The Drawings of Wyoming's Doughboy Artist: Sgt. George Ostrom, 148th Field Artillery

Bucking Bronco Insignia, designed by George Ostrom

On 18 June 1916, the Wyoming National Guard was activated for service on the Mexican Border. George Ostrom, then 28 years old, was a staff sergeant and the bugler for Company D, from Sheridan, WY. George Ostrom left his beloved colt, Redwing—“a very beautiful sorrel, two white stockings and silver mane and tail and a blazed face,” he remembered years later—in a pasture at the family homestead 20 miles east of Sheridan. He trained at Camp Kendrick in Cheyenne from June to September 1916 and then served at Camp Deming in Deming, NM, from 30 Sept. 1916, through 1 March 1917, before the guard unit was sent home.

Peeling Spuds on the Mexican Border

Road Mine Exploded by an Ambulance near Nantilos, France

Three weeks later, he was back in federal service for World War I, and his guard unit was absorbed into the 148th Field Artillery regiment. In France between July and November 1918, the regiment took part in every major campaign of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF).

Field Dressing station above Chateau-Thierry  (Detail)

Planning the Next Offensive  (Detail)

Staff Sgt. Ostrom was also an artist. During his wartime service with Battery E, Ostrom created the first rendition of the now-familiar silhouette of a bucking bronc. He had managed to smuggle Redwing with him to France and based the image on his colt. Ostrom’s iconic emblem, used on 148th Field Artillery guns and vehicles during the Great War, as World War I was called at the time, eventually became our state’s symbol.

Soldiers of the 168th Infantry Advance past a Town in France

Camouflaged 155mm

Throughout his military service on the Mexican border and in France, Ostrom prepared nearly 20 drawings showing both combat and camp life in precise detail. George generally made these sketches in pencil and then finished them in ink after the war. Today, his sketches are considered to be a national treasure of soldier art. He is one of Wyoming’s leading artists.

Sgt. Adams and Sgt. Ostrom Cracking a Boch [sic] Plane (Detail)

A Crazy Clock, a Bad Road, a Shell, and Two Men with Rifles

Following his discharge, George returned home to Sheridan. He painted highway billboards and signs for the city of Sheridan as well as creating a considerable amount of Wyoming and wildlife artwork. George remained active in veterans’ organizations and bands. He died in Sheridan in 1982 at the age of 97. His relatives still live in Sheridan.

The Marne Defensive, July 14, 1918

The Opening of the Argonne. Battery E 148th F.A. Firing over Dead Man’s Hill

Sources: WYOHistory.org; Wyoming State Library; Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum, Casper, WY