| | 6 | Author: | Catlin
George
1796-1872 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | O-kee-pa, a Religious Ceremony, and Other Customs of the Mandans  | | | | Published: | 2004 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | In a narrative of fourteen years' travels and residence amongst the
native tribes of North and South America, entitled `Life amongst
the Indians,' and published in London and in Paris, several years
since, I gave an account of the tribe of Mandans,—their personal
appearance, character, and habits; and briefly alluded to the singular
and unique custom which is now to be described, and was then
omitted, as was alleged, for want of sufficient space for its insertion,—
the "O-kee-pa," an annual religious ceremony, to the strict observance
of which those ignorant and superstitious people attributed not
only their enjoyment in life, but their very existence; for traditions,
their only history, instructed them in the belief that the singular
forms of this ceremony produced the buffalos for their supply of food,
and that the omission of this annual ceremony, with its sacrifices
made to the waters, would bring upon them a repetition of the
calamity which their traditions say once befell them, destroying the
whole human race, excepting one man, who landed from his canoe
on a high mountain in the West. "We hereby certify that we witnessed, with Mr. Catlin, in the Mandan
village, the ceremonies represented in the four paintings to which this certificate
refers, and that he has therein represented those scenes as we saw
them enacted, without addition or exaggeration. "We hereby certify that we witnessed, in company with Mr. Catlin, in the
Mandan village, the ceremony represented in the four paintings to which this
certificate refers, and that he has therein represented those scenes as we saw
them transacted, without any addition or exaggeration. "To George Catlin, Esq. "To Thomas Potts, Esq., Edinburgh, Scotland. "To George Catlin, Esq., City of New York. "No man can appreciate better than myself the admirable fidelity of
your Indian Collection and Indian book, which I have lately examined. They
are equally spirited and accurate; they are true to nature. Things that are,
are not sacrificed, as they too often are by the painter, to things as (in his
judgment) they should be. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 7 | Author: | Catlin
George
1796-1872 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio | | | | Published: | 2004 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | By whatever means, at what time soever, or for what end, Man and ferocious Beasts have been placed upon the almost boundless prairies, and through the rude and Rocky
Mountains of America: and for what wise purposes soever the dates and sources of their origin have been sealed in impenetrable mystery; it is a truth incontrovertible, that such
were found to be the joint inhabitants of all that important half of the globe; and a truth rendered of tenfold interest at the present time, from the lamentable fact that both
are rapidly travelling to extinction before the destructive waves of civilisation, which seem destined soon to roll over the remotest parts of the continent. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 10 | Author: | Jack
George S. | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | History of Roanoke County | | | | Published: | 2004 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | By GEORGE S. JACK This is to certify that Lieutenant C. C. Taliaferro was a
member of Company "C," Captain Brad Brown, of the Battalion
of Scouts, Guides, and Couriers, that was attached to the Headquarters
of the Army of Northern Virginia, then under the command
of General Robert E. Lee. He rendered faithful service
as a scout and courier, often accompanying the General and
members of his Staff on the field of battle, and was with me on the
tenth day of May 1864, in the hottest of the fight on that day and
the successful charge made by our troops to recover portion
of our line seized on one side of what is known now as
"Bloody Angle," near Spottsylvania Court House. He was
wounded in the army that afternoon, but in due time returned
to duty, and was paroled at Appomattox. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
| 11 | Author: | Wied
Maximilian
Prinz von
1782-1867 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Travels in the Interior of North America | | | | Published: | 2004 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | "New Orleans, June 6, 1838.—The southern parts of the United States, particularly Florida, Alabama,
and Louisiana, are as healthy as can be wished; there has been no appearance of the yellow fever, and even at
the Havannah only a few isolated cases have occurred. During the autumn, winter, and spring, the small-pox
has carried off many victims among the Whites, and thousands of the Indians; but it has now wholly disappeared
in the territory of the Union, in consequence of a general vaccination of persons of all ages. On the other hand,
we have, from the trading posts on the western frontier of the Missouri, the most frightful accounts of the ravages
of the small-pox among the Indians. The destroying angel has visited the unfortunate sons of the wilderness
with terrors never before known, and has converted the extensive hunting grounds, as well as the peaceful settlements
of those tribes, into desolate and boundless cemeteries. The number of the victims within a few months
is estimated at 30,000, and the pestilence is still spreading. The warlike spirit which but lately animated the
several Indian tribes, and but a few months ago gave reason to apprehend the breaking-out of a sanguinary war,
is broken. The mighty warriors are now the prey of the greedy wolves of the prairie, and the few survivors, in
mute despair, throw themselves on the pity of the Whites, who, however, can do but little to help them. The
vast preparations for the protection of the western frontier are superfluous: another arm has undertaken the
defence of the white inhabitants of the frontier; and the funereal torch, that lights the red man to his dreary
grave, has become the auspicious star of the advancing settler, and of the roving trader of the white race. Voyages to North America are become everyday occurrences, and little more is to be related
of them than that you met and saluted ships, had fine or stormy weather, and the like; here,
therefore, we shall merely say that our party embarked at Helvoetsluys, on board an American
ship, on the 17th of May, in the evening, and on the 24th saw Land's End, Cornwall, vanish in
the misty distance, and bade farewell to Europe. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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