Nick Eggenhoffer (1897 - 1985)
Born in southern Bavaria, Germany he fell in love with the American
West after attending Buffalo Bill�s Wild
West Show. His family migrated to New
Jersey in 1913, but young Eggenhofer�s
fascination with the region continued to
grow. He rode the range of his
imagination, and became a prolific
illustrator of Western pulp magazines --
the demand for illustrations, primarily
pen and ink drawings, was enormous.
Eggenhofer sometimes submitted several hundred drawings in a single
week. Over the course of forty years, he
completed more than 20,000 drawings for
pulp magazines and also illustrated
hundreds of books. Despite the
great demands on his time, Eggenhofer
was a true student of Western history. A
careful researcher, he prided himself on
the historical accuracy of his
depictions of the West and the tools
used there. |
He became particularly adept at
representing wagons, stage coaches, and
other modes of early Western
transportation.
After he had spent many years working as an illustrator in New York
City, Eggenhofer finally achieved enough
success to begin traveling extensively
in the West. He and his wife eventually
settled in Cody, Wyoming, only a short
distance from the Buffalo Bill
Historical Center; bringing his
childhood fascination with the American
West full circle. |