James Swinnerton

James Swinnerton was a cartoonist and painter of southwestern desert landscapes. He was known professionally as both Jimmy and Swinny. He studied at the San Francisco School of Design under Emil Carlsen. By 1892 he was a staff cartoonist for the San Francisco Examiner. There he produced the children's series The Little Bears, sometimes dubbed the first comic strip. In 1896 Swinnerton moved to New York to created comics for the Journal-American. In 1906 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he perminently moved out west for his health.