Edward Sheriff Curtis, 1868-1952

Edward S. Curtis, 1889

Haunting and beautiful, the iconic images of Native Americans captured in the camera’s lens by Edward S. Curtis remain the most imminent documentation of the ending of an era.  He was a great photographer but it’s the strength, dignity and pride shown in the faces of the people that most captivates our imagination, provokes our admiration and adds to our fascination with the history of our indigenous people, the American Indians.


In 1895 Curtis became fascinated with the various Indian groups around the Seattle area. He later wrote, "The first photograph I ever made of Indians was of Princess Angeline, the digger and dealer of clams. I paid the Princess a dollar for each picture I made. This seemed to please her greatly and with hands and jargon she indicated that she preferred to spend her time having her picture made than in digging clams."


Fig. 1:  Princess Angeline (whose given name was Kickisomlo), the daughter of the late, great Chief Sealth, for whom Seattle was named.  Angeline died on the edge of the city's skid row, May 31, 1896.
Fig. 2:  "Homeward" - One of three of Curtis' images chosen for an exhibition sponsored by the National Photographic Society in 1898. It went on to win the exhibition's grand prize and a gold medal.
Fig. 3:  Geronimo - Apache (1905), Description by Edward S. Curtis: This portrait of the historical old Apache was made in March, 1905. According to Geronimo's calculation he was at the time seventy-six years of age, thus making the year of his birth 1829. The picture was taken at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the day before the inauguration of President Roosevelt, Geronimo being one of the warriors who took part in the inaugural parade at Washington.
Fig. 4:  Navajo medicine man - Nesjaja Hatali, c. 1907. Description by Edward S. Curtis: A well-known Navaho medicine-man. While in the Cañon de Chelly the writer witnessed a very interesting four days' ceremony given by the Wind Doctor. Nesjaja Hatali was also assistant medicine-man in two nine days' ceremonies studied - one in Cañon del Muerto and the other in this portfolio (No. 39) is reproduced from one made and used by this priest-doctor in the Mountain Chant.

Beginning in the summer of 1900, Edward S. Curtis embarked on a trip that was to change his life forever.  Over the next 30 years Curtis took over 40,000 images of Native Americans and recorded ethnographic information from over 80 Indian tribal groups, produced around 10,000 was cylinder sound recordings of Indian speech and music, made at least 125 trips across the country by train having started his efforts traveling via horse drawn wagon over barely passable trails carrying all his photographic equipment.  Many of his images were made with a 14 by 17 inch view camera some of which were taken inside a specially designed tent studio with its own skylight.  Thus began a photographic odyssey that resulted in a 20-volume collection, The North American Indian.





Curtis was meticulous in his photography and made prints from his glass-plate negatives using five different processes; Photogravure, Platinum, Silver, oldtone/Orotone and Cyanotype.  These original prints are valuable and highly sought after.

Note:  The New York Times recently (January, 2009) announced the printing of a limited-edition set of oversize prints from six of Edward S. Curtis’s original glass-plate negatives.  Each image measures 21” by 27” printed on 26” by 32” paper and embossed with a facsimile of Curtis’s signature.  The first printing is limited to 285 prints which will sell in a price range of $675 to $950 each.

Edward S. Curtis died on October 19, 1952 in relative obscurity.  The New York Times provided a brief obituary calling him an expert in Native American history and mentioning that he was also known as a photographer.

Abbreviated Time Line:

1868 Curtis is born near Whitewater, Wisconsin and grows up near Cordova, Minnesota.
1891 Curtis buys into a photo studio with Rothi, and later starts a new photographic studio in Seattle with Guptill.
1895 Curtis meets and photographs Princess Angeline (c1800-1896) aka Kickisomlo, the daughter of Chief Sealth of Seattle.
1898 and 1899 On Mount Rainier, Curtis meets a group of scientists, including anthropologist George Bird Grinnell and C. Hart Merriam and is appointed official photographer for E. H. Harriman's Alaska Expedition.
1900 Curtis accompanies George Bird Grinnell to the Piegan Reservation in northwest Montana to photograph the Sun Dance ceremony.
1903 Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé visits the Curtis studio and has his portrait taken. Curtis hires Adolph Muhr (?-1912) to run the studio while he is away working on photography and trying to get financing in New York and Washington, D.C..
1904 President Theodore Roosevelt invites Curtis to photograph his children after seeing Curtis' winning photograph in "The Prettiest Children in America" contest published in Ladies' Home Journal and Louisa Satterlee, daughter-in-law of financier J.P. Morgan, purchases Curtis photographs at an exhibit in New York City.
1905 Curtis photographs Geronimo.
1906 Curtis secures funds from J.P. Morgan for the field work to produce a twenty volume illustrated text American Indians, to be completed in five years which actually takes twenty-four years to complete.
1907 Volume 1 of The North American Indian is published, with a foreword by Theodore Roosevelt.
1913 J.P. Morgan dies, but his son decides to continue funding The North American Indian until finished.  Volume 9 is published.
1915 Volume 10 and 11 published. No additional volumes published for the next six years.
1916 Clara Curtis files for divorce.
1927 Curtis' Alaska trip culminates three decades of fieldwork. Beth, Curtis’ daughter, invites Curtis' youngest daughter Katherine to spend the Christmas holiday with the family at Florence's home in Medford, Oregon. This is the first time Curtis has ever been together with all of his children and the first time in thirteen years that Katherine has seen her father.
1930 Volume 20 published. Clara and Katherine are still living in Seattle and operating his old studio and in1932 with the death of his ex-wife Clara, daughter Katherine moves to California.
1935 Materials remaining from The North American Indian project, including copper photogravure plates, are sold to the Charles E. Lauriat Company, a rare book dealer in Boston. Curtis tries to earn money by gold-mining and farming.
1947 Moves to Whittier, California into the home of his daughter, Beth and her husband Manford Magnuson.
1952 Curtis dies in Los Angeles in the home of his daughter Beth.

Online References

Edward S. Curtis Gallery
Edward Sheriff Curtis: The North American Indian at the Library of Congress
Edward Sheriff Curtis: The North American Indian at the Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois.
Flury & Company, Ltd. - Edward S. Curtis: Biography, The North American Indian Project, and Photographic Process
PBS, American Masters Series – Shadow Catcher by George Horse Capture
Soulcatcherstudio – Edward S. Curtis and The North American Indian
Wikipedia – Edward S. Curtis

Short Suggested Bibliography

Edward S. Curtis: Coming to Light by Anne Makepeace
Edward S. Curtis: The Life and Times of a Shadow Catcher by Barbara A. Davis
Edward S. Curtis: The Women by Anne Makepeace
Edward Sheriff Curtis: Visions of the First Americans by Don Gulbrandsen
Sacred Legacy: Edward S Curtis and The North American Indian by Joseph Horse Capture

Fiction:  The Shadow Catcher, A Novel by Marianne Wiggins