Howes Long Bright Land

MCKENNEY, Thomas L. (1785-1859) and James HALL (1793-1868): Wa-Pel-La, [Wapello] Chief of the Musquakees,

Philadelphia: F.W. Greenough, 1838. Hand-coloured lithograph by J. T. Bowen after a portrait by Charles Bird King, done in 1836. In excellent condition.13 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches. 18 x 12 3/4 inches. A fine, imposing image of a Sauk and Fox chieftain from McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America': "One of the most important [works] ever published on the American Indians' (Field)," a landmark in American culture' (Horan) and an invaluable contemporary record of a vanished way of life. Wapella, actually Wapello, the Prince (1787 - 1842) seems to have had a relatively contented life in the midst of great turmoil. Born in Prairie du Chien in what is now Wisconsin, he became one of the principal Mesquakie (Fox) chiefs with Keokuk and Powasheek. He and Keokuk cooperated with the white settler militia and U. S. Army in the Black Hawk War of 1832, being always as accommodating as possible. This was prudent. Of Black Hawk's 1,000 or so followers, only 150 survived the brief war. (General Scott later apologized that so many women and children had been killed). The war was concluded with the treaty at Fort Armstrong (1832). This was one of five treaties Wapello signed between the years 1822 and 1837, on the strength of which the Sauk and Fox were removed from Illinois and Wisconsin to Iowa and then to Kansas. After signing in Washington in 1837, Wapello, Keokuk and company embarked on a tour of the eastern cities, during which they visited Cooke's Circus in Philadelphia, Faneuil Hall in Boston, and George Catlin's Indian Gallery in New York. Wapello spoke in Boston of his hopes for a harmonious relationship with white America. King's portrait of Wapello is one the best of the series, depicting a man whose distinguished face and bearing are more than equal to the bright colors, bearclaw necklace and Presidential Peace medal with which he is adorned. McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America' has long been renowned for its faithful portraits of Native Americans. The portraits are largely based on paintings by the artist Charles Bird King, who was employed by the War Department to paint the Indian delegates visiting Washington D.C., forming the basis of the War Department's Indian Gallery. Most of King's original paintings were subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian, and their appearance in McKenney and Hall's magnificent work is thus our only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century. Numbered among King's sitters were Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola. After six years as Superintendent of Indian Trade, Thomas McKenney had become concerned for the survival of the Western tribes. He had observed unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the Native Americans for profit, and his vocal warnings about their future prompted his appointment by President Monroe to the Office of Indian Affairs. As first director, McKenney was to improve the administration of Indian programs in various government offices. His first trip was during the summer of 1826 to the Lake Superior area for a treaty with the Chippewa, opening mineral rights on their land. In 1827, he journeyed west again for a treaty with the Chippewa, Menominee , and Winebago in the present state of Michigan. His journeys provided an unparalleled opportunity to become acquainted with Native American tribes. When President Jackson dismissed him from his government post in 1839, McKenney was able to turn more of his attention to his publishing project. Within a few years, he was joined by James Hall, a lawyer who had written extensively about the west. McKenney and Hall saw their work as a way of preserving an accurate visual record of a rapidly disappearing culture. (Gilreath). Cf. BAL 6934; cf. Bennett p.79; cf. Field 992; cf. Howes M129; cf. Lipperhiede Mc4; cf. Reese, Stamped With A National Character p. 24; Sabin 43410a; Horan 186.

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Edith Howes: Long Bright Land,
1929. Fairy tales from southern seas. Long before Columbus braved the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America, those intrepid navigators, the Maoris, in their tree-hollowed canoes voyaged and revoyaged...

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