Karl Bodmer, (1809-1893), is among the most important 19th-century artists of the American West and Native Americans. Bodmer accompanied the German prince, Maximilian of Wied, on an expedition up the Missouri River in 1832. With Bodmer in charge of the pictorial documentary, Prince Maximilian, an experienced and respected traveler and naturalist, set out to put together as complete a study as possible of the western territories of the United States. The result was the publication of Maximilian's journals in successive German, French, and English editions between 1839 and 1844, and with it, a picture atlas of eighty-one aquatint engravings of Bodmer's watercolor paintings. The images presented the peoples of the Manadan, Cree, Sioux, Blackfoot, Minnataree, Assiniboin, and Gros Ventres tribes. The images are beautifully rendered landscapes, portraits, and scenes of Indian life which are now regarded as one of the most comprehensive and memorable visual surveys of the western territories ever made. Bodmer's original watercolors are in the permanent collection of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. These aquatints are the only Bodmer images available to collectors.

This aquatint (Tab 4) is based on an original drawing by Bodmer and depicts the side wheeler steamboat Yellowstone sailing on the Missouri River. Bodmer and Prince Maxmillian were sailing on the steamship when it ran aground on a sandbar in April 1833. This image shows a small boat making trips between the steamship and the shore to unload some of the cargo and lighten the load. Engraved by Lucas Weber and published by Ackermann & Co. Plate size is 16.8 x 13.5" and sheet size is 25.4" x 19.6". The "C. Bodmer / Direct" blindstamp is just below the plate mark at bottom center.

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Condition: A+

Superb color on a bright, sturdy sheet with wide margins. There is minor soiling and creasing along the far edges of the sheet.