Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
December 28, 1809
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.
White bison hides were "an enormously valued commodity and ceremonial item among the nations of the Missouri River. It is unlikely the explorers bartered, or even could have bartered, for an item so valuable. . . . These white bison hide items must have been chiefly gifts, perhaps presented by either Black Cat or Sheheke, two Mandan chiefs who were particularly hospitable to the captains." Castle McLaughlin, The Arts of Diplomacy: Lewis & Clark's Indian Collection (Seattle, 2003), pp. 60-61
