Blackbird's Grave, a Back View, Prairies Enameled with Flowers

George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872 · 1832

To suggest the vastness of the Great Plains in his small landscapes, George Catlin often assumed an elevated viewpoint. Blackbird’s grave, a site visited by Lewis and Clark nearly three decades earlier, was the final resting-place of an Omaha chief who had been buried astride his favorite horse. The artist painted this work in 1832 on his first extended voyage up the Missouri River.