Illustrating has helped pay the bills for many a struggling artist, both past and present. Case in point is Frederic Remington. Though an author himself, he started out illustrating articles and books for some very famous authors. Included in that list is General Charles King (1844-1933). King was a military man with a career spanning over seventy years and holds the distinction of being the only American soldier to serve in five American wars: The Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection and World War 1. These served as backdrops for his novels.
King was appointed to West Point Military Academy by President Abraham Lincoln and served as an instructor there during the time of the first black cadets. While serving in the 5th Cavalry un der General George Crook in 1871, he became friends with William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
King wrote over 60 books and more that 250 articles but he is probably best know for his book based on his experiences as a lieutenant in the Sioux Campaign of 1876, Campaigning with Crook, released in 1890 in book form. This is a compilation of newspaper articles from 1879 written for the Milwaukee Sentinel. Some have credited him with beginning the era of the Western novel more than twenty years before Owen Wister and Zane Gray. In 1883, his first “romantic novel”, The Colonel’s Daughter was published. His works have been described as military novels, romantic novels, frontier novels and of course, literary novels. I have given them the title “military romance novels”. Though all have the military backdrop the men would enjoy, King had a way with words. He had to be a true romantic at heart. Even some of his descriptions when facing the enemy in battle show his eloquence with words.
O.K., enough of the mushy stuff – on to the Remington-King collaborations. Frederic Remington was commissioned to illustrate An Apache Princess: A Tale of the Indian Frontier and A Daughter of the Sioux: A Tale of the Indian Frontier. Remington shared illustrating credit in the two books with Edwin Willard Deming, well known for his renditions of American Indian life. Remington’s illustrations also appear in King’s To The Front , which were articles reprinted from Harpers Magazine.
I am proud to have in my library several of King’s books. In original printing, they can be a bit pricey. My pride and joy is a very special copy of A Daughter of the Sioux in quarter leather with gilt slipcase and folding covers. As if that is not special enough, there is a handwritten letter tipped onto the first endpaper from Charles King addressed to what appears to be “The William Press Syndicate” discussing how he is too busy to do much writing but his fee is $1500 for 50,000 words.
King wrote many other books that I have named military romance novels and were released a different times in his career – most under General Charles King but also under Captain Charles King and Brigadier General Charles King.
For those who would like to learn more about General King, there is a great book called The Life and Works of General Charles King 1844-1933 Martial Spirit by John W. Bailey.
Till the next time – happy reading!
Kathy
About Frederic Remington 