Amon Carter print details

Ballplay of the Dakota on the St. Peters River in Winter

Seth Eastman (1808-1875)

Object Details

  • Date

    1848

  • Object Type

    Paintings

  • Medium

    Oil on canvas

  • Dimensions

    25 3/4 x 35 1/4 in.

  • Inscriptions

    [None]

  • Credit Line

    Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Acquisition in memory of Mitchell A. Wilder, Director, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 1961-1979

  • Accession Number

    1979.4

  • Copyright

    Public domain

Object Description

From 1841 to 1848, Eastman served in present-day Minnesota as a commanding officer at Fort Snelling, a military outpost at the confluence of the Mississippi and the St. Peter’s Rivers (the latter renamed in 1852 the Minnesota River). Located within a place considered sacred by many Dakota people, the fort, which still stands, was a center for trade and diplomacy. During the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, the fort oversaw the incarceration of Dakota noncombatants in a nearby concentration camp.

Eastman made hundreds of sketches of the Dakota and Ojibwe who visited and lived near Fort Snelling, and he converted his drawings into illustrations for ethnographic publications and finished paintings for commercial sale, such as this work. Eastman’s second wife, Mary, explained that this scene portrays a ball game traditionally played between Dakota villages.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)

Additional details

Location: On view
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See more by Seth Eastman

Tags

Educator Resources
  • Grades 2–4

    Wintry Wonderland (monthly special; available year-round by request)

    Come on a chilly journey to learn the intricacies of individual snowflakes while viewing and discussing works of art featuring wintry wonderlands in the Carter’s collection. Discover how artists have been inspired by the beauty and wonder of snow and ice.

    Learn more and register by visiting Connect2Texas and filter for “Amon Carter Museum of American Art.” If you have questions, contact us by email or call 817.989.5011.

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