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MCKENNEY, Thomas L. (1785-1859) and James HALL (1793-1868)
Tshusick, an Ojibway Woman.
Philadelphia: E. C. Biddle, 1836. Hand-coloured lithograph. In excellent condition. Image size (including text): 14 1/4 x 10 inches. Sheet size: 18 x 12 3/4 inches.
A fine image from McKenney and Hall's 'Indian Tribes of North America': `One of the most important [works] ever published on the American Indians' (Field),` a landmark in American culture' (Horan) and an invaluable contemporary record of a vanished way of life.
Claiming to have walked from Detroit through the wintry wilds after her husband's death, Tshusick appeared in Georgetown seeking the protection and guidance of First Lady Louisa Adams, whose sister, Harriet Boyd, she claimed to have known while working in the household of Lewis Cass, the governor of Michigan. She also expressed a wish to be baptised, which won the hearts of many. The Chippewa woman quickly became Mrs. Adams' social companion and the darling of Washington society, charming everyone she encountered with her fluency in French, flawless etiquette, and remarkable skill as a seamstress. A very handsome, petite woman, Tshusick was courted and seen around Washington with General Alexander Macomb, soon to be Chief of Staff. She was later baptised in Georgetown, escorted to the baptismal font by Thomas McKenney himself, and re-named Lucy Cornelia Barbour after the daughter and wife of the Secretary of War. Always somewhat skeptical of the authenticity of her story however, McKenney wrote to Governor Cass to verify her story. Mentioning to Tshusick that he had written Cass, she immediately made plans to depart. Her new friends poured lavish gifts upon her as she left. Sometime later, Cass's reply to McKenney arrived revealing that Tshusick's French husband was alive and working in the Governor's stables and that Tshusick was a well-known con woman. McKenney pursued her next time he visited the west, but he could never track her down. The Chippewa (Ojibwa) were the most widespread and powerful tribe in the Great Lakes area.
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, Keokuk, and Black Hawk. 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 1830, 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
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#20583 $1,500.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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