Dead Bison on the Prairie

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Dead Bison on the Prairie

Date

October 11, 1833

Dimensions

5 7/16 × 8 3/4 in. (13.8 × 22.2 cm)

Medium

Watercolor on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.208

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Maximilian noted in his journal that while hunting buffalo near Fort Union on October 11, the hunters often stood in their stirrups and shot from this position while running their horses at a full gallop. He remarked that they usually killed their quarry with a single shot, adding that "they quickly toss the powder into the barrel without wadding it; they keep the bullets in their mouths and let one roll onto the powder where it sticks firmly .... The bull into whose colossal body I too shot a few bullets, whenever I could stop, certainly received twenty shots before he fell down beyond the distant summits and perished."

References in Journal

October 11, 1833

Labels:

study , zoological study , Fort Union, North Dakota

Approximate Depicted Location:

Outskirts of Fort Union, North Dakota