First Edition. Paul Kane (1810-1871) was born in Ireland. He came to Canada with his parents as a child, studied art in the United States, France and Italy, and returned to Canada in 1845, beginning at once to travel extensively and paint scenes of wilderness life. He made several trips through the wilderness of Canada and the Pacific Northwest, the most extensive one in the company of Sir George Simpson beginning in 1846, travelling to the Red River, Norway House, up the Saskatchewan to Fort Assiniboine, then on to Jasper's House and across the Rockies to the Columbia, arriving at Fort Vancouver on December 8 of that year; he departed the following summer, and spent another year wandering before returning to his home.

First Edition. Paul Kane (1810-1871) was born in Ireland. He came to Canada with his parents as a child, studied art in the United States, France and Italy, and returned to Canada in 1845, beginning at once to travel extensively and paint scenes of wilderness life. He made several trips through the wilderness of Canada and the Pacific Northwest, the most extensive one in the company of Sir George Simpson beginning in 1846, travelling to the Red River, Norway House, up the Saskatchewan to Fort Assiniboine, then on to Jasper's House and across the Rockies to the Columbia, arriving at Fort Vancouver on December 8 of that year; he departed the following summer, and spent another year wandering before returning to his home.

Kane's excellent depictions of Native Americans are reproduced in striking chromolithography and place Kane with Catlin, Bodmer and Miller as among the few trained artists who were able to capture the western indigenous peoples before the obliteration of their culture. Graff notes the "excellent impressions of the fine plates," and remarks that the text is based on the author's journal put into narrative form. According to Tweney, Kane spent time with the Whitmans at Walla Walla in 1847, warning them of impending danger from the Indians, and sketched the only known likeness of Dr. Whitman made from life. He became famous for his paintings of Native Americans from the Canadian West and the Pacific Northwest. The body of his work consisted of more than 700 sketches and over 100 oil paintings completed in his studio that exemplified the strong influence of the European classics.

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