Old Wild West Pictures

To see our full collection of
Old Wild West Pictures,

In the days when there was “no Law west of St. Louis, no God west of Fort Smith,” cowboys, mountain men, miners and Native Americans roamed untamed lands in search of fame, fortune, or more often, just survival. This was the frontier of the late nineteenth century in the United States, popularly known as the old “Wild West.” It can be difficult to separate fact from fiction when learning about this legendary time period, in part because the lack of infrastructure and huge distances between towns meant that so much of its history had to be passed down by word of mouth. The development of photographic technology in the late 19th century, however, created an unprecedented opportunity to capture images of life in the Old West as it actually happened.

From Deadwood, South Dakota to Austin, Texas, Digital Picture Printing & Frames offers a fascinating collection of old Wild West photos, which can be ordered in custom sizes, and placed in the matting and framing combinations of your choice.

One of the most famous photographers of the Wild West was John Grabill, who sent one hundred and eighty-eight photos to the Library of Congress between the years 1887 and 1892. Grabill’s photography skills were complimented by his unique and rare ability to discern the greater significance behind the scenes of everyday life. Working within the complexity of a particular historical moment—South Dakota in the midst of Indian resettlement, the boom of mining towns, and the development of industry and the railroad—Grabill managed to capture a relatively small number of photographs that precisely captured the spirit of a certain time and place.  Read more.

We recently acquired a collection of images from the Texas State Library & Archives commission, which detail life in and around Austin, TX in the last few decades of the 19th century.  These old wild west pictures document the struggle of a small community to gain recognition as the capital of a newly-independent Republic.  Included in this series is the construction of the red granite capitol building at the end of Congress avenue, which took over six years to complete and was, at the time, the seventh largest building in the world (larger, even, than the United States capitol!)  Other photographs portray the lives of ordinary citizens, as they traveled by train or coach, drilled for oil, or played baseball.  Read more.


Aaron J Lozier, 2004