the West.
War Department, Repairing front line trench after bomb explosion fifty yards from enemy trenches, 1917-1919, NARA’s Still Picture Records Section, National Archives at College Park, MD
1920
19th Amendment granted right to vote to women
On August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote.
Harris & Ewing, photographer. WOMAN SUFFRAGE. 1917, from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/
1924
Indian Citizen Act signed into law
June 2, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizen Act into law. Proposed by Representative Homer P. Snyder of New York, the act granted full US citizenship to America’s Indigenous peoples, referred to as “Indians” in the act. The 14th Amendment already defined a citizen as any person born in the US, but only if “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” a clause that was thought to exclude certain Indigenous peoples. The act was introduced partially in recognition of the thousands of Native Americans who served in the armed forces during WWI.
President Calvin Coolidge posed with Natives, possibly from the Plateau area in the Northwestern United States, near the south lawn of the White House. Washington D.C, 1925, from the Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/
1926
US Highway System
First official map of the fully integrated US Highway System published. The construction of highways changed travel in the West forever. Gas stations, hotels, roadside restaurants and diners popped up across America, and tourism to the West increased.
Geological Survey (U.S.). United States system of highways: adopted for uniform marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials, November 11, 1926, from the University of North Texas Libraries
1929
Black Tuesday
October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, the stock market crashed, officially ushering in the Great Depression. However, the western United States was suffering due to agricultural overproduction and declines in mining long before this date.
Crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929, from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/
1933–1939
Federal Art Projects
From 1933 to 1939, President Roosevelt’s New Deal administration funded the Public Works of Art Project and the Federal Art Project, among others, to employ artists and bring relief and recovery during the Great Depression era. Artists like Jackson Pollock, Frank Mechau, Ernest Blumenschein, and Emil Bisttram (among many others) were awarded commissions to paint murals in post offices, libraries, and schools. These public commissions also introduced fine, contemporary art to a broad range of Americans who might not have had an opportunity to see it otherwise.
Frank Mechau, Wild Horse Race, 1935
1935
Georgia O’Keeffe painted Red Hills, Grey Sky
Georgia O’Keeffe painted Red Hills, Grey Sky in 1935, depicting one of the landscapes that she frequently hiked and enjoyed. After first arriving in New Mexico in 1929, O’Keeffe decided to return annually, eventually moving there permanently in 1949. She said, “when I got to New Mexico that was mine. As soon as I saw it that was my country. I’d never seen anything like it before, but it fitted to me exactly.”
Georgia O’Keeffe, Red Hills, Grey Sky, 1935
1941–1945
World War II
On December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy,” Japan bombed the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, propelling the United States into World War II. The war spurred economic growth at home, due to increased demand for manufacturing and more women entering the workforce, effectively ending the lingering Depression.
Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch, Bureau of Special Services, “Invent for Victory poster,” from the National Archives https://catalog.archives.gov/
1944
G.I. Bill signed
On June 22, 1944, President Roosevelt signed the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, also known as the G.I. Bill, into law. This law provided benefits for World War II veterans, such as paying the tuition and living expenses of veterans going into school. Some of these veterans studied art at institutions like Emil Bisttram’s School of Fine Arts, founded by the experimental and abstract artist in the 1940s.
FDR signs the G.I. Bill in the Oval Office on June 22, 1944. Behind him stand Bennett “Champ” Clark, J. Hardin Peterson, John Rankin, Paul Cunningham, Edith Nourse Rogers, J. M. Sullivan, Walter George, John Stelle, Robert Wagner, (unknown), and Alben Barkley, from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
1952
Emil Bisttram created The Mirror
In 1952, Emil James Bisttram created a number of pastel works on paper, one of them being The Mirror. This prolific artist first traveled West in the 1930s on the way to study under muralist Diego Rivera in Mexico, and once he returned to the US, Bisttram remained in the West. Bisttram was an artist who experimented with many art styles, drawing inspiration from European and American modernism, abstraction, Native American artwork, philosophy, spirituality, and science. He often drew on multiple inspirations at once to create works that reflected his perception of the American Southwest.
Emil James Bisttram, The Mirror, 1952
1964-1975
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was the longest war in American history and the only conflict that ended in defeat for American military. It resulted in nearly 60,000 American deaths and an estimated 2 million Vietnamese deaths. It was the first war to come into American living rooms nightly via television. The war caused turmoil on the home front, as anti-war protests became a feature of American life, influencing music, literature, and visual arts.
President Lyndon B. Johnson in Vietnam with General William Westmoreland decorating a soldier, October 26, 1966. National Archives ID 192511
1969
Thomas Hart Benton painted Wheat Threshing on the High Plains
Although Benton painted this during the Vietnam War, he approached his subject matter in a regionalist style. During the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, artists like Benton rejected modernism in favor of inspiring honesty and integrity through representational and recognizable art. Perhaps this peaceful scene of hard-working Americans was Benton’s relief from the tragedies of the Vietnam War.
Thomas Hart Benton, Wheat Threshing on the High Plains, 1969
1976
Helen Frankenthaler visits the West
In 1976, New York artist Helen Frankenthaler was invited to speak at the Phoenix Art Museum. This was the abstract expressionist artist’s first trip to the West, and it had a profound impact on her work. Frankenthaler took inspiration for the orangey-pink color that dominates this painting from red and pink rocks she collected in Arizona.
Helen Frankenthaler, Phoenix, 1976, 1976
1979
Fritz Scholder painted An American Portrait
In 1957, artist Fritz Scholder studied with pop artist Wayne Thiebaud. Pop art’s influences are present in Scholder’s use of bold subject matter and vibrant colors. In this compelling 1979 portrait, the Native American artist tackled traditional portrait themes such as identity and representation in a modern and personal way, while addressing current events like the treatment of Vietnam veterans, especially Indigenous vets.
Fritz Scholder, An American Portrait, 1979
1981
Harold Joe Waldrum painted Church at Arroyo Hondo
Harold Joe Waldrum’s Church at Arroyo Hondo is representative of the artist’s many paintings of adobe churches in New Mexico. Like many artists before him, Waldrum moved to New Mexico because the land’s light, culture, and architecture served as inspiration. He even worked in the same studio that Taos Society Artist Joseph Henry Sharp used decades earlier.
Harold Joe Waldrum, Church at Arroyo Hondo, 1981
1989
The Internet is Born
The World Wide Web is created at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), fundamentally changing how the world communicates, works, enjoys entertainment, and how people connect to one another.
The NeXT machine used by Tim Berners-Lee to develop and run the first WWW server, multimedia browser and web editor. Courtesy of CERN
1997
Kim Wiggins painted Merging of Cultures
When Kim Wiggins painted Merging of Cultures in 1997, he had developed his signature style. As an artist born and raised in New Mexico, and using his own colorful style, Wiggins adds to the conversation about living in the West. “My work is heavily influenced by the American scene painters but it’s also influenced by Hispanic folk art and modernism. This particular piece centers on the different cultures that made Santa Fe the center of the American West, and also the art mecca that it is today.”
Kim Wiggins, Merging of Cultures, 1997
2009
First African American President
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009, becoming the first African American President.
Official White House Photo of President Barack Obama by Pete Souza, December 6, 2012. Courtesy of the Barack Obama Presidential Library
2010
AMWA founded
In 2010, the American Museum of Western Art—The Anschutz Collection was founded to promote the public’s understanding and appreciation of art depicting the American West from the early 1800s through the present day. The art presented is intended to give the public a better understanding and appreciation of the character, history, and beauty of the American West and the peoples, individuals, and ideas that transformed it over time.
The Navarre Building—permanent home of the American Museum of Western Art—The Anschutz Collection
2020
COVID-19 Pandemic
The outbreak of the infectious respiratory disease known as COVID-19 triggered one of the deadliest pandemics in modern history. The pandemic forced businesses, schools, and travel to shut down and impacted world economies for years. As of February 2025, more than 7,000,000 people have died from COVID-19. Introduction of vaccines at the end of 2020 began to slow the spread and deadliness of the disease. The World Health Organization declared that COVID‐19 was no longer a global health emergency on May 5, 2023.
People waiting at outdoor COVID-19 testing site