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 5827 12 in. (49.770.0 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
Date
1836-1837
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
19 5827 12 in. (49.770.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape — river
  • Western
  • Recreation — sport and play — boating
  • Travel — water — canoe
  • Indian — Ojibwa
  • Landscape — Michigan — Sault Ste. Marie
Object Number
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)