III. THE PETTINGER PICTOGRAPHIC RECORD 



During the month of February, 1938, a news release appeared 

 concerning the Sitting Bull autobiographies in the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology. The following letter came as a result : 



Oswego, Oregon 

 March 7, 1938 



Smithsonian Institution 

 Washington, D. C. 



Gentlemen : 



My uncle the late Dan'l L. Pratt of Seattle was Post Trader at Fort Randall, 

 Dak. Ter. in 1882, 56 years ago and knew Sitting Bull and his band very well. 

 Sitting Bull sketched for him 13 pictures of himself on horseback showing 

 him in action against the Crows, Gros Ventres etc. — each one is drawn on 

 paper loi by 8^ inches and marked in print— D. L. Pratt, Post Trader, Fort 

 Randall, 188-. The horses are very well drawn — in Indian style — some in colors. 

 These pictures came to me in book form bound in oil cloth. I now have them 

 with the affidavit of Mr. Pratt in a large walnut frame — they are quite im- 

 pressive. 



Hoping this information will be interesting, 



I am 



Yours truly, 



/s/ Mrs. G. H. Pettinger 

 Oswego, Ore. 



The writer communicated at once with Mrs. Pettinger, who very 

 kindly forwarded the pictures to the Bureau of American Ethnology 

 so that they could be included with this publication. They belong to 

 the George Howard Pettinger Collection, which contains several 

 other very interesting Sitting Bull items, including the tomahawk 

 surrendered by Sitting Bull to Lieutenant Ogle on the occasion of 

 Sitting Bull's surrender to the Commanding Officer at Fort Buford, 

 Dakota Territory. The writer wishes here to express his deep ap- 

 preciation to Mr. Pettinger for making available this interesting 

 addition to the Sitting Bull record. 



These pictures, like those of the Smith autobiography, were made 

 at Fort Randall in 1882 and were probably painted from the same 

 paint box, as the shades of the colors used are identical in the two 

 sets. The Pettinger drawings are exactly the same in style but lack 

 the signature. In the Pettinger drawings, Nos. 2 and 5 are unique 

 in that full-face figures are shown. It seems probable that some 

 pictures are missing from the series as originally drawn, for in two 

 instances the descriptive sequence appears to refer to a preceding 

 episode which is not shown. 



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