THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. Ill 



poor woman, from a custom of the country, not to compete with her husband in a 

 feature so ornamental, was obliged to have her hair cropped close to her head. — George 

 Catlin, 1854->55. 



170. Ba-da-ah-chdn-du, He who Jumps over Every One ; on a wild horse, with war- 

 eagle head-dress on his horse's and his own head ; with shield, bow, quiver, 

 and lance; his long hair floating in the wind. Painted in 1832. 

 (Plate No. 76, page 192, vol. 1, Catlin's Eight Years.) 



MR. CATLIN'S NOTES ON THE CROW INDIANS, 1832. 



Mr. Catlin, writing from the Minataree village, Upper Missouri, m 

 1832, referring to the Crows and their appearance and horsemanship^ 

 says: 



There are at this time some distinguished guests, besides myself, in the lodge of the- 

 Black Moccasin — two chiefs or leaders of a party of Crows, who arrived here a few 

 days since, on a visit to their ancient friends and relatives. The consequence has> 

 been that feasting and carousing have been the "order of the day" here for some 

 time; and I have luckily been a welcome participator in their entertainments. A 

 distinguished chief of the Minatarees, with several others in company, has been for 

 some months past on a visit to the Crows and returned, attended by some remarkably 

 fine-looking fellows, all mounted on fine horses. I have said something of these fine 

 specimens of the human race heretofore ; and as I have been fastening more of them 

 to the canvas within the few days past, I must use this occasion to add what follows r 



I think I have said that no part of the human race could present a more picturesque 

 and thrilling appearance on horseback than a party of Crows, rigged out in all their 

 plumes and trappings — galloping about and yelping, in what they call a war parade, 

 i. e., in a sort of tournament or sham fight, passing rapidly through the evolutions of 

 battle, and vaunting forth the wonderful character of their military exploits. This 

 is an amusement of which they are excessively fond, and great preparations are in- 

 variably made for these occasional shows. 



No tribe of Indians on the continent are better able to produce a pleasing and thrill- 

 ing effect in these scenes, nor any more vain, and consequently better prepared tc> 

 draw pleasure and satisfaction from them, than the Crows. They may be justly said 

 to be the most beautifully clad of all the Indians in these regions, and, bringing from 

 the base of the Rocky Mountains a fine and spirited breed of the wild horses, have 

 been able to create a great sensation amongst the Minatarees, who have been paying 

 them all attention and all honors for some days past. 



From amongst these showy fellows who have been entertaining us and pleasing- 

 themselves with their extraordinary feats of horsemanship I have selected one of the 

 most conspicuous, and transferred him and his horse, with arms and trappings, as 

 faithfully as I could to the canvas, for the information of the world, who will learn 

 vastly more from lines and colors than they could from oral or written delineations. 



I have painted him as he sat for me, balanced on his leaping wild horse (plate 76^ 

 No. 170), with his shield and quiver slung on his back, and his long lance, decorated 

 with the eaglet quills, trailed in his right hand. His shirt and his leggings and moc- 

 casins were of the mountain-goat skins, beautifully dressed, and their seams every- 

 where fringed with a profusion of scalp- locks taken from the heads of his enemies- 

 slain in battle. His long hair, which reached almost to the ground whilst he was. 

 standing on his feet, was now lifted in the air, and floating in black waves over the 

 hips of his leaping charger. On his head and over his shining black locks he wore a 

 magnificent crest or head-dress made of the quills of the war-eagle and ermine skins ' r 

 and on his horse's head also was another of equal beauty and precisely the same in 

 pattern and material. Added to these ornaments there were yet many others which 

 contributed to his picturesque appearance, and amongst them a beautiful netting of 



