American Art Collaborative

After everyone had arrived at the rendezvous, the Snake Indians, led by Chief Ma-wo-ma, staged a grand entry in honor of Captain Stewart. "Some of the dresses were magnificent," Miller wrote as he recalled the parade, "and although vermillion was worth four dollars per oz., a lavish use of that article was exhibited on their bodies and faces." Miller's friend, the missionary William H. Gray, was otherwise impressed, noting that some of the marchers were naked or hardly clothed at all. Miller worked his sketches into a large oil version of this scene (now in the collection of the Oklahoma Historical Society) after he returned to Baltimore in 1839. He shipped it to New York for exhibition and transport to Liverpool. It was shown at the Apollo Gallery as a sequel to his spring and summer exhibition that had already been shipped to Murthly. This small watercolor was a part of the commission that Miller received from William T. Walters.