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Fort Marion drawings collected by Richard H. Pratt

National Museum of Natural History

Object Details

Collector
Pratt, Richard Henry, 1840-1924
Artist
White Buffalo Head (Cheyenne)
Addressee
Minimic (Cheyenne)
Artist
Wo-Haw, 1855-1924
Place
North America
Collector
Pratt, Richard Henry, 1840-1924
Artist
White Buffalo Head (Cheyenne)
Addressee
Minimic (Cheyenne)
Artist
Wo-Haw, 1855-1924
Culture
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
Kiowa
See more items in
Fort Marion drawings collected by Richard H. Pratt
Historical Note
Fort Marion, also known as Castillo de San Marco, is a stone fortress in St. Augustine, Florida. Between 1875 and 1878, seventy-two prisoners from the southern plains were incarcerated in the fort. Captain Richard Pratt supervised the prisoners during their incarceration at Fort Marion. The prisoners consisted of 27 Kiowas, 33 Cheyennes, 9 Comanches, 2 Arapahos, and a single Caddo. With the exception of one Cheyenne woman, all the prisoners were men. They had been accused of participating in the recent Red River War, earlier hostilities, or both. With the exception of the wife and daughter of one of the Comanche men, the prisoners families were not allowed to accompany them to Fort Marion.
Biographical Note
White Buffalo Head's father, Minimic or Eagle Head, was a Cheyenne prisoner at Fort Marion, Florida.
Wohaw, also known as Wo-Haw, Beef, Gu hau de, and Wolf Robe, was a Kiowa born in 1855. He was accused of being a combatant in the Red River War of 1874 and 1875. On October 3, 1874, he surrendered at the Cheyenne-Arapaho Agency at Darlington, Indian Territory. He was transferred to Fort Sill, where he was held in the guard house. He was among the Kiowa warriors who were subsequently imprisoned at Fort Marion in San Augustine, Florida. Following his release in 1878, Wohaw returned to the Indian Territory, arriving in Anadarko on May 1, 1878. He served in the Indian Police between 1879 and 1880 and in Troop L of the 7th U.S. Cavalry from 1891 to 1895. He was a member of the Ohomah society and is believed to have been an adherant of the Ghost Dance and Peyote religions. Wohaw died in Oklahoma in 1924.
Richard Henry Pratt (1840-1924) was a United States Army officer and organizer of the Indian Division of the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Pratt's theories about education of American Indians and their assimilation into American society led to the founding of the Carlisle School in 1879, where he served as superintendent until 1904.
Extent
3 Drawings (visual works)
Date
circa 1877
Custodial History
Richard Pratt donated a set of eleven (11) drawings to the United States National Museum circa 1877 (Catalog Numbers 30740-30750; No Accession Number). Three of the drawings are now held by the National Anthropological Archives in this collection. Eight of the drawings are held by the National Museum of American History.
Archival Repository
National Anthropological Archives
Identifier
NAA.MS30740
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings (visual works)
Ledger drawings
Pictographs
Works of art
Citation
Fort Marion drawings collected by Richard Pratt (MS 30740), National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Processing Information
The collection was reprocessed in 2022. Three drawings donated by Pratt to the Smithsonian had been described as three separate collections (MS 30740, MS 30747, and MS 30750). The archivist incorporated all three drawings into a single collection under MS 30740.
Rights
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form
Ledger drawings
Pictographs
Works of art
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of three (3) drawings made by prisoners are Fort Marion and forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution by Richard Pratt. Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Restrictions
The collection is open for research. Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Related Materials
The National Museum of American History holds eight of the drawings donated by Pratt to the Smithsonian Institution (see 2008.0175.52-2008.0175.59).
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1538115633657-1538115633659-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nw3675d3135-a6f6-47b4-b20d-764a695ee995

In the Collection

  • Pictographic letter from White Buffalo Head to Minimic

  • Wohaw drawing of camp scene

  • Wohaw drawing of tightrope walker

White Buffalo Head pictographic letter to Minimic
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
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