Texas Saddle - 1890
Pen & Ink on Antique Map
Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State, symbolizing its independent spirit, as well as its former status as an independent republic. Texas is the second-largest state in the Union by both area and population. In 1845, Texas joined the United States of America as the 28th state. Texas is known for its cowboy culture and boasts a rich cowboy heritage with cultural icons like the Texas Rangers. In 1930, “Friendship” was adopted as the Texas state motto. The motto was most likely chosen because the name, o Texas or Tejas, was the Spanish pronunciation of the local Indian tribe's word meaning friends.
The western saddle and the cowboy, who sits in it. are an iconic part of American history. The western saddle doesn’t have a single inventor. It developed over time through the influence of various cultures. The saddle of today was said to have developed in Texas in the 1840s and 1850s. It was based on the saddles used by Spanish vaqueros in Mexico. The Western saddle's distinctive features include a high cantle, large swell and a horn for attaching a rope. A cowboy’s saddle was indispensable; it was so crucial to his way of life and livelihood that the phrase, “he’s sold his saddle,” came to mean that a man was finished as a cowboy. 
I combine antique atlas maps with the art of pen & ink drawing, using my version of stippling with my own creative perspectives. The background for this drawing of a western saddle is on a Texas map, which was published in 1890 in a Rand McNally General Atlas.