Buffalo Hunt, Surround, plate 9 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 7/16 × 18 3/8 in. (34.1 × 46.7 cm) Sheet: 15 9/16 × 22 1/8 in. (39.5 × 56.2 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Samuel Hopkins Adams, Class of 1891

Object number1959.112

Not on view

DescriptionAfter the preliminaries of the chase have been gone through, as described in the former plate, and the hunting party have reached the vicinity of the herd, scenes like the one represented in this illustration often occur. On one occasion I was invited by the Indians to ride out and witness their attack on a herd of buffaloes, near one of their villages on the Upper Missouri, in the summer of 1832: I sat on my horse and witnessed a scene of this kind; a mode of attacking the buffaloes which they call Wa-rahs-took-kee, a surround. Some sixty or seventy young men, all mounted on their wild horses, and armed with bows and lances only, cautiously encompassed the grazing herd, by drawing themselves around them in a circle of a mile or two in diameter, and gradually closing in towards the centre, until the herd took the alarm, and in a mass, endeavoring to make their escape, were met by the gathering horsemen, brandishing their weapons and yelling in the most frightful manner; turning the black and rushing mass which moved off in an opposite direction, where they were again met and foiled in a similar manner, and wheeled back in utter confusion. By this time the horsemen had closed in from all sides, forming a continuous line around them; whilst the poor affrighted animals were eddying about in a crowded and confused group, hooking and climbing upon each other, when the work of death commenced. In this grand turmoil a cloud of dust was soon raised, which in part obscured the throng where the hunters were galloping their horses around and driving their whizzing arrows or long lances to the hearts of these noble animals, which, in many instances, becoming infuriated with deadly weapons in their sides, erected their shaggy manes over their bloodshot eyes, and furiously plunged forward at the sides of their assailants' horses; sometimes goring them to death at a lunge, and putting their dismounted riders to flight for their lives. Sometimes the dense crowd was opened, and the blinded horsemen, too intent on their prey, amidst a cloud of dust, were hemmed and wedged in amongst the crowding beasts, over whose backs they were obliged to leap for security, leaving their horses to the fate that might await them in this wild and desperate war. Many were the bulls that turned upon their assailants, meeting them with desperate resistance; and many were the warriors who were dismounted, saving themselves by the superior muscles of their legs. Some who were closely pursued by the bulls wheeled suddenly round, and snatching the half of a buffalo robe from around their waists, threw it over the horns and eyes of the infuriated beast, and darting by its side, drove the arrow or lance to its heart. Others suddenly dashed off upon the prairies by the side of the affrighted animals which had escaped from the throng, and closely escorting them for a few rods, caused their hearts' blood to flow in streams, and brought their huge carcases to the ground. Thus this grand hunt was soon turned into a desperate battle; which in the space of fifteen minutes ended in the total destruction of the herd, undoubtedly containing some two or three hundreds; all of which met their deaths from the blades of arrows and lances, without the firing of a gun.

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.9. / BUFFALO HUNT, SURROUND. / Published at James Ackerman's Lithographic Rooms, 304 Broadway N.Y." at lower center in typeset; "ASXSS [first S has X through it]" on verso at left center in pencil; "HC 108" on verso at lower left in pencil.