Red Horse (Lakota chief)

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Red Horse
Tasunka Luta
Red-Horse-cabinet-card.jpg
Red Horse (1822-1907), Miniconjou Sioux chief. Commercial cabinet card published by David F. Barry (1854-1934)
Born1822
Died1907
Known for Battle of the Little Bighorn

Red Horse was a sub-chief of the Miniconjou Sioux. [1] He fought in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, and in 1881 he gave one of the few detailed accountings of the event. [1] He also drew pictographs of the Little Bighorn Battle. [2] [3] Red Horse married twice and had three children. [1]

Contents

Ledger drawings

Red Horse drew 42 ledger book drawings illustrating the Battle of Little Big Horn. The drawings are held in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives, and a selection has been exhibited at the Cantor Art Center at Stanford University in the exhibition, Red Horse: Drawings of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. [4] The drawings were commissioned by Charles E. McChesney, an Army doctor. [2] The drawings were made in 1881. [5] They were drawn with colored pencil on the manilla paper. [6]

The drawings show hand-to-hand warfare in a brutally honest manner, and have been described as "the most trustworthy sort of visual depiction we have of the battle" that does not centralize General George Custer's role in the fighting. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Charlie, "Red Horse 1822-1907," Frank's Realm, www.franksrealm.com/
  2. 1 2 Meier, Allison (20 November 2015). "A Lakota Sioux Warrior's Eyewitness Drawings of Little Bighorn". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  3. LBH Forum
  4. Roberts, Jennifer (26 January 2016). "Warrior's view of the Battle of the Little Bighorn on display at Stanford's Cantor Arts Center". Stanford University. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 Riefe, Jordan (29 January 2016). "Red Horse: Native American drawings shed new light on Battle of Little Bighorn". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
  6. Boehm, Mike (5 November 2015). "Stanford to show Little Bighorn drawings by Red Horse, a Native American artist in the fight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 October 2020.

Works