Snapshots of the Past

The Whiskey peddler on the Plains [Horse-drawn covered wagon] – Historic Print

The Whiskey peddler on the Plains [Horse-drawn covered wagon], 1870 — antique engraving
The Whiskey peddler on the Plains [Horse-drawn covered wagon], 1870. Antique engraving from the Historic Print Archive collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This antique engraving of The Whiskey peddler on the Plains [Horse-drawn covered wagon] brings a moment of history to your wall. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.

The Whiskey peddler on the Plains [Horse-drawn covered wagon]

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A horse-drawn covered wagon carries liquor across the open prairie in this wood engraving, which ran in *Harper's Weekly* on March 26, 1870. The magazine's cartoon treatment of the peddler and the Native people he deals with reflects how the eastern press often framed the frontier liquor trade. Federal law already barred selling alcohol to Native Americans in Indian Country, and army officers and reformers frequently blamed traders like this one for drunkenness and unrest on the Plains. The picture is worth reading for its caricature as much as its scene, since it shows what readers back east were being encouraged to think about life on the frontier.

Created / published1870
Medium1 print : wood engraving.
SubjectsIllus. in: Harper's Weekly, v. 14, (1870 March 26), p. 201. Ref. copy in SSF (GR) - Indians--cartoons. Title and other information transcribed from caption card. Caption card tracings: West; Indians; Carriages; Whiskey.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,092 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-150930

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