THE GEORGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 709 



The devoted friends who watched the last moments of this most amiable, interesting 

 women with intense anxiety still clung to a faint hope, deceived by a moral energy 

 never surpassed, and the most unruffled serenity of temper, that (had it been the will 

 of Heaven) they might have been permitted to rescue a life so precious; but, alas, 

 this gentle, affectionate, intellectual being was destined never more to revisit the land 

 of her birth, and all that was earthly of so much worth and loveliness has passed away, 

 whilst the immortal spirit has ascended to its kindred skies ! 

 " ' None knew her but to love her ; 

 "None named her but to praise.' " 



[Galignani'8 Messenger, 30th July, 1845. 

 The reader can imagine something of the gloom that was cast over my house and 

 little family, thus suddenly closed forever from the smiles and cheer of an affectionate 

 wife and a devoted mother, whose remains were sent back to her native land — not to 

 greet and bring joy to her kindred and anxious friends, from whom she had been five 

 years absent, but to afford them the last glance at her loved features, then to take 

 their place amongst the ranks of the peaceful dead. — Pages 275, 276, vol. 2, Catlin's 

 Notes in Europe. 



HIS FIRST VIEW OF INDIANS. 



In the practice of his art he was in New York, Buffalo, Norfolk, and 

 other cities during the years from 1823 to 1829 ; Philadelphia, in 1823,1829 ; 

 and for a long time before and after these dates was in the path of all 

 Indian delegations on the way to and returning from Washington. In 

 the early days, when the Indian tribes were recognized as separate na- 

 tions, a frequent pilgrimage to the seat of Government under national 

 auspices was an almost indispensable element of control of the Indians. 

 •When the Congress of the Confederation was in Philadelphia, and often 

 while Washington was President, delegations of Indians were constantly 

 coming and going. Eed Jacket, Black Hawk, Keokuk and other famous 

 Indians were familiar faces to its citizens. 



ORIGIN OF THE IDEA OF CREATING CATLINGS NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN 



GALLERY. 



Mr. Catlin in his earlier years was very ambitious in his art. He was 

 constantly searching for a special field in which he could become dis- 

 tinguished. 



In 1861, writing of this, he says : 



I there [at Philadelphia] closely applied my hand to the labors of the art [painting] 

 for several years, during which time my mind was continually reaching for some 

 branch or enterprise of the art on which to devote a whole lifetime of enthusiasm, 

 when a delegation of some ten or fifteen noble and dignified looking Indians from 

 the wilds of the far West suddenly arrived in the city, arrayed and equipped io all of 

 their classic beauty, with shield and helmet, with tunic and manteau, tinted and tas- 

 seled off exactly for the painter's palette. 



This sight turned his thoughts toward his Indian gallery. 



Reflection upon the possibilities of Indian art confirmed his impres- 

 sions, and he determined to execute his idea of u Catlin's North Ameri- 

 can Indian Gallery." Of this, in 1861, he writes : 



In the midst of success (as a painter) I again resolved to use my art and so much of 

 the labors of my future life as might be required in rescuing from oblivion the looks 

 and customs of the vanishing races of native man in America, to which I plainly saw 

 they were hastening before the approach and certain progress of civilization. 



