But from his experience as an apprentice cowhand during these years,[2]: 6  he knew of a few isolated West Texas locales where vast ranches yet survived, barbed wire and the railroads were still scarce, and cowboys still worked the open range.

"[6] "He wanted to illustrate the entire cowboy culture," an article in 2008 asserted, "to clarify all the varied responsibilities and define the characteristic techniques of managing cattle, as well as to showcase the unique talents of the legendary men and horses.

Over the course of his relatively brief career making photographs, Smith's principal camera was an Eastman screen-focus Kodak fitted with a Goerz lens with a volute shutter.

[8] As both a cowhand and photographer, he rode with some of the largest outfits in the West, ranches like the Shoe Box, JA, Frying Pan, Matador, and LS, which with their vast sizes still approximated what the open range had been like.

[8] In 1914 he returned to Texas to begin ranching on his own, but by 1917 he was bankrupt; his artistic life faded once his range-riding days were over, and he spent his remaining years at his home outside Bonham.

[2] Upon her death, Pettis bequeathed Smith's entire body of work, including the inventory on loan to the Library of Congress, to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas.