1837-44 Chon-Man-I-Case, Otto Native American Mckenny & Hall Lithograph Framed

Description

1837-44 Chon-Man-I-Case, Otto Native American, Mckenny & Hall Lithograph, Framed. Matted Image size 10" wide x 14" tall. Lithograph size 17.5" tall x 12.5" wide. Frame size 17.5" wide x 21.5" tall. Post 1837 Modern Print, probably 1970-1980. Free insured parcel delivery. Adult signature required.
Circa 1837-1844 Chon-Man-I-Case (or Chonmonicase or Shaumonekusse) Otto Half Chief. Native American Mckenny & Hall Stone Lithograph.
Shaumonekusse was distinguished early in life as a daring, active, and successful warrior. We are not aware of his having any hereditary claims to the chieftainship of his tribe, to which he has risen gradually by his own merits. He is a person of deep penetration, and is capable of acting with much duplicity on any occasion when he may consider it politic to conceal his real views. Having had intercourse with the traders, from his infancy, he has acquired an intimate knowledge of the character of the white men, and has studied to turn this acquisition to advantage. The Otto have always maintained friendly relations with the American people, and it was, therefore, not difficult for this chief to cultivate the good opinion of such of our countrymen as visited the distant shores of the upper Missouri. The Otto and the Missouri are remnants of numerous and warlike nations which once roamed over these boundless plains, the monarchs of all they surveyed, but which are now so greatly reduced, that the whole number of the warriors in both tribes together is not more than two hundred. Being united by the closest friend ship, they have cast their lots in union, and act together as one people; and small as is their aggregated force, they have sustained themselves with such uniform bravery and good conduct as to command the respect of the tribes around them. They are more indebted to Shaumonekusse than to any other individual for the high reputation they have maintained, as he is not only one of the boldest of their warriors, but is very expert and politic in the management of their affairs. He is more commonly known to the whites by the name of Ietan, or, as the French traders denominate him, L’letan, a title which was given him in consequence of some exploit against the tribe of that name; probably on account of his having slain an Ietan warrior of distinction.
In the progress of our work we have found no small difficulty in settling the orthography of proper names. Not only are the Indian languages unwritten, but the interpreters, through whom most of our information is necessarily communicated, are illiterate persons, who arbitrarily affix to words the pronunciation which suits their own fancy, or which accords best with their own national or local idiom. Thus the Indians, who call themselves Saukies, are denominated Sacs by the French, and Sauk by the Americans; and the names of many of the chiefs are given with such variations by different travelers that it is sometimes difficult to recognize them. The names which are attached to the portraits in this work are, with a few exceptions, those which we found written upon them in the gallery at the War Office, and which were dictated by the per sons who attended the chiefs as interpreters, in their visit to Washington. Whether they have been changed in copying we cannot say; but some of them are evidently incorrect. We have, however, in most cases, left them unaltered, preferring to make our corrections in the biographical notices, rather than alter that which may have been written on authority better than our own. Whether the individual now before us should be called Chonmonicase, or Shaumonekusse is a question which we suppose will never excite as much curiosity as has been awakened by the rival claims for the birth-place of Homer; we have, nevertheless, taken some pains “to arrive at the proper reading, and have adopted the latter, on the authority of the writers of Long’s First Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, in which we place implicit confidence.