Description In a running battle on horseback, a Cheyenne, wearing a vest, calico shirt, painted and beaded leggings, German silver hair plates, and a peace medal (or similar medallion), attempts to count coup on a Pawnee warrior painted entirely in blue and wearing only a breechcloth and moccasins. As he aims his bow and arrow, the Pawnee's previous four arrows have passed by the Cheyenne. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings...

Description In one of two courting scenes in the 1879 book, a man on horseback greets a woman dressed in a cotton dress, concho belt with drop, and shawl around her waist, while a second man looks on. Both men carry umbrellas and have their bow cases and quivers by their sides. The horse on the left is distinguished by split ears. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings from Fort Reno, Plains Indian Art, Created in...

Description Two men on horseback greet two other men wrapped in red and blue blankets, one with a beaded blanket strip, and wearing similar red quillwork hair ornaments. Ledger drawings usually show horses in profile, but in this case a horse – with split ears indicating his value in hunting buffalo and warfare – is facing forward. Umbrellas, such as the two carried by the men, are commonly featured in Southern Plains reservation-era ledger drawings. From the article: Preserving History...

Description Three identically dressed women in print dresses and red blankets sit with Howling Water as one of the women takes off his bandolier. His hat, quirt, belt, and knife sheath are on the ground. His beautiful spotted horse is tied to a tree in the background. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings from Fort Reno, Plains Indian Art, Created in Community. Emma I. Hansen, Curator Emerita and Senior Scholar for the...

Description Two couples dance – each with the other's partner – perhaps, at a social occasion at the fort. The Scout wears his uniform and leather boots while the Cheyenne or Arapaho woman wears a mixture of traditional and reservation clothing and boots. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings from Fort Reno, Plains Indian Art, Created in Community. Emma I. Hansen, Curator Emerita and Senior Scholar for the Buffalo Bill...

Description

Star (identified by the small star dawn above his head), shoots a standing bear from horseback. The danger and power of the bear are depicted through his long extended claws and strong jaws. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings from Fort Reno, Plains Indian Art, Created in Community. Emma I. Hansen, Curator Emerita and Senior Scholar for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, 2016.

Description Standing Bull depicts a couple wrapped in a blanket for courtship in the Plains tradition. The woman wears a cotton print dress and moccasins with cloth leggings, and the man is clad in a calico shirt and blue wool leggings. From the article: Preserving History in the Southern Plains: Cheyenne and Arapaho Ledger Drawings from Fort Reno, Plains Indian Art, Created in Community. Emma I. Hansen, Curator Emerita and Senior Scholar for the Buffalo Bill Center of the West,...

Description Bird Chief on horseback and carrying a feather fan, talks with two women. One of the women carries an axe indicating that the two have been out collecting firewood. She wears a cloth dress with a shawl around her waist and a concho belt. The other woman has a plaid shawl wrapped around her waist. In courtship, men often tried to meet women who were away from the camp doing chores such as getting water or collecting firewood for moments of privacy. From the article: Preserving...

Description This courtship drawing shows a meeting of a finely-dressed couple. The woman wears a blue wool elk tooth dress with a shawl wrapped around her waist, a hair pipe choker and hair ornament, a German silver concho belt with a drop, and traditional beaded moccasins with attached leggings. The man is wrapped in a blanket with a beaded strip and wears painted and fringed leggings, beaded moccasins, and a red wool breechcloth. His hair ornament consists of a roach, eagle feather, and German silver...

Description While his horse stands by, Big Horse – wearing an otter skin turban, German silver hair plates, painted and beaded and painted hide leggings and wrapped in a red and blue blanket with a beaded or quillwork strip – courts a woman. The woman is beautifully attired in an elk tooth dress, concho belt with a drop, a printed cloth shawl, and yellow painted moccasins with attached leggings. The yellow and green pigments on the moccasins and leggings were used extensively in the Southern Plains....