Canoe Race Near Sault Ste. Marie

George Catlin, Canoe Race Near Sault Ste. Marie, 1836-1837, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.434
Copied George Catlin, Canoe Race Near Sault Ste. Marie, 1836-1837, oil on canvas, 19 5⁄8 x 27 1⁄2 in. (49.7 x 70.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.434
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Canoe Race Near Sault Ste. Marie
Artist
Date
1836-1837
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
19 5⁄8 x 27 1⁄2 in. (49.7 x 70.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Recreation — sport and play — boating
  • Travel — water — canoe
  • Indian — Ojibwa
  • Landscape — Michigan — Sault Ste. Marie
  • Western
  • Landscape — river
Object Number
1985.66.434
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.434

Artwork Description

“. . . one of their favourite amusements at this place, which I was lucky enough to witness a few miles below the Sault, when high bettings had been made, and a great concourse of Indians had assembled to witness an Indian regatta; or canoe race, which went off with great excitement, firing of guns, yelping, &c. The Indians in this vicinity are all Chippeways, and their canoes all made of birch bark, and chiefly of one model; they are exceedingly light, as I have before described, and propelled with wonderful velocity.” George Catlin sketched this scene during a journey to the Pipestone Quarry (in present-day Minnesota) in 1836. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 54, 1841; reprint 1973)