Letter: Frederic Remington's travels among cowboys

Sir: In his article 'How the West wasn't won' (2 July), Bill Bryson states that Frederic Remington, the Western artist and writer, 'never saw any real cowboys in action' and never 'actually travelled in the West'.

Frederic Remington first went West in 1880 at the age of 19, travelling overland and on cattle trails from Canada to the Mexican border. He contributed articles and sketches relating to his experiences to Century Magazine from 1888 onwards, moving into Western fiction in the 1890s.

Remington never claimed to have ridden into the midst of Indian battles - but he did write about his conversations with those who had.

Not bad for a man who, according to Mr Bryson, was 'much too fat to have got on a horse'.

Yours faithfully,

ANDREW MILNE

Edinburgh

3 July