click zoom to display a high-res image
Wilkins 11: The Deserted Pawnee Village
Image
Deserted Pawnee village in Nebraska. Sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail). Wilkins writes about an encounter with a poor Pawnee family in his diary: "They were the most miserable family of Indians I ever saw. Sunk to the very lowest ebb of misery starvation and poverty. They had no arms except a bow and arrows, no horses and almost naked. The woman had on a buffalo robe, the man nothing but an old coffee sack, and the children a bit of buckskin round their middle. Their knives being all the property they had, this was the nearest link to the brute creation I had ever seen. I was informed by a man from Fort Childs that 55 perished from want last winter."
May 1849
Wilkins, James F., d. 1888
Publication Information
Physical Description
Collection Information
Copyright Information
W0131LF
WHi 1842
Image
Digital Collections
Explore more than 100,000 collection items online through the Society’s digital collections. For over two decades, we’ve been scanning, photographing, and digitizing materials from our collections, creating a rich and growing digital archive that brings history closer to you.
The Wisconsin Historical Society offers an ever-growing digital collection. Digitized materials reflect the full range of items in the collections including photographs, letters, newsletters, films, posters, architectural drawings, menus, and ephemera.
Attribution
For a credit line: Wisconsin Historical Society, Creator, Title, Unique Identifier.
The Unique Identifier can be found at the top or bottom of the page for each item. The name of a downloaded file is NOT the unique identifier.
For bibliographic citations please consult the UW-Madison Libraries Citation Research Guide to ensure compliance with appropriate style guidelines.
Accessing Collections
The vast majority of the items in our collections are not online. The Society owns thousands of archival collections viewable in our Archives reading room. To view and conduct research in our collections, visit us in person.
Wilkins 15: Jail and Courthouse Rocks
June 20, 1849
Jail and Courthouse Rocks in Nebraska; Sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).
Wilkins 10: Old Fort Kearney
May 1849
Old Fort Kearney (Nebraska City). Sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).
Wilkins 21: Black Hills
June 20, 1849
The Black Hills sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).
Wilkins 25: The Black Hills
July 3, 1849
The Black Hills sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).
Wilkins 24: Through the Black Hills
June 30, 1849
The Black Hills sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).
Wilkins 23: In the Black Hills
June 30, 1849
The Black Hills sketched by Wilkins on his 151-day journey from Missouri to California on the Overland Trail (also known as the Oregon Trail).