From Wilkes-Barre to the Wild West: George Catlin, Indian Painter

His early exposure to American Indians indelibly impressed northeastern Pennsylvania native George Catlin (1796–1872). His mother Mary “Polly” Sutton Catlin (1770–1844), married in 1789 to Putnam Catlin (1764–1842), formed his earliest impressions of Native Americans. With her mother Sarah Smith Sutton (1747–1834) she was captured and held captive at the age of seven by Iroquois. The day was...
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The Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Over the course of nearly thirty years, from 1879 to 1918, more than ten thousand Native American children attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Cumberland County. The brainchild of Richard Henry Pratt (1846-1924), the school’s purpose was to immerse Indian children in mainstream culture. Pratt, a former 10th Cavalry officer – ­who commanded a unit of African...
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