A Ledger Drawing by an Unknown Southern Cheyenne or Southern Arapaho Artist, a page from the Mad Bull Ledger Book

Description
A camp scene depicting a medicine man in regalia holding a flute and eagle fan. He stands between an elaborately painted tent, a pipe and an outlined horse. The tipi is painted with splayed bird and hemispherical color fields. A penned inscription on the drawing reads, “Cheyenne with flute performing incantation / Pipe on Ground”. The inscription was likely inked by famous scout Ben Clark between 1878 and 1883 at Fort Reno, Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

Collected by Lt. Palmer Tilton, 20th U.S. Infantry, Fort Reno, IT (c.1883); Ex E. Francis Riggs, Jr., Fort Reno, IT (March 27, 1884);

Ex Carl Dentzel, Director of the Southwest Museum, Northridge, CA (c.1950); Handed down by descent, to Carl’s daughter, Santa Barbara, CA (c.1980-2008); Ex Gary Hendershott, AR (c.2010-2019);

Ex Private Collection, NY (Sept. 2019-Jan. 2020)

5 5/8” x 12 3/8” (unframed); approximately 14″ tall and 20″ wide (framed)

*Ben Clark (1842-1914) was a noted scout for the US Army during the 1860s and 1870s, and later a Cheyenne interpreter at Darlington Agency, Indian Territory. Clark served as chief of scouts for the Sully expedition and the Custer expedition in 1868 before joining General Sheridan’s staff. He likely penned inscriptions in the Mad Bull Ledger Book at Fort Reno (present day Oklahoma), between 1878 and 1883.