Description
The map was first published in 1936 by the Montana Chamber of Commerce as A map of Montana whereon is depicted and inscribed the pioneer history of the Land of Shining Mountains, with text verso by Robert H. (Bob) Fletcher. The map offered here is the first edition of the wall map version published by the Montana State Highway Department under the title Montana — Frontier, Pioneer. It is the largest known edition and apparently rare. There were multiple later reprintings by a few different publishers at different sizes, until at least the 1970s, including a smaller folding pocket map.
Irvin “Shorty” Shope was a painter and illustrator, known for his depictions of the American West. Shope was born in Montana and worked as a cowboy before becoming an artist. He attended Reed College in Oregon and graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in fine art. Shope studied art in the East for a while, but spent most of his life in Montana, where he was mentored by other well-known artists of Western genre paintings, especially Harvey Dunn. In addition to painting figures of the historic West, Shope supported himself illustrating books, calendars and pictorial maps. He was a charter member of the Cowboy Artists of America from its inception in 1966 until his death in 1977. Today his works are in museum collections such as Favell Museum of Western Art and Indian Artifacts, Leanin’ Tree Museum of Western Art, the National Center for American Western Art and Sangre de Cristo Arts Center. In 1965, Shope was interviewed for the Smithsonian Archives in American Art; a 38-page transcript of the interview is part of the Smithsonian’s New Deal and the Arts project.
References:
“Historical Map Collection.” Washington State University Libraries. 12 October 2012. http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/map.htm (20 August 2013).
“Irvin ‘Shorty’ Shope.” Cowboy Artists of America. 2013. http://cowboyartistsofamerica.com/members/deceased/irvin_shorty_shope.html (20 August 2013).
“Montana: Frontier, Pioneer: A one page history dedicated to the Old Timers.” Montana Memory Project. http://cdm16013.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15018coll5/id/669 (20 August 2013).
“Oral history interview with Irvin Shope, 1965 Nov. 27.” Archives of American Art. 2013. http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-irvin-shope-13293 (20 August 2013).
