A Large Mantle, made of the Buffalow skin, worn by the Scioux, or Soue, Darcota [Dakota] Nation

Object Status:

Unlocated

Primary Source Reference:

Peale Museum Accessions Book, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 43

Additional Source Text:

This artifact appears on a long list of "Articles collected by Meriwether Lewis Esqr. and William Clark Esq. in their voyage and Journey of Discovery, up the Missouri to its source and to the Pacific Ocean, presented at different periods, through the president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson."

Notes:

Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) and William Clark (1770-1838) undertook their western Expedition in 1804-1806.

The robe pictured here may once have been in the Peale Museum. It is one of the many cultural items that the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Harvard University, acquired in 1899 from Moses Kimball's Boston Museum. Kimball and P. T. Barnum jointly purchased many of the Peale collections when they were sold about 1849.This robe, probably made for a ceremonial purpose such as buffalo calling, is probably from the Upper Mississippi region (and probably Dakota), or perhaps from the Upper Missouri.

The Peale Museum also received a robe in 1796 from Gen. Anthony Wayne. See the entry “A Large Indian Mantle, made of a Buffaloe's skin and ornamented with Porcupine quills.”

John D. Godman described the Museum's robes in his American Natural History. Part I. Mastology, 3 vols. (Philadelphia, 1826-1828), 3: 21 (pictured here).