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Northern Cheyenne, Done at Fort Keogh, Montana, c. 1888-1890 This panel was commissioned by Capt. Benjamin C. Lockwood, 22nd U.S. Infantry, whose military stencil is seen on both sides of the cloth. It was not only a memento, but probably was used to decorate his own quarters at the fort. Split-log cabins were chinked with moss and mud caulking, which tended to dry and fall out, so the structures were notoriously drafty. An early expedient was to nail cloth panels to the interior walls to block drafts. Indian artists introduced the decorative element of drawings on cloth cabin liners, as they had earlier decorated the walls of their tipi homes. The artist who decorated this panel for Capt. Lockwood was probably one of the senior members of the Cheyenne Scout detachment serving at Fort Keogh. This unknown individual probably had been a leading chief of one of the Northern Cheyenne Warrior Societies, before enlisting as an Army scout after the Northern Cheyenne surrendered in 1877-78. Battle lances of the Elkhorn Scraper and Crazy Dog warrior societies are depicted on the muslin, so the artist was likely a leader of one of those organizations. Three tipis painted with horizontal, black stripes are depicted on the muslin. These were traditionally reserved for war leaders, with the black stripes representing campaigns led by the owner. It is likely that one of these represents the artist's own home. Another feature of the muslin which indicates the artist was an older man is the very fine and elegant style, characteristic of the best, Cheyenne ledger drawings of the 1860s & 1870s. It is clear that this artist was very experienced and had refined his personal style over a period of many years. A U.S. Army force is shown attacking a Northern Cheyenne encampment. This attack would have occurred sometime in the interval 1865 - 1876, during which the Northern Cheyenne were often at war with the United States. Probably it does not represent the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, because no river is shown; nor is the Army force represented as having been wiped out. It cannot represent the Battle of the Rosebud, a week before the Little Bighorn, because the Army force led by Gen. George Crook did not come near the Cheyenne village. The most likely battle is the attack by U.S. forces on the large, Northern Cheyenne village in the Bighorn Mountains of northeastern Wyoming, November 25, 1876. When that attack commenced at dawn, the Cheyenne had just concluded an all-night victory dance to celebrate their defeat of a Shoshone war party. Such a dance is represented at bottom, center of the muslin. Five singers are shown seated around a large drum, with dancers brandishing weapons directly above them. Twenty-one tipis are represented (176 were captured and destroyed along with all of their contents by the Army). Fifteen lodges are shown with painted covers, the residences of prominent chiefs and war leaders. Five painted war shields are also represented, three carried into the battle, and two displayed on poles within the camp. This was the last major battle with the U.S. Army, before the Northern Cheyenne surrender in May, 1877. by Mike Cowdrey |
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SOME THOUGHTS ON COLLECTING INDIGENOUS ART
Muslin Cabin Liner painted with Battle Scenes and a Tipi Village