Mandan Scalping an Enemy

George Catlin described this painting as a tale from the Mandans of “a Conqueror conquered” and noted that it “took place in front of the Mandan village.” Catlin sketched the scene in 1835 and completed the painting in his studio between 1835 and 1857. (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition; Truettner, The Natural Man Observed, 1979)