NO. 3 SETH EASTMAN— BUSHNELL 9 



Such then was the Indian Country in the midst of which the artist 

 remained some years. A region of lakes and streams, forests and 

 prairies, and where wild game abounded. Amidst these primitive sur- 

 roundings Eastman made many sketches, but very few belonging to 

 the years before 1847 have been traced. One portrait, made at Fort 

 Snelling in 1844, 's reproduced in Plate 5. This is in oil, on a panel 

 of wood, and is a likeness of a Sisseton Sioux named Eta Keazah. It 

 shows the use of the beaded head covering worn by the northern In- 

 dians, both Sioux and Ojibway, during the winter season ; however, 

 caps of this sort were used extensively throughout the northern country 

 as far east as the tribes of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Eastman 

 shows them worn Ijy Indians fishing through the ice, in one of his later 

 paintings. 



It is to be regretted that Eastman failed to keep a journal during 

 his stay in the Indian country, for had he made notes of events that 

 transpired at the army posts and of the gatherings of the Indians, and 

 described the individuals and the native villages, his writings would 

 have proved of value equal to that of his sketches and paintings. 



The year 1848 may be regarded as the most interesting period of 

 Eastman's career as an artist, and possibly he anticipated his early 

 removal from the post and departure from the upper Mississippi, and 

 therefore made many sketches in the vicinity of Fort Snelling which 

 served him in the following years when he was preparing the illustra- 

 tions for Schoolcraft's work. 



While still on the upper Mississippi, during the month of July, 1848, 

 he witnessed a stirring event on " Wahbasha's Prairie," about 150 

 miles below the Falls of Saint Anthony, below Lake Pepin, on the 

 right bank of the Mississippi. This excitement was occasioned by a 

 band of Winnebago at the time of their removal, and may best be 

 explained by quoting from the official documents of the time : 



St. Peter's (Wixxebago) Agency 



October 4, 1848 



Sir : Since my last annual report of the condition of the Winnebago Indians, 

 the most important event connected with them is their removal from the neutral 

 ground to the country they now occupy. When the tribe was notified last spring, 

 by the government, that their new home was procured for them, they decided 

 at once to remove, and such arrangements were made as would have enabled 

 them to remove comfortably, and with a very moderate expense, but the inter- 

 ference of interested individuals created dissatisfaction and disturbance among 

 the Indians, which caused much delay, and resulted in scattering one-half of 

 the tribe. Some of those who turned back went to their old hunting ground in 



