Publisher's Synopsis
"In the early nineteenth century, Prince Maximilian Of Wied traveled the length of the Missouri River on an excursion to uncover what he called "the natural face of North America"-its landscapes, flora and fauna, and particularly its Native inhabitants. Among his small party was the young Swiss artist Karl Bodmer (1809-1893), who would prove to be one of the most accomplished and prolific artists to visit the American frontier. Departing St. Louis in April 1833, Bodmer and Maximilian would travel over 2,500 miles through the heart of North America before reaching Fort McKenzie in present-day Montana, spending time among the Omaha, Otoe, and Pawnee; the Yankton and Santee Sioux; and the Assiniboines, Plains Cree, Blackfeet, Piegans, Bloods, and Gros Ventre. At their winter quarters at Fort Clark, they made intimate acquaintances among the Mandan and Hidatsa. Bodmer's watercolors, executed in the field and upon his return to Europe, remai