Visual Materials

U.S. Indian Agents, Missionaries and Explorers

Description: Studio portraits of Rev. James Wilbur and G. W. Ingalls; group portrait of missionaries and Indians in western suits. Also included are four John K. Hillers photographs made during J. W. Powell's 1873 expedition to the Southwest, which included Ingalls. Pictured are Powell, Ingalls, James C. Pilling, J. E. Colburn, Thomas Moran, Nathan Adams, and Paiute Indians. Photographer: John K. Hillers; unidentified.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: approximately 1869-approximately 1915.
Call number: photCL 275
Creator: Ingalls, George W (1838-1921)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Mrs. Elizabeth A. Ingalls, 1923.
Restrictions: Advance arrangements for viewing negatives must be made in advance with the Curator of Photographs. The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.

Creek

Visual Materials

Portraits; G. W. Ingalls and others at his headquarters at Union Agency, Oklahoma territory, ca. 1874; F. B. Severs trade store at Okmulgee, with whites, Indians and African-Americans gathered in front; Ingalls and crowd at Grand Council of 1875 at Old Creek Council House. Also views of new stone Council House, boarding school and the Office of Creek Chief Samuel Checato, with men posed in front. People identified: Rev. Daniel Perryman; J. M. Perryman; Ward Coachman; Samuel Checato; G. W. Ingalls and General Shanks. Photographers: 1 carte-de-visite by Stone & Hansard (Denison, TX); John K. Hillers; unidentified.

photCL 275

Image not available

Cherokee

Visual Materials

Portraits of Cherokee Indians identified by Ingalls as missionaries, preachers and teachers. Several views of school and seminary buildings; group portraits of students and teachers; children from "Orphan Asylum" in front of U.S. Agency office; Cherokee National Female Seminary near Tahlequah, Oklahoma; Baptist Indian Institute and Theological school; scenery around Tahlequah. People identified: William P. Ross; his brother, D. H. Ross; J. A. Scales; Col. Jesse Chisholm; James Taylor; Daniel Gritts; Rev. Levi Walkingstick; Huckleberry Downing; G. W. Hicks; Adam Lacie (or Lacy); Mark Bean and Pete Markam; John R. Vann; Letitia Fields; Lydia Sixkiller; Mary Jones (daughter of a white missionary who was adopted by the Cherokee Council); Little Foot; Rev. John Buttrick Jones and family. Photographer: John K. Hillers; unidentified.

photCL 275

Image not available

Cheyenne

Visual Materials

Photographs by John K. Hillers, except three by unidentified photographers. Most are group and single portraits of Cheyenne delegates to the annual Grand Council, Okmulgee, Oklahoma, 1875. Several views of temporary encampments. [Note: Sometimes Ingalls' dates on backs of prints and his ledger captions differ by one year – 1874 or 1875]. People identified: G. W. Ingalls with group of Cheyenne, 1875; Phil McCusker, U.S. Interpreter, and wife "Minnehaha"; Little Chief; Feathered Wolf; Plenty Horses; White Shield and son; Starving Elk; Little Bear and wife; Buffalo Meat; Chief Whirlwind and wife; Wolf on the Hill and wife.

photCL 275

Image not available

Comanche

Visual Materials

Photographs by John K. Hillers, made in camps in vicinity of Grand Council, Oklahoma, ca. 1874-1875. [Note: Sometimes Ingalls' dates on backs of prints and his ledger captions differ by one year – 1874 or 1875]. People identified: Dangerous Eagle; Black Bear; Cheevers and wives; Tabenanaka and his wife.

photCL 275

Image not available

Paiute (Southern)

Visual Materials

Mostly Nevada and Southern Utah. Photographs by John K. Hillers made during expeditions with John Wesley Powell, 1873-1874. Views of wickiups; gambling; women carrying water; men with bows and arrows; portraits. Print (12a) has personal note about a Paiute woman written by Ingalls on back. Several prints stamped with credit "Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology."

photCL 275

Image not available

Nevada, various views. Francis G. Newlands residence in Reno; houses in Lake Tahoe. One view of G.W. Ingalls inside the Chamber of Commerce, Reno; exhibit of Nevada Indian arts and crafts at Nevada State Fair, Reno, 1914; Truckee river; livestock

Visual Materials

A collection of glass plate negatives and prints collected by Major George W. Ingalls, a United States Indian agent, 1872-1875, who worked among Paiute and other tribes in the West, as well as among Great Plains, Great Basin and Eastern tribes relegated to Indian Territory. Many of the photographs were made in the early 1870s and include photographs by John K. Hillers made during expeditions with John Wesley Powell in 1873 and 1874; views of Indian children attending seminary schools; portraits of tribal leaders in western suits; missionaries and churches in Indian Territory. There are also portraits of Indian delegates in Washington D.C.; portraits taken at Council meetings; and early views of Reno, Nevada, from the early 1900s. The majority of tribes represented are from Great Basin and Great Plains regions, but there are also Southwest Indian photographs by A. C. Vroman; and views of Northeast and Southeast Indian tribe members living in Indian Territory or attending annual council meetings. Notably, there is a view of a skull showing an example of head flattening (Folder 33, Item1). Many of the original prints have ink captions in Ingalls' hand. Ingalls' captions often mention if the Indians pictured are Christians or otherwise "reformed." This collection is a mixture of original and copy prints and negatives, as well as a few pieces of ephemera and some manuscript photograph lists and possible lecture notes by Ingalls.

photCL 275

U.S. Indian Agents, Missionaries and Explorers

Opening Hours

Admission Info and Tickets

You might also be interested in

Creek

Cherokee

Cheyenne

Comanche

Paiute (Southern)

Nevada, various views. Francis G. Newlands residence in Reno; houses in Lake Tahoe. One view of G.W. Ingalls inside the Chamber of Commerce, Reno; exhibit of Nevada Indian arts and crafts at Nevada State Fair, Reno, 1914; Truckee river; livestock