Distinctly Montana Magazine

29 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m A lexander Gardner and Mathew Brady are renowned for their photographic record of the Civil War. Gardner's im- ages from the battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg poi- gnantly brought the horrors of war home to the American people in unprecedented fashion. Gardner also extensively photographed the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Council and, in 1872, became the official photographer for the Office of Indian Affairs. From an artistic standpoint, many of their finest works are delegation portraits of the Plains tribes, particularly those of La- kota luminaries, produced between 1868 and 1877. These imag- es are nothing less than masterpieces by masters of portraiture; their subjects were clothed in the flamboyant finery that has his- torically captured the interest of the general public. The earliest of these photographs was taken by Gardner at Fort Laramie, most probably after the conclusion of formal ne- gotiations on May 28-29, 1868. The Brule leader, Spotted Tail, and Man Afraid of His Horse (Oglala) were the best-known del- egates represented in this portrait. Spotted Tail (far left) wore a classic Lakota ornament, one draped over his left shoulder and around his waist. Discs of brass, silver or German silver were attached, often in graduated size, to a strip of cloth or leather. Such ornaments frequently reached the ground, even when the wearer was mounted on horseback. Documentary and pictorial evidence confirm an extensive his- tory of their use. An exhaustive review of published references, conducted by Norman Feder, indicates that this decorative de- vice was utilized by the Lakota from 1808 to 1858. In his analysis of material culture illustrated in Gardner's 1868 photographs, Allen Chronister states that these images reflect "the height of popularity of hairplates among young Sioux men." Indeed, eight Gardner photographs document their use by Oglala and Brule men. At least two members of this delegation wore Crow regalia. Viewed under extreme magnification, the filament-like con- struction of double-bundle, quill-wrapped horsehair, a rare em- broidery technique commonly associated with the Mountain Crow, is faintly visible on the shoulder strip of the shirt worn by Whistling Elk (third from right), a Miniconjou leader. The shape of, and striped-style beadwork on, the neck flap of Lone Horn's ermine-fringed shirt (seated, center) suggest that it also was of Crow origin. Furthermore, the shirt and leggings worn by Slow Bull (far right) are both adorned with early block-style Crow beaded strips. Studio photographs of Spotted Tail's wife and Running Antelope, a Hunkpapa headman, were taken by Gardner in Washington, D.C., during 1872. Running Antelope was splen- didly dressed in a magnificent quilled shirt, peace medal, den- talia-shell ear pendants, otter-fur hair wraps, and three eagle feathers, one of which bears specific war-exploit markings. Gar- rick Mallery, author of Picture-Writing of the American Indians, learned that various divisions of the Sioux employed a red spot on the broad side of a feather to indicate wounds suffered in battle or that its wearer had killed an enemy. One of Mallery's sources informed him that, for each enemy slain, a Sioux warrior carried "another eagle feather painted with an additional red spot about the size of a silver quarter." As an historical figure, Running Antelope was perhaps best known as one of the four Hunkpapas selected as Shirt Wear- ers in 1851. Among the Lakota, this honorary position conferred great respect, in recognition of military prowess and demon- strated leadership. However, it also came with the expectation of "nearly impossibly high standards of conduct," according to Raymond DeMallie, an ethnohistorian and Lakota specialist. The portrait of Spotted Tail's wife illustrates a dress type that soon became the centerpiece of Lakota female formal attire. As its characteristic features crystallized during the late pre-reser- vation and early reservation periods, the upper portion of such dresses was covered with lane-stitch beadwork, embroidered by DOUGLAS A. SCHMITTOU Members of the Lakota delegation to the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Council. Standing (left to right): Spotted Tail (Brule), Roman Nose (Miniconjou), Old Man Afraid of His Horse (Oglala), Lone Horn (Miniconjou), Whistling Elk (Miniconjou), Pipe, and Slow Bull (Oglala). Photograph by Alexander Gardner. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Negative No. 3678.

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