Wounded Buffalo Bull, plate 16 from the "North American Indian Portfolio"

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Artist/Maker George Catlin (American, 1796 – 1872)

Publisher James Ackerman (American)

Date1845

MediumColor lithograph on paper

DimensionsComposition: 13 13/16 × 18 9/16 in. (35.1 × 47.1 cm) Sheet: 15 9/16 × 20 7/16 in. (39.5 × 51.9 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Samuel Hopkins Adams, Class of 1891

Object number1959.119

Not on view

DescriptionThe reader has here, a striking illustration of the deadly effects of the Indian's arrow, and also an emphatic representation of one of the largest specimens of the buffalo bull, shot through the heart, at his last halt; his legs bending under his great weight, and his huge carcase ready to tumble down from loss of blood, which is pouring from his nostrils and mouth, as well as from the wounds in his side. Not only shot, but pinioned, by the arrows of the hunter (who has already counted him amongst his victims and passed on to claim others of the throng), the bull is thus left to struggle with death; and in that struggle, hobbles and reels along but a brief distance, wheezing and sighing through streams of frothy blood until he sinks upon his haunches, where he invariably rests for a few moments, bracing up with his fore legs, the noblest object of pity, until his last deep-drawn breath is gushed out, when he falls, and rolls in death, without a kick or struggle.

Collections

American Art

Additional Details

Alternate Titles North American Indian Portfolio

Provenance 1959: Hamilton College, by bequest of Samuel Hopkins Adams.

Inscribed "Catlin. del:" at lower left in typeset; "No. 16./ WOUNDED BUFFALO BULL. / Published at James Ackerman's Lithographic Rooms, 304 Broadway, N.Y." at lower center in typeset; "IXUS" on verso at center left in pencil; "HC 115" on verso at lower left in pencil.