SETH EASTMAN: THE MASTER PAINTER OF THE 

 NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN 



P.v DAMD I. BUSHXELL. JR. 



(With 15 Plates) 



Seth Eastman was born in Brunswick, Me., January 24, 1808, and 

 died in Washington, D. C, August 31. 1875. He was appointed to the 

 ]\IiHtarv Academy, West Point, from Maine and entered as a cadet 

 July I, 1824. He was graduated and became a second Heutenant in 

 the First Infantry July i, 1829. 



Eastman appears to have possessed much natural talent for drawing 

 and painting, but there are neither records nor family traditions of 

 his having received instruction in sketching or portrait painting before 

 he entered the Academy. A small self portrait in oil, reproduced as 

 Plate I, was made at about the time of his graduation and reveals his 

 ability at that time. The approximate date of the picture may be deter- 

 mined by the fact that only one epaulet is shown, worn on the left 

 shoulder. The army regulations of 1825 specified : " Captains of Engi- 

 neers, one gold Epaulette on the right shoulder, and Subalterns one on 

 the left." By the regulations of 1832 lieutenants, or subalterns, were 

 required to wear two epaulets. Therefore the portrait was necessarily 

 made between the date of his graduation, 1829. and the year 1832. 



Eastman's career as an artist may be divided into two distinct 

 periods. The first and more important extended from the time he left 

 the Academy as a second lieutenant until the winter of 1849- 1850, 

 when he reached Washington ; on February 2^ . 1850, he was instructed 

 to prepare illustrations for Schoolcraft's great work. His military 

 record during these 20 years, as preserved in the Adjutant General's 

 Office. War Department, Washington, D. C, is as follows: 



" On duty at Fort Crawford, W^isconsin, with regiment, 1829-1830, 

 and at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, 1830-1831 ; on topographical duty 

 1 83 1 to January 9, 1833 ; Assistant Teacher of Drawing, United 

 States Military Academy, to January 22, 1840; in the Florida War 

 1840-1841 ; with regiment at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, from 1841 to 

 1846; on recruiting service in 1846; at Fort Snelling, with regiment, 

 1846 to 1848; on march through Texas to San Antonio, Fredericks- 

 burg, and the Neuces River, 1848-1849." 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 87, No. 3 



