402 the: GEORGE, CATLIN INDIAN GALLEEY. 



ors that elevate liim conspicuous above all of his nation. There is no man amongst 

 the Mandans so generally loved, nor any one who wears a robe so justly famed and 

 honorable as that of Mah-to-toh-pa. 



I said his robe was of the skin of a young buffalo bull, and that the battles of his 

 life were emblazoned on it ; and on a former occasion, that he presented me a beauti- 

 ful robe, containing all the battles of his life, which he had spent two weeks' time in 

 copying from his original one, which he wore on his shoulders. 



This robe, with its tracings on it, is the chart of his military life ; and when ex- 

 plained, will tell more of Mah-to-toh-pa. 



Some days after this robe was presented, he called upon me with Mr. Kipp, the 

 trader and interpreter for the Mandans, and gave me of each battle there portrayed 

 the following history, which was interpreted by Mr. Kipp, from his own lips, and 

 written down by me, as we three sat upon the robe. Mr. Kipp, who is a gentleman 

 of respectability and truth, and who has lived with these people ten years, assured 

 me, that nearly every one of these narrations were of events that had happened whilst 

 he had lived with them, and had been familiarly known to him; and that every word 

 that he asserted was true. 



And again, reader, in this country where, of all countries I ever was in, men are 

 the most jealous of rank and of standing ; and in a community so small also, that 

 every man's deeds of honor and chivalry are familiarly known to all ; it would not be 

 reputable, or even safe to life, for a warrior to wear upon his back the representa- 

 tions of battles he never had fought ; professing to have done what every child in the 

 village would know he never had done. 



So, then, I take the records of the battles on the robe of Mah-to-toh-pa to be matter 

 of historical fact ; and I proceed to give them as I wrote them down from his own 

 lips. Twelve battle-scenes are there represented, where he has contended with his 

 enemy, and in which he has taken fourteen of their scalps. The groups are drawn 

 according to his own rude ideas of the arts ; and I proceed to describe them in turn, 

 as they were explained to me. 



ROBE OF MAH-TO-TOH-PA. 



1. Mah-to-toh-pa (plate 65) kills a Sioux chief. The three heads represent the 

 three Eiccarees, ■^hom the Sioux chief had previously killed. The Sioux chief is 

 seen with war-paiut, black, on his face. Mah-to-toh-pa is seen with the scalp of the 

 Sioux in one hand, and his knife in the other, with his bow and quiver lying behind 

 him.* 



2. A Shienne chief, who sent word to Mah-to-toh-pa that he wished to fight him ; 

 was killed by Mah-to-toh-pa with a lance, in xjresence of a large party of Mandans 

 and Shiennes. Mah-to-toh-pa is here known by his lance with eagles' quills on it. 



3. A Shienne killed by Mah-to-toh-pa after Mah-to-toh-pa had been left by his 

 party, badly wounded and bleeding ; the twenty-five or thirty foot-tracks around, 

 represent the number of Shiennes who were present when the battle took place ; and 

 the bullets from their guns represented as flying all around the head of Mah-to-toh-pa. 



4. Shienne chief with war-eagle head-dress, and a beautiful shield, ornamented with 

 eagles' quills, killed by Mah-to-toh-pa. In this battle the wife of the Shienne rushed 

 forward in a desperate manner to his assistance; but arriving too late, fell a victim. 

 In this battle Mah-to-toh-pa obtained two scalps. 



5. Mah-to-toh-pa, with a party of Eiccarees, fired at by a party of Sioux ; the Eic- 

 carees fled — Mah-to-toh-pa dismounted and drove his horse back, facing the enemy 

 alone and killing one of them. Mah-to-toh-pa is here represented with a beautiful 

 head-dress of war-eagles' quills, and one on his horse's head of equal beauty ; his 

 shield is on his arm, and the party of Sioux is represented in front of him by the 

 number of-horse tracks. 



* The reader will see in Plate 65 an accurate drawing of this curious robe, which now hangs in the 

 Indian gallery, and on the following pages, each group numbered, and delineated on a larger scale 

 which are /ac-simifos of the drawings on the robe.— G. Catlin. 



