Guide to Comanche drawing of two Comanche men wearing breastplates, 1868

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of one (1) drawing on one leaf of unruled paper. The drawing depicts two men wearing breastplates. One of the men is wearing face paint and holding a mirror board. The other man is wearing a set of hairplates. The drawing is inscribed "Drawings Made by a Comanche Indian" and "Presentd by Dr E Palmer".

The drawing was created in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). It was likely collected somewhere between Fort Cobb and the Wichita and Kiowa and Comanche agencies in Eureka Valley (Anadarko, Oklahoma). The date and place of creation were assigned based on information regarding Dr. Palmer's travels in Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.

Sources used:

Rogers McVaugh. Edward Palmer - Plant Explorer of the American West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1956.

Biographical Note

In 1868, Dr. Edward Palmer was hired to serve as the agency physician at the newly established Kiowa and Comanche Agency in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Palmer and the rest of the agency personnel set out in January, arriving in the vicinity of Fort Cobb on 19 February. The agent, Colonel Leavenworth, dismissed Palmer on 4 May, complaining that he spent too much time collecting zoological and botanical specimens and not enough tending to the medical needs of the Kiowa and Comanche. Following his dismissal, Palmer took up residence at the adjacent Wichita Agency. In early June, Palmer received word that some of the Kiowa and Comanche were plotting to kill him. Consequently, he left the Wichita Agency and traveled to Cherokee Town. From Cherokee Town Palmer made several excursions to collect specimens. He left Indian Territory in September, arriving back in Leavenworth, Kansas on October 10, 1868. In addition to the zoological and botanical specimens Palmer collected during his stint in Indian Territory, he also acquired ethnological specimens from the Kiowa, Comanche, and Wichita.