Arts | Page 100 | MNopedia

Drawing of Snake River Fur Post

The Snake River Fur Post as it appeared during John Sayer's tenure as partner in the early nineteenth century. Drawn by David Geister, ca. 2000.

Black and white photograph of Seth Eastman late in his life, ca.1873.

Design for Minnesota Territorial seal

Seth Eastman’s design for the Minnesota Territorial seal, ca. 1849.

Color image of American Indian women gathering rice, 1849–1855. Drawing by Seth Eastman.

Gathering wild rice

American Indian women gathering rice, 1849–1855. Drawing by Seth Eastman.This was an early version of one of Eastman’s paintings for the House Committee on Indian Affairs.

Owamniyomni (St. Anthony Falls)

Owamniyomni (St. Anthony Falls), 1848. Oil painting by Seth Eastman.

Seth Eastman was a painter and soldier best known for his depictions of the everyday life of Dakota and Ojibwe people around Fort Snelling in the 1840s. He stands out among other nineteenth-century American artists—particularly those who also painted American Indian people—because of his commitment to realism. Unlike his peers, Eastman mostly avoided romanticizing the Native people with whom he lived.