Buffalo Herds Crossing the Upper Missouri

About this artwork

“Near the mouth of White River, we met the most immense herd crossing the Missouri River---and from an imprudence got our boat into imminent danger amongst them, from which we were highly delighted to make our escape. It was in the midst of the ‘running season,’ and we had heard the ‘roaring’ (as it is called) of the herd, when we were several miles from them. When we came in sight, we were actually terrified at the immense numbers that were streaming down the green hills on one side o...

Art Historical Context

In 1832, George Catlin, a pioneering American artist, captured a breathtaking moment on the Upper Missouri River in *Buffalo Herds Crossing the Upper Missouri*. During his epic voyage westward to document Native American life and the untamed frontier, Catlin sketched this chaotic scene near the mouth of the White. As he described in his *Letters and Notes* (1841), he and his companions narrowly escaped disaster amid an "immense herd" of buffalo—tens of thousands strong—thundering down hillsides, swimming the flooded river, and "furiously hooking" one another in the peak of their "running seaso...

About the Artist

George Catlin · 1796–1872

George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...