JOHN MIX STANLEY, ARTIST-EXPLORER 



By David I. Bushnell, Jr. 



[With 7 plates] 



During the first half of the last century, when the region west- 

 ward from the Mississippi was still claimed and occupied by many 

 tribes, for the most part living in their primitive condition, little in- 

 fluenced by contact with the whites, many persons, impelled by 

 different impulses, traversed the country from the river to the moun- 

 tains. Many, whose purpose was to explore the wilderness, left ac- 

 counts of their journeys, but countless others failed to leave any 

 records of their travels and experiences. Some, whose talents en- 

 abled them to sketch the wild scenes, accompanied the various expedi- 

 tions ; others visited the country for the sole purpose of studying the 

 native tribes in their natural environments, to obtain portraits of 

 individuals and to portray the ways of life of the people with whom 

 they came in contact. 



Necessarily the work of the different artists varied greatly in 

 value and importance, but the sketches and paintings made by the 

 subject of these notes, J. M. Stanley, were among the most interest- 

 ing secured during that period. And as mentioned in the preface 

 of the catalogue of his pictures, which he himself prepared and 

 which was issued by the Smithsonian Institution in December, 1852, 

 the collection included " accurate portraits painted from life of 

 43 different tribes of Indians, obtained at the cost, hazard, 

 and inconvenience of a 10 years' tour through the southwestern 

 prairies. New Mexico, California, and Oregon." Truly a remark- 

 able collection, and were it in existence at this time would prove of 

 inestimable interest and importance to the etlinologist as well as to 

 the historian. Now before mentioning certain of the pictures in 

 detail let us trace the movements of the artist during his " 10 years' 

 tour," during which time he visited the widely separated parts of the 

 western country. The following account of his travels was pre- 

 pared by his son, Mr. L. C. Stanley, to whom we are also indebted 

 for the photograph of his father which is now reproduced as Plate 1. 



" John Mix Stanley was born in Canandaigua, N. Y., 1814, and died 

 in Detroit, Mich., April 10, 1872. At the age of 14 he became an 



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