Háw-che-ke-súg-ga, He Who Kills the Osages, Chief of the Tribe

About this artwork

George Catlin described He Who Kills the Osages as “an old man” wearing a “necklace of grisly bears’ claws, and a handsome carved pipe in his hand.” The name of Kills the Osages is redolent of the history of his tribe as well as his own battle achievements. A century before Catlin’s arrival in the West, the Missouria controlled the fur trade on the river that bears their name; their dominance, however, was under constant assault from the Osages, who eventually won. By the time Catlin...

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 ...