EXPLORATIONS - George Catlin, Part 1

By Paul Thompson

VOICE ONE:

This is Mary Tillotson.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. A new exhibit of paintings
is being shown at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D-C. Today, we
tell about the man who painted them. His name was George Catlin. And in this first part of two programs, we tell
how he became one of the most important artists in American history.

((THEME)))

VOICE ONE:

George Catlin loved people. He loved their faces. He loved to paint faces expressing
feelings. He understood how to paint feelings. You can look at one of his paintings of a
person and see pride, honor, respect, intelligence and humor. George Catlin is most
famous for painting Native Americans.

In the eighteen-thirties, George Catlin traveled into areas of the
American West to paint and record the history of Native
Americans. He learned more about the culture of Native

Americans than most other white people of his time. George Catlin spent a good part of
his life trying to show these people to the world.

VOICE TWO:

George Catlin showed his paintings in Washington, D-C; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and
New York City. Thousands of people came to see them. Thousands more came to see
them in London, England and in the famous Louvre Museum in Paris, France. George
Catlin probably did more than any other person to educate the public about the great
people who lived in North America before Europeans arrived.

We begin our story just a few years after George Catlin was born, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was born in
seventeen-ninety-six. His family soon moved to New York State near the great Susquehanna River.

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE ONE:

George Catlin always said his early years were fun. He said he had to have a book in
one hand because he was in school. In the other hand he most often had a fishing
pole. When he was not reading or fishing, he was drawing the natural world he saw
outside each day. George Catlin had little training in art. He mostly taught himself.
However, his father made sure that he had a good education.

His father was a lawyer and he wanted George to be a lawyer too. George did as his father wished and became a
lawyer. However he was not happy.

VOICE TWO:

As a young man George Catlin was only happy when he was painting. He truly loved to paint. He decided 1 to stop

''Jú-ah-kís-gaw,
Woman with Her Child
in a Cradle,'' 1835
''Pigeon's Egg Head
(The Light) Going to
and Returning from
Washington,'' 1837–
39
''Comanche Feats 2 of
Horsemanship,'' 1834–35

being a lawyer and become an artist. He moved into a small building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began to
paint pictures of people.

He was good at this and he loved the work. He painted very small pictures of people. The pictures are called
miniatures 3. Women often wore this kind of painting tied to a ribbon around their necks. Soon, he moved to New
York City. He painted miniatures and larger pictures. He was becoming a well-known artist. He began painting
pictures of important people. One was the governor of the state of New York, DeWitt Clinton.

Life seemed good for the young artist. George Catlin was doing what he loved and he was making a living as an
artist. However, he thought something was missing from his life and his work. He wanted very much to paint
something that was important.

He wanted to give something to the world of art that would be different. But he had no idea what this could
possibly be.

VOICE ONE:

In the eighteen-twenties, George Catlin saw something that would change his life forever. It was a delegation 4 of
Native Americans. About fifteen representatives from several tribes 6 were passing through Philadelphia. They
were on their way to Washington, D-C to meet with the president of the United States.

George Catlin had never seen anything like these Native Americans. Their skin was the color of the metal copper 7.
Their hair and eyes were dark black. They wore clothes made of animal skins. They seemed fierce and
dangerous.

Within a few days, George Catlin made an important decision. He told his family and friends he would study and
paint Native Americans. His family was opposed to the idea. They told him it was extremely dangerous. They
told him he might be killed. George Catlin answered his friends and family. He said, “Nothing but the loss of
my life will prevent me from visiting their country and becoming their historian 8.
”

((MUSIC BRIDGE))

VOICE TWO:

In eighteen-thirty, George Catlin traveled to the city of Saint 9 Louis, Missouri, near the Mississippi River. At that
time Saint Louis was one of the last cities or towns you would find if you were traveling west. There was not
much beyond Saint Louis but the Great Plains. There was nothing but wild, unexplored country. The country
beyond Saint Louis could be extremely dangerous. Few white people had ever been further than Saint Louis.

However, George Catlin met someone who knew about the lands of the far West and had been there. He also
knew many of the Native American tribes that George Catlin wanted to visit. That man was William Clark.

Twenty-six years before, William Clark was part of the famous team of Lewis and Clark who were the first white
Americans to explore the far West. They had traveled from Saint Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back.

VOICE ONE:

George Catlin immediately had a friend in William Clark. Mister Clark liked his idea of painting and learning
about Native Americans.

He did not think George Catlin’s idea was dangerous. He did his best to help. General William Clark was the
United States Superintendent 10 of Indian Affairs. He immediately took Mister Catlin along on a trip up the
Mississippi River to a place called Prairie du Chien. Here George Catlin saw a gathering 11 of Native American
tribes. He saw their clothes. He watched them and learned about their culture. He listened to their language. This
trip was important to George Catlin because it strengthened his idea and plans to learn about and paint pictures of
Native Americans.

VOICE TWO:

George Catlin quickly returned home to Philadelphia to raise money for his project. Within a year he traveled


west again. This time he went north to Fort 12 Union in an area called the Dakotas. Here he set up his painting
equipment and began to paint.

He said of this experience, “I have this day been painting a picture of the head chief of the Blackfoot nation. He
is surrounded by his own warriors 13. He is an important man.
”

The man George Catlin painted that day was named Stu-mick-o-sucks. He was chief of the Blood Tribe 5 of the
Kainai Blackfoot. George Catlin said the Blackfoot were a fierce and war-like tribe. They lived in the area that is
now the border between the United States and Canada.

VOICE ONE:

The beautiful painting of Stu-mick-o-sucks shows this fierce chief at the height of his powers. The chief of the
Blood Tribe was about thirty years old when George Catlin painted his picture.

His face is a deep copper color. He has red paint on his jaw 14. His eyes are intelligent and watchful 15. His black hair
hangs down to his shoulders. Part of his hair falls down between his eyes and is cut straight across. A head
covering made of small feathers surrounds his hair. One large feather is worn to the right side of his head.

Stu-mick-o-sucks is dressed in his best clothing for this painting. It is clothing that he
would wear for special ceremonies. On his chest is a round design made with several
colors. The shoulders of his shirt are covered with pieces of cloth and hair to form other
designs.

George Catlin captured in paint a man of honor and courage, a leader of his people. The
artist had wanted to go west to paint Native Americans. With this painting and the many
that were to follow, George Catlin succeeded. He had found his life’s work.

((THEME))

VOICE TWO:

Join us again next week when we continue the story of George Catlin and his efforts to paint the people of the
American West. If you have a computer that can link to the Internet, you can see Mister Catlin’s famous
painting of Blackfoot Chief Stu-mick-o-sucks and many others.

Use a search engine and type the name George Catlin, C-A-T-L-I-N. Or type Renwick Gallery, R-E-N-W-I-C-K.

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Caty Weaver 16. Our engineer was Keith Holmes.
I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Mary Tillotson. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS, a program in Special English on the
Voice of America.

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''Stu-mick-o-súcks,
Buffalo Bull's Back Fat,
head chief, Blood
Tribe,'' 1832