The Trail of the Shod Horse,

1907

From 1900 until his death nine years later, Remington, already renowned for his painted and sculptural evocations of the vanishing Wild West, produced more than seventy canvases that explore the technical and aesthetic challenges of painting darkness. These nocturnes depict mostly Native Americans and focus as much on quietude as on the more animated and dramatic daytime scenes that established his reputation—such as the sculpture Coming through the Rye, installed nearby. The Trail of the Shod Horse depicts the moment when a group of mounted horses intersects the path of a lone traveler; the recent hoofprints in the snow indicate a shod horse, whose rider would not be Native American. A comparison of Remington’s vibrant bronze sculpture of white men with his evanescent images of Native Americans at night speaks to contemporary attitudes toward race, the settlement of the West, and the plight of Indigenous peoples.