Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-06-07

trate Stevens report Of the survey.
John Mix Stanley was New Yorker,
born at Canadaigua in 1914. Whether
or not he ever had art instruction is
a subject open to question, for there is
no record of his having attended any
art school, At IA he was apprenticed
to a wagon maker at Naples. N. Y,
and we next hear of him in Detroit in
1885. 1t was in Detroit that he began
painting portraits and landscapes Elk
perts believe that he must have had
considerable art education, for his
works are of high artistic quality,
with good draughtsmanship
From youth Stanley had had a pas
sion for Indians. He made his first
expedition to the west in 1912, visiting
Fort Gibson, Ark, and other from
tier outposts. Stanley seems to have
been more fortunate than some other
artists Of the period, for most of the
government officials he encountered
understood what he was trying to do
and helped him in many ways to make
his great record of Indian life. A
United States Indian agent invited
Stanley to be present at the historic
Talequah council, which assembled in
Indian territory in June, 1913. This
council, called to arrange a peace be-
tween the Indians and the then in
the greatest Indian councils in Ameri-
can history. 1t afforded Stanley an OPP
portunity to study many types of In
| dians, for 5000 Indians assembled
there and II tribes were represented.
Writing of his adventure at the
this occasion over 5000 Indians went
through their daily favorite ball games,
dances and other diversions" This
enabled the artist to enrich his port
folio with many interesting and valu-
able subjects. Such a gathering Of
tna,- ,-io e,N1n, Iar hob nv
been seen since in America.
In 1886 Stanley exhibited IS of his
Indian portraits in Cincinnati and was
acclaimed by critics. Then he went
west again, travelling to Santa Fe,
where he joined a California bound
expedition. Later he painted in Oregon
and in the Hawaiian Islands. so that
1853 he was an authority on Indians.
In 1865 there came to John Mix
Stanley the greatest tragedy that can
come to any artist. He had deposited
: ISL of his outstanding Indian paint
ings in the Smithsonian institution
while friends worked to have the gov
eminent purchase the collection. For
one reason or another, perhaps because
the nation was at war, the sale did
not go through, and on Jan. "a, 1865
a fire swept the Smithsonian and all
of Stanley's pictures except five were
burned These five had been removed
to a portion of the building not dam
aged. and are now in the United States
National museum. One of these is a
, painting of the Talequah council. An
idea OF the scope and value of the
Stanley collection that was destroyed
is given by photographs of the collec-
, ton as it hung in the Smithsonian
sented, including the Greeks, Crows
Sioux, Blackfeet and Assinniboines OF
!, the upper Missouri river region.
Lost LIES Work in Fire
The Stanley pictures destroyed If
the tragic fire represented a large
, portion of the artists life work. HiS
ambition to publish an account of his
adventures and his study of the In.
!. dams never reached fruition. nor have
: his manuscripts ever been found. He
, had many narrow escapes as he wan.
: dered up and down the west He trav.
f eled thousand miles up the Columbis
5 river by canoe, and barely escaped
death in the Whitman massacre. HI
escaped because when the Indians asket
he was a Buckeye meaning that h.
> had come from Ohio The Indian.
thought this meant he was an English
: man, and since they were only out t
kill Americans. they allowed Stanle!
q to go free. His letter describing thu
! "4lIlLlldLl lIIdSSdSIS was OLIt VI LIlS III ;
to reach the outside world. On anothe
occasion Stanley encountered a banc
of Mexicans and only escaped will
his life his painting materials, an;
his sketches At Fort Union. an Indian
whom Stanley had photographed be-
came Ill and relatives of the sick In
dian made an attempt on the artist
life.
Those of Stanley's pictures which
f were not destroyed in the Smithsonia,
e fire are scattered in private collection
and public museums from Honolulu 4
S New York. His painting of the Hawaii
e an king. kamehameha the Great, ant
r his consort are hung in the Hawaiian
e museum at Honolulu, former palace o
the king Several Stanley pictures han:
y in the Provincial library at Victoria
I B. c.. and what is considered his great
|. est work still in existence is "Thr
r Trial of Red Jacket" which hangs il
t the galleries of the Buffalo historical
S society. No complete catalog OF Stan
4 ley's pictures has ever been made.
Mote: The author of this article
] on Stanley Is preparing an article
I on Stanley's art for the Southwest
e Review and would be interested to
l hear from any Montanans who
: own either paintings or photo
graphs made by Stanley. Address
Walter E. Taylor, 634 East Garcia
= Road, Santa Fee, n. NJ.