Frank Henderson Ledger - Arapaho fame and honor

Salvete Omnes,

the glyph of a rider and horse in the top part of the page gives out the identity of the artist portraying himself astride his war horse

a quick trip to the Great Plains via some free available drawings by an Arapaho artist 'Frank Henderson'(1862-1885) [and his friends] in the collection of Metropolitan Museum.. American anthropologist Alfred Kroeber was the researcher who spent years observing the Arapaho tribe, and observed that the tribal warriors, warrior societies and their families sought martial exploits in war as the means to obtain fame and honor.

As the Nicelle Beauchenne Gallery biography states:  the true Arapaho identity of this artist is unknown, that he came from Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Agency, Darlington Indian Territory. It was most likely done during the period of post 1874-5 war in the Southern Plains, where US Army units defeated the tribal warriors and forced all the belligerents into the Indian Territory, where they were to create a new reality for themselves, no longer free hunters of bison and horse-cutting raiders, under the goverment agents and their might. 

The researchers concluded that the Henderson Ledger contained drawings by many artists, became a gift for his former teacher, Martha Ker Underwood. The ledger was exhibited in NY (Acevedo Gallery) in 1988, researched, unbound and pages sold off. The Hood Museum at Dartmouth College (Dartmouth, MA) and MET. 

The page 172 from the ledger graces the cover of this book. 
 

the researchers uncovered that at least one of the artists who created images within the Henderson Ledger can be found in Vincent Price Ledger.

Valete

Arapaho horses in 1870 - Fitz Hugh Ludlow

 Salvete Omnes,

travois in this print from Fitz' book

a quick lope into the Kansas and Colorado Great Plains of the post-1868 war ( battles of Washita and Summit Springs),  our witness to the life of the Plains people, the Arapahoes and their horses, was Fitz Hugh Ludlow .

 

Fitz of New York, was a writer and traveler who made a long trip across the Plains & the Rockies to California* and Oregon -his recollections of this journey - titled The Heart of the Continent - was published in New York in 1870, the year he died.

While his observation on the American Indian women and men, especially the Arapahoes in this chapter taking place near South Platter River, are far from flattering, his short description of the horses can be of interest.

This period, post 1868 on the Plains was the waning of the free roaming tribes and their pursuit of bison, as they have been ravaged by diseases and loss of good hunting and really the way of life.  Fitz pointed to one aspect of the Plains Indians' approach to horses, namely, that the horses and their riders seemed to communicate by touch and understanding. 

Photos by William S. Soule, circa 1870s

*Fitz will be back with his depiction of antelopes, bison and horses and horsetack in California

Valete

Greasy Grass -Little Big Horn 1876

Salve,
yesterday, June 25, 2011, there was the 135th anniversary of the battle of Little Big Horn that is the best recognized battle between the Native inhabitants of the Americas (Native Americans, American Indians - that  includes all Native peoples, even those from down south of the US-Mexican border :) ) - and the European colonizers of their Homeland. In this case, the war was fought by the members of various bands of the Lakota Sioux and their Cheyenne and Arapaho allies against the US Army, the instant battle was fought between the mounted Plains warriors and US  7th Cavalry regiment  led by the Civil War hero Armstrong Custer.
There are two heroes that come to my mind when recalling the battle - Crazy Horse  and Sitting Bull

here Sitting Bull, in his own drawing done circa 1881, more of his art here collections.si.edu Sitting+Bull+drawing

And in this drawing by Amos Bad Heart Bull these two principal leaders of the Oglala Lakotas and their allies during the war of 1876-77 drawn together

Warriors, who took part in the battle, drew their own recollections of this conflict, in form of ledger books drawings or single sheet drawings, collectively known as ledger art. One of the most famous was the Amos Bad Heart Bull ledger art, the original lost now, bu the photographs of the original drawings were published by Szwedzicki and then in 1967 by the University of Nebraska Press as Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux by Amos Bad Bull Heart  In 1999 Herman Viola published Little Big Horn Remembered, Untold Indian Story of Custer's Last Stand  that included numerous Indian warriors drawings showing the battle and Plains Indians combat lore  -   . Recently, in 2003, there was a book published in Spokane title ''For All to See: The Little Bighorn Battle in Plains Indian Art'' by Sandra L. Brizée-Bowen, having been a compilation of art draw by the Plains Indians on the subject (I am waiting for this book from my interlibrary loan :) ), and last year another book has been published - Rubbing Out Long Hair Pehin Hanska Kasota: The American Indian Story of the Little Big Horn in Art and Word by Rodney G. Thomas, here a review www.custerbattlefield.org Rubbing Out review.

I mustn't forget the fine little book, size wise, published by Osprey, where late Richard hook wrote and illustrated the Indian warriors of the Little Big Horn -  ospreypublishing Hook Little Big Horn . I must recommend books by Richard M. Hardorff – author of “ Lakota recollections of the Custer fight: new sources of Indian-military history” (U. of Nebraska 1997),''Cheyenne memories of the Custer fight'' (U. of Nebraska Press, 1998), ''Hokahey! A good day to die!: the Indian casualties of the Custer fight'' (U. of Nebraska 1999), ''Indian views of the Custer fight: a source book'' ( U. of Oklahoma 2005)

Cheyenne warrior and artist Wooden Leg  story of the battle wooden_leg_little_big_horn

 Fine article on the Half Moon Ledger with images booktryst.com rt-of-war-lakota-style here a very interesting side story, the return of tribal artifacts to the tribal museums and burial grounds under wiki/Native_American_Graves_Protection_and_Repatriation_Act , as may be the case with this ledger as it was allegedly taken from the funerary lodge.
Interesting blog article here, in the context of American Indian, artists and Little Big Horn   danielduford.blogspot.com 
Obviously one interested in the Plains warrior art must visit this awesome site, already listed on my blog,  plainsledgerart.org