Experts in the field of Western art have called Cecil Smith "the Dean of Cowboys who are Artists" with good reason. He has ridden more miles on horseback, punched more cows, and worked as range riding cowboy more than any other artist of record.

Smith is the only living artist who has earned his livelihood as a professional buckaroo or cowboy during those years when cowboy life consisted of living in open wilderness where livestock roamed free and unhindered by allotments and range rights.

Fences were few and far between and livestock owners shared the range in common and the grass belonged to every cattleman who owned a cow or horse. Those were the wonderful years when Cecil Smith gained the firsthand experience which qualifi...