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Cattle Trails
The
cattle trails project is designed to photographically document four
historic cattle trails, from their origins in Texas, to their
destinations in northern States. Each of the four trails: the Shawnee
Trail, the Chisholm Trail, the Western Trail, and the Goodnight-Loving
Trail pass through present-day rural and metropolitan areas—many of
these having risen to prominence as a result of their history and
association with cattle trailing.
The
heyday of cattle trailing lasted less than thirty years. The brief time
however, did not prevent the resulting stories of the drives from
contributing significantly to the shaping of the myth of the American
West in popular culture. Emerging simultaneously from this period is
the myth and romance surrounding the iconic image of the American
cowboy. It is these cultural stories of the West that continue to
capture the imagination of many Americans and has drawn me to document
the four historic cattle trails.
The
cattle trails project will present a visual document of how the trails
have fared over the last 125 years of cultural and natural change. The
resulting body of photographs will provide a contemporary visual
interpretation of the historic routes as they look today.
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