CHARLES MILTON BELL. Sioux Delegation, Washington, 1891. 15 x 20" mammoth plate albumen print mounted on 18x24" heavy beige board. From the collection of Kurt Koegler. Includes American Horse from lots 5039 and 5040.[In negative]
Copyright by C. M. BELL
[On mount front, in ink, numbers to cross reference with subject's names]
[Mount front, under image, printed names with numbers in ink, some words are illegible due to a layer over them, or the top layer of paper is missing above and below print are numbers corresponding to the number before each name below.]

SIOUX DELEGATION
1. High Hawk. 2. Fire Lightning. 3. F. D. Lewis. 4. Zanhier. 5. He Dog. 6. Hump. 7. Little Wound. 8. High Pine. 9. Spotted Horse. 10. Two Strike. 11. Fast Thunder. 12. American Horse. 13. Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses. 14. Maj. Geo. Sword. 15. [Illegible] 16. Spotted Elk. 17. [illegible] shangrau. 18. P. T. Johnson. 19. Big Road. 20. Bat Pouriea.

[Mount back, in ink] /gift of /Mrs. Dorothy Leurs/Occidental College/April 12 1934/Photo of Sioux Delegation to Washington, 1891/Given by F. D. Leurs to Southwest Mu ["Southwest Mu" crossed out]/Mrs. Leurs gave 10 individual photographs of/Indians in this large picture & a manuscript account of the Sioux situation - 1891/[crossed out illegible word] in Library/[Mount back, in pencil]/F [encircled]/Mrs J M Lewis/1114-15th/6451/English matts/In old [illegible]/K-132 (Kurt Koegler inventory number)/[Mount back, post-it, in red ink]/154.

[Caption in Native American Portraits, pg. 59,The Kurt Koegler Collection] "Charles M. Bell was a Washington, D. C., photographer who worked with his father and brothers in a studio on Pennsylvania Avenue. This picture was taken in 1891, after the devastating battle at Wounded Knee. The members of the delegation, numbered beneath the photograph, include High Hawk (1), Hump (6), Little Wound (7), American Horse (12), Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses (13), and John Shangrau (17), a half-breed scout."

Herman Viola, p. 70 writes "...going to Washington was no casual undertaking. It was akin to joining a war party and might be viewed in life-and-death terms. This attitude was reported as late as 1891 by a journalist observing a delegation of Sioux Indians preparing to leave Pine Ridge. While the men were in the agency headquarters receiving last-minute instructions, their wives and children were outside singing and chanting. "The singing," the reporter was told "advised the men they were going into danger and they should be brave like their fathers." (Chicago Herald, Jan 29, 1891)

Herman Viola P. 140 writes about the group going to church, "a cynical writer for the Washington Star when announcing the Sioux delegation would be at church the following Sunday. They go, he wrote, "not because they are piously inclined, but, like a great many of their white brethren...to hear the music and see the people."(footnote 20: Washington Evening Star January 31, 1891.

Charles Milton Bell (1848-1893) was one of Washington's leading portrait photographers during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The studio became known for its large collection of portraits of Washington notables, including politicians, leading businessmen and educators, embassy officials and distinguished visitors from other countries, church leaders, athletes and entertainers, and members of Washington's black middle class.

From his first year in business onwards, Bell regularly photographed Indian visitors to the capital, prompted by Ferdinand V. Hayden, director of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories. Bell also made photographs of Indians for the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of American Ethnology, as well as for his own purposes.

Bell enjoyed a congenial business relationship with the Grover Cleveland administration and made many portaits of Cleveland's bride, Frances Folsom Cleveland, after their marriage, as well as portraits at the second Cleveland inauguration.

In addition to studio portraiture, Bell captured some street scenes and public events, such as openings of Congress, treaty signings, and parades. He also provided photographic copies of documents and works of art, and he produced architectural photographs, including major public buildings, residences, schools, and churches.
Credit: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/c-m-bell-studio-photographs.html

Very Rich print, 10 on a scale of 10. Mount is fragile has dirt, tears and wear. Print has some minor edge chipping.