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MCKENNEY, Thomas L. (1785-1859) and James HALL (1793-1868)
Major Ridge, A Cherokee Chief.
Philadelphia: E. C. Biddle, 1837. Lithograph, hand-colored and printed by J. T. Bowen after a Charles Bird King portrait done in 1835. In excellent condition. . Image size (including text): 11 x 9 inches. Sheet size: 18 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine image from McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America' of an eminent Cherokee leader, who encouraged his people to adopt elements of white culture to preserve their homeland, and later accepted removal to Arkansas where he was killed by fellow Cherokees.
Major Ridge, Nunna Hidihi in Cherokee (c. 1770-1839) was a famous Cherokee orator, who, realizing its inevitability, encouraged his people to accept removal to Arkansas. He, his son, John, and Elias Boudinot, his nephew, were leaders of the Treaty Party. Once in Arkansas all three were killed by their opponents. The rank of Major was conferred by General Jackson during the Creek War (1813-14). On the other hand, it was Jackson who, as President, refused to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling upholding of the Cherokee claims to their property.
Mckenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America' has long been renowned for its faithful portraits of Native Americans. The portraits are largely based on paintings by the artist Charles Bird King, who was employed by the War Department to paint the Indian delegates visiting Washington D.C., forming the basis of the War Department's Indian Gallery. Most of King's original paintings were subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian, and their appearance in McKenney and Hall's magnificent work is thus our only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the nineteenth century. Numbered among King's sitters were Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola. After six years as Superintendent of Indian Trade, Thomas McKenney had become concerned for the survival of the Western tribes. He had observed unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the Native Americans for profit, and his vocal warnings about their future prompted his appointment by President Monroe to the Office of Indian Affairs. As first director, McKenney was to improve the administration of Indian programs in various government offices. His first trip was during the summer of 1826 to the Lake Superior area for a treaty with the Chippewa, opening mineral rights on their land. In 1827, he journeyed west again for a treaty with the Chippewa, Menominee , and Winebago in the present state of Michigan. His journeys provided an unparalleled opportunity to become acquainted with Native American tribes. When President Jackson dismissed him from his government post in 1839, McKenney was able to turn more of his attention to his publishing project. Within a few years, he was joined by James Hall, a lawyer who had written extensively about the west. McKenney and Hall saw their work as a way of preserving an accurate visual record of a rapidly disappearing culture. (Gilreath).
Cf. Howes M129; cf. Bennett 79; cf. Field 992; cf. Lipperheide Mc 4; cf. Reese American Color Plate Books 24; cf. Sabin 43410a, Johansen & Grinde, The Encyclopedia of Native American Biography; Horan, The McKenney-Hall Portrait Gallery of American Indians, p. 266.
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#20580 $950.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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