Wisconsin Indian leaders as they attended treaty councils in the 1830's.

The aboriginal port-folio: a collection of portraits of the most celebrated chiefs of the North American Indians, 1835-1836


Artist James Otto Lewis attended the most important councils with Wisconsin tribes under a contract with the U.S. government, and painted these portraits of Indian leaders such as Black Hawk and Keokuk. When he returned to Philadelphia, he made lithographs from his paintings and published a small number of them monthly in 1835 and 1836. Following the reproductions of Lewis's original illlustrations we've also included various printed and manuscript documents relating to his work that were collected by Wisconsin Historical Society staff in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include prefaces to the monthly parts, memoirs by people who knew him, and a manuscript set of transcriptions from contemporary newspaper reviews.


Related Topics: Territory to Statehood
Treaty Councils, from Prairie du Chien to Madeline Island
Creator: Lewis, James Otto, 1799-1858.
Pub Data: Philadelphia: J.O. Lewis, 1835[-36]
Citation: Lewis, James Otto. The aboriginal port-folio: a collection of portraits of the most celebrated chiefs of the North American Indians, 1835-1836. (Philadelphia : J.O. Lewis, 1835[-36]). Online facsimile at:  http://wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=119; Visited on: 4/24/2024