Ish-a-ró-yeh, He Who Carries a Wolf, a Distinguished Brave
1834
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Accession Number
1985.66.48
Tags
About this artwork
George Catlin painted He Who Carries a Wolf at the Comanche village in 1834. Ish-a-ró-yeh was a man of some standing in the tribe who, Catlin later wrote, âpiloted the dragoons to the Camanchee village, and received a handsome rifle from Colonel Dodge for so doing.â He was named âfrom the circumstance of his carrying a medicine-bag made of the skin of a wolf; he holds a whip in his hand.â (Catlin, 1848 Catalogue, Catlinâs Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition; Truettner, The Natural ...
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 ...