The most common prescription for prominent men with neurasthenia
was that they move away from cities and live vigorous, outdoor
lives. Many were specifically told to go to the American West,
which was considered wild and undeveloped. They went to the
Western plains and mountains - the Dakotas, Colorado, Montana,
Wyoming, Utah - often living on cattle ranches and near American
Indian tribes. A prime example is Theodore Roosevelt, later
president of the United States, who was sent west to recover. He
was convinced that simple life in the western wilderness had
restored his health. He became a committed conservationist and
was key in the development of national parks and nature
preserves in the United States. He thought that Americans should
be able to enjoy the revitalizing wilderness. Frederick
Remington, Charles Russell, and Thomas Moran were all sent west
to recover from neurasthenia. They became the leading artists
depicting the American West of cowboys, cattle, Indians, desert
sunsets, and mountain grandeu