George Catlin Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database

Pipestone Quarry on the Coteau des Prairies

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:34 +0000

Catlin’s painting of the sacred Native American pipestone quarry in present-day Minnesota. The catlinite mineral found here was named after Catlin. Lewis and Clark had received calumet pipes made from this stone during their journey up the Missouri.

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Bull Dance, Mandan O-kee-pa Ceremony

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:33 +0000

Rare documentation of the sacred Mandan Okipa ceremony. Dancers wear buffalo heads in the central plaza of the Mandan village. Lewis and Clark had also witnessed Mandan ceremonies during their winter stay. This important record captures a ceremony that was nearly lost after the 1837 epidemic.

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Fort Union, Mouth of the Yellowstone River

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:33 +0000

Fort Union at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. The American Fur Company post was built in 1828 near where Lewis and Clark had camped in April 1805. It served as the most important trading post on the upper Missouri.

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Mah-to-toh-pa, Four Bears, Second Chief in Full Dress

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:32 +0000

Portrait of the celebrated Mandan chief Mato-Tope in full ceremonial dress, wearing a painted buffalo robe depicting his heroic deeds. Catlin greatly admired this chief, calling him “the most extraordinary man in the nation.” Mato-Tope died in the devastating 1837 smallpox epidemic.

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Floyd’s Grave

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:32 +0000

The burial site of Sergeant Charles Floyd, the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the expedition (August 20, 1804). Floyd likely died of a ruptured appendix. Catlin painted the site during his 1832 Missouri River journey, nearly three decades after the burial.

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Buffalo Chase, Mouth of the Yellowstone

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:32 +0000

Dynamic hunting scene near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers. Catlin reached Fort Union in 1832, painting the same regions explored by Lewis and Clark. The expedition had noted the abundance of buffalo along the upper Missouri.

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Bird’s-Eye View of the Mandan Village

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 19:03:31 +0000

Overhead view of the Mandan village that Lewis and Clark visited during the winter of 1804–05. Catlin positioned himself atop an earth lodge to paint this panoramic view of the circular village with the central ceremonial plaza. The village was later devastated by the 1837 smallpox epidemic.

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