PicturingaDifferentWestaddressesWillaCatherandMaryAustinascentralfiguresinawomen’straditionofthepicturedWest.BothCatherandAustinmovedwestintheiryouthandspentmuchoftheirlivesthere.CatherlivedontheGreatPlains,whileAustinresidedinCaliforniaandtheSouthwest.Cather’stravelsrepeatedlytookhertotheSouthwest,andshewrotethreenovelswithSouthwesternsettings.StartingwiththemasculinetraditionofWesternartthatwasprevalentwhenAustinandCatherlaunchedtheircareers,JanisP.Stoutshowshowtheauthorschallengedandrevisedthattradition.RatherthanaWestofadventure,violence,andconquest,openonlytoruggedanddaringmen,theauthorsenvisionedanewWest--notconventionallyfemininesomuchasanandrogynousspaceoffreedomforwomenandmenalike.TheirvisionofanalternativeWestandtheiralternativewaysofthinkingaboutandportrayinggenderareinseparable.PlacingCatherandAustinalongsidecontemporariesElsieClewsParsons,MabelDodgeLuhan,GeorgiaO’Keeffe,andLauraGilpin,StoutemphasizesthevisualnatureofAustin’sandCather’spersonalexperiencesoftheWestandSouthwest,theirawarenessoftheprevailingvisualrepresentationsoftheWest,andthevisualnatureoftheirbooksabouttheWest,withrespecttobothprosestyleandillustrations.Inclosing,StoutdemonstratesthecontinuanceoftheirtraditioninillustratedwesternbooksbyLeslieMarmonSilkoandbyMargaretRandallandBarbaraByers.
