Hodges Soileau: Spotted Tail

Artist: Hodges Soileau
1943 -
Nationality: American
Artwork Year: 1982
Image Size: 13 by 15.5 inches
Overall Size: 17.5 by 19.75 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Water Color Paper

Spotted Tail (Sinte-Galeska) of the Brulé Sioux came into Fort Laramie on October 15, 1855, offering to give his life so that his tribe might be spared destruction. This incident followed the Grattan Massacre in which Sioux warriors killed Lieutenant John Grattan and 29 soldiers who entered a Brulé camp and opened fire while in search of a missing cow. To punish the Brulés the Army sent a force under General W.S. Harney against those believed responsible. In hopes of ending the violence, Spotted Tail and some others rode into Fort Laramie singing their death songs. General Harney sent the Brulés to Fort Leavenworth to be hanged, but President Franklin Pierce pardoned them and returned them to their villages. During Spotted Tail's imprisonment he learned English and became aware of the necessity to compromise in order to survive. Spotted Tail was considered a traitor by some, a peacemaker by others. He was one of the first to sign the Treaty of 1868, on April 29. To U.S. officials he was known as a chief who kept his word. When the government offered to buy the sacred Black Hills for six million dollars, however, Spotted Tail demanded sixty million. Yet he refused to join Sitting Bull's resistance, and took no part in the war that included the Custer battle. Like many other Sioux sub-tribes, the Brulés split into two factions, and Spotted Tail was killed by an enemy while leaving a tribal council on the Rosebud Reservation on August 5, 1881.

This painting originally appeared on the Fleetwood® Spotted Tail Commemorative Cover postmarked April 29, 1982.

Artwork Copyright © 1982 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB07511

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