McKenney, Thomas L. and James Hall. “Young Mahaskah. An Ioway Chief.”

Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall.  “Young Mahaskah.  An Ioway Chief.” From The History of the Indian Tribes of North America. 

Philadelphia: J. T. Bowen & Co., 1848-50.  6 x 4 ¼ (image).  Octavo edition.  Lithograph with original hand coloring. Very good condition. A/A

A print from the octavo version of McKenney-Hall’s Portrait Gallery of American Indians.  These prints document an important part of American history, the great leaders of the Indian nations that have disappeared since the mid-19th century.  Thomas McKenney, head of the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for many years, was a champion of the Indian and fought throughout his tenure to preserve something of their culture, so integral a part of the history of the United States.  His legacy was a gallery of portraits of the great chiefs for which he commissioned artists such as James Otto Lewis, Charles Bird King, and George Cooke.