George Catlin on Indigenous Land

BY KATHLEEN L. HOWARD, PH.D.

Like many Western artists who followed him, George Catlin traveled the West to make a record of the region’s American Indian tribes. Convinced of certain extinction of the American Indian, his goal was to preserve for future generations a pictorial history of a people he believed to be a vanishing race.

George Catlin was born in the Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on July 26, 1796. As he matured, he was surrounded by explorers, trappers and hunters as they embarked on and returned from their exploits and adventures in the West. Putnam and Polly Catlin, George’s parents, were most hospitable and curious to hear the reports of travelers who visited the Catlin home. When George was 21 years old, he studied law in Litchfield, Connecticut. Two years later he returned to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and established a law practice. Evidently, he found the practice of law to be too confining, and soon he resolved to pursue painting as his career.

In 1823, Catlin went to Philadelphia and began painting miniature portraits. Although he lacked formal training as an artist, he enjoyed and benefited from associations with such distinguished artists as Charles Willson Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Thomas Sully and John Neagle. On Feb. 18, 1824, he was admitted to the Philadelphia Academy of Art. He supported himself by painting portraits of wealthy and prominent local citizens. It was in Philadelphia where Catlin met a delegation of 10 or 15 Native people arrayed in their ceremonial robes, their brows decorated with the quills of war eagles. This left a lasting impression on Catlin and gave him a direction to follow for the rest of his life. He determined to visit every Indian tribe on the continent of North America to create portraits of their notables along with descriptive narratives. He also intended to collect examples of their costumes, weapons and artifacts “for the use and instruction of future ages.”

George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Buffalo Bull Grazing, 1844. Lithograph. Gift of Laura and Arch Brown.

George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), The Bear Dance, 1844. Lithograph. Gift of Laura and Arch Brown.

Catlin was elected to the National Academy of Fine Arts on May 3, 1826, and had a steady stream of portrait requests from prominent people. His goal, however, was to paint portraits of American Indians.

Catlin married Clara Bartlett Gregory, of the wealthy and eminent Dudley S. Gregory family of Jersey City, New Jersey, on May 10, 1828. The couple had three daughters and a son.

In early spring of 1830, Catlin was finally able to take the first step of his life’s work. He traveled to St. Louis, the center of all westward movement at that time, and met with General William Clark, governor of Missouri Territory, Territorial Indian Agent for Upper Louisiana, and Superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1813 to 1838. This was a fortuitous meeting for Catlin, for, with General Clark’s approval, he was able to begin his work. Many Indian leaders came to St. Louis to express grievances concerning treaty violations and made long speeches which had to be translated. This allowed Catlin to observe and paint them as they spoke, attired in their regalia. Catlin met many prosperous people in St. Louis. Painting their portraits assisted his financial situation, since he received no fee for his Indian portraits. In the fall of 1830, he made two trips into Kansas, and there he painted the famous Shawnee leader Tecumseh. Accompanied by General Clark, he visited the villages of the Konza and painted notable persons of that tribe.

Catlin left St. Louis in 1832 for the upper Missouri River, where he painted Blackfeet, Crows, Mandans and Hidatsas. He painted Chief Black Hawk during his imprisonment at Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis. Between 1834 and 1836 he painted Sioux, Comanches, Kiowas, Wichitas, Ojibwes, Sac and Foxes, Winnebagos and Menominees. His high regard and esteem for his Indian acquaintances and models is reflected throughout his descriptions of them.

Each new painting was an addition to what Catlin called his “Indian Gallery,” eventually consisting of more than 500 paintings he completed during the 1830s. In 1837, Catlin exhibited his Indian Gallery at Clinton

Hall, New York, and the following year he put on an exhibition at the Old Theatre in Washington, D.C. He traveled with his Gallery to London in 1839. Catlin published two volumes, Letters and Notes …, in London in 1841. While in London, he also published an elegant set of 25 chromolithographs titled North American Indian Portfolio. At the request of King Louis-Philippe of France, Catlin exhibited his Indian Gallery at the Louvre in Paris in 1845.

Catlin returned to London in 1848, and from there he made two trips to South America, visited Panama, and later went to the Northwest Coast of what was to become the United States. During the 1852-53 session of Congress, a bill for the proposed purchase of the George Catlin Indian Gallery reached the floor of the Senate. Among others who praised Catlin and his works on the Indians was Sen. Jefferson Davis of Kentucky. However, since Davis was a Southern Democrat and his party was anti-Indian, he voted against the bill. The bill was defeated by one vote, so the government of the United States did not purchase Catlin’s collection.

Throughout his life, Catlin was plagued by lack of funds. Among his many creditors was Joseph Harrison, a successful American who headed the Harrison Boiler Works in Philadelphia, at that time the largest locomotive-building operation in the world. Harrison paid off Catlin’s debts against the Indian Gallery and shipped the works of art off to Philadelphia in 1853. The Indian Gallery was stored in the Boiler Works until after Catlin’s death.

Above, Left: George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Untitled, 1844. Lithograph. Gift of Laura and Arch Brown.

Above, Right: George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Wi-Jon-Jou. The Pigeon’s Egg Head [going to and returning from Washington], 1844. Lithograph. Gift of Laura and Arch Brown.

George Catlin (American, 1796-1872), Untitled, 1844. Lithograph. Gift of Laura and Arch Brown.

During the 1860s, Catlin published Life Amongst the Indians, O-Kee-Pa and Last Rambles Among the Indians. The year 1868 found Catlin again in Europe, painting pieces for his second collection, called his Cartoon Collection, in Brussels.

He was invited to hang his exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. In 1871, he prepared a 99page catalogue, and his paintings were at last hung in the national museum.

George Catlin spent his last days in rooms in the front tower of the Smithsonian building. He continued to paint and talk with visitors in the exhibition room. His health was failing. In October 1872, he packed up his paintings, planning to ship them to his daughters in New Jersey. He then traveled to Jersey City to be near his family. George Catlin died on December 23, 1872, and was buried in Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery. The original Catlin Indian Gallery was given to the Smithsonian Institution by Joseph Harrison’s heirs. As a result of many years of improper storage, most of the delicate Indian costumes and other fragile materials were ruined by moths, mice, fire and water. Many paintings were damaged. On May 19, 1879, the collection was turned over to Thomas Donaldson on behalf of the Smithsonian, where the restored paintings and surviving artifacts can be seen today.

George Catlin was a man who followed his dream. During his lifetime he received little support, appreciation and funding for his projects. The legacy he left us, however, is a priceless documentation of Native America.

An exhibition featuring the works of George Catlin will be premiered at the Heard Museum in the spring of 2021.