The Old Print Shop

Camp of the Gros Ventres of the Prairies on the Upper Missouri. Tab. 38.

  • ARTIST: Karl Bodmer

  • PUBLISHER: Published by Ackermann & Co., London.

  • MEDIUM: Mixed media, aquatint, engraving, etching, and roulette.

    DATE: 1839-44.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 10 1/8 x 12 3/8" plus title and margins. Printed in color.

  • DESCRIPTION: This scene shows an incident that occurred on August 5th, 1833 while travelling up the Missouri River on a Keelboat towards Fort McKenzie. As they passed an Atsina encampment at the mouth of the Judith River, many men swan out to them demanding trade goods. Maximilian recorded that it was a tense encounter but eventually passed without incident. From "Travels in The Interior of North America" by Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied. In 1832, the German prince, Maximilian of Wied, organized an expedition to explore the region along the Missouri River. He was accompanied by Karl Bodmer, a young Swiss artist, who recorded in pictorial form all he observed. Following the Lewis & Clark trail up the Missouri River, they traveled 5,000 miles during the course of a year. Maximilian kept detailed notes on a day-by-day basis for his book, which was published c.1839-44 in Coblenz and London. Karl Bodmer's landscapes, portraits, and splendid scenes of Indian life are regarded today as the finest picture histories of the western frontier at that time. Engraved by Charles Beyer and Lucas Webber. Fort Union and a major trading post of the American Fur Company. It was erected in 1828 near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, on the Montana –North Dakota border.

  • ADDITIONAL INFO: Second state of two. (With addition of date, May 1st, 1841) Printed in color and finished by hand.

  • CONDITION: Good condition and color, save for faint mat line.

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