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White Horse (Kiowa, 1847–1892),
Drawing Book
, 1876–78
pencil and crayon on paper, 8 ¼ x 10 ½ in.; 20.96 x 26.67 cm
Gift of Mrs. J. Barlow Reynolds, 1949.165
White Horse was a legendary warrior who achieved high rank in his tribe by the age of twenty-three. Although he attended the council between southern plains tribes and the United States that resulted in the Medicine Lodge Treaty, he continued to conduct frequent raids upon other tribes and white settlers. Finally surrendering in 1875, White Horse was imprisoned at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. While incarcerated there, he was among the prisoners who became artists in what would be called Ledger Art, for the ledgers they were drawn in. White Horse is identified in his art by a pictograph of a white horse drawn over his head (it was a convention of Plains ledger drawing to associate individuals with symbols of their names).
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