Bon Pas on Green’s Prairie

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Bon Pas on Green's Prairie

Date

January 1833

Dimensions

6 3/8 × 8 11/16 in. (16.2 × 22.1 cm)

Medium

Graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.71

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Commenting on his travels into Illinois in January, 1833, Maximilian observed that in many settlements men were engaged in unrestricted clearing of the forest. He noted, "Our canoe man told us that this is Congress land, and that these people fell the wood without any permission, and nobody punishes them." He added that on private or lease-held land, the settlers customarily took trees for the construction of flatboats and that again nobody was "called to account for it."

References in Journal

January 5, 1832

Labels:

structure

Approximate Depicted Location:

Bonpas Township, Illinois