George Catlin, Square Hills, 1200 Miles above St. Louis, 1832, oil on canvas, 11 1⁄4 x 14 3⁄8 in. (28.5 x 36.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.395
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Square Hills, 1200 Miles above St. Louis
- Artist
- Date
- 1832
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 11 1⁄4 x 14 3⁄8 in. (28.5 x 36.6 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- oil on canvas
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Landscape — river
- Western
- Landscape — mountain — Square Hills
- Object Number
- 1985.66.395
Artwork Description
“An hundred miles above [Belle Vue], I passed a curious feature, called the ‘Square Hills’ . . . On ascending them I found them to be two or three hundred feet high, and rising on their sides at an angle of 45 degrees; and on their tops, in some places, for half a mile in length, perfectly level, with a green turf, and corresponding exactly with the tabular hills spoken of above the Mandans.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 32, 1841; reprint 1973)
