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MCKENNEY, Thomas L. (1785-1859) and James HALL (1793-1868)
Paddy-Carr, Creek Interpreter
Philadelphia: F. W. Greenough, 1838. Hand-coloured lithograph by J. T. Bowen. Excellent condition . Image size (including text): 11 7/8 x 9 3/4 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.
The son of a Creek mother and the Irish trader Tom Carr, Paddy Carr (1808 - c. 1840) is one of the most interesting figures in the Muskogee (Creeks is a white man's designation) history of the pre-Civil War era. He was raised as an orphan in the household of the Creek Indian Agent John Crowell, where he became fluent in English. At nineteen, he went as chief interpreter for the Creek delegation to Washington in 1826 to dispute the Indian Springs Treaty. Both his interpretive and diplomatic skills helped bring about the invalidation of Indian Springs and creation of a new Treaty of Washington, by which the Creeks were permitted to retain a portion of their land on the Alabama-Georgia border.
Having inherited a significant amount of land through marriage, Paddy Carr became a successful planter and trader, and a slave owner. In 1836, (when McKenney was beginning publication) he was a owner of a large plantation with a mansion, three attractive wives (one the daughter of William McIntosh) and perhaps 80 slaves. He also kept a stable of fine racehorses. A semi-accepted member of Alabama society, he was second in command of an mercenary Creek militia of 500 to 800 that fought with the U. S. Army in the Second Seminole War in 1836. Despite this service, he was soon compelled to leave the Chattahoochee Valley and go to Oklahoma in 1837, with the rest of the Creeks. His large household of wives, children and slaves made theno mention has been found regarding the racehorses. His beautiful mansion was confiscated.
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 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. BAL 6934; cf. Bennett p.79; cf. Field 992; cf. Howes M129; cf. Lipperhiede Mc4; cf. Reese, American Color Plate Books 24; Sabin 43410a
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#20597 $1,250.00 
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© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
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