A Frederic Remington painting depicting the Indian wars-era US cavalry, entitled Cutting Out Pony Herds, has sold at the top of the 2013 Coeur d'Alene Art Auction in Idaho on July 27.

Remington specialised in western art, focusing his attentions on Native Americans and the US cavalry

The auction showcases the finest in western and American art, with Frederic Remington's effort hammering at $5m.

The painting shows a familiar tactic used by the US cavalry during the American Indian wars (1622-1924), in which a solitary trooper would ride ahead, firing his pistol in the air in order to stampede the Native American horses, leaving their warriors vulnerable and on foot.

The tactic is also the inspiration for Remington's bronze sculpture, The Trooper of the Plains.

Frederic Remington (1861-1909) was one of the foremost painters of the old American west, concentrating specifically on Native Americans' plight against the US cavalry.

When he died in 1909, there were 16 of his paintings left behind with Collier's magazine, who continued to use them for its covers until 1913. Cutting Out Pony Herds was published on the cover of the February 1, 1913 issue.

Rockwell's role as the illustrator for the Boy Scouts of America began in 1912, when the artist was just 18 years old

The second highest bids of the auction were seen by Norman Rockwell's A Scout is Loyal, which sold for $3.8m without buyer's premium.

The piece was created in 1942 as part of Rockwell's long-standing association with the Boy Scouts of America. Showing a patriotic scout shadowed by the ghosts of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, it was created when Americans' loyalty was tested during the second world war.

One of Rockwell's famed illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post will be sold as part of Heritage Auctions' July 31 Illustration Art Signature Auction.

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