Event
Ledger Art Exhibit
This event has already occurred. This page is provided for reference only.
Fee:
No fee information available. Please contact the event manager.Location:
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural HistoryRepeating Event
Days:
Every day
Dates:
November 15, 2018 to December 15, 2018
Description
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will open an exhibit of a historic ledger art drawing by Cheyenne Chief Whirlwind to commemorate the 150th of the Washita. Using ledger paper to illustrate significant oral histories, Chief Whirlwind drew Cheyenne warrior Roman Nose Thunder counting coup on Maj. Elliott's detachment of the 7th US Cavalry. The drawing depicts Roman Nose Thunder charging through a hail of bullets towards the soldiers, who fire at him from the tall grass where they lie.
"Here goes for a brevet or a coffin!" are the words Maj. Joel Elliott shouted before leading the small detachment of soldiers in pursuit of fleeing Cheyenne Indians. Years later Roman Nose Thunder recalled, “They were all shooting -- not taking aim-- just shooting. So then I charged right in among them. When my horse came alongside the first soldier lying there . . . I struck him in the face, on his cheek. I counted the first coup in that fight. . .” Elliott and all 17 of his soldiers were killed. (Vestal, “Warpath and Council Fire” 159, 1948).
The discovery of Whirlwind’s ledger art is credited to Dr. Michael Jordan, Associate Professor of Ethnology at Texas Tech University, and Western National Parks Association (WNPA), the cooperating association that manages the park store. The park collaborated with Dr. Jordan and received a grant from WNPA to research “Nineteenth Century Southern Cheyenne Drawings: Documenting Tsistsistas History and Culture,” in which Dr. Jordan learned of Whirlwind’s illustration at Sam Noble. The image is used in the park’s updated 150th brochure. Come pick up a copy at the park!
"Here goes for a brevet or a coffin!" are the words Maj. Joel Elliott shouted before leading the small detachment of soldiers in pursuit of fleeing Cheyenne Indians. Years later Roman Nose Thunder recalled, “They were all shooting -- not taking aim-- just shooting. So then I charged right in among them. When my horse came alongside the first soldier lying there . . . I struck him in the face, on his cheek. I counted the first coup in that fight. . .” Elliott and all 17 of his soldiers were killed. (Vestal, “Warpath and Council Fire” 159, 1948).
The discovery of Whirlwind’s ledger art is credited to Dr. Michael Jordan, Associate Professor of Ethnology at Texas Tech University, and Western National Parks Association (WNPA), the cooperating association that manages the park store. The park collaborated with Dr. Jordan and received a grant from WNPA to research “Nineteenth Century Southern Cheyenne Drawings: Documenting Tsistsistas History and Culture,” in which Dr. Jordan learned of Whirlwind’s illustration at Sam Noble. The image is used in the park’s updated 150th brochure. Come pick up a copy at the park!