Lac du Cygne (Swan Lake), Near the Coteau des Prairies

“After having glutted our curiosity at the fountain of the Red Pipe, our horses brought us to the base of the Coteau, and then over the extended plain that lies between that and the Traverse de Sioux, on the St. Peters . . . In this distance we passed some of the loveliest prairie country in the world, and I made a number of sketches--- ‘Laque du Cygne, Swan Lake,’ was a peculiar and lovely scene, extending for many miles, and filled with innumerable small islands covered with a profusion of rich forest trees.” George Catlin made this sketch in 1836, on his return trip from the Pipestone Quarry in present-day Minnesota. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 56, 1841; reprint 1973)