Although best known as a graphic artist, George Catlin was also an important writer about the Native Americans of the frontier West, a fact that will doubtless be increasingly recognized as the canon of American literature continues to expand. Like his striking graphics, Catlin's writing about the North American Indians combines accurate documentation and romantic vision, creating the artistic tension that obtains in the best painting and writing from the so-called American Renaissance of the mid nineteenth century. His mixture of illustrations and prose creates a rich intertextuality that makes his work arresting in form as well as in content. Catlin is also an intriguing figure in American culture as much for his persona--the artist as innocent, inspired entrepreneur--as for his artistry.

Born 26 July 1796 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, George Catlin grew up in the Susquehanna Valley, then little removed from its frontier existence. His father, Putnam Catlin, a decorated...