Camp of the Gros Ventres of the Prairies on the Upper Missouri
Engraved by Himely Printed by Bougeard
Tableau 38. Camp of the Gros Ventres of the Prairies on the Upper Missouri
$2,200.00

On August 5, 1833, below the area of the river known as the Stone Walls, and just four days before its arrival at Fort McKenzie, the keelboat with Maximilian and Bodmer on board stopped on the opposite side of the Missouri from an encampment of Atsina or Gros Ventres located at the mouth of the Judith River. Maximilian estimated that this camp comprised some two hundred tents or tipis.

The boat was besieged almost immediately by a large party from the camp who demanded to trade or to be given presents. The Atsina far outnumbered the boat's passengers and crew, who considered the situation dangerous. Bodmer had only a brief time to record the scene before getting away, and his depiction of the incident probably was made from memory.

He did, however, manage to portray the likenesses of two chiefs, Niatosha and Mexkemauastan, who boarded the keelboat at this time. A portrait of the latter was reproduced as Vignette XX in the series of prints published in Europe.

A month later when the travelers passed this same point on their return downriver to Fort Union, no trace of the Atsina camp could be seen. Bodmer's re-creation of the encounter with this tribe, showing the boat in full sail pulling away from the bank, is similar to a pencil sketch owned by the Joslyn Art Museum.

Several of Bodmer's views of the Stone Walls were featured in Tableaux 34, 35, and 41 of the atlas.

Text by David Hunt, Director, Stark Museum, Orange, Texas, USA

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