Fire Thunder, Man Afraid of His Horses and Pipe

Series TitleScenes in Indian Country

Artist Alexander Gardner (American, born Scotland, 1821 - 1882)

Date1868

MediumAlbumen print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 9 9/16 × 12 13/16 inches (24.29 × 32.54 cm)
Mount: 14 1/16 × 19 1/8 inches (35.72 × 48.58 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.253

SignedTyped on mount recto, lower left: "A. Garnder, Photographer,"; Typed on mount recto, lower right: "511 Seventh Street, Washington.";

InscribedInscribed with names of subjects on mount recto, bottom center, in pencil: "Man afraid of his horses / Fire Thunder / Pipe"; Typed on mount recto, lower center: "Scenes in the Indian Country."

Markingsnone

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of three American Indian figures wrapped in blankets standing in field.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Developing Greatness: the Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – December 30, 2007, no. 390.

Across the Indian Country: Photographs by Alexander Gardner, 1867-1868. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, July 25, 2014 - January 11, 2015, Jane L. Aspinwall, Alexander Gardner The Western Photographs, 1867 – 1868, 2014, no. 67.

Gallery Label

Thanks to his official connections in Washington, D.C., Alexander Gardner photographed many of the American Indian delegates who came to the national capital to negotiate treaties. In 1868, he traveled to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to record peace commission meetings with various regional tribes, including the Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne and Crow peoples. Gardner's most spontaneous images were made in the temporary encampments around the fort.

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