Winter Village of the Minatarres

Paris, Coblentz and London, 1842. Hand-coloured aquatint engraving by Desmadryl after Bodmer, blindstamp. A highly atmospheric scene executed by Bodmer during the winter of 1833-1834 when the travellers stayed at Fort Clark on the banks of the upper reaches of Missouri River. In November 1833 Prince Maximilian and Bodmer made a nine-hour trek from the Fort to one of the Hidatsa winter villages (probably Eláh-sa) and stayed for a couple of days. Composed of about eighty households closely packed amidst the sheltering timber the village was the largest of the Hidatsa settlements on the Knife River. Here a number of figures are gathered in the foreground, (truncated) wrapped in their buffalo robes to watch a pair of young men keep warm by playing the hoop and pole game that was one of the most common and widespread of all North American Indian games. Karl Bodmer's images show great versatility and technical virtuosity and give us a uniquely accomplished and detailed picture of a previously little understood (and soon to vanish) way of life. Swiss-born Bodmer was engaged by Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied (1782-1867) specifically to provide a record of his travels in North America, principally among the Plains Indians. In the company of David Dreidoppel (Prince Maximilian's servant and hunting companion), their travels in North America were to last from 1832 to 1834. Well-armed with information and advice, the party finally left St.Louis, on the most important stage of their travels, aboard the steamer Yellow Stone on April 10 1833. They proceeded up the treacherous Missouri River along the line of forts established by the American Fur Company. At Bellevue they encountered their first Indians, then went on to make contact with the Sioux tribe, learning of and recording their little known ceremonial dances and powerful pride and dignity. Transferring from the Yellow Stone to another steamer, the Assiniboin, they continued to Fort Clark, visiting there the Mandan, Mintari and Crow tribes, then the Assiniboins at Fort Union, the main base of the American Fur Company. On a necessarily much smaller vessel they journeyed through the extraordinary geological scenery of that section of the Missouri to Fort Mackenzie in Montana, establishing a cautious friendship with the fearsome Blackfeet. From this, the westernmost point reached, it was considered too dangerous to continue and the return journey downstream began. The winter brought its own difficulties and discomforts, but Bodmer was still able to execute numerous studies of villages, dances and especially the people, who were often both intrigued and delighted by his work. The portraits are particularly notable for their capturing of individual personalities, as well as forming a primary account of what were to become virtually lost cultures.

Graff 4648; Howes M443a; Pilling 2521; Sabin 47014; Wagner-Camp 76:1. (Inventory #: 37927)