Archives West Finding Aid

Edgar Samuel Paxson was born to a Quaker family in East Hamburg, New York, in 1852. His father, William Hamilton Paxson, had a carriage-building business. After attending the Friends' Institute school, Edgar entered his father's business, painting carriages and signs. In 1874 he married Laura Johnson, and the following year he set out for the West. Paxson worked for a stagecoach company, as a guide, and at other frontier jobs. In 1878 he brought his family to Deer Lodge, Montana, where he painted signs and scenery for theatrical backdrops. In 1881 they moved to Butte, where Paxson continued painting scenery but also established a studio and produced easel paintings of historical subjects and portraits of Indians. He is best known for the painting he titled "Custer's Last Fight."

In May 1898, Paxson's work was interrupted when he was mustered into the Army and sent to the Philippines for active service during the Spanish-American War. He returned home after a year.

Paxson exhibited paintings at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, and the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland in 1905, as well as other venues outside Montana. He moved to Missoula, Montana, in 1906. In 1911 he was commissioned to paint six scenes of Montana history for the Senate chambers at the Montana Capitol in Helena. The following year, he was commissioned to execute eight paintings for the Missoula County Courthouse. Edgar Paxson died November 9, 1919.