A joint project of the Sam Rayburn House Historic Site and the Fannin County Historical Commission Celebrating America 250 with spotlights of Fannin County citizens who participated in or witnessed historical events

Erwin Smith was “one of the greatest photographers of cowboy life who ever lived.” (Quote from Imagining the Open Range: Erwin Smith, Cowboy Photographer.)

Born in Honey Grove in 1886, he always wanted to be an artist and cowboy. Spending summers on his uncle’s ranch near Quanah, TX, he began taking photographs of the cowboy life when he was 12 or 13. He later attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

The era of great trail drives was ending, and he was determined to document the open-range lifestyle before it disappeared completely. He visited and worked on ranches in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, documenting the cowboy way of life at the time when the open range was disappearing.

After his death in 1947, the extensive collection of his negatives eventually found a home at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. Most of these images can be viewed on the Museum’s website at https://www.cartermuseum.org/artists/erwin-e-smith

The best place to see the photos of Erwin Smith is in Bonham, where many images are on display in many places, including the Fannin County Museum of History, Bonham City Hall, the Bonham Public Library, Fannin Bank and many other local businesses.

When he died in 1947, his obituary in the Bonham Daily Favorite said “Erwin Smith Goes to Last Roundup.” He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove and his grave has a Texas Historical Marker.