Born in Alton, New York, Cyrus Baldridge became a noted illustrator, set designer, and painter of Southwestern desert and mountain landscapes.

During his childhood, his family moved frequently, but he received art training from age ten, first studying with famous newspaper illustrator Frank Holme. He earned a degree in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1911, and then took a number of jobs including cow puncher. During World War I, he was a field artist. Following that, he sketched in China, doing commissions for "Scribner's Magazine."

In the 1920s, he and his wife traveled widely including to the Far East, Afghanistan, Persia, and Africa, and these cultures became the subjects of many of his illustrations. ...