Wee-tá-ra-shá-ro, Head Chief of the Tribe
Smithsonian American Art Museum

Wee-tá-ra-shá-ro, Head Chief of the Tribe

George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872 · 1834

oil on canvas
Smithsonian American Art Museum
CC0 — Public Domain
Smithsonian American Art Museum

“This man embraced Colonel Dodge and others of the dragoon officers in council, in his village, and otherwise treated them with great kindness, theirs being the first visit ever made to them by white people”. The subject was over ninety years old, according to George Catlin, and sat for his portrait at a Comanche village in 1834. (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)

🔒
Order museum-quality prints

Sign in to order prints, canvas, and more of this work. Browsing and full-resolution downloads stay free.