George Catlin, Floyd’s Grave, 1832

George Catlin, Floyd’s Grave, Where Lewis & Clark Buried Sergeant Floyd in 1804, 1932, oil on canvas, 11 1/4 x 14 3/8 in., collection SAAM Had a fascinating conversation with a scholar working on early 19th century American painting, and we talked some about George Catlin. Though I’ve long been interested in Catlin’s unusual and sometimes problematic career, I did not know about this painting. Catlin spent the 1830s exploring and painting Native American culture up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. His first trip was with William Clark, of Lewis & Clark. Which might be how he came to know this site, on the top of a hill above the Missouri, 1,200 miles north of St Louis, where Lewis & Clark buried Charles Floyd, who died just four months into their 1804 expedition. Catlin returned to it multiple times. George Catlin, Floyd’s Grave, Where Lewis & Clark Buried Sergeant Floyd in 1804, 1832 [americanart.si.edu]