Content note: Allegorical 1873 print of westward settlement in which Native figures and bison are shown fleeing into a darkened sky. This object is shown as it was published. Why
"American Progress" (John Gast, chromolithograph for George A. Crofutt, 1873)
A woman in white drapery with a star on her brow floats westward over the plains, a schoolbook in one hand and a telegraph wire unspooling from the other. Behind her come railways, wagons and settlers with ploughs; ahead, bison, bears and Native riders move into a dark sky. The message rests on a virtue word ('Progress', the title Crofutt gave the print) and the prestige of a classical allegorical figure rather than on any stated claim.
- Date
- 1873
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- George A. Crofutt (publisher, Crofutt's Western World), after a painting by John Gast
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Grant Administration
- Leader
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Techniques
- Glittering generalitiesTransfer
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published in the U.S. in 1873; LOC: no known restrictions on publication)
After John Gast, "American Progress" (1872); chromolithograph copyright by George A. Crofutt, 1873. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, PGA - Crofutt--American progress (B size) [P&P], LC-DIG-ppmsca-09855
Text on the object
No printed or legible text on this object.
No lettering is printed on the picture side shown here; the only marks in the margins are the printer's colour bars and registration marks, and a Library of Congress microfilming stamp at the foot. The verso carries a printed advertisement for Crofutt's Western World that is not part of the hosted image and is not transcribed here (see LOC record LC-DIG-cph-3a20596).
