George Catlin : “Buffalo Hunt, Chase” (1844)

During the 1830’s George Catlin traveled the frontier, documenting the Native American way of life. After accompanying General William Clark on a diplomatic mission up the Mississippi River, he based himself in St. Louis from 1830-1836, then moved on to the Fort Union Trading Post (on the North Dakota/Montana border) two years later. Over the course of his various expeditions, he visited more than sixty indigenous tribes, composing portraits of his hosts and documenting their hunting, recreation and other culturally significant activities. Some of the tribes he visited had been relatively untouched by European civilization. In fact, Catlin is credited as the first white man ever to depict the Plains Indians in their native territory.

Upon his return to the east, he had amassed more than 500 paintings of Native American subjects — his so-called “Indian Gallery” — which he exhibited in major cities like New York, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Of these, twenty-five were published in his 1844 collection of lithograph plates, titled Catlin’s North American Indian Portfolio.