Fred Harman was one of the five founders of the Cowboy Artists of America in 1965. Along with Joe Beeler, George Phippen, Johnny Hampton, and Charlie Dye, Harman helped shape the organization that would set the standard for contemporary at of the American West for decades to come. A rough draft of the organization's guiding principles was developed by the founders in a bar in Sedona, Arizona. From those rather humble beginnings, the group has added many members over the years and has become one of the most influential forces in contemporary western art. In many ways, the success of the Cowboy Artists of America has led to the great popularity that American Western Art has enjoyed for the four decades since the group's inception. Prior to the group's founding, Harman was a well known and widely read newspaper cartoonist. His syndicated strip Red Ryder and Little Beaver appeared in 750 newspapers with a readership of forty million people. As evidenced by that strip, Harman had a sly sense of humor.